Royal Palace Podcast

As European leaders grow increasingly skeptical about the United States' commitment to transatlantic defense, calls for increased military spending and "sovereign rearmament" have gained traction. But turning these political ambitions into reality means confronting a host of practical challenges—from fragmented and often U.S.-dependent defense industries to limited logistical capacity and deep divisions over strategic priorities. On this episode—with our guest Sam—we discuss whether a sovereign European defense strategy is even plausible.Guest ResourcesFollow Sam's analysis on European defense and geopolitics at his Substack: turnbaugh.substack.com--Original image © European Union, 2025

On our first-ever crossover episode, we discuss the recent conviction of Marine Le Pen and several MEPs on charges of embezzlement, as well as the controversy surrounding her ineligibility to run for public office, with Marlon and Olly from the Flep24 Podcast. We explore whether this conviction amounts to "lawfare" and consider the potential impact it may have on French politics, particularly for the far-right in the 2027 presidential race.If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe to the Flep24 (French Legislative Elections Podcast 2024) wherever you get your podcasts and consider finding them on patreon.

On this episode, we sit down with Jathan Sadowski from the podcast This Machine Kills to discuss his latest book, Mechanic and the Luddite: A Ruthless Criticism of Technology and Capitalism. We explore data capitalism, the impact of AI on labor and decision-making, rentierism, and whether Europe should join the tech hype cycle—as so many of its leaders seem eager to do.

Upset over illicit sports streaming websites, Canal+ petitioned a French court to order Google, Cloudflare, Quad9 and Vercara to no longer resolve queries to domains like antenasports.ru. We discuss whether the court's decision to side with Canal+ amounts to "internet censorship" and whether it will have any effect. Check out our accompanying article at royalpalacemedia.comA few precisions/corrections:- Canal+ Groupe has been recently restructured such what we said about Vavendi is not longer up-to-date (the firm remains nonetheless under the control of the Bolloré family).- The acronym for the Inter-planetary File System is "IPFS" but Patrick mistakenly says IFS because interplanetary is arguably one word.- Our website does not have a certificate issued by Cloudflare, but rather Google Trust Services which is one of the five certificate authorities Cloudflare uses to issues SSL certs.

History tends to forget the Minitel experiment or dismiss it as a system that suffered from over-centralization, heavy state censorship, and a lack of openness. However, in an era when Google, Amazon, and Microsoft control the vast majority of internet infrastructure, with corporate and state censorship on the rise, might these criticisms reveal more about the “free” internet than they do about 1980s France?

Although more ideologically diverse than the American media, French newspapers and television distinguish themselves in another way: their ownership by right-wing billionaires. On this episode, we discuss with our friend Sam the many newspapers, magazines, TV channels and radio stations that make up the French media landscape -- as well as their owners.

Less than two hours ago, the French National Assembly passed a motion of no-confidence against the right-wing Barnier Government. How did it happen? What does this mean for France and President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron's political project? Who stands to benefit -- the far-right or the leftist New Popular Front? What does it say about French democracy and the future of the Fifth Republic? Join us as we discuss these questions and more on our first "emergency episode" of the Royal Palace Podcast.

Minitel, launched by France's Ministry of Post, Telegraphs, and Telephone (PTT), brought the networked age to the French public nearly a decade before Americans encountered the commercial web in the early 1990s. Offering services like online directories, messaging, shopping, and access to news, Minitel's innovative pay-by-minute kiosk system ensured that payments were divided between the PTT and the service providers, enabling publications like Le Monde and Libération to thrive in the emerging online landscape. Minitel terminals were handed out for free at Post Offices, and existing telephone customers enjoyed access with no monthly service fees. The Minitel experience suggests that the flaws of today's internet—dominated by advertising and data capitalism—were not inevitable. At once a testament to the centralized ambition of the postwar welfare state and a product of the shift toward neoliberalism in the 1970s, Minitel embodied both the promise of public infrastructure and the forces that would ultimately undermine it through privatization and austerity.Our credits to Julien Mailland and Kevin Driscoll for their book Minitel: Welcome to the Internet, published by MIT Press, which provided invaluable insights into Minitel's history, as well as the examples of Minitel services and their modern equivalents.

As war breaks out across the continent, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Belgium fall in quick succession, while France—once confident—stumbles due to its military's outdated doctrine, strategic blunders, and insufficient materiel and communications equipment. The victorious left of the late 1930s disintegrates after the Soviet Union orders the French Communist Party (PCF) to oppose the war, following the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact between Hitler and Stalin.As the war rages on, some on the right grow eager to surrender, realizing their beliefs were not so different from Hitler's. Meanwhile, Churchill, despite failing to sufficiently support the French war effort, urges the French to resort to urban warfare—a strategy that would likely reduce Paris to rubble. As the government flees Paris, moving southward to Orléans, then Tours, and eventually Bordeaux, the newly appointed right-wing Prime Minister, Marshal Philippe Pétain, announces to the French people that an agreement has been reached with Nazi Germany.This marks the beginning of what would become known as Vichy France—a collaborationist, authoritarian regime. In October 1940, Vichy France codifies anti-Semitism into law, under the so-called "Decree-law on the status of Jews". Stay tuned for our eventual series on Vichy France.We would like to thank Sam for joining us these past few episodes and encourage you to check out his Substack: Political Risk Dispatches (turnbaugh.substack.com).If you like the show, please share it with your friends and collegues!

As we predicted in our coverage leading up to the election, Donald Trump will once again be President of the United States. How did Pod Save America get it so wrong? What are some of the reasons Harris and the Democratic party seemingly handed the election over to the Republican Party? And what might a second Trump administration look like?

In this episode, we trace how France, despite emerging victorious from World War I, was left weakened by economic struggles, a decimated workforce, and a neglected military. As Germany rearmed in defiance of the Treaty of Versailles, France's attempts to counter the Nazi threat were thwarted by political divisions, including anti-Semitic opposition to Prime Minister Léon Blum, and by British foreign policy focused on containing the Soviet Union rather than confronting fascism. At key junctures—such as the remilitarization of the Rhineland and the appeasement at Munich—France and its allies hesitated, missing crucial chances to halt Hitler's aggression. We'll discuss how these decisions, alongside strategic miscalculations like the flawed reliance on the Maginot Line and the poorly timed deployment of reserves, led not only to France's swift fall in 1940 but also to the spread of Nazi atrocities across Europe.

France left World War I victorious and was reputed as having the greatest military in the world. Nevertheless, the war cost France an entire generation of manpower, a landscape riddled in destruction and diminished industrial capacity vis-a-vis Germany. Having sustained two invasions by German forces in recent memory, France knew that it wouldn't be long before the Germans would try again - leading France to begin construction of the Maginot Line in 1928. As reactionary and antisemitic politics gained an unwavering momentum during the 1930s, the victory of France's left-wing Popular Front and formation of a Léon Blum's government offered hope to the working masses and a veritable alternative to Adolf Hitler. Still, the the leftist government faced an uphill battle owing to the chronic neglect of France's armed forces by previous governments, the superior state of German industry, political instability at home and an industrial class that would put their own interests ahead of the French Republic.We want to thank our guest Sam for bringing us this amazing series. We encourage our listeners to check out his substack for his latest analysis on international affairs: turnbaugh.substack.comStay tuned for Part 2.

Stay tuned for our upcoming series on the Fall of France, where our first-ever guest Sam will be walking us through the interwar period through the installation of a Nazi puppet-state - Part 1 drops Monday!What does the upcoming election mean for Europe? What is it like to vote from abroad in blue states where elections are uncontested and the presidential outcome predetermined? What is the Orphans' Court? Why is the Harris campaign not talking enough about abortion rights? Why has the Biden administration allowed the Republicans to dominate the courts and overturn Roe v. Wade with impunity? What do Donald Trump and Benyamin Netanyahou have in common? Why is Elon Musk building a data center to train an AI-model named "grok" while the company is just days away from receivership? Why do older generations of progressives not see the writing on the wall despite having lived through Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump and Biden? We answer some of these questions to varying degrees with our guest Sam on this more casual episode of the Royal Palace Podcast.

Europeans enjoy a faster, cheaper and more private internet compared to their American counterparts. We talk about how the French were buying train tickets and streaming video through Minitel in the 1980s, how EU managed privatization has created a competitive (if imperfect) telecommunications market, and how in recent years the EU has started to take on privacy, "gatekeepers" and artificial intelligence.

Following the relative victory of France's left-wing coalition in summer's snap elections, President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron nominates Michel Barnier as Prime Minister. From the right-wing "Republicans" party, Barnier is expected to pursue far-right wing policies on immigration in collaboration with the National Rally, while accelerating the usual policies of economic liberalism.

Decided by the Tribunal of Conflicts in 1921, the Eloka Ferry case is a story of French colonial rule in West Africa and the important distinction between judicial and administrative jurisdiction in French law.

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was arrested in France at the end of August in connection with an investigation into the social media platform's failure to cooperate with French authorities and categorical refusal to follow the law of the countries in which it operates.

French workers spend nearly 400 hours less per year behind their desks or on the factory floor. The reason? A 35-hour work week and five weeks of vacation per year enshrined in law. The result is a thriving tradition of summer vacations and high economic output per work hour - it's also the reason you haven't heard from us in over a month.

In response to Opening Arguments, the hosts solve a Multi State Bar Exam question involving trespass, aggressive fish and tortious liability from the perspective of French Law.

In this second episode, we introduce listeners to French Law. We begin with a discussion of legal traditions and the differences between Civil Law and Common Law. Then we talk about the impact European and International law have on France's legal system. Finally, we outline the structure and functioning of France's judicial and administrative jurisdictions.

On this second Election Special of the Royal Palace Podcast, the hosts discuss the second-round of France's snap elections as they happen. If it's clear who won and who lost politically, it's less clear who will govern the nation.Detailed show notes can be found on our wiki.

In this first episode, we introduce listeners to France's storied political history from the French Revolution to the Fifth Republic. Then we discuss France's three branches of government and how power is divided between them with a focus on how these differ from the United States. Finally, we discuss the territory of France which spans five continents (Europe, North America, South America, Africa, Oceania and Antarctica).Detailed show notes can be found on our wiki.

For the inaugural episode of the Royal Palace Podcast, the hosts bring listeners up to speed with the recent election results in France and the upcoming run-off elections this upcoming Sunday.Detailed show notes can be found on our wiki.