Muriel Zagha
@murielzagha.bsky.social
Writer & broadcaster; film specialist – BBC, TLS, ENGELSBERG IDEAS, APOLLO, SPECTATOR and others; Critics’ Circle; French Londoner
Garlic&Pearls podcast
@garlicandpearls.bsky.social
Instagram @murielzaghawriter
http://muckrack.com/muriel-zagha-3
Garlic&Pearls podcast
@garlicandpearls.bsky.social
Instagram @murielzaghawriter
http://muckrack.com/muriel-zagha-3
This week on @garlicandpearls.bsky.social we raise an awkward question: in the land of Descartes and the cult of Reason, why is there such a close connection between FRENCH POLITICIANS AND CLAIRVOYANTS?
@suzanneraine.bsky.social
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...
@suzanneraine.bsky.social
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...
November 28, 2025 at 8:44 AM
This week on @garlicandpearls.bsky.social we raise an awkward question: in the land of Descartes and the cult of Reason, why is there such a close connection between FRENCH POLITICIANS AND CLAIRVOYANTS?
@suzanneraine.bsky.social
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...
@suzanneraine.bsky.social
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...
My essay on Powell and Pressburger’s I Know Where I’m Going is available on this week’s Spectator Out Loud podcast, in distinguished company and read out in my best broadcasting voice. Tune in and then watch this marvellous film.
#ikwig #mull #powellpressburger #iknowwhereimgoing
#ikwig #mull #powellpressburger #iknowwhereimgoing
November 26, 2025 at 11:28 AM
My essay on Powell and Pressburger’s I Know Where I’m Going is available on this week’s Spectator Out Loud podcast, in distinguished company and read out in my best broadcasting voice. Tune in and then watch this marvellous film.
#ikwig #mull #powellpressburger #iknowwhereimgoing
#ikwig #mull #powellpressburger #iknowwhereimgoing
On @garlicandpearls.bsky.social we ask: where did those 11 days go when the British year was gouged in the 18th century? 🤔 @suzanneraine.bsky.social has the answers! Tune in!
November 25, 2025 at 7:12 PM
On @garlicandpearls.bsky.social we ask: where did those 11 days go when the British year was gouged in the 18th century? 🤔 @suzanneraine.bsky.social has the answers! Tune in!
We at @garlicandpearls.bsky.social - myself and @suzanneraine.bsky.social
are so grateful for all your feedback. We’re very encouraged. Onwards and upwards!
are so grateful for all your feedback. We’re very encouraged. Onwards and upwards!
November 25, 2025 at 9:17 AM
We at @garlicandpearls.bsky.social - myself and @suzanneraine.bsky.social
are so grateful for all your feedback. We’re very encouraged. Onwards and upwards!
are so grateful for all your feedback. We’re very encouraged. Onwards and upwards!
This week on @garlicandpearls.bsky.social an ASTONISHING account of THE BRITISH TAX YEAR by @suzanneraine.bsky.social
opens a vertiginous crack in time! A story of mathematics and astrology, Popes, bishops and archbishops, Catholicism and the Reformation, and, of course, Acts of Parliament!
opens a vertiginous crack in time! A story of mathematics and astrology, Popes, bishops and archbishops, Catholicism and the Reformation, and, of course, Acts of Parliament!
November 21, 2025 at 11:37 AM
This week on @garlicandpearls.bsky.social an ASTONISHING account of THE BRITISH TAX YEAR by @suzanneraine.bsky.social
opens a vertiginous crack in time! A story of mathematics and astrology, Popes, bishops and archbishops, Catholicism and the Reformation, and, of course, Acts of Parliament!
opens a vertiginous crack in time! A story of mathematics and astrology, Popes, bishops and archbishops, Catholicism and the Reformation, and, of course, Acts of Parliament!
Very interesting discussion last night at St Bartholomew the Great with Fergus Butler-Gallie,
author of Twelve Churches. Opened avenues of thought about sense of place, beauty and imperfection, the importance of the physical, and possible antidotes to online addiction (guilty!).
author of Twelve Churches. Opened avenues of thought about sense of place, beauty and imperfection, the importance of the physical, and possible antidotes to online addiction (guilty!).
November 21, 2025 at 10:51 AM
Very interesting discussion last night at St Bartholomew the Great with Fergus Butler-Gallie,
author of Twelve Churches. Opened avenues of thought about sense of place, beauty and imperfection, the importance of the physical, and possible antidotes to online addiction (guilty!).
author of Twelve Churches. Opened avenues of thought about sense of place, beauty and imperfection, the importance of the physical, and possible antidotes to online addiction (guilty!).
For @thespectator1828.bsky.social I wrote about a pilgrimage to the Western Isles with fellow fans of Powell and Pressburger’s 1945 sophisticated romance I Know Where I’m Going! Monochrome beauty, sense of place, a complex emotional heft - it is at once eerie and comforting - and visual trickery!
November 21, 2025 at 10:21 AM
For @thespectator1828.bsky.social I wrote about a pilgrimage to the Western Isles with fellow fans of Powell and Pressburger’s 1945 sophisticated romance I Know Where I’m Going! Monochrome beauty, sense of place, a complex emotional heft - it is at once eerie and comforting - and visual trickery!
As we prepare to usher in a new cracking episode tomorrow, here’s a regal-looking Agatha Christie in 1962, cutting a 10-year celebration cake for The Mousetrap. Note the cake, shaped like a giant mousetrap - and the dashing use of a sword!
@pennymordaunt.bsky.social
@pennymordaunt.bsky.social
November 20, 2025 at 10:38 AM
As we prepare to usher in a new cracking episode tomorrow, here’s a regal-looking Agatha Christie in 1962, cutting a 10-year celebration cake for The Mousetrap. Note the cake, shaped like a giant mousetrap - and the dashing use of a sword!
@pennymordaunt.bsky.social
@pennymordaunt.bsky.social
This week on @garlicandpearls.bsky.social it’s the EXTREMELY DRAMATIC second part of our theatrical diptych or face-off. Last week @suzanneraine.bsky.social presented THE MOUSETRAP. My turn to discuss THE BALD PRIMADONNA, Ionesco’s Absurdist success story. How on earth? Link in response post …
November 19, 2025 at 12:59 PM
This week on @garlicandpearls.bsky.social it’s the EXTREMELY DRAMATIC second part of our theatrical diptych or face-off. Last week @suzanneraine.bsky.social presented THE MOUSETRAP. My turn to discuss THE BALD PRIMADONNA, Ionesco’s Absurdist success story. How on earth? Link in response post …
Meanwhile, may I direct you all to two masterpieces of French cinema about adultery? La femme d’à côté/The Woman Next Door by Francois Truffaut and La femme infidèle/The Unfaithful Wife by Claude Chabrol. Once seen, never forgotten.
November 18, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Meanwhile, may I direct you all to two masterpieces of French cinema about adultery? La femme d’à côté/The Woman Next Door by Francois Truffaut and La femme infidèle/The Unfaithful Wife by Claude Chabrol. Once seen, never forgotten.
Delighted to have appeared on Times Radio Drive with John Pienaar to discuss a French dating website promoting adultery and what this says about the French. Are we an immoral people? Not entirely! Are we more forgiving of pleasure-seeking lapses? Quite possibly.
November 18, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Delighted to have appeared on Times Radio Drive with John Pienaar to discuss a French dating website promoting adultery and what this says about the French. Are we an immoral people? Not entirely! Are we more forgiving of pleasure-seeking lapses? Quite possibly.
So many lovely reviews of @garlicandpearls.bsky.social coming from our listeners! Suzanne and I are delighted and very grateful. Do keep them coming - it really, really helps!
November 18, 2025 at 2:35 PM
So many lovely reviews of @garlicandpearls.bsky.social coming from our listeners! Suzanne and I are delighted and very grateful. Do keep them coming - it really, really helps!
In the second part of our nail-biting theatrical diptych on THE GREATEST PLAY EVER, I fly the flag for THE BALD PRIMADONNA, the longest running play in France. Tune in and find out how this Absurdist prank bedded into the repertoire, and what it says about 🇫🇷!
@theatre-huchette.bsky.social
@theatre-huchette.bsky.social
November 14, 2025 at 2:03 PM
In the second part of our nail-biting theatrical diptych on THE GREATEST PLAY EVER, I fly the flag for THE BALD PRIMADONNA, the longest running play in France. Tune in and find out how this Absurdist prank bedded into the repertoire, and what it says about 🇫🇷!
@theatre-huchette.bsky.social
@theatre-huchette.bsky.social
In the first part of our nail-biting theatrical diptych on THR GREATEST PLAY EVER, @suzanneraine.bsky.social makes a fine case for THE MOUSETRAP, the longest running play in Britain. Tune in and find out about the play, its historical hinterland and meaning about 🇬🇧!
November 10, 2025 at 10:26 AM
In the first part of our nail-biting theatrical diptych on THR GREATEST PLAY EVER, @suzanneraine.bsky.social makes a fine case for THE MOUSETRAP, the longest running play in Britain. Tune in and find out about the play, its historical hinterland and meaning about 🇬🇧!
Watched Susan Seidelman’s Desperately Seeking Susan again last night. Wonderful capsule of 1985 New York. The playful script is watertight. In the Magic Club’s dressing room a mannequin with Claudette Colbert’s face indicates the film’s screwball parentage…
November 8, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Watched Susan Seidelman’s Desperately Seeking Susan again last night. Wonderful capsule of 1985 New York. The playful script is watertight. In the Magic Club’s dressing room a mannequin with Claudette Colbert’s face indicates the film’s screwball parentage…
This week on the @garlicandpearls.bsky.social podcast @suzanneraine.bsky.social and I go to the theatre, in the first part of a diptych about the longest-running plays in Britain and in France. First - yes, it’s THE MOUSETRAP!
#themousetrap✨
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/gar…
#themousetrap✨
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/gar…
November 7, 2025 at 10:30 AM
This week on the @garlicandpearls.bsky.social podcast @suzanneraine.bsky.social and I go to the theatre, in the first part of a diptych about the longest-running plays in Britain and in France. First - yes, it’s THE MOUSETRAP!
#themousetrap✨
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/gar…
#themousetrap✨
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/gar…
How did the French come to build the largest ossuary in the world in the PARIS CATACOMBS? And who decided to turn an accumulation of bones into an underground promenade museum dotted with pyramids and other neo-classical monuments? Tune in to a spooky Gallic episode of @garlicandpearls.bsky.social
November 5, 2025 at 12:02 PM
How did the French come to build the largest ossuary in the world in the PARIS CATACOMBS? And who decided to turn an accumulation of bones into an underground promenade museum dotted with pyramids and other neo-classical monuments? Tune in to a spooky Gallic episode of @garlicandpearls.bsky.social
Double film recommendation - My Man Godfrey (1936) and Madame Bovary (1991)
and a moment of realisation: in those roles Carole Lombard and Isabelle Huppert remind me of one another - it’s the helpless yearning embodied by both characters but also a sort of air de famille between the two.
and a moment of realisation: in those roles Carole Lombard and Isabelle Huppert remind me of one another - it’s the helpless yearning embodied by both characters but also a sort of air de famille between the two.
November 4, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Double film recommendation - My Man Godfrey (1936) and Madame Bovary (1991)
and a moment of realisation: in those roles Carole Lombard and Isabelle Huppert remind me of one another - it’s the helpless yearning embodied by both characters but also a sort of air de famille between the two.
and a moment of realisation: in those roles Carole Lombard and Isabelle Huppert remind me of one another - it’s the helpless yearning embodied by both characters but also a sort of air de famille between the two.
It’s that time of year again, so here’s a reminder that before podcasting on @garlicandpearls.bsky.social about Frenchness and Britishness @suzanneraine.bsky.social and I were once vampire slayers.
Which provides another kind of hinterland for the garlic in our name.
Happy Halloween!
Which provides another kind of hinterland for the garlic in our name.
Happy Halloween!
November 1, 2025 at 5:50 PM
It’s that time of year again, so here’s a reminder that before podcasting on @garlicandpearls.bsky.social about Frenchness and Britishness @suzanneraine.bsky.social and I were once vampire slayers.
Which provides another kind of hinterland for the garlic in our name.
Happy Halloween!
Which provides another kind of hinterland for the garlic in our name.
Happy Halloween!
This week on @garlicandpearls.bsky.social it’s Halloween. The French don’t do Halloween (‘Allo Ouine? Qu’est-ce que c’est?’) - so instead @suzanneraine.bsky.social and I contemplate the wondrous Paris Catacombs. Bones! Skulls!A neo-classical theatrical display! Tune in - remember you must die…
October 31, 2025 at 10:36 AM
This week on @garlicandpearls.bsky.social it’s Halloween. The French don’t do Halloween (‘Allo Ouine? Qu’est-ce que c’est?’) - so instead @suzanneraine.bsky.social and I contemplate the wondrous Paris Catacombs. Bones! Skulls!A neo-classical theatrical display! Tune in - remember you must die…
October 29, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Favourite images of PS.
October 28, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Favourite images of PS.
Join us this week on @garlicandpearls.bsky.social with @suzanneraine.bsky.social and our guest Graham Robb. We discuss how Britain and France were REALLY made, Ptolemaic maps, wooden saints dragged through nettles, beacons on a small island and France’s forgotten untouchables - the cagots!
October 28, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Join us this week on @garlicandpearls.bsky.social with @suzanneraine.bsky.social and our guest Graham Robb. We discuss how Britain and France were REALLY made, Ptolemaic maps, wooden saints dragged through nettles, beacons on a small island and France’s forgotten untouchables - the cagots!
Still in rapturous haze after this weekend’s film pilgrimage to Mull, which I will write about soon… #IKWIG #Iknowwhereimgoing #powellpressburger
October 27, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Still in rapturous haze after this weekend’s film pilgrimage to Mull, which I will write about soon… #IKWIG #Iknowwhereimgoing #powellpressburger
This week on our dual-facing 🇫🇷 and 🇬🇧 podcast @garlicandpearls.bsky.social @suzanneraine.bsky.social and I welcome the brilliant and equally dual facing historian Graham Robb ✨to discuss THE REAL MAKING OF BRITAIN AND FRANCE! Tribes! Pathways! Maps! Saints!
@picadorbooks.bsky.social
@picadorbooks.bsky.social
October 24, 2025 at 5:35 PM
This week on our dual-facing 🇫🇷 and 🇬🇧 podcast @garlicandpearls.bsky.social @suzanneraine.bsky.social and I welcome the brilliant and equally dual facing historian Graham Robb ✨to discuss THE REAL MAKING OF BRITAIN AND FRANCE! Tribes! Pathways! Maps! Saints!
@picadorbooks.bsky.social
@picadorbooks.bsky.social