Has France become ungovernable?
The Take
Al Jazeera
4.7 • 748 Ratings
🗓️ 16 September 2025
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
France is facing a test for its latest prime minister. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu must steer the country through political chaos, debt, and strikes. Will he be the one to keep the government standing and guide France toward stability, or will the crisis deepen?
In this episode:
- Rim-Sarah Alouane, Researcher and Legal Scholar
Episode credits:
This episode was produced by Marcos Bartolomé, Sarí el-Khalili and Tamara Khandaker with Kylene Kiang, Phillip Lanos, Spencer Cline, Melanie Marich, Kisaa Zehra, Farhan Rafid, and our host, Malika Bilal. It was edited by Alexandra Locke and Noor Wazwaz.
Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our video editors are Hisham Abu Salah and Mohannad Al-Melhem. Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio.
Connect with us:
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Al Jazeera Podcasts. |
| 0:07.0 | Today, France has a new Prime Minister, but its political crisis isn't going anywhere. |
| 0:17.0 | Anti-government protesters clashed with police, blocked roads and started fires. |
| 0:23.7 | Others were met with water cannons and tear gas. |
| 0:27.6 | Much of their fury is a reaction to the deepening inequality in France. |
| 0:33.3 | As Paris deals with debt and discontent, |
| 0:36.2 | can the country change course? |
| 0:40.3 | I'm Malika Bilal, and this is The Take. |
| 0:50.7 | Before we continue with today's show, if you're watching us on YouTube or Spotify, |
| 0:55.5 | please leave us a comment. Tell us what you think about this episode and what stories you want us to do next. |
| 1:01.5 | And if you're listening, check us out on those platforms to see us on video. |
| 1:05.7 | Leave us a review telling us where you're watching from and give us a five-star rating if you like what you see |
| 1:11.7 | on your favorite podcast app. It really helps the show. |
| 1:19.1 | My name is Rimsara Alwan. I hold a PhD in public law at the University of Toulouse. |
| 1:26.1 | I'm a researcher specialized in anything related to human rights and freedom, civil liberties, |
| 1:33.6 | and in France, Europe, and North America as well. |
| 1:38.5 | Rimsara, welcome back to the take. |
| 1:40.3 | It's good to have you. |
| 1:41.9 | Let's start off with the big news. |
| 1:46.1 | France has a new prime minister. It's fifth to have you. Let's start off with the big news. France has a new prime minister. |
| 1:53.1 | It's fifth in less than two years. It can be a little bit hard to keep up. So who is Sebastian Le Cornyu? And what can we expect from him? Yes, some might say third time is a charm, |
| 1:59.8 | but for us, it goes beyond three, really. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Al Jazeera, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Al Jazeera and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.