Ordinary lives, extraordinary destinies: nine witnesses recount the moment when their lives changed.
Discover the complete season 1 of Lambda, the podcast. Nine apparently ordinary destinies, which took an unexpected turn. Nine episodes available on all the usual streaming platforms (Apple Podcast, Spotify, Deezer etc.)
Here are their stories:
1 – Correspondence
Nicolas, now in his forties, always knew that getting through life would be complicated for him. As a teenager, a feeling of unease stuck to his skin. His refuge: his close relationship with his grandmother who made him discover the love of lecture and writing. And it's for the novelist Amélie Nothomb that he is passionate. He decided to get in touch with her in 2015. Since then, “an improbable correspondence” has continued with the woman he calls his “literary sister”.
An episode produced by Stéphanie Zeimet, journalist at L’Écho Républicain, from the Center France group
Production: Gwladys Laffitte, Stéphanie Delannes and Yohann Tritz
Original music: Clémence Le Gall
Graphic design: Clémence Delannes
2 – The last parlor
In his forties, a husband, three children, a liberal profession, the bourgeois comfort of a provincial life. Until this night when everything changes, when Catherine is woken up by the police. His son, a 19-year-old student, committed crime terrible before disappearing into nature. It is the starting point of a journey of resilience, of adaptation to this unknown universe of justice and the prison. Between anguish and hope, from courtroom to courtroom, ten years in the life of a mother convinced, despite herself, that parents cannot avoid everything from their children.
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An episode produced by Sophie Leclanché, journalist at La Montagne, from the Center France group
Production: Gwladys Laffitte and Stéphanie Delannes
Original music: Clémence Le Gall
Graphic design: Clémence Delannes
3 – The bombing
Louise Borel, aged 90, remembers (almost) everything, as if it were yesterday. There World War II is rarely something we forget. Even when we knew him between 5 and 10 years. Shells falling a few meters from her, a night on the church treasury while the Germans were on the prowl, a father who was arrested before her eyes, the arrival of the American saviors… L'Orléanaise tells the story with emotion this period which marked her life forever, while she was developing herself as a little girl. It still has scars today, which the current wars continue to reopen.
An episode produced by Maxime Klein, journalist at the République du Center, from the Center France group
Production: Gwladys Laffitte and Stéphanie Delannes
Original music: Clémence Le Gall
Graphic design: Clémence Delannes
4 – The medal
The destiny ofAdrien Chalmin seemed all planned out: becoming a great player in the French XV. While he had just signed a professional contract with the club rugby ASM Clermont, one of the big teams in the Top 14, and he was amassing selections for the French junior team, a serious accident in the middle of a match completely reshuffled the cards of the game of his life. Having become quadriplegic, he took the path of resilience and returned to high sporting level, reaching the Paralympic Games, four times, until Paris 2024.
An episode produced by Stéphanie Merzet, journalist at La Montagne, from the Center France group
Production: Gwladys Laffitte and Stéphanie Delannes
Original music: Clémence Le Gall
Graphic design: Clémence Delannes
Lambda, the podcast, available on all audio streaming platforms
5 – Strong
Guylain was born in the Congo into a large family on whom he imposed his difference early on. Hyperactive, stuttering, is repatriated by his father who immigrated to France, but suffers his violence to the point of fleeing and finding himself placed, with the status of a young illiterate migrant. He discovered the discipline of parkour by meeting its French founders. Climbing on the roofs of buildings, jumping, rolling, as he did as a child in the Congo, becomes his ticket to a new life. She will bring him up to the camera Luc Besson.
An episode produced by Aimy Vaillant, journalist at Populaire du Center, from the Center France group
Production: Gwladys Laffitte and Stéphanie Delannes
Original music: Clémence Le Gall
Graphic design: Clémence Delannes
6 – The turkey sitter
At almost 80 brooms, as he says, Mic Baudimant, a figure in the peasant arts and traditions of Berry, was delighted with the acquisition of La Gardienne de dindons, tableau by Maurice Sand, sold by a Parisian antiques and art dealer. It was without counting on the disappearance of the package. An incredible story for a man full of hope and wisdom.
An episode produced by Marlène Lestang, journalist at Berry Republican, from the Center France group
Production: Gwladys Laffitte and Stéphanie Delannes
Original music: Clémence Le Gall
Graphic design: Clémence Delannes
7 – Marriage
A meeting at the “singles table” during a wedding. Then a face-to-face meeting in a restaurant. L'amour does its work. However, François Charmillon had taken a vow of celibacy. He was priest. Listen to the story of our witness Lambda, lover of Love, who had to make a very difficult choice to be able to live it.
An episode produced by Pierre-François Chetail, journalist in Pays Roannais, from the Center France group
Production: Gwladys Laffitte and Stéphanie Delannes
Original music: Clémence Le Gall
Graphic design: Clémence Delannes
8 – The rain
It was supposed to be a simple voyage in Slovenia with friends. A metal festival, one of the biggest in Europe, five days of good music in the middle of the mountains, hiking… Until the rain gets involved. Elyane has no idea that she will find herself in the heart of one of the climate disasters the most important in the country.
An episode produced by Jean-Baptiste Durand, journalist at Journal du Center, from the Center France group
Production: Gwladys Laffitte and Stéphanie Delannes
Original music: Clémence Le Gall
Graphic design: Clémence Delannes
9 – The virus
She will not say her first name, as the subject is still taboo. She was in her thirties when she fell pregnant. His happiness is short-lived. The first blood test revealed that she was a carrier. HIVfatal stage. The incomprehension mixes with the fear of losing your baby, the fear of having contaminated your partner and the fear of dying. Then begins a long fight against illness and the medical profession. It is all of this, her suffering and her hopes, that she tells us in our Lambda podcast.
An episode produced by Stéphanie Delannes, journalist at La Montagne, from the Center France group
Production: Gwladys Laffitte and Stéphanie Delannes
Original music: Clémence Le Gall
Graphic design: Clémence Delannes
