A crackdown on France's unauthorised raves threatens an outlet for young people. How regional accents in France can hold you back. And the Front Populaire, which laid the foundations of France's welfare state.
The French government has vowed to crack down on unauthorised raves, known as "free parties", with a proposed law that would punish organisers with up to six months in prison and hefty fines. While the interior minister claims such gatherings threaten public order, free party fans defend their right to meet and share techno music outside of for-profit venues. Electronic music producer Maelström, who cut his teeth DJing at rave parties in France as a teenager in the late 1990s, looks back at the growth of that counter-culture and how it shaped his own music. Rather than repressing rave culture, he argues the state should help young people make such gatherings safe and sustainable. (Listen @2'15'')
