A former prime minister goes after a whistleblower and what that means for those who dare to speak out. Why a natural ingredient that could cover up to 40 percent of France's fertiliser needs is currently being flushed down the loo. And France's halting steps towards adopting daylight savings time.

Former prime minister Édouard Philippe, currently one of the leading contenders in next year's presidential race, is facing allegations of embezzling funds from Le Havre, the city he governs as mayor. A civil servant first raised the alarm over the alleged misconduct, and now the city has attacked her whistleblower status. Cléo Bour, legal manager of the Maison des Lanceurs d'Alerte, which provides support to whistleblowers, talks about France's fraught relationship with those who speak out, the patchwork of protections available to them, and what it means when a powerful political figure uses public resources to go after them. (Listen @1'50'')

France, Europe's largest agricultural producer, relies heavily on imported fertilisers to keep its fields producing. But the Middle East crisis has driven up the price of nitrogen-based fertilisers, while the cadmium-rich phosphates France imports from Morocco have serious health impacts. Microbiologist Marc-André Selosse argues there are sound financial, environmental and health reasons to look for homegrown alternatives – such as human waste, which he suggests could provide up to 40 percent of France's fertiliser needs. We also visit a pioneering urine collection point near Paris, run by the Ocapi research programme, which benefits a local farmer. (Listen @18')

France has been shifting its clocks forward in spring and back in autumn every year since 1976, but it first adopted daylight savings time in June 1916. (Listen @12'05'')

Episode mixed by Cecile Pompeani.

Spotlight on France is a podcast from Radio France International. Find us on rfienglish.com, Apple podcasts, Spotify or your favourite podcast app.

How two people in the French port city of Nantes – one descended from slave owners, the other from enslaved people – are working together to "repair" the country's troubled history. The slave money that built the Élysée Palace, the French president's official residence. And turmoil in the French film industry after the head of a major funder blacklisted hundreds of industry professionals who signed a petition against its right-wing billionaire owner, Vincent Bolloré.

Twenty-five years ago, France became the first country to recognise slavery as a crime against humanity, but has never issued an official apology for its role in the trade. Last month, Pierre Guillon de Princé, a descendant of a family of slave traders in the port city of Nantes, made history by apologising publicly for his family's actions. He and Dieudonné Boutrin, the descendant of enslaved people on the French overseas territory of Martinique, have come together to build fraternity amid growing racism in France. They talk about inaugurating a new memorial – the Mast of Fraternity and Memory – and their long, sometimes difficult battle to encourage reparatory justice. They're not responsible for the past, they say, but they are responsible for the present and the future. (Listen @0')

The Cannes Film Festival shines a light on the world of cinema – the films, the glamour and the business of making movies. In the midst of this year's edition, the French film industry was shaken as the head of Canal+, one of the biggest funders of French and European film, announced he would cut ties with the hundreds of actors, directors and creatives who signed a letter criticising the influence of right-wing billionaire Vincent Bolloré, who owns a third of the company. Economist Kira Kitsopanidou looks at the major role that Canal+ plays in financing French cinema, and what happens when money meets ideology. And RFI's Ollia Horton reports from the festival. (Listen @20')

What would become the Élysée Palace, the official residence of the French president, was built three centuries ago with money amassed by a French slave trader. Anti-racism activist Louis-Georges Tin calls on President Emmanuel Macron to acknowledge the building's history, while Laurine Gomis of association Memoires et Partages explains where to find other traces of France's slaving past in Paris. (Listen @13')

Episode mixed by Cecile Pompeani.

Spotlight on France is a podcast from Radio France International. Find us on rfienglish.com, Apple podcasts, Spotify or your favourite podcast app.

A crackdown on France's unauthorised raves threatens an outlet for young people. How regional accents in France can hold you back. And the Front Populaire, which laid the foundations of France's welfare state.

The French government has vowed to crack down on unauthorised raves, known as "free parties", with a proposed law that would punish organisers with up to six months in prison and hefty fines. While the interior minister claims such gatherings threaten public order, free party fans defend their right to meet and share techno music outside of for-profit venues. Electronic music producer Maelström, who cut his teeth DJing at rave parties in France as a teenager in the late 1990s, looks back at the growth of that counter-culture and how it shaped his own music. Rather than repressing rave culture, he argues the state should help young people make such gatherings safe and sustainable. (Listen @2'15'')

France has dozens of regional accents, but you wouldn't know it to listen to broadcasters or politicians – most of whom have learned to speak a standardised form of French shaped in Paris. Sociologist Médéric Gasquet-Cyrus dissects his own Marseille accent and others from around the country, and explains why the impetus to flatten distinctive accents remains strong in France. (Listen @22')

The Front Populaire, a broad left-wing coalition elected in May 1936, introduced paid time off and other reforms that continue to shape French society today. Economic historian Nicolas Brisset explains why, 90 years on, it remains a powerful symbol for the French left. (Listen @14'50'')

Episode mixed by Cecile Pompeani.

Spotlight on France is a podcast from Radio France International. Find us on rfienglish.com, Apple podcasts, Spotify or your favourite podcast app.