The Debate

A live debate on the topic of the day, with four guests. From Monday to Thursday at 7:10pm Paris time.

The Debate is a news podcast hosted by FRANCE 24 English, with 21 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

FRANCE 24 English hosts The Debate, a news show with 21 episodes published.

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  The Debate

  The Ceuta effect: how far will Europe's anti-migrant backlash go?

  Sep 17, 202646 min

  As the United States threatens Europe with more tariffs and eyes Greenland, Russia tests the continent’s resolve over Ukraine and the planet overheats, where do citizens feel the biggest threat is coming from? In her Wednesday state of the Union speech, the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen went big on manning the borders, suggesting new tools to better deal with migration. This comes against in a context of Ceuta where over two days in July, tens of thousands of mostly Moroccans overran Spain’s North African enclave. A blame game ensued as well as a diplomatic row between Madrid’s Socialist-led government and Italian far-right leader Georgia Meloni. Then there was the return of border checks in places like Germany where the far-right’s again eyeing inroads in regional elections this coming weekend. Our panel will comment on some of Real Madrid’s top stars refusing a show of solidarity with Ceuta which they say could be misinterpreted as an anti-migrant message. What do Europeans want? And what does an aging population need? Produced by François Picard, Théophile Vareille, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Delphine Liou.

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  The Debate

  The 28th state? Carney's Canada draws closer to European Union

  Sep 16, 202642 min

  US president Donald Trump has previously talked about making Canada the 51st state, Now, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is in Europe, and the president of the European Commission has proposed the country ‘associate membership’. In this edition, we ask what that means and how it differs from the close status afforded to Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and the UK – countries which Carney is also visiting ahead of his own Strasbourg speech Thursday before the European Parliament. What are Canada’s options? What are Europe’s options as both the US and Russia are eyeing the Arctic ? How closer can they really get when already ten EU nations – including France and Italy – have yet to ratify the CETA free trade agreement that is provisionally in effect with Ottawa? The French – who have their own challenges with the far-right favourite to win next May’s presidential elections – will conclude this Canadian cycle when Emmanuel Macron hosts Carney in the tiny North Atlantic overseas territory of Saint Pierre and Miquelon. Ahead of the UN General Assembly in New York , we ask: will Europeans take on the United States head-on like Canada ? Or will they massage relations with the world's biggest superpower? Produced by François Picard, Théophile Vareille, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Charles Wente.

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  The Debate

  First Hormuz, now the Red Sea? Oil spikes as Saudis sucked into Yemen spiral

  Sep 15, 202644 min

  First, there was US President Donald Trump’s surprise decision to strike Iran. Then, came the quagmire of a war without an exit strategy. Now, six months later, with access to the Strait of Hormuz all but shut, global shipping has taken another hit the other end of the Arabian Peninsula. Iran-backed Houthis are threatening access to the Red Sea. Whereas Washington jumped at Israel’s request to take out Iran’s Supreme Leader in February, he is reluctant to go all in for his other ally in the region. In this edition FRANCE 24’s François Picard asks: why the sudden escalation between the Saudis and the Houthis, what to make of an Iraqi Shia militia hitting the kingdom’s main East-West pipeline and what who can ease our newfound energy insecurity and a Gulf region. Produced by François Picard, Antonia Cimini, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Charles Wente.

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  The Debate

  Where is the kill switch? AI doomsday warnings trigger calls to regulate

  Sep 14, 202645 min

  Talk about doomsday scrolling. In the past week, our timelines have been alight with dark predictions of our imminent demise, including the one by a Silicon Valley engineer who puts a number on the chances of artificial intelligence wiping out humanity. Better than 10-percent. Triggering the wave of panic, the recent breach of the machine-learning programmers' site Hugging Face by AI machines who banded together to keep their nefarious deeds secret from their human overlords. Can machines actually destroy the planet on their own? In the age of technology, does problem solving always override safety? Forget hitting pause on the AI race, insists the US president. That’s only gifting world dominance to China. As for the tech titans of Silicon Valley, they're perharps serving up are mixed messages: Regulate us, insert guard rails and kill switches, they profess, but don’t stymy innovation at a time when we’re trying to raise record sums for data centers, computing capacity and all that enables scaling up in a hurry. So how do you put safety first? Produced by François Picard, Maya Yataghene, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Charles Wente.

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  The Debate

  9/11 then and now: Do September 2001 attacks still shape our world?

  Sep 10, 202645 min

  Once in a generation, sometimes once in a lifetime, a singular event blindsides the entire planet. 25 years on, does the memory of the Nine-Eleven attacks against New York's Twin Towers, the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania fade into history or is it still as raw and vivid as on that sunny September morning? Back then, the world was still processing the end of the Cold War. Western spies who'd learned Russian suddenly had to take Arabic lessons, the element of surprise compounded by the shock of non-state actors killing thousands on U-S soil. Each big anniversary since has been a marker of its own time. Ten years ago, it was in the wake of the Paris attacks and Isis' bid to establish a caliphate in Syria and Iraq. Five years ago, it was during Covid when the whole planet faced a whole new unforseen common challenge. We'll ask our panel how the present informs the past and the past informs the present... a present that's more connected and plugged-in and also more fractured, what with the balance of power between old allies and rivals currently in flux. What can we learn from September 11th?f Produced by François Picard, Maya Yataghène, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Andrew Hilliar.

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