Are you ready for “The Underside of “Days””, folks ? Five weeks before the US presidential election, the monthly behind-the-scenes newsletter Days talks with Corentin Sellin, specialist in the United States and columnist for your favorite site for four and a half years.
On February 15, 2020, you started “This is America” on “Les Jours” with a presidential election which would perhaps see Donald Trump re-elected as head of the United States. How does it feel to start the fourth season of this series today with a new election… which is reminiscent of the previous one?
This election is obviously not the same, but it has a taste of déjà vu: the omnipresence of Donald Trump and his persistent refusal to recognize his defeat in 2020 give the impression of living a story that never ends. And I believe that for four years, we have succeeded in transmitting this feeling of continuity to subscribers. Not sure Trump did all this on purpose to The Daysbut it’s true that our concept of series and seasons has taken on its full dimension!
I experience this fourth season as the last chapter of this never-ending story. Especially since Trump said he wouldn’t run again if he lost this time. We may finally be reaching the conclusion of this saga, or at least a more decisive turning point.
Poster for the first season of “This is America”
In four years, you wrote 94 columns for “Les Jours”. How did this influence you?
What I like about Daysis that I can anchor my analyzes in research and the human sciences. Of course, this is not scientific work in the academic sense of the term, but it is serious, sourced, documented popularization, and subscribers can check the figures, the references that we add to each episode to enrich the reading. I made the choice, four years ago, to keep a regular column rather than writing a book… and 94 columns are ultimately the equivalent of several books!
Isn’t it difficult to combine the immediacy of information with the depth of the human sciences?
This is precisely the strength of our column Days. Unlike other media, where we are often subject to immediate news, here we have the luxury of time and reflection. What I find extremely valuable is that we don’t react quickly. With Raphaël Garrigos, the editorial director, we carefully choose the subjects according to their long-term importance. Will this event still be relevant in five, ten years? Does it say something fundamental about the evolution of the United States? It is this prioritization work that allows us to gain perspective on the continuous flow of information.
Take the example of the Capitol insurrection in January 2021. From the moment it happened, it was clear that this event would mark a historic turning point. But this is not the case for all news. Some seem important at the time, but with a little hindsight, they turn out to be anecdotal. Or certain events, even if dramatic, do not really allow us to grasp the essence of an era – par example, we chose not to react to every shooting, but to work in depth on the subject of firearms. It is this perspective that we can have thanks to the Daystaking the time to analyze and understand what will have lasting resonance.
This year, you are not hosting “This is America” alone: Mehdi Bouzouina is on site to complete your analyses. How do your thoughts relate to work in the field?
He can cover day-to-day news and meet voters, while I take a step back and analyze based on historical, political and quantitative data. I don’t have the gift of ubiquity, and for an election of this importance, being on site is essential.
Poster for the third season of “This is America”
How do you manage to maintain this balance between historical rigor and journalistic reporting?
This is one of the major challenges of this type of column. As a teacher, I am used to developing my ideas at length, so I had to learn to restrict myself because in a column, you have to be concise, impactful, keep a rhythm while being clear and precise. In the team, there is a private joke on the titles that I offer… sometimes more suited to a lecture course than to media! Even if I have the impression of having improved over the past four years, it is thanks to Lucile Sourdès-Cadiou and François Meurisse, editor of the Daysthat each episode has a catchy title. Thanks to them!
Recently, your work was cited by the “New York Times” after the second attempted attack on Donald Trump. Is it a consecration?
Not a consecration, but it is a very moving moment. THE New York Timesit is an absolute reference for anyone interested in international news. For someone like me, who came to America through popular culture and became a simple popularizer, to be cited in such a prestigious journal is a great recognition of the quality of the work we do here, in the Days.
In an ultra-hectic presidential campaign, gaining height is essential: to support the work of Corentin Sellin and the Dayssubscribe or donate to us!
And if not? The Days started the school year with new series: RN, the last stepto follow the conquest – upset or not – power by the far-right party; MMA, mon premier combatwhich relates the investigation of our journalist Yohann Le Coz into this combat sport… and his own entry into the octagon; Cop crimes where, every first Thursday of the month, Pierre Bafoil goes to the Bobigny court to report on cases of police violence; AI that the truth that countsby Sophian Fanen, to understand how artificial intelligence impacts and disrupts politics… And this Wednesday, yet another new series: House of tocards, or parliamentary monitoring with the sauce of Days.
