Welcome back to the home of the oxymoron. Evil genius. He asked the newspaper to print his obituary early so he'd enjoy it. That's like hiding at your own funeral. Yeah, a big, great gig. I'm Russell Kane. Join me to weigh in on whether the biggest players in history are more evil or genius. Becoming that rich, I'd say that is some level of genius. It also helps that it's a long time ago, right?

It's like the podcast version of telling your kids the ice cream van plays music when it's out of ice cream.

Listen to evil genius on BBC Sounds.

Hello, or maybe that should be bonsoir, as tonight's program has its sights firmly focused on the other side of the

channel. We'll be hearing about two ascendancies. Patrick Bart analyzes the factors behind

Jean-Paul Sartre's rise to prominence as a public intellectual in the 1940s, while Mary

Harrod examines how romantic comedy became such a staple of French cinema.

And away from France, but linked by the old alliance,

new generation thinker Kylie Murray finds evidence of 13th century spin in the prophecies of Scottish seer Thomas the Rimer.

First though, I'm joined by the historian, Sadiah Zahir Hasein,

whose book How the French Think, an affectionate'm joined by the historian, Sadiya Hazai Singh, whose book, How the French Think,

an affectionate portrait of an intellectual people, explores how and why the activities of the mind

have occupied such a special place in French public life.

In his introduction, Sadiere cites a speech that Dominique de Villeilt Pins delivered during a UN Security Council debate in February 2003

on whether to sanction the use of force against Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq.

This speech, he suggests, exemplifies something quite recognizably, unquestionably French.

Mr. President, to those who

who are with anguish,

when and how

we'll cede to the war?

I would say that

at any moment

...