French Weird

Russell Williams
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Forget the accordion music, the cafés and the immaculate boulevards. There is a dark, uncanny and deeply strange texture pervading modern France—and it’s time to investigate.Welcome to French Weird, a podcast dedicated to exploring the counterculture, obscure art and bizarre anomalies of contemporary France. Channeling cultural theory, esoterica and the love of a good book this shows investigates what falls through the cracks of mainstream French culture. We are tracking the liminal spaces, the bizarre subcultures and the beautiful freak-outs from the mid-twentieth century to the present day.What exactly is the French Weird? It is the territory where high philosophy meets the profoundly bizarre. In each episode, we trace the threads of a proudly rational nation simultaneously digesting global weirdness and exporting its own brand of the mysterious.French Weird explores how France's hidden eccentricities reveal the truths about its politics, literature, culture and - maybe even - identity.Subscribe now, download, and join us. When the going gets weird, the pros turn French. For more information, or to get in touch, visit www.frenchweird.com 

Episodes

  1. 3d ago

    What's Weird about Michel Houellebecq?

    If you’d like to drop French Weird a short voice note, you can do so here In our first deep exploration, French Weird discovers the unexpected Weird in the work of notorious novelist Michel Houellebecq. Our starting point is his devotion to the work of a certain H. P. Lovecraft. For more information, visit www.frenchweird.com  Reading list Houellebecq, Michel. Whatever. Translated by Paul Hammond, Serpent’s Tail, 1998. Houellebecq, Michel. H. P. Lovecraft: Against the World, Against Life. Translated by Dorna Khazeni, Believer Books, 2005. Houellebecq, Michel. Atomised. Translated by Frank Wynne, William Heinemann, 2000. Houellebecq, Michel. The Map and the Territory. Translated by Gavin Bowd, Alfred A. Knopf, 2012. Houellebecq, Michel. Submission. Translated by Lorin Stein, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2015. Houellebecq, Michel. Annihilation. Translated by Shaun Whiteside, Picador, 2024.

    What's Weird about Michel Houellebecq?

  2. 3d ago

    Weird beginnings

    If you’d like to drop French Weird a short voice note, you can do so here This is where it all begins. Your host, Russell Williams, gives an overview of the sort of things you might expect from French Weird. For more information, visit www.frenchweird.com  Forget the accordion music, the cafés and the immaculate boulevards. There is a dark, uncanny and deeply strange texture pervading modern France—and it’s time to investigate. Welcome to French Weird, a podcast dedicated to exploring the counterculture, obscure art and bizarre anomalies of contemporary France. Channeling cultural theory, esoterica and the love of a good book this shows investigates what falls through the cracks of mainstream French culture. We are tracking the liminal spaces, the bizarre subcultures and the beautiful freak-outs from the mid-twentieth century to the present day. What exactly is the French Weird? It is the territory where high philosophy meets the profoundly bizarre. In each episode, we trace the threads of a proudly rational nation simultaneously digesting global weirdness and exporting its own brand of the mysterious. French Weird explores how France's hidden eccentricities reveal the truths about its politics, literature, culture and - maybe even - identity. Subscribe now, download, and join us. When the going gets weird, the pros turn French.

  • 2 Episodes

About

Forget the accordion music, the cafés and the immaculate boulevards. There is a dark, uncanny and deeply strange texture pervading modern France—and it’s time to investigate.Welcome to French Weird, a podcast dedicated to exploring the counterculture, obscure art and bizarre anomalies of contemporary France. Channeling cultural theory, esoterica and the love of a good book this shows investigates what falls through the cracks of mainstream French culture. We are tracking the liminal spaces, the bizarre subcultures and the beautiful freak-outs from the mid-twentieth century to the present day.What exactly is the French Weird? It is the territory where high philosophy meets the profoundly bizarre. In each episode, we trace the threads of a proudly rational nation simultaneously digesting global weirdness and exporting its own brand of the mysterious.French Weird explores how France's hidden eccentricities reveal the truths about its politics, literature, culture and - maybe even - identity.Subscribe now, download, and join us. When the going gets weird, the pros turn French. For more information, or to get in touch, visit www.frenchweird.com 

Information

  • Creator
    Russell Williams
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    2
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 French Weird
  • Show Website
    French Weird