Vivienne Walt

The family of James Foley, the American journalist beheaded by members of ISIS say hearing stories of their son’s last days of his life was like being a rainbow after a rain storm.

The Nobel Committee awarded its prize for literature to French novelist Patrick Modiano, a man who’s been called a modern-day Proust. Yet his work is relatively unknown in the English-speaking world despite his success in France.

Many in France are bemused by the sudden rise to fame in the US of French economist Thomas Piketty. Piketty’s analysis that rising income inequality is bad for the global economy just doesn’t seem so astonishingly new to the French.Many in France are bemused by the sudden rise to fame in the US of French economist Thomas Piketty. Piketty’s analysis that rising income inequality is bad for the global economy just doesn’t seem so astonishingly new to the French.

French elections this past weekend have shaken up the political system. A prime minister resigned, a woman-immigrant was elected mayor of Paris for the first time, and a far-right fringe party may be gaining some serious traction among voters.

Hours before French President François Hollande announced his separation from First Lady, he sat down for an interview with Time Magazine’s Vivienne Walt.