At 53, Franck Ferrand, the historian of Radio Classique - every day at 9 a.m. - and heritage columnist of the Tour de France on the Deux et la Trois, will now be on the air at CNews every Sunday at 2 p.m. in "La Belle Histoire de France ”, alongside Marc Menant and Christine Kelly.
It begins this January 10 with a first show devoted to the Gauls.
The historian has also, since January 7, a weekly column, "Mon grain de sel", in Valeurs Actuelles, taking up the last page long held by the writer Denis Tillinac, who died in September.
We learn in quick succession that you will now officiate in two new media, is it a coincidence?
FRANCK FERRAND.
I think it is partly linked to the publication this fall of "The Year of Joan" (Plon), a historical anticipation book on a more or less political theme since I am bringing back a kind of Joan of Arc. ideal of the twenty-first century to try to save our poor France.
It was the first time that I wrote a book of opinion and no longer of history.
This has led me to be invited quite often on CNews.
By dint of going there, meeting the editorial directors, the idea came.
And it is because I gave a great interview to Valeurs Actuelles in October, on this book, that it gained ground.
Since Thursday, you have therefore given your “Grain de sel” in Current Values.
What will be the content of this column?
Denis Tillinac's mood and opinion ticket totally depended on the times, it was very varied.
I'm not going to follow exactly what he was doing, but still a little.
What is remarkable about this type of exercise is that you have no instructions, I write exactly what I want, it is also a little stressful, I will not hide it from you.
Now, are you going to tell us about the current story?
I think that I will use my historical references, omnipresent in my home, to try to bring to the present my quite subjective and personal light.
Usually I am a storyteller.
Here, my intention is to try to capture the spirit of the times and to decipher things in the light of history.
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Is it a way to take part in the national debate?
Yes.
I had the feeling that at a time when all of our benchmarks were completely shaken up, I had no say in the matter.
It happened to me on TV shows that my neighbors on the right and left were interviewed on what was going on, and I was asked: "And in the days of Saint-Louis it was already like that?"
It was annoying, to believe they thought I was living in the 13th century.
Now people will know that I can have a perspective on the current period.
What values will you be keen to defend in the weekly?
In all my speeches, I have always put forward this love for France that lives in me.
I love this country, its culture, everything it represents, that's exactly the theme of my book.
I do not guarantee that this will be the case every week, I do not forbid myself anything by definition, but the overall tone will always be more or less a defense of French culture.
What are you going to do on CNews in “La Belle Histoire de France”?
Yes of course.
I have always dealt with history in general, the history of the world, there I am entrusted with Marc Menant, under the aegis of Christine Kelly, a specific work on the history of France.
The goal of the channel is very clear, they know what they want on CNews, it is that we defend, that we tell the story of France as such.
They consider it a little sacrificed, taking a back seat.
Our history, our culture, is what makes our common membership, our desire to live together, so let's talk about it.
This is our mission.
Does this call into question your collaboration with France Télévisions?
Not at all.
Collaboration with France Télévisions is extremely punctual, seasonal, during the Tour de France.
It is also very pleasant this sort of summer meeting, but between the arrival of the riders and the start a year later, I have nothing on France Télévisions.
I have a contractual collaboration per year which lasts three weeks… You cannot say that France Télévisions overexploits me.
CNews and Valeurs Actuelles are two media that are sometimes singled out for the opinions they convey.
Do you think anyone can blame you for joining them?
It's a certainty, I can already see it on social networks.
It also happens that I arrive simultaneously on two media identified on the right, it is certain that that can only displease a part of the public.
At the same time, people who know me a little, who read me, listen to me in my lectures or come to see my shows, know that I am not precisely a man of the left.
Did you wonder before accepting these two participations?
No, because both are exactly what I like to do.
Telling the history of France is almost a dream.
And that a very large magazine gives me one of its most prestigious pages every week to deliver a point of view ... In both cases, I took it as a gift.
