Listening to a podcast is fun and usually educational. It’s easy to listen to one in the train, bus, plane or in the dentist’s waiting room. From food to travel to science, there is something for everyone. Here are 8 French podcasts for you to listen to practice your French listening skills. Some will make you laugh, others will make you think but we know you’ll find something interesting!
French Podcasts to Become Bilingual
C’est le plus beau jour de ma vie
Two of Quebec’s most popular actors, Anne Dorval and Marc Labrèche, talk about their lives, their feelings and conduct funny and short interviews with various people from different backgrounds. They’ve talked to a denturist to know if gifting dentures is a good gift and they also talked to a midwife about eating the placenta. They usually have time to sing one or two songs. For 1 hour, these two actors will make you laugh out loud!
Listen to it here.
La Poudre
This feminist podcast hosted by Lauren Bastide, a journalist and radio host, is a great podcast for people looking to know more about feminism and key players in the movement. She interviews different inspiring women like artists, activists, political figures, etc. in a hotel room about various issues that touch feminism. Since its launch in 2016, there have been more than 1 million downloads.
Listen to it here.
Mortel
Nouvelles Écoutes produces excellent French podcasts. Another one you might like is called “Mortel”, and is hosted by Taous Merakchi (alias Jack Parker). Be careful, this podcast is about death and everything that surrounds death, so you’d better be in the right state of mind if you listen to it. But it’s different from everything you might hear nowadays.
Listen to “Mortel” here.
Transfert
This podcast from Slate magazine is an intimate podcast about people’s personal stories. The stories are told in the first person, and they are usually stories that can happen to anyone. Each narrator that tells their stories is great storytellers. You’ll feel like a friend listening to their story.
Listen to it here.
One thing in a french day
This podcast has more than 6 million downloads and more than 1,000 episodes. Episodes are broadcasted every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Laetitia Perraut brings you along with her everyday life adventures in France. You will learn common everyday expressions and typical sentence structures. Her podcast episodes aren’t very long so you never get bored!
Listen to it here.
Aujourd’hui l’histoire
Aujourd’hui l’histoire translates to ‘Today history’. These short, 20 minute episodes, are an excellent way to learn about some of our history’s most important events and people. You’ll learn about Elvis, Klaus Barbie, the Taj Mahal, the Manhattan Project, Napoléon Bonaparte, etc. The show’s goal is for its listeners to learn about the past to better understand who we are today. You’ll feel smarter when you go to bed and since the episodes are so short, you have no excuses!
Listen to it here.
Le cinéma est mort
If you love movies this podcast is for you. The hosts are truly passionate about the 7th art. The hosts review films and comment on new film releases, and about what’s going on in the film world. If you’re the kind of person who wants to hear about a film before seeing it, you’ll love the detailed analyses of all kinds of movies.
Listen to it here.
Piment
Piment is a podcast that discusses the current news and issues happening in the black French community. It’s a serious podcast that will make you a better critical thinker and you’ll learn all about this French community. They talk about misogyny in rap, cinema, diversity, etc. These are long episodes (about 2 hours) so sit back and listen. You will feel smarter after listening to this podcast.
Listen to it here.
Do you know any other french podcasts? You can also listen to Les voisins du 12bis, a bilingual fiction! Or would you rather watch some Ted Talks?
