La Resistance

Herding Lions II - The Man Behind the Masks

kensington — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 08:36:19 +0000

Greetings, and a very belated happy June 20th!

June 20th is the birthday of our current episode’s subject: Jean Moulin. As a long-standing Moulin buff I could not expose you to the war-time heroics of this gentleman’s life without also throwing light on all that came before.

In this episode, we recall Max Jacob fondly, Andre Malroux infrequently, Marcel Bernard thankfully, and Henri Frenay as little as possible. Most importantly, we get behind the hagiography to balance the usual (albeit accurate) story of heroic dying with a tale of courageous living.

Joking aside, I once wrote a bio of this person on a personal blog many years back. One reader commented that hearing about his life was like seeing a table filled with pictures. If we’re at all lucky, you will hopefully walk away with a similar impression.

“Les Alchimistes,” the play mentioned in this episode, is running from July 25th to August 14th, 2011, at Theatre Nord-Ouest in Paris. I’ll be there from the 25th to the 31st, if anyone would like to say hello. More info can be found at www.theatredunordouest.com.

Enjoy, and as always, vive la Resistance!

Herding Lions: Maximizing the Resistance

kensington — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 07:12:19 +0000

A technologically superior redo of the long awaited Jean Moulin ep on La Resistance! Tune in to learn more about the man historian Thane Peterson was speaking of when he said ‘If there’s a greater hero of WWII of any nationality, I haven’t read about him.’

Tangled Shadows: The Enigma of Henri Frenay

kensington — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 06:59:54 +0000

My apologies for the belated episode. I’m not dead, but was having and recovering from surgery for part of that time, so close but no cigar on that one.

Now on to our first episode to be about just one person, so who else could a podcast about the Resistance focus an entire episode on than…. Henri Frenay?!

Nope, you heard it here first unless you’ve heard it somewhere else: Mssr. Frenay is the most important person an aspiring Resistance buff could hope to understand. You probably never will, but your understanding of the Resistance will increase exponentially for trying.

The good news is some of the delay was spent buying and learning to use new podcast equipment, the bad is that I still can’t pronounce things for carp. The more things change…

Writing this post took much longer than most because info on Mssr. Frenay is so thin on the ground and because for a while I had it wrapped around use of the song “No Handlebars” by the Flobots. However, since the laws about podcasting music at the moment state that there aren’t any laws about podcasting music, I’ve decided to just play it safe and cut it entirely. Consider it the unofficial soundtrack to this episode.

Looking forward to providing you with more content soon (perhaps even a quick opinion piece on one particular issue being discussed in the Resistance world recently). Until next time, vive la Resistance.

“Devotion without Calculation: Sometimes to Survive You Have to Get a Little Crazy”

kensington — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 04:29:24 +0000

In this episode, we look at D’Astier’s infamous quote that you had to be mal-adjusted to be a Resistant in 1940. We also look back to the Spanish Civil War, N’Orleans just after the American Civil War, and also mis-pronounce everything in a ten block radius (at no extra charge!).

Special thanks to the fine folks of the Podsafe Music Network and the band Boom Boom Beckett for the jazz piece used in this episode.

“Of the First Hour: War of the Unknown Warrior”

kensington — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 02:51:33 +0000

Episode two of the podcast La Resistance, “Of the First Hour: War of the Unknown Warrior.” In this ep we look at the birth of the French Resistance. We discuss radio speeches, the weather in Bordeaux, a terrorist cell of little old ladies, and the monster of Loch Ness. We also call Marshal Petain a tool and wonder if those people on the Ile de Seine ever got their boats back.

Show notes can be found at http://french-resistance.blogspot.com

“Paris: Open City”

kensington — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 06:08:15 +0000

Welcome to the first podcast of La Resistance - “Paris: Open City.”

In this episode we discuss the exodus, Marshal Pétain, the political history of the Third Republic, and the relationship between the French and their dogs. Show notes can be found at http://french-resistance.blogspot.com