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Witness History

A Literary Love Affair

Witness History

BBC

Personal Journals, Society & Culture, History

4.51.6K Ratings

🗓️ 27 October 2017

⏱️ 11 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In October 1929 Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir began their fifty-year love affair after meeting in Paris. Louise Hidalgo speaks to the writer and leading French feminist, Claudine Monteil, who knew Sartre and de Beauvoir, about their legendary status and their famously open relationship.

Photo: Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre sitting in a cafe in Paris, 1970. (STF/AFP/Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:00.0

Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.

0:04.7

My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds.

0:08.5

As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices.

0:18.0

What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars,

0:24.6

poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples.

0:29.7

If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC

0:35.4

Sounds.

0:36.4

Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.

0:40.9

My name's Linda Davies and I commissioned

0:43.0

podcast for BBC Sounds.

0:45.0

As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality,

0:49.0

featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices.

0:54.4

What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars,

1:00.9

poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories.

1:04.3

And that's just a few examples.

1:06.2

If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected,

1:09.4

find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds. Hello and thank you for downloading our history program witness from the BBC World Service.

1:17.0

I'm Louis Adalgo and today I'm taking you back to Paris in October 1929

1:22.0

when two bright young philosophy students began a love affair that

1:26.1

would span half a century. Their names were Jean-Paul Sarch and Simon de Beauvoir and they would become

1:31.8

two of the most influential thinkers of their age.

1:35.0

I've been talking to writer and leading French feminist Claudine Monte who knew Sartre and

...

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