Jigsaw Puzzles: The amazing British invention that went from geographical 'dissection' to universally popular form of meditation
Suzanne tells Muriel the riveting story of an invention devised in London by one inspired man, in an 18th-century world of map-making, mezzotints and early industrial machinery, and explores what jigsaw puzzles do for us, what they mean, and why they are more popular than ever. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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55:03
The Metric System: Born of a perfect storm of Enlightenment and Revolution
Muriel tells Suzanne how the French dream of the metric system became realised when the Enlightenment scientists' desire for reliable measurements met the French Revolutionaries' decision to remodel the nation according to Reason. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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53:08
Bluebells: Why does this enchanting native blue flower make the British giddy?
Suzanne explores the complex botanical, mythical and poetic aspects of the British bluebell cult. Hope and death, secrecy and display and even asparagus all come into it, and Tilda Swinton, Diana, Princess of Wales and Margaret Thatcher all guest star. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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51:08
Glamour: What – and who – do the French find so bewitching about Britain?
Happy Entente Cordiale! It is, Muriel explains, when at their most conventional that the British are at their most glamorous to French eyes. And we reveal the British winner of the title of Full Cordiale Corker! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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17:37
Panache: How a French king's white feather came to define a Gallic core value
Suzanne digs for the roots of French panache, encountering kingly pageantry, Cyrano de Bergerac and the emblem of the cockerel. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Suzanne and Muriel examine a series of very different things – from a film to a kitchen utensil, a model train to a bar of soap – that define British or French attitudes, each explaining her cultural background to the other and trying to get to the essence of what makes the British British and the French French. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
UK