
Eleanor Beardsley
Eleanor Beardsley began reporting from France for NPR in 2004 as a freelance journalist, following all aspects of French society, politics, economics, culture and gastronomy. Since then, she has steadily worked her way to becoming an integral part of the NPR Europe reporting team.
Beardsley has been an active part of NPR's coverage of terrorist attacks in Paris and in Brussels. She has also followed the migrant crisis, traveling to meet and report on arriving refugees in Hungary, Austria, Germany, Sweden and France. She has also traveled to Ukraine, including the flashpoint eastern city of Donetsk, to report on the war there, and to Athens, to follow the Greek debt crisis.
In 2011, Beardsley covered the first Arab Spring revolution in Tunisia, where she witnessed the overthrow of the autocratic President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali. Since then she has returned to the North African country many times.
In France, Beardsley has covered three presidential elections, including the surprising win by outsider Emmanuel Macron in 2017. Less than two years later, Macron's presidency was severely tested by France's Yellow vest movement, which Beardsley followed closely.
Beardsley especially enjoys historical topics and has covered several anniversaries of the Normandy D-day invasion as well as the centennial of World War I.
In sports, Beardsley closely covered the Women's World Soccer Cup held in France in June 2019 (and won by Team USA!) and regularly follows the Tour de France cycling race.
Prior to moving to Paris, Beardsley worked for three years with the United Nations Mission in Kosovo. She also worked as a television news producer for French broadcaster TF1 in Washington, D.C., and as a staff assistant to South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond.
Reporting from France for Beardsley is the fulfillment of a lifelong passion for the French language and culture. At the age of 10 she began learning French by reading the Asterix the Gaul comic book series with her father.
While she came to the field of radio journalism relatively late in her career, Beardsley says her varied background, studies and travels prepared her for the job. "I love reporting on the French because there are so many stereotypes about them in America," she says. "Sometimes it's fun to dispel the false notions and show a different side of the Gallic character. And sometimes the old stereotypes do hold up. But whether Americans love or hate France and the French, they're always interested!"
A native of South Carolina, Beardsley has a Bachelor of Arts in European history and French from Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, and a master's degree in International Business from the University of South Carolina.
Beardsley is interested in politics, travel and observing foreign cultures. Her favorite cities are Paris and Istanbul.
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The trailblazing U.S.-born star and civil rights activist was given France's highest honor on Tuesday when she was inducted into the Pantheon. She first achieved fame in Paris in the 1920s.
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Colette Maze, now 107, began playing the piano at age 5. She defied the social conventions of her era to embrace music as a profession rather than as a pastime. She has just released her sixth album.
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La Maestra, held in Paris this September, is the first fully realized competition solely for women conductors — an effort to help balance a male-dominated field.
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"We are in a period of epidemic growth," Prime Minister Jean Castex said. "We want to do everything to avoid a new lockdown." The order goes into effect Friday.
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The French government says people will be required to wear face masks in workplaces, following a sharp rise in COVID-19 infections since the country began lifting lockdown restrictions in July.
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The French are not giving up their August vacations. Instead, they're packing into local resorts with colorful face coverings — just a part of the summertime vacation scene.
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In recent municipal elections, candidates from the Green Party won in major French cities such as Paris, Bordeaux, Marseilles and Lyon.
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Researchers are still digging into the question and sharing their findings decades after the Nazis sacked the homes of Jews during World War II.
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Assa Traoré holds police responsible for her brother Adama Traoré's death. "She's ... shining the spotlight on the police violence and injustices that we face every day being Black," says a supporter.
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Chief among the criteria for easing restrictions on foreign travelers: The epidemiological situation in their home countries "should be as good as or better than in the EU," a spokesperson tells NPR.
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Earlier this week, police gathered in front of precincts across France and threw down their handcuffs in a symbolic gesture.
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Demonstrators this week said they were rallying for "our brother" in the U.S. as well as Adama Traoré, who died in police custody in 2016.