“Holiday stories” by Jérôme Prod’homme
With a touch of humour, Jérôme Prod’homme goes back to the origin of traditional markers for the end of the year celebrations. The tree, for example. Although it was introduced by the wife of Louis XV, Queen Marie Leszczynska, in Versailles in the 18th century, it was in the 19th century that it became widespread throughout France. The oldest Christmas carol, “Between the Ox and the Gray Ass”, dates from the 16th century.
Let’s move on to the inevitable family dinner. We are reminded here that “the gastronomic meal of the French” has been classified as an intangible cultural heritage by Unesco since 2010. It “emphasizes the fact of being well together, the pleasure of taste, the harmony between human beings and the productions of nature”, specifies the institution. And so as not to make any missteps, don’t forget the basics of dressing: you don’t serve on a plate, you pass the dish around and let your guest choose their piece! NB
“Five years facing Nordahl Lelandais” by Noémie Schulz
On August 27, 2017 around 3 a.m., a little girl named Maëlys disappeared during a wedding reception in the town of Pont-de-Beauvoisin, in Isère. A few days later, a 34-year-old suspect is indicted for kidnapping and forcible confinement – charges that will quickly be reclassified as murder. His name is Nordahl Lelandais. Contacted by the family of this former soldier who claims to be innocent, Alain Jakubowicz, a business law lawyer in a large Lyon firm, agrees to defend him.
For five years, despite the accumulation of overwhelming evidence and new cases involving his client (including the assassination of young Corporal Arthur Noyer and acts of sexual assault on several young girls), this tenor of the bar does not let go of Lelandais. He who has always placed himself on the side of the victims had however promised himself not to get involved in cases of crimes against children, even less to ensure the defense of an assassin. He explains the reasons for his commitment to the microphone of the judicial journalist Noémie Schulz who followed the trial of Lelandais for Europe 1. The result is a fascinating podcast on this mission as disturbing as it is essential: to defend a criminal whom everything accuses of the worst crime ever. HR
