“Les Sans-dents, a political history of the smile” by Hélène Goutany
Former minister, Marie-George Buffet remembers the embarrassment of having been photographed during a public debate while wearing temporary teeth: “I had the feeling, because it touches the intimate, that it should not be seen. Redoing your teeth is a bit like recognizing that you have mismanaged your business. » While politicians are the first to modify their smile (François Mitterrand had his canines filed off too aggressively), the “toothless” – the expression of Jean de La Fontaine, brought up to date, at his expense , by François Hollande in 2016 – carry on their faces the guilt of those who are blamed for not doing enough to get by.
Only 43% of French people consult a dentist compared to 71% of the German or English population. First care station to which one renounces in precariousness, the teeth attract the mercantile cynicism of low cost centers like Dentexia which ended up closing its doors after having ripped off 3,000 people. Some, like Jérémie Bazart, who crisscrosses Seine-Saint-Denis with his dental bus, save the honor of the profession. AS
“Program B” (2 x 23 min.) – Binge.audio
“Is a life without work possible? » by Marion Bothorel
In the United States, the pandemic has caused a phenomenon called the “great resignation”. Four million Americans quit their jobs, prioritizing better working conditions or their well-being. France is far from these figures but the trend is the same: certain sectors are experiencing labor shortages. In June 2021, nearly one in two French people said they were demotivated at the idea of returning to work.
Marion Bothorel went to meet two of them. Simon, 31, a former economic and family adviser, went to Peru to take care of vicuñas, mammals living in the Andean highlands. As for Pierre, who claims frugalism, he lives sparingly to save as much as possible and leave the active life towards “40 or 50 years”. Baptiste Mylondo, social science teacher in Lyon, sheds light on our relationship to work. Far from advocating “an idle society”he imagines another system likely to combine professional and personal life balance, and pleads for a sharing society and a universal income. NB
” Work in progress) ” – Louiemedia.com
