Louis XIV, Napoleon, and Macron: The Choreography of Portraits
Official portraits have been a means of communicating intention and creating image throughout history. Consider three of France's iconic leaders.
How Charisma Makes Leaders Great
It's easy to write off charisma as a superficial quality. Yet, studies have proven that charisma is in fact an integral element of good leadership.
Jerry Lewis: French Film Master
Jerry Lewis was lionized in France as a film auteur, a genius of movie-making. What did the French know that Americans didn't?
The Story Behind “The Parisian Water-Carrier”
Who was the "Parisian water-carrier" depicted in eighteenth-century French sculptor Edme Bouchardon’s sketches, and how did he earn his living?
Jeanne Moreau and the Birth of Cool
The French actress Jeanne Moreau worked with directors Truffaut, Duras, Buñuel, Renoir, Antonioni, Fassbinder, and Orson Welles.
Why Hot Air Balloons Never Really (Ahem) Took Off
More than two centuries after the invention of ballooning, Steve Fossett became the first person to solo circumnavigate the world in a balloon.
What Makes a Glass House the Ideal Home for a Communist Gynecologist?
Paris’s Maison de Verre is a marvel of modernist architecture whose rarely seen interior was constructed to foster sociality.
Thank Minitel for the French Election
Minitel gave the French a very specific experience of the digital realm, compared with other places where networked information arrived via the internet.
Foreign Intervention… in the American Revolution
Foreign powers have been interfering in our politics since day one, when we welcomed it from France, Spain, and the Netherlands.
What Madame Bovary Revealed About the Freedom of the Press
Gustave Flaubert was put on trial for obscenity. Why didn't he fight government censorship harder?