PODCASTS
Listen in as Emily Monaco and Debra Ollivier take a deep dive into a word that helps us gain a keener understanding of the French.
Je Ne Sais Quoi
Je ne sais quoi is a phrase American women love to use to describe their French counterparts, but according to Debra Ollivier, best-selling author of What French Women Know About Love, Sex, and Other Matters of the Heart and Mind, the French don't use it at all. She's here to talk about why – and what this means about the French approach to popularity, likeability, and identity.
Populaire
If you grew up worrying the world was a popularity contest, get yourself to France, where the word populaire is better translated as "working class" or literally, "of the people." Without an apt translation for "popular," French society governs itself by different principles, which author Debra Ollivier is more than ready to unpack.