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A Royal Veto Keeps Abortion Illegal in Monaco
New Lines Magazine, December 12, 2025
Women from Monaco may cross into neighboring France to obtain an abortion, as they have for decades, but within the borders of the Principality, the procedure will remain out of reach — prohibited not by medicine, lawmakers or public opinion, but by the monarchy’s religious architecture. Read
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Even Before the Louvre Heist, France Had Been Robbed
New Lines Magazine, October 23, 2025
The Louvre heist shocked France, but earlier cuts in state-funded culture and decades of neglect had already stripped museums across the country of the means to protect the country’s heritage. Read
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The Pelicot Trial Exposes France’s Jury Problem
Jacobin Magazine, October 15, 2025
In France, 88% of rape cases are tried without a peer jury. The trial of Gisèle Pelicot’s 51 rapists exposed what’s lost when justice becomes an expert affair — and what happens when ordinary people finally return to the courtroom. Read
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Gisèle Pelicot’s pedagogy of justice
Prospect Magazine, October 13, 2025
A retrial in the landmark French mass rape case is a lesson in how rape survivors are retraumatised in court. Read
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Gadhafi, Sarkozy and Flight 772
New Lines Magazine, October 6, 2025
To truly understand why the Libyan affair will have Nicolas Sarkozy sleeping in jail for criminal conspiracy, we must go back to a 1989 terror attack, and to the families who have carried its weight ever since. Read
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Epstein’s birthday book and the girls with no names
Prospect Magazine, September 17, 2025
In all the noise about the (in)famous signatories of Jeffrey Epstein’s “birthday book,” we lost sight of what this book actually is. It is not a meme or a punchline or a political prop, but an artefact of the misogyny and abuse that very real girls—now women—lived through. Read
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Four Decades After His Imprisonment, France Can’t Stop Fighting Over Georges Abdallah
New Lines Magazine, July 25, 2025
“Once a terrorist, always a terrorist?” The question has hovered over Georges Ibrahim Abdallah during his four decades in prison — not least because many do not believe the Lebanese militant ever was one. With his release, France is once again fiercely debating what his incarceration means. Read
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A Historian Surveys the Wreckage in Gaza
Jacobin Magazine, July 16, 2025
French historian of the Middle-East Jean-Pierre Filiu has visited Gaza many times — but he had to make his most recent visit in December clandestinely. Defying Israel’s attempt to control reporting, his latest book, A Historian in Gaza, is a devastating eye-witness and historical account of the destruction of Gazan society. Read
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The ‘Gulag of the Pyrénées’ — France’s Forgotten Children
Prospect Magazine, Summer 2025
A historic (and deeply political) abuse scandal at elite Catholic school Notre-Dame-de-Bétharram has consumed France—and exposed a national failure to safeguard children. Read
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The Le Pen succession crisis
Prospect Magazine, April 3, 2025
Does the National Rally leader’s conviction spell the end of a family dynasty? Read
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Womb for Improvement — A History of Medical Instruments
New Lines Magazine: In Focus, February 20, 2025
My 2024 piece on the tenaculum forceps, adapted from a Civil War-era bullet extractor, was made into a video article. Watch
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Liberty, Equality, Sorority — Finding Sisterhood at the Pelicot Rape Trial
New Lines Magazine, November 27, 2024
Gisèle Pelicot’s decision to make public the horrific details of her abuse has transformed her into a reluctant icon, galvanizing a movement of collective reckoning. The mass rape trial taking place in Avignon is not just a pursuit of justice; it is a crucible of solidarity and sisterhood. Read
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Window to the Womb — Ultrasound and the Emergence of the ‘Fetal Personhood’ Movement
New Lines Magazine, October 25, 2024
In 1984, a graphic anti-abortion film turned ultrasound into a political weapon, casting the fetus as a victim. That “window to the womb” triggered a dramatic shift in the U.S. abortion debate, reshaping public perception of fetal life and death—and laid the groundwork for modern fetal personhood laws. Read
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Autour de Minuit — Montreuil
Arte, 12 septembre 2024
[journaliste enquêtrice] Autour de Minuit c’est une expérience audiovisuelle extraordinaire : le numéro 0 d’une série documentaire réalisée en direct, un programme journalistique et poétique dans la ville de Montreuil. Une déambulation nocturne mêlant des images immersives et contemplatives, des entretiens au long court, et une musique mixée en direct. Regarder le replay
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Où sont-ils? How Argentina’s Disappeared Took Center Stage in Paris
New Lines Magazine, August 2, 2024 [with Phineas Rueckert]
Some three decades after the French Resistance had found its foothold in Buenos Aires, the Argentinian Resistance found its own in Paris. This iteration was bold, colorful and — in perhaps stereotypically Latin American form — theatrical. Read
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¡Viva la Resistencia! How Exiles in Argentina Shaped France’s Resistance to Nazi Occupation
New Lines Magazine, June 7, 2024 [with Phineas Rueckert]
After the Nazis marched into France in 1940, a French veteran living almost 7,000 miles away in Buenos Aires started a small bulletin to counter fascist ideology — and sparked what would become one of the largest Free French resistance movements in the world. Read
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The French Left Is United, Not for the First Time
New Lines Magazine, July 5, 2024
Just a few days after Macron’s explosive dissolution of the National Assembly, 25 parties on the French left chose unity, forming the New Popular Front to counter the risk of a far-right majority. But what, if anything, can be learned from the first Popular Front of the 1930s? Read
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Élections européennes : de Bayeux à Oradour, les « villes mémoires » de 1944 ont mis le RN en tête
Libération, 11 juin 2024
Visitées par le Président au fil des commémorations des derniers mois, toutes ces « villes mémoires », témoins de l’Occupation et de la Libération, ont voté (parfois massivement) pour le RN ce dimanche. Lire
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At Your Cervix — The Medical Instrument Behind 135 Years of Women’s Pain
New Lines Magazine, May 24, 2024
In 1889, French surgeon Samuel Pozzi, inspired by an American Civil War-era bullet extractor, invented an instrument to ease gynecological exams and provide better care for women. Despite causing debilitating pain, it is still used worldwide 135 years later. Read
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Andres Serrano, miroir d’une Amérique incandescente
Herodote.net, 24 mai 2024
Avec « Portraits de l’Amérique » (30 avril–20 octobre 2024), le musée Maillol propose un voyage dans l’œuvre étatsunienne d’un artiste provocateur. L’exposition livre le portrait anthropologique d’une Amérique fracturée, telle qu’Andres Serrano la croise au quotidien depuis quarante ans. Et telle qu’il la sent évoluer sous son objectif, vers toujours plus de violence, de déclassement, et de marginalisation. Lire
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Derrière le compte «Gaullisme_Fr», une petite main du RN
Libération, 22 mai 2024
Suivi par près de 25 000 personnes sur X, le compte mêle promotion du Général et prises de position politiques parfois discutées. Il est tenu par Rémy Berthonneau, assistant parlementaire du député RN Alexandre Loubet. Lire
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4 avril 1944 : Quand le Parti communiste français entre au gouvernement
L’Humanité Magazine, 11 avril 2024
Le 4 avril 1944, après de longs mois de négociations, deux ministres communistes sont nommés au Comité français de libération nationale. Pour la première fois de son histoire, le Parti communiste français devient un parti de gouvernement… sous de Gaulle ! Lire
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Marie-Andrée Schwindenhammer : les débuts médiatiques d’une pionnière de la transidentité
Retronews, 11 avril 2024
Marie-Andrée Schwindenhammer naît assignée homme en 1909. Militante pionnière de la transidentité dès les années 1960, elle se fait d’abord connaître dans l’entre-deux-guerres pour de menus larcins qui, alliés à la personnalité de l’accusée, font les gorges chaudes des journaux. Lire
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L’histoire de Marie-Andrée Schwindenhammer, pionnière de la cause trans
Têtu• Magazine, 29 mars 2024
Fondatrice dès 1965 de la première association trans en France, Marie-Andrée Schwindenhammer eut une vie rocambolesque qui la mena des champs de bataille à la prison, puis aux cabarets de Paris où elle a connu Coccinelle et Bambi. Lire
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Argentine : les Mères de la place de Mai menacées de disparition par Javier Milei
Causette, 26 mars 2024
Ce dimanche 24 mars, à Buenos Aires, plusieurs dizaines de milliers de manifestant·es se sont rassemblé·es pour dire leur soutien aux Mères de la place de Mai, qui recherchent inlassablement leurs enfants disparu·es pendant la dictature. Pour la première fois depuis plus de quarante ans, leur mouvement est menacé par le gouvernement négationniste de Javier Milei, qui tente de les bâillonner et a annulé leur émission Madres de la Plaza. Lire
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Five Centuries Ago, France Came to America
France-Amérique Magazine, March 2024
This is the story of two discoveries. The first took place in March 1524, when an explorer, hired by King Francis I to find a sailing route to China, stumbled across the American East Coast. The second was just over 75 years ago, when this forgotten chapter in transatlantic history was uncovered. This is the story of Giovanni da Verrazzano, the sailor who never reached Asia, but became the first European to set foot on the site of the future city of New York. Read
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“In the U.S., a Girl Can Make Her Dreams Come True!”
France-Amérique Magazine, March 2024
For many years, Marinette Pichon was France’s top goal scorer. The former national team captain was also the first French female soccer player to sign a professional contract when she joined the Philadelphia Charge in 2002. Now working as a coach in Quebec, Marinette Pichon continues to campaign for women’s sports and LGBTQ+ rights on both sides of the Atlantic. Read
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The Merci Train, Laying the Tracks of French-American Friendship
France-Amérique Magazine, February 2024
A granite plaque used to be set into Broadway’s Canyon of Heroes, a former testament to its passage down this avenue. But who still remembers the “Merci Train,” sent by France to the United States 75 years ago? Between World War II and the Cold War, this convoy of symbolic gifts renewed cultural diplomacy between our two countries. Read
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Eugene Bullard, a Pilot’s Struggle for Freedom
France-Amérique Magazine, February 2024
He flew for liberty, equality, and fraternity. This grandson of Georgia slaves volunteered for the Foreign Legion during World War I and became the first African American fighter pilot, a hero of French aviation – before being disgraced, sidelined, and forgotten by his native country. Read
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Chamonix 1924: Inventing the Winter Olympics
France-Amérique Magazine, January 2024
One hundred years ago, 258 athletes from 16 countries and 10,000 spectators flocked to the French Alps for an event that would go down in international sporting history: the first Winter Olympics! In the run-up to Paris 2024 and the 2030 Winter Games, which will also be held in France, we take a look back at twelve days of sports and diplomacy. Read
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Hollywood Takes on the Napoleonic Legend
France-Amérique Magazine, January 2024
Nearly 200 years after his death, Napoleon remains an ever-present source of fascination and controversy. Ridley Scott’s biopic has catapulted the Emperor’s face and complex legacy onto buses, buildings, and movie screens across the world. To sort myths from facts, we sat down with Princeton historian and Napoleon biographer David Bell, who investigates what he calls the “Napoleonic cult” and the Emperor’s lasting hold on the collective imagination. Read
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Pierre Cartier, the Man Who Made Jewelry for American Presidents
France-Amérique Magazine, December 2023
This is the story of three brothers and an empire. To sell his jewelry in the United States, Pierre Cartier mingled with celebrities, titans of industry, and presidents, and created a network of alliances. During World War II, he stood with Pétain and Roosevelt before supporting de Gaulle. Read
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Betsy Jolas, a Finely Tuned French-American Life
France-Amérique Magazine, October 2023
She learned her scales between Paris, New York City, and Vermont, composed more than 250 pieces played by the world’s greatest orchestras, and spent time with James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway, and Joan Mitchell. France-Amérique met French-American composer Betsy Jolas, a contemporary music pioneer who, at the age of 97, still creates with the same intensity. Read
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New York Fashion Week’s Transatlantic Heritage
France-Amérique Magazine, September 2023
From September 8 to 13, the fashion elite will descend upon Bryant Park for the latest edition of New York Fashion Week. Yet many may be surprised to learn that this event was founded in part because of World War II. Eighty years ago, finding themselves unable to make their usual trip to Paris, American designers organized their own week of shows. Read
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Chartreuse, Victim of Its Own Success in the U.S.
France-Amérique Magazine, July-August 2023
Catapulted into the spotlight by the cocktail renaissance, this mysterious liqueur made by monks in Isère has gained a huge following in America. But the holy men of the Chartreuse Mountains have decided to ignore skyrocketing demand to focus on prayer and avoid overharvesting the 130 different plants, herbs, and spices used in a recipe kept secret for more than 250 years. A story of a French-American shortage, pitting monastic life against capitalism. Read
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La Marseillaise, a Taste of Free France in Manhattan
France-Amérique Magazine, July-August 2023
Where could one dance to accordion music, meet fellow French comrades-in-arms, or bump into Marlene Dietrich, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Jean Gabin? La Marseillaise, of course ! This community center and restaurant, open from 1943 to 1946, was a Gallic enclave on the East Side, serving both as a makeshift mess hall and a political club supporting General de Gaulle. Read
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Alexander Calder, an Artist Fighting for Free France
France-Amérique Magazine, June 2023
In 1942, the American sculptor signed up for the Marine Corps, only to see his application rejected. Refusing to take no for an answer, he chose to contribute to fight for the Liberation of France through art. He designed an impressive mobile sporting the colors of the French flag and a Cross of Lorraine – the symbol of General de Gaulle. This was just one of several acts of political activism undertaken by this “adopted Frenchman.” Read
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The Battle of New York and the Birth of France-Amérique
France-Amérique Magazine, May 2023
The very first issue of France-Amérique was published on May 23, 1943. At the time, it was a deeply political newspaper. Against the backdrop of clashing opinions within New York City’s French community, the new weekly clearly stated its intentions: to raise awareness of the Free French cause among Americans, and to support the resistance effort organized by General de Gaulle. Read
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Iconic by France-Amérique – The 80th Anniversary Issue
France-Amérique editions, 2023
[author] This year France-Amérique celebrates 80 years ! What better way to mark such a milestone than with some carefully chosen words? With this in mind, we read through our archive, identified 80 significant terms, and created an iconic, quirky, pop-inspired special edition, giving you the very best of France in the United States.
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Pierre Laval, a Nazi “Puppet” in New York City
France-Amérique, 27 January 2023
Eighty years after Pierre Laval created the Milice Française, a plaque in Manhattan commemorating the man behind the Vél’ d’Hiv Roundup and France’s collaboration with Nazi Germany is still relatively unknown. As is another one honoring Marshal Pétain. Read
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Cohabitation douloureuse entre Macron, De Gaulle et une historienne
Arrêt sur images, le 17 janvier 2022
Quand est sorti le magazine Légende, Ludivine Bantigny, l’une des autrices (et historienne), tousse : les chercheuses et chercheurs n’avaient pas été averti·es de la présence d’un texte d’Emmanuel Macron lui-même ! D’autant plus gênant que le directeur de la publication Éric Fottorino a un long passif avec le ministre puis avec le président, sa publication majeure Le 1 ayant été fondée grâce au financement du mentor de Macron, Henry Hermand. Lire
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Florian Philippot, itinéraire d’un exhibi-gaulliste
Arrêt sur images, le 22 septembre 2021
Diane de Vignemont, « apprentie historienne » comme elle se nomme, a remonté avec amusement et précision le fil de la gaullomania de Florian Philippot, depuis sa courte période chevènementiste jusqu’à sa campagne obstinée contre le pass sanitaire, en passant par le Front national et la création du mouvement Les Patriotes. YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat et Facebook : pas un réseau social n’échappe à son obsession gaullienne. Lire
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1940 ! Paroles de rebelles
Éditions Lienart, septembre 2020
Dans le cadre de « l’année de Gaulle », le musée de l’Ordre de la Libération s’interroge sur le « mystère de l’engagement » en donnant la parole aux pionniers de la Résistance : les Compagnons de la Libération. Catalogue d’exposition sous la direction de Vladimir Trouplin, Diane de Vignemont, et Lionel Dardenne. Acheter
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Que contient le cadre disposé sur le bureau de Macron ? Le « mystère » du grigri présidentiel résolu
L’Obs, le 3 mai 2020
Cadeau de la famille Chirac, ce cadre contient un portrait du général de Gaulle, explique Diane de Vignemont, « apprentie historienne ». Lire
Diane de VIGNEMONT 