The story of 7 extraordinary destinies to discover in podcast

Critique
TéléObs recommends stories about spies, journalists, Resistance fighters, crooks…

“Les Résistantes” by Philippe Collin

If remarkable heroines played a crucial, and often pioneering, role in the fight against Nazism, women long remained the forgotten people of the Resistance. In his podcast, Philippe Collin pays tribute to five of them. Two are illustrious figures: Lucie Aubrac (incarnated by the voice of Aurore Clément) and Geneviève de Gaulle (Laure Calamy), niece of the General.

The other three are much less known. We discover the exceptional destiny of Mila Racine (Anne Brochet), a Jewish resistance fighter who helped many children cross the Swiss border illegally, before being arrested and deported. That of Simonne Mathieu (Romane Bohringer), tennis champion, who led the French Volunteer Corps in London, before joining the secret services of Free France.

And that, finally, of Renée Davelly (Anna Mouglalis), accordionist and singer, who participated in supporting the morale of the troops. Thanks to the work of eminent historians and precious official and family archives, Philippe Collin brilliantly manages to give substance to this female Resistance which was, after the war, largely invisible. H.R.

Radiofrance.fr/Franceinte

“Frank Abagnale Jr., the Swindler with 1,000 Faces” by Andrea Brusque

He inspired Steven Spielberg – “Catch Me If You Can”, with Leonardo DiCaprio. At 16, Frank Abagnale Jr. fled his home after his parents' divorce. In New York, he lives on fake checks and under false identities. Posing as a Pan American airline pilot, he benefits from flights and hotels at the company's expense. It is estimated that between the ages of 16 and 18, the young man traveled nearly a million kilometers.

He swapped the uniform for a pediatrician's coat in Georgia, then taught as a sociology professor in Utah, before becoming a lawyer with the Louisiana prosecutor's office. Hunted by the FBI, he fled to France where his mother was from. His run ended in 1969: he was arrested and imprisoned in Perpignan, then extradited to Sweden before being sent back to the United States.

While he was sentenced to twelve years in prison, in 1974 he was offered a way out by the federal government on the condition of helping the authorities fight fraud. He thus became an FBI consultant, then created his security consulting company. An extraordinary journey for this man who honored himself by repaying the debts of his former life. N.B.

“The Fabulous Destiny” – Originals.Bababam.com

“Lionel Crabb, Frogman and Her Majesty’s Spy” by Stéphanie Duncan

After a first season which recorded over 4.5 million views, Stéphanie Duncan returns with new stories of secret agents who have left their mark on the world of intelligence. In this episode, she tells the story of Lionel Crabb, a frogman specializing in port mine clearance during the Second World War, whose disappearance remains a mystery.

It occurred on April 19, 1956, at a time when East-West relations were warming up, as evidenced by Khrushchev's visit to England, whose boat anchored in Portsmouth. What happened that day? Crabb, who then claims to have retrained as a furniture dealer, left his hotel room saying he would be back late in the afternoon. A year later, the corpse of a headless, handsless frogman was recovered.

Despite the difficulty in identifying it, the Royal Navy, led by Lord Mountbatten, a member of the royal family, declared it as Crabb's. Since then, the murky circumstances surrounding his disappearance have fueled a host of conspiracy theories. His file is closed until 2056. N.B.

“Spies, a true story” – Radiofrance.fr/franceinter

“Albert speaks to us” by Anne Poiret

September 21, 1914. On the front page of « Matin »a report on the bombing of Reims Cathedral by the Germans surprises readers. Signed by a certain Albert Londres, it stands out for its poetic style, making them sensitive witnesses to the violence of war. The man who originally dreamed of being a poet and until then wrote political columns now appears to everyone for what he is: a great reporter. Over several decades, his writing talent will never fade, under all circumstances.

In a series of 10 episodes, successively dedicated to his unique perspective or his talent as an investigator, the Albert-Londres prize, which rewards the best reporters in France each year, pays tribute to the master of the genre. Presented by Anne Poiret (2007 prize) and read by great voices, her texts reveal all their majesty.

As in the first episode dedicated to the style of this poet of reality, worn by André Dussollier. The perspective of his prose by Hervé Brusini (president of the Albert-Londres prize and 1991 prize) allows us to grasp its full scope. H.R.

Prix-albert-london. scam.f

“The Voices of Commando Kieffer” by Julien Corbière and Stéphane Simonnet

On June 6, 1944, the Allies landed on the beaches of Normandy. 155,000 soldiers belonging to American, British and Canadian battalions took part in the famous “Operation Neptune”and a single French commando: 177 men, under the orders of Commander Philippe Kieffer, the last survivor of whom, Léon Gautier, left us last summer, at the age of 100.

This fascinating podcast in 9 episodes gives them well-deserved visibility thanks to the historian Stéphane Simonnet, who recorded the testimonies of around thirty of them twenty years ago. These early resistance fighters, then aged 16 to 40, recount their doubts, their fears and their exploits: intensive training in Scotland, expatriate life in England, the Nazi bullets whistling over « Sword Beach »the first deaths, the capture of the Ouistreham casino… A magnificent tribute to these green berets. N.B.

Francebleu.fr

“Arman Soldin, war reporter, in adrenaline and fear” by Tatiana Benhamou

“How far are you going to take risks? Is it worth it? On the field, you lose your compass a little because you want to show everything,” confided, in April 2023, Arman Soldin, 32 years old, journalist and image reporter for AFP, to the microphone of Tatiana Benhamou. Three weeks later, Arman was killed by a rocket strike in eastern Ukraine.

In agreement with her family, the creator of this podcast shares her posthumous testimony, imbued with energy and passion for her profession: “It’s a bit of a drug… The adrenaline, being there where it’s happening, the danger…”

We listen, with a heavy heart, to gently make fun of his worried mother: “She told me: 'I didn't take you out of the bombs of Sarajevo so that you could go and get lost under the bombs of kyiv!' » His parents fled Bosnia in 1992, when he was just one year old. A child of war, all the way. M-L. M.

“Line of flight” – Arteradio.com

“Marthe Richard, prostitute, aviator and patriotic spy” by Stéphanie Duncan

Marthe Richer, known as Richard (1889-1982), had a thousand lives. Known for having given her name to the 1946 law prohibiting brothels, she was a very young girl when she was put on the sidewalk by a pimp in Nancy, a garrison town. She fled to Paris, found work as a laundress before marrying Henri Richer, a rich bourgeois. Passionate about aviation, she became one of the first French pilots.

After the death of her husband, in Massiges, in Marne, in 1916, she was recruited by Captain Georges Ladoux who agreed to integrate her into his counter-espionage service – the active army, however, remained reserved for men until in 1972. Sent to Spain to spy on (and seduce) Hans von Krohn, the head of German naval intelligence, she is enlisted as a mole for the benefit of the Germans: she is now a double agent. At the end of the war, she returned to anonymity.

It was not until 1930 and the publication of the Memoirs of Georges Ladoux that his role during the Great War was revealed. In 1933, she received the Legion of Honor for “services rendered to French interests”. N.B.

“Spies, a true story” – Radiofrance.fr/franceinter