Muriel Zagha
@murielzagha.bsky.social
Writer & broadcaster; film specialist – BBC, TLS, ENGELSBERG IDEAS, APOLLO, SPECTATOR and others; Critics’ Circle; French Londoner
Garlic&Pearls podcast
@garlicandpearls.bsky.social
Instagram @murielzaghawriter
http://muckrack.com/muriel-zagha-3
Garlic&Pearls podcast
@garlicandpearls.bsky.social
Instagram @murielzaghawriter
http://muckrack.com/muriel-zagha-3
The Garlic&Pearls podcast advent calendar - a high peak of Britishness or Frenchness every day until Christmas.
7 December: PANACHE!
@suzanneraine.bsky.social digs for the roots of French panache. Kingly pageantry! Cyrano! The emblem of the cockerel!
Tune in:
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...
7 December: PANACHE!
@suzanneraine.bsky.social digs for the roots of French panache. Kingly pageantry! Cyrano! The emblem of the cockerel!
Tune in:
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...
December 7, 2025 at 11:43 AM
The Garlic&Pearls podcast advent calendar - a high peak of Britishness or Frenchness every day until Christmas.
7 December: PANACHE!
@suzanneraine.bsky.social digs for the roots of French panache. Kingly pageantry! Cyrano! The emblem of the cockerel!
Tune in:
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...
7 December: PANACHE!
@suzanneraine.bsky.social digs for the roots of French panache. Kingly pageantry! Cyrano! The emblem of the cockerel!
Tune in:
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...
The @garlicandpearls.bsky.social podcast advent calendar - a high peak of Britishness or Frenchness every day until Christmas.
6 December: ECCENTRICS! I express admiration of anarchic creativity of British eccentrics and wonder if there is something in the water. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...
6 December: ECCENTRICS! I express admiration of anarchic creativity of British eccentrics and wonder if there is something in the water. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...
December 6, 2025 at 9:17 AM
The @garlicandpearls.bsky.social podcast advent calendar - a high peak of Britishness or Frenchness every day until Christmas.
6 December: ECCENTRICS! I express admiration of anarchic creativity of British eccentrics and wonder if there is something in the water. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...
6 December: ECCENTRICS! I express admiration of anarchic creativity of British eccentrics and wonder if there is something in the water. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...
This week on the @garlicandpearls.bsky.social podcast @suzanneraine.bsky.social answers the question ‘What goes ‘beep-beep’ all over the land and is typically British?’ Yes - it’s
METAL DETECTORS and the gentle army who wield them! Why is this so British?
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...
METAL DETECTORS and the gentle army who wield them! Why is this so British?
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...
December 5, 2025 at 1:53 PM
This week on the @garlicandpearls.bsky.social podcast @suzanneraine.bsky.social answers the question ‘What goes ‘beep-beep’ all over the land and is typically British?’ Yes - it’s
METAL DETECTORS and the gentle army who wield them! Why is this so British?
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...
METAL DETECTORS and the gentle army who wield them! Why is this so British?
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...
The Garlic&Pearls podcast advent calendar - a high peak of Britishness or Frenchness every day until Christmas, brought to you by me and @suzanneraine.bsky.social
5 DECEMBER: TOAST
An ode to distinctly British crisp buttered deliciousness, with extra true crime!
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...
5 DECEMBER: TOAST
An ode to distinctly British crisp buttered deliciousness, with extra true crime!
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...
December 5, 2025 at 10:15 AM
The Garlic&Pearls podcast advent calendar - a high peak of Britishness or Frenchness every day until Christmas, brought to you by me and @suzanneraine.bsky.social
5 DECEMBER: TOAST
An ode to distinctly British crisp buttered deliciousness, with extra true crime!
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...
5 DECEMBER: TOAST
An ode to distinctly British crisp buttered deliciousness, with extra true crime!
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...
The @garlicandpearls.bsky.social podcast advent calendar - a high peak of Britishness or Frenchness every day until Christmas, brought to you by me and @suzanneraine.bsky.social
4 DECEMBER:
THE 4-COLOUR BIC PEN
💙🖤❤️💚🖊️ Yes: it’s the ‘stealth bomber of Frenchness’!
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...
4 DECEMBER:
THE 4-COLOUR BIC PEN
💙🖤❤️💚🖊️ Yes: it’s the ‘stealth bomber of Frenchness’!
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...
December 4, 2025 at 10:18 AM
The @garlicandpearls.bsky.social podcast advent calendar - a high peak of Britishness or Frenchness every day until Christmas, brought to you by me and @suzanneraine.bsky.social
4 DECEMBER:
THE 4-COLOUR BIC PEN
💙🖤❤️💚🖊️ Yes: it’s the ‘stealth bomber of Frenchness’!
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...
4 DECEMBER:
THE 4-COLOUR BIC PEN
💙🖤❤️💚🖊️ Yes: it’s the ‘stealth bomber of Frenchness’!
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...
Bravo, Matthew! Never let it be said that I do not promote French writers sufficiently…
December 3, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Bravo, Matthew! Never let it be said that I do not promote French writers sufficiently…
Reposted by Muriel Zagha
Insanely perfect: fantastic little bouquet of flowers in a glass vase by Daniel Seghers of Antwerp, painter & Jesuit priest, whose day is today.
December 3, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Insanely perfect: fantastic little bouquet of flowers in a glass vase by Daniel Seghers of Antwerp, painter & Jesuit priest, whose day is today.
Reposted by Muriel Zagha
Cartouche w/ bust of Nicolas Poussin, surrounded with flowers by Daniel Seghers, whose day is today. Because great artists should be honored & adorned!
December 3, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Cartouche w/ bust of Nicolas Poussin, surrounded with flowers by Daniel Seghers, whose day is today. Because great artists should be honored & adorned!
The @garlicandpearls.bsky.social podcast advent calendar - a high peak of Britishness or Frenchness every day until Christmas!
3 DECEMBER:
MY FAVOURITE A-ROAD 🚗
A kinetic tale of Romans, speed, resourcefulness and British modernism.
@suzanneraine.bsky.social
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...
3 DECEMBER:
MY FAVOURITE A-ROAD 🚗
A kinetic tale of Romans, speed, resourcefulness and British modernism.
@suzanneraine.bsky.social
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...
December 3, 2025 at 8:43 AM
The @garlicandpearls.bsky.social podcast advent calendar - a high peak of Britishness or Frenchness every day until Christmas!
3 DECEMBER:
MY FAVOURITE A-ROAD 🚗
A kinetic tale of Romans, speed, resourcefulness and British modernism.
@suzanneraine.bsky.social
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...
3 DECEMBER:
MY FAVOURITE A-ROAD 🚗
A kinetic tale of Romans, speed, resourcefulness and British modernism.
@suzanneraine.bsky.social
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...
Thrilled as ever to have written for the exceptional @engelsbergideas.bsky.social about a fascinating discarded French utopia - the Revolutionary calendar.
December 2, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Thrilled as ever to have written for the exceptional @engelsbergideas.bsky.social about a fascinating discarded French utopia - the Revolutionary calendar.
Reposted by Muriel Zagha
The Republican calendar crystallised a French dream of rationality and symmetry, which echoes in everything from the geometry of garden design to the metric system.
The invention of Year Zero | @murielzagha.bsky.social
engelsbergideas.com/notebook/the...
The invention of Year Zero | @murielzagha.bsky.social
engelsbergideas.com/notebook/the...
The invention of Year Zero
The Republican calendar crystallised a French dream of rationality and symmetry, which echoes in everything from the geometry of garden design to the metric system.
engelsbergideas.com
December 2, 2025 at 11:37 AM
The Republican calendar crystallised a French dream of rationality and symmetry, which echoes in everything from the geometry of garden design to the metric system.
The invention of Year Zero | @murielzagha.bsky.social
engelsbergideas.com/notebook/the...
The invention of Year Zero | @murielzagha.bsky.social
engelsbergideas.com/notebook/the...
The @garlicandpearls.bsky.social advent calendar - a high peak of Britishness or Frenchness every day until Christmas.
2 DECEMBER: ORANGINA
How a home-grown Algerian drink became a French icon!
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...
2 DECEMBER: ORANGINA
How a home-grown Algerian drink became a French icon!
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...
December 2, 2025 at 9:56 AM
The @garlicandpearls.bsky.social advent calendar - a high peak of Britishness or Frenchness every day until Christmas.
2 DECEMBER: ORANGINA
How a home-grown Algerian drink became a French icon!
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...
2 DECEMBER: ORANGINA
How a home-grown Algerian drink became a French icon!
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...
It’s Advent: let’s open the first window of the @garlicandpearls.bsky.social calendar, our compendium of peaks of Britishness and Frenchness brought to you by me and @suzanneraine.bsky.social
#1 SKI SUNDAY: How the British fell in love with skiing and made it fun!
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...
#1 SKI SUNDAY: How the British fell in love with skiing and made it fun!
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...
December 1, 2025 at 5:27 PM
It’s Advent: let’s open the first window of the @garlicandpearls.bsky.social calendar, our compendium of peaks of Britishness and Frenchness brought to you by me and @suzanneraine.bsky.social
#1 SKI SUNDAY: How the British fell in love with skiing and made it fun!
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...
#1 SKI SUNDAY: How the British fell in love with skiing and made it fun!
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...
Reposted by Muriel Zagha
We've had a last minute change in the programme, which sees THE HOLDOVERS now screening tomorrow afternoon at 12:15pm! Don't miss Alexander Payne's modern holiday classic starring Paul Giamatti, Da'Vine Joy Randolph & Dominic Sessa on 2nd and 10th December. 🎟️ buff.ly/VEWLorD
December 1, 2025 at 3:00 PM
We've had a last minute change in the programme, which sees THE HOLDOVERS now screening tomorrow afternoon at 12:15pm! Don't miss Alexander Payne's modern holiday classic starring Paul Giamatti, Da'Vine Joy Randolph & Dominic Sessa on 2nd and 10th December. 🎟️ buff.ly/VEWLorD
Reposted by Muriel Zagha
I was diagnosed with #HIV in 1998, when I was 30.
Many of my friends had died of AIDS. I did not expect to live to 50.
I’m 58 now.
HIV treatment works.
Treatment also makes it impossible for me to pass HIV on during sex.
Ensure HIV treatment for all.
End HIV stigma.
#WorldAIDSDay
Many of my friends had died of AIDS. I did not expect to live to 50.
I’m 58 now.
HIV treatment works.
Treatment also makes it impossible for me to pass HIV on during sex.
Ensure HIV treatment for all.
End HIV stigma.
#WorldAIDSDay
December 1, 2025 at 8:46 AM
I was diagnosed with #HIV in 1998, when I was 30.
Many of my friends had died of AIDS. I did not expect to live to 50.
I’m 58 now.
HIV treatment works.
Treatment also makes it impossible for me to pass HIV on during sex.
Ensure HIV treatment for all.
End HIV stigma.
#WorldAIDSDay
Many of my friends had died of AIDS. I did not expect to live to 50.
I’m 58 now.
HIV treatment works.
Treatment also makes it impossible for me to pass HIV on during sex.
Ensure HIV treatment for all.
End HIV stigma.
#WorldAIDSDay
This week on the @garlicandpearls.bsky.social podcast, I open a surprising window into the French psyche and answer the following:
🇫🇷 Do French Presidents consult psychics?
👼 Who received phone calls from St Michael the Archangel?
♏️ Has astrology influenced French policy?
@suzanneraine.bsky.social
🇫🇷 Do French Presidents consult psychics?
👼 Who received phone calls from St Michael the Archangel?
♏️ Has astrology influenced French policy?
@suzanneraine.bsky.social
December 1, 2025 at 12:42 PM
This week on the @garlicandpearls.bsky.social podcast, I open a surprising window into the French psyche and answer the following:
🇫🇷 Do French Presidents consult psychics?
👼 Who received phone calls from St Michael the Archangel?
♏️ Has astrology influenced French policy?
@suzanneraine.bsky.social
🇫🇷 Do French Presidents consult psychics?
👼 Who received phone calls from St Michael the Archangel?
♏️ Has astrology influenced French policy?
@suzanneraine.bsky.social
This week on @garlicandpearls.bsky.social we raise an awkward question: in the land of Descartes and the cult of Reason, why is there such a close connection between FRENCH POLITICIANS AND CLAIRVOYANTS?
@suzanneraine.bsky.social
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...
@suzanneraine.bsky.social
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...
November 28, 2025 at 8:44 AM
This week on @garlicandpearls.bsky.social we raise an awkward question: in the land of Descartes and the cult of Reason, why is there such a close connection between FRENCH POLITICIANS AND CLAIRVOYANTS?
@suzanneraine.bsky.social
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...
@suzanneraine.bsky.social
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...
My essay on Powell and Pressburger’s I Know Where I’m Going is available on this week’s Spectator Out Loud podcast, in distinguished company and read out in my best broadcasting voice. Tune in and then watch this marvellous film.
#ikwig #mull #powellpressburger #iknowwhereimgoing
#ikwig #mull #powellpressburger #iknowwhereimgoing
November 26, 2025 at 11:28 AM
My essay on Powell and Pressburger’s I Know Where I’m Going is available on this week’s Spectator Out Loud podcast, in distinguished company and read out in my best broadcasting voice. Tune in and then watch this marvellous film.
#ikwig #mull #powellpressburger #iknowwhereimgoing
#ikwig #mull #powellpressburger #iknowwhereimgoing
On @garlicandpearls.bsky.social we ask: where did those 11 days go when the British year was gouged in the 18th century? 🤔 @suzanneraine.bsky.social has the answers! Tune in!
November 25, 2025 at 7:12 PM
On @garlicandpearls.bsky.social we ask: where did those 11 days go when the British year was gouged in the 18th century? 🤔 @suzanneraine.bsky.social has the answers! Tune in!
We at @garlicandpearls.bsky.social - myself and @suzanneraine.bsky.social
are so grateful for all your feedback. We’re very encouraged. Onwards and upwards!
are so grateful for all your feedback. We’re very encouraged. Onwards and upwards!
November 25, 2025 at 9:17 AM
We at @garlicandpearls.bsky.social - myself and @suzanneraine.bsky.social
are so grateful for all your feedback. We’re very encouraged. Onwards and upwards!
are so grateful for all your feedback. We’re very encouraged. Onwards and upwards!
Reposted by Muriel Zagha
Client assessing if a freelancer is well enough to work or not.
Oil on wood.
Michael Sweerts
c1660.
Oil on wood.
Michael Sweerts
c1660.
November 24, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Client assessing if a freelancer is well enough to work or not.
Oil on wood.
Michael Sweerts
c1660.
Oil on wood.
Michael Sweerts
c1660.
Reposted by Muriel Zagha
What a lovely reminder from @murielzagha.bsky.social of my own pilgrimage to Mull. My now husband even proposed to me in the waterfall phone box!
November 22, 2025 at 1:56 PM
What a lovely reminder from @murielzagha.bsky.social of my own pilgrimage to Mull. My now husband even proposed to me in the waterfall phone box!
This week on @garlicandpearls.bsky.social an ASTONISHING account of THE BRITISH TAX YEAR by @suzanneraine.bsky.social
opens a vertiginous crack in time! A story of mathematics and astrology, Popes, bishops and archbishops, Catholicism and the Reformation, and, of course, Acts of Parliament!
opens a vertiginous crack in time! A story of mathematics and astrology, Popes, bishops and archbishops, Catholicism and the Reformation, and, of course, Acts of Parliament!
November 21, 2025 at 11:37 AM
This week on @garlicandpearls.bsky.social an ASTONISHING account of THE BRITISH TAX YEAR by @suzanneraine.bsky.social
opens a vertiginous crack in time! A story of mathematics and astrology, Popes, bishops and archbishops, Catholicism and the Reformation, and, of course, Acts of Parliament!
opens a vertiginous crack in time! A story of mathematics and astrology, Popes, bishops and archbishops, Catholicism and the Reformation, and, of course, Acts of Parliament!
Very interesting discussion last night at St Bartholomew the Great with Fergus Butler-Gallie,
author of Twelve Churches. Opened avenues of thought about sense of place, beauty and imperfection, the importance of the physical, and possible antidotes to online addiction (guilty!).
author of Twelve Churches. Opened avenues of thought about sense of place, beauty and imperfection, the importance of the physical, and possible antidotes to online addiction (guilty!).
November 21, 2025 at 10:51 AM
Very interesting discussion last night at St Bartholomew the Great with Fergus Butler-Gallie,
author of Twelve Churches. Opened avenues of thought about sense of place, beauty and imperfection, the importance of the physical, and possible antidotes to online addiction (guilty!).
author of Twelve Churches. Opened avenues of thought about sense of place, beauty and imperfection, the importance of the physical, and possible antidotes to online addiction (guilty!).
For @thespectator1828.bsky.social I wrote about a pilgrimage to the Western Isles with fellow fans of Powell and Pressburger’s 1945 sophisticated romance I Know Where I’m Going! Monochrome beauty, sense of place, a complex emotional heft - it is at once eerie and comforting - and visual trickery!
November 21, 2025 at 10:21 AM
For @thespectator1828.bsky.social I wrote about a pilgrimage to the Western Isles with fellow fans of Powell and Pressburger’s 1945 sophisticated romance I Know Where I’m Going! Monochrome beauty, sense of place, a complex emotional heft - it is at once eerie and comforting - and visual trickery!