Mondays, 6-8 am
A few facts
*Created:
May 1991 as "French Kisses". Monday morning schedule began in September, 1996.
*The station:
WMBR, MIT's 720-watt community-oriented FM radio station, which has been providing Eastern Massachusetts with a variety of original programs since 1961. WMBR's open- membership policy offers broadcast training opportunities to anyone interested. WMBR is a founding member of the Francophone Broadcasting Corporation, a nationwide network of radio stations with a common interest French-language programming.
*Financing:
facilities provided by WMBR, supported by MIT and listener contributions. Funding provided by corporate underwriters. Logistical support provided by the French Cultural and Scientific Services and Radio France Internationale.
*Target audience:
French-speaking communities of Greater Boston as well as a large American public. Many members of the large French, Canadian and Haitian communities tune in regularly, as well as students of French and other interested Americans. "French Toast" is used as a teaching aid by several high schools and universities.
*Format:
a bilingual blend of music and talk. The current format blends French popular music, local cultural news, conversations with listeners and encounters with Francophone artists, scholars and businesspeople. The program features an educational segment from Radio France, a calendar of local events, and a live report from Laurent Valière in Paris.
Click below to enlarge the picture.
Yves, Laurel and Laurent
*Staff:
Yves Dehnel, producer. Brian Thompson, co-host. Laurent Valière, Paris correspondant
*Some guests of past programs:
Writers Jean Rouault, Benoîte Groult, Diane de Margerie, Armand Hoog, Rachid Boudjedra, Jean Echenoz.
Singers Patricia Kaas, Marie-Paule Belle, Maxime Le Forestier, Daniel Lavoie, Xavier Lacouture, Rachid Bahri, Romain Didier, the Boston Camerata, the Gipsy Kings, Véronique Pestel, Sylvain Lelièvre.
Musicians Stéphane Grappelli, Bertrand Laurence, Pierre Hurel.
The Boston Ballet.
Fashion designer Pierre Cardin.
Film directors Alain Corneau, Régis Wargnier, Kszysztof Kieslowski and Josiane Balasko.
Actress Anne Brochet.
Photographer Yoshi Takata.
Patrice Paoli, Consul General of France and Hélène Day, Consul of Monaco.
Historian Lucie Aubrac, linguist Claude Hagège, French professor Gilberte Furstenberg, film historian John Michalczyk, economist Trevor Higonnet, chef Lucien Robert.
Reporters Lainnie Fichera, Albert Côté, Yves Cajuste and Marcus Germain.
*Topics of some programs:
AIDS
Challenges in biomedical research
The end of colonialism
The French Resistance
The Jeremiah O'Brien, a WWII Liberty Ship, at the D-Day celebrations in Rouen. The last remaining ship of this type, she sailed from San Francisco to Normandy in 1994 with a crew entirely made up of veterans.
A D-Day special with veterans of the June 1944 landing;
War brides
Intercultural marriages
Adjusting to life abroad
French organizations in Boston (French American Victory Club, Alliance Française, Ligue Francophone, Union des Français àl'Etranger, French Library in Boston, university French Houses)
The French-speaking world: Belgium, Canada, Monaco, Zaïre...
Maastricht and the future of Europe (including live election coverage)
Complete coverage of the "L'Air du Temps" music festival.
Live coverage of the Cannes Film Festival.
Writers George Sand, Marguerite Yourcenar
Singers Georges Brassens, Serge Gainsbourg, Yves Montand, Edith Piaf, Jean Sablon
Movie greats Marcel Carné, Eric Rohmer
French cuisine
Back to the French Toast Home Page
Send us your comments!
