Season 5 Episode 2: In conversation with Hannah Meltzer

Hannah Meltzer is a journalist, writer and producer living in Paris. I love her weekly Substack, Pen Friend, where she shares her musings on French culture and some beautiful illustrations.

Is Macron as progressive as everyone outside of France thinks he is? What’s the deal with Gabriel Attal, France’s new(-ish) PM? And why do the French love to protest so much? Hannah and I chatted French politics, both past and present, her relationship to feminism over the years, as well as her cultural recommendations.

We recorded back in February, in her flat, with her dog Babs listening in. It was lovely to sit down with a fellow Brit who is building a life in Paris. I had to cut some of our conversation but really appreciated Hannah’s insights about growing up in a single parent household, like me.

Thanks to mutual friend, Sutanya from Dinner for One, for collecting British friends and then connecting them!

There are so many successful podcasts out there, with slick production and legit sponsors. That’s obviously not this podcast. But everyone I speak to is so generous with both their time and their thoughts. I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoy researching and recording.