Artificial intelligence is everywhere in France but who's using it, and how? We also look at its impact on translators and how they're striving to keep humans at the helm. And Nadia Boulanger – the pioneering French composer and conductor who taught generations of musical greats.

AI is widely used in France, despite many peoples' misgivings. Tech consultant Frederic Cavazza says adoption is being driven by individuals, rather than a coherent or systemic approach. That results in a paradox: the technology is everywhere, but guidance and confidence in it is lacking. (Listen @2'40'')

One field that is heavily impacted by generative AI in France – and the non-English-language world – is translation. Low-cost translation agencies are increasingly using machines to deliver first drafts and relying on humans for ungratifying, poorly paid "post-editing". But translators are fighting back. The En chair et en os collective and the recently-launched STEF union for translators in publishing marked last week's World Translation Day with symbolic strike action. They gathered to find collective ways of keeping humans at the heart of the translation process, including an initiative to "sabotage" the post-editing system. (Listen @17'50'')

The story of French musician Nadia Boulanger, a talented composer and the first woman to conduct some of the world's top orchestras. Today she is best remembered for teaching an extraordinary number of the 20th century's most famous musicians, from Aaron Copland to Philip Glass, Burt Bacharach and Quincy Jones. (Listen @10'30'')

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.

With its strong commitment to secularism, France is not an obvious place for Pope Leo XIV to stage an appearance, but his visit is drawing interest from Catholics and non-Catholics alike. After nearly disappearing from France, vultures are making a comeback, but their return has created new tensions with farmers. And France's revolutionary first divorce law from 1792.

Some 800,000 people have signed up to see Pope Leo XIV on his first official visit to France, a secular country where the Catholic faith no longer dominates. Francois Mabille, head of the Geopolitical Observatory of Religion at the French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs, looks at why France is of interest to the Vatican, and young people of different religions talk about what Pope Leo means to them. (Listen @0'00)

Vultures all but disappeared from France by the 1940s as people sought to eradicate the scavenger birds. A programme to reintroduce the four European vulture species to the Grands Causses plateaux in the southern Massif Central has been sucessful – so successful that some farmers say there are now too many. We visit a vulture feeding station to explore the close relationship between vultures and agriculture, and the tensions that arise with the return of wild species. (Listen @20'00)

In 1792, France introduced one of Europe’s first and most liberal divorce laws, as part of a broader revolutionary effort to enact liberté, egalité et fraternité in the family itself. (Listen @14'00)

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 climate expert experiences eco-anxiety firsthand after living through France's hottest summer on record. France tries to find its place in the new space race. And the story of the earliest known photograph still visible today.

Eco-anxiety is on the rise in France after a summer of unprecedented heatwaves led to wildfires, scorched crops and the deaths of at least 7,000 people as well as livestock and birds. Juliette Decq, a climate adaptation consultant, says fear is a normal response to the reality people are now facing. A mother of two young children, she experienced that reality firsthand when her own home became unsafe. She talks about her anger over France’s lack of preparedness, not least in schools, but also about the solidarity she witnessed in her local community as they helped people protect themselves. Eco-anger, she says, can be a force for change. (Listen @0')

Historically a leader in Europe’s space programme, France is reassessing its role in space. Although French astronaut Sophie Adenot is currently on the International Space Station, France’s space ambitions haven’t focused on human space flight. But as the US and China ramp up their Moon missions and space becomes increasingly industrialised, France is looking to find its place. Space policy analyst Xavier Pasco explains how Europe is positioning itself as a regulator in a rapidly changing sector that has, until now, remained largely unchecked. (Listen @20'10'')

French inventor Nicéphore Niépce took the earliest surviving photograph in July 1827: a scene from a window that might have taken days to make. He fell into obscurity, and the photo itself was lost. Now it's returning to France, as part of a celebration of 200 years of photography in his honour. (Listen @14'15'')

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.