World War II in podcasts

Conference-debate (in French) with guests Romane Carmon, Perrine Sokal and Constance Hautier. Conducted by Éric Loze.
 

On Wednesday June 19, for their last public history meeting before the summer, CegeSoma and the asbl 'Les Amis du CegeSoma' invite you to meet and share the experience of three young women who have each chosen to transmit aspects of the history of World War II in podcast form.
For the 80th anniversary of the Liberation in September, Romane Carmon focuses on the contrast between collective memory and personal recollections of these very events. From an ordinary lady to a hidden child or a shorn woman, singular itineraries confront and respond to each other, giving history a human dimension with all its complexity.

Perrine Sokal explores a secret family history, discovered in a briefcase left behind by her grandfather after his death. She follows the trail of Emil Sokal, an art dealer in Vienna hounded by the Gestapo for his role in the sale of a chalice, and his wife Maria, who died under suspicious circumstances. Perrine investigates with the help of her relatives, shedding light on lesser-known aspects of history, such as the 'Klostersturm' and operation 'Aktion T4'.
Constance Hautier, for her part, is interested in the story of her grandmother, Marguerite Monin, a 25-year-old milliner at the start of the war. Arrested by the Gestapo, she spent 367 days in Brussels' Saint-Gilles prison. From her hat store to her actions in the Resistance alongside her fiancé Joseph, Marguerite takes us behind the scenes of the underground struggle against Nazi occupation in Belgium.

These three singular stories arouse curiosity and lead to a whole series of questions. Why undertake these projects, and why choose the podcast format to present them? What are the scientific approaches and sources used in each case? How can we combine the telling of intimate family stories with the hindsight of historical criticism? What contribution do historians make to these narratives? What are the steps involved in creating a podcast? What are the difficulties and constraints of this communication medium? What is the life cycle of a podcast, and how can it best be promoted? How can we overcome the lack of visuals to capture attention?

Interested? Come and join us for this exciting conference-debate!

Romane Carmon is a historian (UCLouvain) specializing in the communication of history. For several years, she has been interested in different formats and ways of making history accessible to a wide audience. As a freelancer, she publishes culture and history columns for RTBF and participates in various audiovisual projects. Her dissertation on women in the Secret Army paved the way for projects combining memory and history. She collaborated on the documentary 'Enfants de résistants', broadcast in November 2023 on La Une (RTBF). As part of this project, she is currently researching the personality of Yvonne Nèvejean, director of the National Agency for Children  (Oeuvre Nationale de l’Enfance - ONE) and a member of the Resistance. Currently in production, 'La Lettre V' marks her first podcast.

Perrine Sokal is a novelist and communications and marketing consultant. She worked for PR agencies and companies in the film, finance and healthcare sectors before founding her own agency, Sounds Good, to combine consultancy and a passion for audio. At the end of 2023, she directed 'La Mallette verte', an 8-episode documentary produced by Gsara, with the support of the Fonds d'Aide à la Création Radiophonique and the Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Shoah. Broadcast on La Première (RTBF), the series was ranked one of the best podcasts of 2024 by Télérama.


 

Constance Hautier holds a bachelor's degree in Art History (ULB) and a master's in Cultural Management (City University London). After several years' experience in the cultural milieu between Paris, London and Brussels, in 2021 she launched The Audio Guide podcast, highlighting the careers of women creators and project leaders in the arts sector. She is also an independent curator, author and producer of the podcast 'Marguerite'. To complement her latest sound series, her exhibition 'Marguerite' is currently running until June 23, 2024, at the Maison Hannon in Saint-Gilles.

 

Éric Loze started working as a journalist for RTBF in October 1994. He first worked for the Charleroi newsroom, then for the Journal Télévisé. He then joined the 'Questions à la Une' reporting magazine team, before launching the on-air political interview program 'Les Bureaux du Pouvoir'. From May 2009 to December 2017, he was the editorial manager of SONUMA, responsible for the inventory and reorganization of the radio and TV holdings, as well as the indexing and promotion of content. In 2018, Eric Loze returned to RTBF, where he has authored and directed over 150 long-form radio stories (series, documentaries, podcasts) for the programs 'Le Fantôme de la Radio', 'Un Jour dans l'Histoire', 'Sombre Belgique' and 'Par Ouï Dire' broadcast on La Première. Since 2009, he has also been teaching radio and television history at INSAS.