Henri Astier
@henriastier.bsky.social
Paris-born, London-based journalist. Main outlets: BBC, Times Literary Supplement, The Critic, Persuasion. https://henriastier.substack.com/
"Your generosity is infinite. May I abuse it further?" - Jack Lang to Jeffrey Epstein, 2017. The French former minister and the US predator were an ideal match. My latest
henriastier.substack.com/p/epsteins-b...
#JackLang #Epstein #France
henriastier.substack.com/p/epsteins-b...
#JackLang #Epstein #France
Epstein's best French friend
Why the flamboyant former minister Jack Lang and the disgraced financier were made for each other
henriastier.substack.com
February 12, 2026 at 7:46 AM
"Your generosity is infinite. May I abuse it further?" - Jack Lang to Jeffrey Epstein, 2017. The French former minister and the US predator were an ideal match. My latest
henriastier.substack.com/p/epsteins-b...
#JackLang #Epstein #France
henriastier.substack.com/p/epsteins-b...
#JackLang #Epstein #France
Why has the French Revolutionary Terror inspired so few novels, plays, or films? A belated discovery of Bernanos' "Dialogues of the Carmelites" made me realise just how rare such works are.
Some thoughts (in French) t.ly/e8PXo
Some thoughts (in French) t.ly/e8PXo
Dialogues des Carmélites : Les sœurs et le commissaire
Pourquoi Georges Bernanos est un des rares auteurs à avoir mis en scène la Terreur
t.ly
February 6, 2026 at 1:07 PM
Why has the French Revolutionary Terror inspired so few novels, plays, or films? A belated discovery of Bernanos' "Dialogues of the Carmelites" made me realise just how rare such works are.
Some thoughts (in French) t.ly/e8PXo
Some thoughts (in French) t.ly/e8PXo
The film "Hamnet" is full of sound and fury. But what does it signify? My take 👇
henri-astier.medium.com/film-review-...
henri-astier.medium.com/film-review-...
Film review: Hamnet ★★☆☆☆
Much ado about Stratford
henri-astier.medium.com
January 30, 2026 at 5:46 PM
The film "Hamnet" is full of sound and fury. But what does it signify? My take 👇
henri-astier.medium.com/film-review-...
henri-astier.medium.com/film-review-...
US legal issues aside, Roberto Saviano (of Gomorrah fame) sets the record straight on Venezuela: there "criminality does not infiltrate power. The two coincide... [The Venezuelan regime] protects drugs, facilitates their transit, taxes them and uses them as a geopolitical lever." bit.ly/49xgkBd
Roberto Saviano: 'Venezuela is not a narco-state, but a state that uses drugs as an instrument for the survival of those in power'
OP-ED. Western democracies have allowed the regime to survive, enabling it to strengthen itself by becoming increasingly criminalized. Today, Venezuela acts as a hub state, exhibiting advanced forms o...
bit.ly
January 8, 2026 at 10:50 AM
US legal issues aside, Roberto Saviano (of Gomorrah fame) sets the record straight on Venezuela: there "criminality does not infiltrate power. The two coincide... [The Venezuelan regime] protects drugs, facilitates their transit, taxes them and uses them as a geopolitical lever." bit.ly/49xgkBd
My latest Substack post is about the best way for a public broadcaster to lose friends and alienate people henriastier.substack.com/p/how-public... #journalism #media #BBC #radiofrance
How public broadcasters perish
The BBC and its French counterparts face populist assault. Only one has the neutrality to survive it
henriastier.substack.com
January 6, 2026 at 4:26 PM
My latest Substack post is about the best way for a public broadcaster to lose friends and alienate people henriastier.substack.com/p/how-public... #journalism #media #BBC #radiofrance
Pierre Boncenne's illuminating autobiographical essay, Colombiennes, shows what it's like to be Franco-something in a country that doesn't do hyphenation. My review here:
henriastier.substack.com/p/comment-pe... #France #identity
henriastier.substack.com/p/comment-pe... #France #identity
Comment peut-on être français?
A memoir by Pierre Boncenne, a French writer with Colombian ancestry, reveals uncomfortable truths about dual heritage
henriastier.substack.com
November 14, 2025 at 8:59 AM
Pierre Boncenne's illuminating autobiographical essay, Colombiennes, shows what it's like to be Franco-something in a country that doesn't do hyphenation. My review here:
henriastier.substack.com/p/comment-pe... #France #identity
henriastier.substack.com/p/comment-pe... #France #identity
Excellent analysis of Putin's "multipolar" world, which points to the rest of Europe as the decadent enemy. This vision jibes with Trump's anarchic new world order, where everything is up for grabs as big guys cut deals and bully small ones @institutmontaigne.bsky.social bit.ly/49giV3K
Le monde multipolaire de Vladimir Poutine
par Bernard Chappedelaine
bit.ly
October 23, 2025 at 9:03 AM
Excellent analysis of Putin's "multipolar" world, which points to the rest of Europe as the decadent enemy. This vision jibes with Trump's anarchic new world order, where everything is up for grabs as big guys cut deals and bully small ones @institutmontaigne.bsky.social bit.ly/49giV3K
Nicolas Sarkozy is now sitting a cell in Paris - a historic act of accountability, or a troubling sign of judicial overreach?👇
bit.ly/48IPLua
#France #Sarkozy #Justice
bit.ly/48IPLua
#France #Sarkozy #Justice
From Élysée Palace to prison
The jailing of Nicolas Sarkozy marks a watershed in French democracy, but is this really justice?
bit.ly
October 22, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Nicolas Sarkozy is now sitting a cell in Paris - a historic act of accountability, or a troubling sign of judicial overreach?👇
bit.ly/48IPLua
#France #Sarkozy #Justice
bit.ly/48IPLua
#France #Sarkozy #Justice
Experimental works by Turner are on show at a Sussex grand house he often visited. My latest travelogue: travelingue.substack.com/p/turners-un...
#Turner #BritishArt @nationaltrust.org.uk
#Turner #BritishArt @nationaltrust.org.uk
Turner's unvarnished masterpieces
An exhibition of sketches and studies shows the artist's raw genius
travelingue.substack.com
October 20, 2025 at 8:38 AM
Experimental works by Turner are on show at a Sussex grand house he often visited. My latest travelogue: travelingue.substack.com/p/turners-un...
#Turner #BritishArt @nationaltrust.org.uk
#Turner #BritishArt @nationaltrust.org.uk
A president tasks the same PM with the same impossible job. How might it turn out? My take on Macron's endgame: henriastier.substack.com/p/macron-a-p...
Macron - a presidential tragedy
How a bold centrist project left illiberal radicals poised to take power
henriastier.substack.com
October 13, 2025 at 11:01 AM
A president tasks the same PM with the same impossible job. How might it turn out? My take on Macron's endgame: henriastier.substack.com/p/macron-a-p...
Reposted by Henri Astier
“‘…[the Nobel Peace Prize] is the ‘Lay Down Your Arms Prize’, its most distinctive content…can be summed up in one word: disarmament’.” #thisweekthosebooks via @medium.com
medium.com/this-week-th...
medium.com/this-week-th...
October 12, 2025 at 9:10 PM
“‘…[the Nobel Peace Prize] is the ‘Lay Down Your Arms Prize’, its most distinctive content…can be summed up in one word: disarmament’.” #thisweekthosebooks via @medium.com
medium.com/this-week-th...
medium.com/this-week-th...
Macron gets blamed for France's political chaos. But as I explain in @americanpurpose.bsky.social, that's mostly unfair - and misses the deeper problem www.persuasion.community/p/the-end-of... #Macron #Lecornu #CrisePolitique
The End of Macronisme
Relentless instability is destroying France’s center.
www.persuasion.community
October 9, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Macron gets blamed for France's political chaos. But as I explain in @americanpurpose.bsky.social, that's mostly unfair - and misses the deeper problem www.persuasion.community/p/the-end-of... #Macron #Lecornu #CrisePolitique
... especially the man who finds quotes for the @economist.com
September 29, 2025 at 8:29 AM
... especially the man who finds quotes for the @economist.com
On the strange fascination of a post-modern populist with Old England... Some cogent observations by Rashmee
Trump’s reality state visit to Big Brother house in England, England www.rashmee.com/trumps-reali...
Trump’s reality state visit to Big Brother house in England, England | Rashmee Roshan Lall
Donald Trump’s second state visit to Britain brings to mind a classier reality television than the world is used to. The pomp and ceremony in and around Windsor Castle seemed like a closed set with ca...
www.rashmee.com
September 18, 2025 at 11:59 AM
On the strange fascination of a post-modern populist with Old England... Some cogent observations by Rashmee
When a country seethes with discontent, is it better for prime ministers to waltz out every six months - or cling on for dear life? My thought on political stalemate on both sides of the Channel ↓ #France #Britain #Starmer #Lecornu #PoliticalCrisis
henriastier.substack.com/p/france-and...
henriastier.substack.com/p/france-and...
France and Britain (II): a tale of two gridlocks
A prime minister falls in France and one in the UK stumbles. Which nation's political system is more broken?
henriastier.substack.com
September 15, 2025 at 9:45 AM
When a country seethes with discontent, is it better for prime ministers to waltz out every six months - or cling on for dear life? My thought on political stalemate on both sides of the Channel ↓ #France #Britain #Starmer #Lecornu #PoliticalCrisis
henriastier.substack.com/p/france-and...
henriastier.substack.com/p/france-and...
Reposted by Henri Astier
@henriastier.bsky.social is very clear, if a tad dispiriting, in his @Persuasion piece, about the problem with #France today: “given the current system, which incentivizes going for broke, there is no obvious way to make France governable again.”
open.substack.com/pub/persuasi...
open.substack.com/pub/persuasi...
What Makes a Country Ungovernable
France is pushing the limits of its Fifth Republic constitution.
open.substack.com
September 12, 2025 at 11:37 PM
@henriastier.bsky.social is very clear, if a tad dispiriting, in his @Persuasion piece, about the problem with #France today: “given the current system, which incentivizes going for broke, there is no obvious way to make France governable again.”
open.substack.com/pub/persuasi...
open.substack.com/pub/persuasi...
Reposted by Henri Astier
Crunch time for #France and prime minister François Bayrou, so @henriastier.bsky.social offers an excellent reckoning up of the state of its crisis. Might #Britain be in even deeper trouble, in terms of public debt? open.substack.com/pub/henriast...
France and Britain: a tale of two debts
Both governments are deep in the red, but which is more broke?
open.substack.com
September 7, 2025 at 11:51 PM
Crunch time for #France and prime minister François Bayrou, so @henriastier.bsky.social offers an excellent reckoning up of the state of its crisis. Might #Britain be in even deeper trouble, in terms of public debt? open.substack.com/pub/henriast...
France has no money and is about to lose its government - but is Britain really better off? The answer in my latest Substack piece: henriastier.substack.com/p/france-and...
France and Britain: a tale of two debts
Both governments are deep in the red, but which is more broke?
henriastier.substack.com
September 5, 2025 at 4:55 PM
France has no money and is about to lose its government - but is Britain really better off? The answer in my latest Substack piece: henriastier.substack.com/p/france-and...
Arctic Norway is lovely to visit, but why would anybody want to live there? The answer in my latest travelogue #norway #alta travelingue.substack.com/p/magnetic-n...
Magnetic north
Discovering why people have been drawn to Arctic Norway for 12,000 years
travelingue.substack.com
August 15, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Arctic Norway is lovely to visit, but why would anybody want to live there? The answer in my latest travelogue #norway #alta travelingue.substack.com/p/magnetic-n...
My latest travelogue is a Frenchman's ode to the "Paris of the Arctic" (no paywall or subscription needed) #Norway #travel #tromso travelingue.substack.com/p/tromso-the...
Tromso, the bipolar city
My Arctic trip starts in a Norwegian outpost honouring heroes who reached both ends of the earth
travelingue.substack.com
August 11, 2025 at 5:51 PM
My latest travelogue is a Frenchman's ode to the "Paris of the Arctic" (no paywall or subscription needed) #Norway #travel #tromso travelingue.substack.com/p/tromso-the...
The conclusion of our Scandi-Hertz misadventure explains what I wish I'd known before I picked up those car keys (no paywall or subscription needed) travelingue.substack.com/p/hertz-so-b...
Hertz so bad: my car-hire debacle
The final episode of our Nordic breakdown saga offers a cautionary tale for travellers
travelingue.substack.com
August 6, 2025 at 9:55 AM
The conclusion of our Scandi-Hertz misadventure explains what I wish I'd known before I picked up those car keys (no paywall or subscription needed) travelingue.substack.com/p/hertz-so-b...
Our Scandinavian road trip continues to unravel – the latest episode features sky-high repair bills, mystery city names, and sweltering temperatures in the Arctic (no paywall or subscription needed - just reject pop-ups) travelingue.substack.com/p/farewell-t...
Farewell to Finland
In the third part of our Nordic car-rental saga, we make it out of the country in one piece, but considerably poorer
travelingue.substack.com
August 4, 2025 at 9:32 AM
Our Scandinavian road trip continues to unravel – the latest episode features sky-high repair bills, mystery city names, and sweltering temperatures in the Arctic (no paywall or subscription needed - just reject pop-ups) travelingue.substack.com/p/farewell-t...
A map of northern Scandinavia reveals a vast expanse of wilderness between Inari at the top of Finland and Kiruna at the top of Sweden. That's where a tyre on our rented car blew out. My latest travelogue explains happened next (No paywall) bit.ly/3IRwTOB
The lament of the traveller stranded in the middle of nowhere by his car rental company
Where I find that Scandinavian efficiency can fall short
bit.ly
August 2, 2025 at 7:04 AM
A map of northern Scandinavia reveals a vast expanse of wilderness between Inari at the top of Finland and Kiruna at the top of Sweden. That's where a tyre on our rented car blew out. My latest travelogue explains happened next (No paywall) bit.ly/3IRwTOB
Between soggy sandwiches and sublime art: my latest Rome travelogue travelingue.substack.com/p/afternoon-...
Afternoon at the Pinacoteca (Rome ep 4)
How I learned to stop worrying and love art for art's sake
travelingue.substack.com
July 19, 2025 at 7:32 AM
Between soggy sandwiches and sublime art: my latest Rome travelogue travelingue.substack.com/p/afternoon-...