It Could Happen Here - The Uprising in Corsica

Episode Date: March 29, 2022

Jake Hanrahan returns from a reporting trip from Corsica and tells us about the ongoing uprising there.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You should probably keep your lights on for Nocturnal Tales from the Shadowbride. Join me, Danny Trejo, and step into the flames of fright. An anthology podcast of modern-day horror stories inspired by the most terrifying legends and lore of Latin America. Listen to Nocturnal on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Curious about queer sexuality, cruising, and expanding your horizons?

Hit play on the sex-positive and deeply entertaining podcast Sniffy's Cruising Confessions. Join hosts Gabe Gonzalez and Chris Patterson Rosso as they explore queer sex, cruising, relationships, and culture in the new iHeart podcast,

Sniffy's Cruising Confessions. Sniffy's Cruising Confessions will broaden minds and help you pursue your true goals. You can listen to Sniffy's Cruising Confessions, sponsored by Gilead, now on the iHeartRadio app

or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every Thursday. The 2025 iHeart Podcast Awards are coming. This is the chance to nominate your podcast for the industry's biggest award. Submit your podcast for nomination now at iHeart.com slash podcast awards. But hurry, submissions close on December 8th. Hey, you've been doing all that talking. It's time to get rewarded for it. Submit your podcast today at iHeart.com slash podcast awards. today at iHeart.com slash podcast awards.

That's iHeart.com slash podcast awards. Welcome to Gracias Come Again, a podcast by Honey German, where we get real and dive straight into todo lo actual y viral. We're talking musica, los premios, el chisme, and all things trending in my cultura. I'm bringing you all the latest happening in our entertainment world and some fun and impactful interviews with your favorite Latin artists, comedians, actors, and influencers. Each week, we get deep and raw life stories,

combos on the issues that matter to us, and it's all packed with gems, fun, straight-up comedia, and that's a song that only nuestra gente can sprinkle. Listen to Gracias Come Again on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Ah, welcome to It Could Happen Here, the podcast where this today I sit down with my buddy Jake Hanrahan and we talk about Corsica. Jake, how's the show? How are you feeling? Yeah, I'm all right, thanks. I've got a bit of a flu, but otherwise everything's really

good, man. Yeah. You just took a little reporting trip down to the island of Corsica, which is not a place I know much about, and I mean, I guess not a place most of our listeners know much about so why don't you why don't you start with kind of like what what brought you down there yeah no that's a really good point a lot of people don't even know it exists I sent the documentary made with popular front to a friend of mine today and he said bro that's the first time I've ever heard of Corsica like a lot of people don't know about it. So it's a very old island. You know, more than 200 years, people have inhabited the place. But generally, for the last kind of 200 years, there's been an on again, off again, independence movement there. People that don't want to be under the control of France or whoever, they want control of their own island because Corsican is quite a specific

culture. It's very different to French culture. It's different to Italian culture. They even have their own language called course. Unfortunately, it's kind of dying out as, you know, a lot of languages do in kind of contested areas, if you like. But yeah, so they've always kind of wanted to be independent in some way not everybody not the whole place i'm sure you'll find some corsicans that will say they're corsican french

but generally the majority of people if you go there and say what are you they'll tell you we're corsican we're not french we're corsican so in the 1970s that kind of coalesced was rebirthed if you like with the backdrop of you know guns bombs and independence movements across europe and a group called the flnc formed the um it was a nationalist liberation front for corsica and they arrived with 21 bombs on the island in one night i mean not arrived you know they were already there of course but they they bombed 21 times in one night mostly french infrastructure and they were all very very well armed there was literally hundreds of members and at one point i have to i don't want to say this uh 100 because it's been a while since i i looked at research. But if I'm right, at one point in the in the late 70s

or early 80s, the FLNC was actually the most active militant or terrorist group in the whole of Europe, even even more active than the Provisional IRA. Now, Provisional IRA killed a lot more people, the FLNC, their targets weren't really to kill people, they were to blow up holiday homes and blow up French infrastructure. They did did have open gun battles and they did assassinate uh the the highest ranking french officer on corsica on the island eventually but yeah so so there was this real backdrop of very militant um independence when i say nationalist it's not it's not what we might associate with like far right nationalists. You know, when an independent movement doesn't have its own country, you know, the ultra nationalism in their sense comes out in a very different way.

It's not we want to ban everybody else from here. It's simply we want our country. You know what I mean? So when I say ultra nationalist, that's not to be confused with fascist ultra nationalist. nationalist that's not to be confused with fascist ultra-nationalist it's very different not to say that Corsicans all believe in in leftist causes and that that wouldn't be true a lot of them do there's a big socialist element to to the cause and there's also quite a right wing element to the cause but ultimately they all kind of want the same thing autonomy or independence for Corsica so yeah so that that's the kind of history, very briefly of militant independence movements in Corsica. In 2014, the FLNC put down their guns. And recently, one of the FLNC was suspected FLNC militants who shot this this high ranking French official that I told you about

this, this guy is called Ivan Kolinar. He was arrested after the shooting in the 90s and sent to a French prison for life. And on March the 6th, I believe it was, he was, no, sorry, March 2nd, he was attacked in a French prison by a jihadist inmate and beaten into a coma. Yesterday or two days ago now, he died of his injuries. Ever since he was beaten into this coma,

the youth would just kind of lit the place on fire you know they were really clashing very violently and for for the last kind of seven years since there was a as a was a relative calm on the island in terms of political activism and militancy the politicians the more moderate parties have tried to do this politically and for the first time in a while the the youth have gone, no, fuck it. We're not playing that anymore. We're going to knock the place about. We're going to smash the shop up. And basically it's kind of worked,

which we can go into. But yeah, sorry to go on a lot, but there's quite a lot to it. Because obviously, like you said, a lot of people don't know. But one thing I will say is Corsica is just one of the most beautiful places anybody will go to.

Like objectively, it's idyllic. It's not really had this horrible holiday home vibe there because genuinely when when some contractors tried to kind of gentrify Corsica and turn it into the next Ibiza I believe one of the quotes was from one of the uh the people doing this the FLNC kind of waited for them to build their homes and then blew them all up and blew up all their hotels. So it was like, they're like, you're not going to do that here. Um, and a lot of these companies were infringing on the environment, um, which is beautiful there. And yeah, so there's a lot more to it, but generally, you know, this all kind of

revolves around militant independence. Yeah. That's interesting. I mean, I think it's fascinating the idea of targeting like the degree to which a lot of this seems to be focused on stopping this place from turning into another vacation destination where like rich people's second homes push out the population that's born there. I think there's a lot of places that like organize or complain about that sort of thing. But I'm not aware of anyone who's gone to these kind of lengths to stop themselves from turning into another Ibiza. Yeah, yeah. And honestly, if you go to Corsica and see how beautiful it is, not just I mean, it's one of the few places in Europe where you can see the mountains from the beach. You know, yeah, incredible island. I've been obsessed with this place since i was about 24 years old firstly from the nature and the beauty there but secondly i was very interested in the militant group there um because the culture

there is so different but yeah if you look at the place you go there you realize like right this place is very much worth preserving i don't want to act like there hasn't been businesses doing their thing there there definitely is but certainly it feels preserved there's no high rises very much worth preserving. I don't want to act like there hasn't been businesses doing their thing there. There definitely is, but certainly it feels preserved. There's no high rises. All of the old buildings are still there. They're still intact. And, you know, when, when these big businesses came in and a lot of these businessmen were almost showing off, like, yeah, we're going to turn Corsica into Ibiza, which as a Brit, I will apologize to anyone living in Ibiza because we're one of the worst exporters ever,

you know, like having sex in the street and throwing up at bars and everything when we go there. Yeah, it's kind of been turned into one big, not the great club. Yeah, yeah, not the great club, definitely. So, you know, it's one of these ones where it's like, yeah, I kind of understand. I'm not saying anyone should bomb anywhere.

Certainly not. But I do understand the sentiment there. And one of my Corsican friends said, some people were calling it like the cold bed policy. So you come to our island, you buy a holiday home, and if you leave that bed cold, as in you're not even living here, it's going to get blown up, you know, if you like. So very militant, very violent, but effective.

I mean, it doesn't mean that you have to agree with it, but no one can deny that it hasn't been effective. But at the same time, there's a very big mafia presence on the island as well. So that, you know, it's not to say that everything is all for the people. say that everything is all for the people um certainly not i'm gonna guess that the mafia is more or less on the side of you know uh turn this place into a vacation destination because that's where the money is that that would be my assumption really that's interesting no so the unfortunately the independence movement not all of them but there is an element to it that is very hand in hand with the mafia most definitely interesting perhaps some people that were independent militants are now mafia if you like um and people have been killed on the island quite

a lot there's quite a lot of you know unsolved murders there it's quite sad um but no they they were more for keeping their own interests you know um we have this island we can run the docks we can run this we can run that and whilst what you said like makes sense right you would think oh no they'd be for this money i think what they want they're still nationalists at the end of the day they want control but they want control in their own way and if a big business comes in and starts saying oh yeah we're doing this and that and the other and we're bringing all these people in by the docks i guess they lose control of that essentially so they were very much on the side of yeah do what you like sort of thing and that's fascinating behind a lot of it yeah so yeah very

unique very specific place yeah you mentioned at this action you showed up for people bombed uh 21 targets uh was it 21 21 in one night yeah in one night yeah when you say bomb are we talking like your standard molotovs or were were they were were they kind of like more um elaborate devices shall we say how would you describe what they were using yeah no it's a good question i mean when you think of 21 in one night you think right like molotovs right something simple yeah yeah no no there weren't even pipe bombs. You're talking fertilizer bombs. Oh, wow.

Yeah. Like blowing up whole buildings, you know, not all of them, you know, there were some smaller ones, but some very significant ones and very, very big.

The way Corsica is, the way it's laid out, like I said, it's a small place. I think only like 300,000 people live there roughly. And there are mountains, there are beaches, there are beaches, there are very rural communities.

It's an island. It's quite far away from France, actually. It's very close to Italy. And Sardinia is just to its south. And it's just for them, you couldn't ask for a better location if you wanted to be a kind of guerrilla group. You know, you really couldn't.

It's kind of built for them. So they just got away with it. You know, farmers, whatever, they went into the mountains, bombs drop them off and not to say that everybody was for them but there is some it wasn't just we want independence there was there was subjugation by the french you know firstly they're like we don't want to be a french colony or whatever you would call it anymore which i think anybody that wants their determination to not be held by a former colonial power right it's fine um or current colonial power if you like um i think yeah fair play to them but secondly they're one of the most poorer regions despite having all this holiday stuff

despite having a lot of produce despite having a lot of reasons to be there so there's definitely something i won't claim to know too much about the law situation and I'm sure a lot of French people get angry whatever but it is genuinely doing very badly in many different aspects is that mismanagement by them is it because of the French I couldn't tell you I don't know enough about it but I certainly find it very weird that all of these beautiful things that happening on the island and they're constantly in you know the lower bracket of situations economically culturally they're getting kind of sidelined a bit so i do i do understand and certainly when the clashes or even protests happen in the 70s the police you know french police i'm sorry but they're some of the worst fucking police ever oh yeah um you know and i've

been in front of turkish police like French police are fucking up there. They're horrible. And they beat the shit out of a lot of people in Corsica just for peacefully protesting, you know. So it didn't come from nowhere. You know what I mean? There is there is more to it than just nationalism and independence. There's a lot more to it. They want to they want to they want to deal with their own affairs. A lot of them, you know, most people probably now want to do it democratically. But like I said, the youth were said, were said no fuck that we're not getting anywhere and they've actually it's actually worked because the day after the riots that we filmed on uh march 13th the the interior minister of france basically said right we're willing to discuss this with you

we will go as far as autonomy that's literally a quote he said wow which is quite significant yeah after seven years of basically stalemate through the politicians. So the youth, in a way, one of the very few examples of this, specifically in Europe, the youth, what they're doing kind of worked. You know what I mean? Yeah, direct action got some goods. It's got some results right now. It started the process of getting the goods, hopefully.

Absolutely. Yeah, it has and the thing about the Corsican youth is they're very intelligent they're very they're very authentic in their political activism in the sense of it's just they're born into it it's in them you know from the age of like 12 13 they're understanding it they're getting told about the legends of blah blah you know um there's this militant group and whatever whatever so it's very much in them in that sense kind of in a you know like the Kurds are kind of you know not on the same level but that kind of vibe so when they go to students

when they go to uni and they become students they're not really forming their political opinions they already have them they already got them and then they they sort of hire they sort of germinate together so that's from what i understood anyway that's from what i gathered and you know your average trendy young man and woman on the street there is very political it's kind of like greece in that sense like it's cool to be political but in the sense of not the kind not like um you know not not, you know, not something you bought into as a teenager, something that was already there.

And then, which there's nothing wrong with it. You know, most people form their political opinions in unis or whatever, but for them, it's already in there. You see what I'm saying? So they already have, they're already united in that sense. You know, so when they get to the uni, they get there. It's like, okay, well, we all want independence or autonomy, but then the other things are lesser. So, you know, for that they get to the uni, they get there. It's like, OK, well, we all want independence or autonomy, but then the other things are lesser.

So, you know, in that sense, I think that was quite interesting. And we saw like 8,000, 9,000 people marching maybe. And then when the clashes started, you know how it is, Robert. Like normally it's like, what, 100, 300 people stay? You're talking like 2,000 people. Wow. Full pelt clashing. And men and women, like young girls, young men, like many, many, you know.

So it was really, I was like, wow, okay. One thing that I've never, I haven't seen for a very long time, I've very rarely seen it. Normally when the clash happens, everybody, you know, your grandmas, your working man, you know, the people that support what's going on but are not able to clash or don't want to clash they normally step back in the course of protests everybody just stayed like we were getting tear gas next to like 50 lads with balaclavas on next to like grandma or auntie you know we were like helping people into the side street to get

away from tear gas it was very weird. And they just didn't leave. They just were there the whole time. Wow. Yeah, it's weird. Welcome. I'm Danny Thrill. Won't you join me at the fire and dare enter.

Nocturnal Tales from the Shadows. Presented by iHeart and dare enter. Nocturnum, Tales from the Shadows, presented by I Heart and Sonoro, an anthology of modern day horror stories inspired by the legends of Latin America. From ghastly encounters with shapeshifters to bone-chilling brushes with supernatural creatures. I know you. Take a trip and experience the horrors that have haunted

Latin America since the beginning of time. Listen to Nocturnal Tales from the Shadows as part of My Cultura podcast network available on the iHeartRadio app

Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts Hey I'm Jack Peace Thomas the host of a brand new Black Effect original series Black Lit the podcast for diving deep into the rich world of Black literature.

I'm Jack Peace Thomas, and I'm inviting you to join me and a vibrant community of literary enthusiasts dedicated to protecting and celebrating our stories. Black Lit is for the page turners, for those who listen to audio books while commuting or running errands, for those who find themselves seeking solace, wisdom, and refuge between the chapters. From thought-provoking novels to powerful poetry, we'll explore the stories that shape our culture. Together, we'll dissect classics and contemporary works while uncovering the stories of the brilliant writers behind them. Blacklit is here to amplify the voices of Black writers and to bring their words to life. them. Blacklit is here to amplify the voices of Black writers and to bring their words to life. Listen to Blacklit on the iHeartRadio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Curious about queer sexuality, cruising, and expanding your horizons? Hit play on the sex-positive and deeply entertaining podcast Sniffy's Cruising Confessions. Join hosts Gabe Gonzalez and Chris Patterson Rosso as they explore queer sex, cruising, relationships, and culture in the new iHeart podcast, Sniffy's Cruising Confessions. Sniffy's Cruising Confessions will broaden minds and help you pursue your true goals. You can listen to Sniffy's Cruising Confessions, sponsored by Gilead, now on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

New episodes every Thursday. The 2025 iHeart Podcast Awards are coming. This is the chance to nominate your podcast for the industry's biggest award. Submit your podcast for nomination now at iHeart.com slash podcast awards. But hurry, submissions close on December 8th. Hey, you've been doing all that talking. It's time to get rewarded for it.

Submit your podcast today at iHeart.com slash podcast awards. That's iHeart.com slash podcast awards. When you're talking about like tactically, what is this? How are these kind of bombings being pulled off? So you've got like this huge crowd and they're these kind of bombings being pulled off as you so you've

got like this huge crowd and they're just kind of like marching from target to target um so the youth are not really i mean they have some small kind of ids you know what i'm saying the youth student the youth protesters but generally it's molotovs bricks burning barricades but they very clearly know the island inside out they know their streets you know obviously because they live there and most of the police from what i understand are actually french called in from the island for from the mainland sorry to the island a lot of the crs riot police thousands of them were brought in there was that they were actually completely outnumbered they had to retreat at one point in in the evening uh to go back to the prefecture the kind of cultural french

administrative building where main the main target of violence was they had to retreat to get more ammunition because they just they just shot so much tear gas yeah um they just couldn't you know they couldn't do anything there were some teams like the youth um some of them had green armbands or green leg bands so they were very clearly like a different unit and they were very well organized they didn't have walkie-talkies mind you normally that that shows a closer sign of organization but some of them were like that some of them were just turned up to fight and some of them were splitting off into different groups you would see one come in they'd fight fight fight and then they'd leave and as they're leaving another load would just come in in a line it was it was really quite interesting you know they'd really thought about it um it wasn't just

a free-for-all which it might look like but you know after a while of covering riots there's certain things you notice where you're like ah okay they're planning this they're planning that you know what i'm saying so it's quite interesting in that sense um but yeah man it's yeah thousands of thousands of youth fighting um it did get messy i think 44 police were injured 13 protesters and one pedestrian that was the official figures i saw at least three pedestrians injured and i think probably more protesters and definitely more cops i would say yeah i mean obviously it also depends on like what your rating is an injury for that sort of thing yeah yeah and a lot of folks probably are avoiding the hospitals and being dealt with at homes and

whatnot because they were committing some crimes yeah just like you know at home with super glue instead of stitches or whatever yeah um do you have a sense of like how long, what the kind of the back end of this was the preparation process was for this? Yeah. So the clashes have been ongoing before we got there for about a week. So Ivan Kolonar was beaten into this coma. He was,

he was attacked in prison. There's some rumors that he said some kind of Islamophobic thing to the inmate. I don't know how true that is, but all we know is the guy was actually a convicted jihadist. It's not kind of hearsay. The guy, the inmate, was a convicted jihadist because obviously Ivan Kolinar is in the type of prison where what the state says is terrorists are there. You know what I mean? Anybody terrorist is there. So it makes sense.

He's amongst these people and i think he was attacked in the gym when he was on his own and he was strangled and this this is where yeah yeah this is where there's a weird point of contention he because of the special status he had as such a violent uh militant whatever he shouldn't have really been on his own like that and some people speculating did something happen but generally most people we spoke to were like it was probably just negligence you know they weren't very conspiratorial there was someone like oh the french the french planned this i doubt it it doesn't make much sense to do this right now like you know they knew what would happen to Yvonne Colin. Uh,

to the, to the people. Sorry. If Yvonne Colin, I was hurt because he's a big, you know, a big, um, name there.

There's also some, you know, maybe interesting, um, arguments around the case, the way he was arrested. Apparently the gun doesn't match up. I don't know.

I didn't really get into that, but either way, he's like a, you know, people that love him, you know what I'm saying? He's like a martyr for them, even though, you know, he shot this guy in the back in, in cold blood, essentially, but for them,

that was a political assassination, whatever. So, so for about a week, the, the, the youth were fighting and I saw a video or anything that happens in Corsica. I'm like, right. I'm looking at it. And I was like, okay, this, this is a little bit different. different okay Molotovs are out again hasn't haven't seen that for a while and then the next day and then the next day and then it spread one night to like five different cities or like sorry three different cities like big big places and then they burnt like a very specific monument so that was like oh it's on so for at least a week they were they were planning something you know and there

was enough kind of um momentum there i think for them to organize certainly we know that there was people from ajatio the capital city in bastia where we filmed like a lot of people drove in they came you know specifically for this clash. So that was quite interesting. I think the youth movement have a very strong network there. And there's also quite a big football ultra scene there. So the day before the clashes, Bastia and Ajaccio had a derby. So obviously, I imagine a lot of the ultras, or at least I know a lot of the ultras, were also part of the independence groupings and part of the clashes. So I imagine that a lot of the football ultras kind of organized, you know,

you know, the match the day before or at least the week before. So I think there was quite a lot of organization there, you know. Welcome. I'm Danny Thrill. Won't you join me at the fire and dare enter Nocturnum, Tales from the Shadows, presented by iHeart and Sonora. An anthology of modern-day horror stories inspired by the legends of Latin America.

From ghastly encounters with shapeshifters to bone-chilling brushes with supernatural creatures. I know you. Take a trip and experience the horrors that have haunted Latin America since the beginning of time. Listen to Nocturnal Tales from the Shadows as part of my Cultura podcast network, available on the iHeartRadio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Jack Peace Thomas, the host of a brand new Black Effect original series, Black Lit, the podcast for diving deep into the rich world of Black literature. I'm Jack Peace Thomas, and I'm inviting you to join me and a vibrant community of literary enthusiasts dedicated to protecting and celebrating our stories. Black Lit is for the page turners, for those who listen to audiobooks while commuting or running errands, for those who find themselves seeking solace, wisdom, and refuge between the chapters.

From thought-provoking novels to powerful poetry, we'll explore the stories that shape our culture. Together, we'll dissect classics and contemporary works while uncovering the stories of the brilliant writers behind them. Blacklit is here to amplify the voices of Black writers and to bring their words to life. Listen to Blacklit on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Curious about queer sexuality, cruising, and expanding your horizons? Hit play on the sex-positive and deeply entertaining podcast,

Sniffy's Cruising Confessions. Join hosts Gabe Gonzalez and Chris Patterson Rosso as they explore queer sex, cruising, relationships, and culture in the new iHeart podcast, Sniffy's Cruising Confessions. Sniffy's Cruising Confessions will broaden minds and help you pursue your true goals. You can listen to Sniffy's Cruising Confessions, sponsored by Gilead, now on the iHeartRadio app

or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every Thursday. Hi, I'm Ed Zitron, host of the Better Offline podcast, and we're kicking off our second season digging into how tech's elite has turned Silicon Valley into a playground for billionaires. From the chaotic world of generative AI to the destruction of Google search,

Better Offline is your unvarnished and at times unhinged look at the underbelly of tech from an industry veteran with nothing to lose. This season I'm going to be joined by everyone from Nobel-winning economists to leading journalists in the field, and I'll be digging into why the products you love keep getting worse and naming and shaming those responsible. Don't get me wrong though, I love technology. I just hate the people in charge

and want them to get back to building things that actually do things to help real people. I swear to God things can change if we're loud enough. So join me every week to understand what's happening in the tech industry and what could be done to make things better. Listen to Better Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

wherever else you get your podcasts. Check out betteroffline.com. What do you feel like is next? Do you get the sense that because the government has announced their willingness to sit down and talk, that maybe folks are going to wait to follow up this? Or do you get the sense that they're going to kind of keep the pressure on? Well, the thing is, there was one option before Yvon Collinard died. And now there's a new option that he's died.

You see what I'm saying? Right. Before he died, I think what you're saying would have happened. I mean, I don't know, but I think the youth would have, they would have held off the fact that the interior minister of France, who answers directly to Macron within one day or less than one day, said we're willing to go as far as autonomy in these discussions. If we stop being violent, I think the youth were smart enough to realise,

all right, let's stop. Let's see what he's got to say. I'm sure if things faltered, if things didn't move quick enough, they would have very quickly stepped up the violence again. However, now that Ivan Kolonar has died, I don't think that they're just going to wait. Now, from what I understand from speaking to contacts and friends in Corsica, There's a period of mourning right now. You know, his funeral, he died in a prison in Marseille. He wasn't even transferred to Corsica to die. So for a lot of them, that's incredibly offensive.

That's the kind of spark that started these clashes. It's all about independence and autonomy on one level, but the thing that drove this and sparked it was Yvon Collinard's attack. And the fact that there's a sparked it was Ivan Kolonar's attack and and the fact that there's a lot of Corsican prison prisoners which are political prisoners are in prison in France anyway so now that he has died I really think that there will be a moment of calm due to the funeral and respect for Ivan Kolonar and whatever and then I think maybe a week after this week I think it's almost inevitable that we will

see some form of violence again i've spoken to some people that are maybe going a bit far maybe being a bit dramatic i don't know but they speculate that there'll be a little bit more than just clashes one one person i know said i think they're going to blow something up again do i think that probably not but certainly when we were in the streets they were using uh there's there's photos of it as well they were using very crude but very small improvised explosive devices now when a group even starts to do that you know okay it's a very small device it was in a kind of like a basically a tennis ball type thing with it with whatever in it but it was fucking loud.

It wouldn't really do much unless it probably blew up right next to your foot. But when they're even considering that, in my experience, that tells you that there's an element that are ready to go further up the ladder to the next level. Does that mean they're going to blow somewhere up? I don't know. I don't see it personally. You know, these young people are very clever. I think that would be an insane't see it personally. You know, these these young people are very clever.

I think that would be an insane decision because it would France would have no option but to basically flood the island with a lot more police and maybe even military type police. I don't know. Maybe not. But but yeah, anyway, we'll see what happens. But again, my point is not not that I think this is going to happen, but there's that talk which we haven't seen that kind of talk in corsica for quite a while you know what i mean and there's actually people now genuinely worried like okay where's this gonna go um which can never be a good thing i guess the french state really has to be careful here and i think the fact they've now said we're gonna go as far as autonomy maybe they at the very least have to be shown to be doing that very quickly i think you know otherwise for a lot of people in corsica it's like even calling a colonel died in vain i guess and it's not just the youth it's everybody even people that perhaps really don't like that the youth were fighting, really don't support that level of violence,

they still support Ivan Kolonar and are very sad he's dead. You see what I'm saying? And the way he died. And even Bastia FC, the football team, one of the main football teams in Corsica, they said, oh, we're very sad that he's dead. A hero has died, that kind of thing. So he's seen as a martyr now, definitely.

Yeah, I mean, that's a predictable he's seen as a martyr now, definitely. Yeah, I mean that's a predictable outcome from killing a guy who's in prison. Right, right. So we're kind of in this waiting to see what the next step is then, I guess. It's kind of this weird sort of

political liminal space, I guess, where the next steps are there's a number of things that could happen. Um, that's the right way to describe it. Yeah, definitely. It's this very, everything's in transition. It's, it's very, it's, it's either calm before the storm or it's calm that turns into something positive. Um, but I, I just don just don't see you know after almost two weeks of extremely violent clashes very well organized after seeing them on the ground as well these are brave lads these and women as well these are not your kind of average weekend warriors they're

very very up for it um you know how people clash in paris like french people they're very up for it as soon as oh yeah fine they'll fight you know um it's like that times 10 from what i experienced because it's got the the kind of incubated nationalist identity separate from france but whilst also having kind of fiery French culture and fiery Italian culture influences and fiery Corsican culture. Not to say that they're not very nice people. Everyone was absolutely lovely, very, very friendly. But you can tell they're, you know, they're a fiery people. They're active. They're about it.

They mean what they say. So I don't think that the youth will just go quietly from this. Essentially a political prisoner, a martyr now, and then for them to just go, oh, okay, we'll just relax now. I don't see it. You're talking from like, you know, probably in the full week of clashes, maybe four or 5,000 people together throwing rocks, burning barricades, throwing small improvised devices at cops,

to then just to go to nothing after Ivan Kolonar dies, I'dricades, throwing small improvised devices at cops to then just to go to nothing after even Colonna dies. I'd be very, very surprised. I think the only way that that would happen would be for France to go, OK, here's your autonomy. And then that energy could be turned into a celebration. I'm saying that should or shouldn't happen. I just think theoretically that's the only way that it could avoid violence because the

energy is there now. You see what I'm saying? Yeah, not on like a esoteric level. It's just the level of like could avoid violence because the energy is there now. You see what I'm saying? Yeah. Not on like a esoteric level. It's just the level of like they're revved up. They're ready. You know, and the attitude, the kind of it's in the air. It's in the air right now.

So you published just a couple of days ago, your little documentary, like short documentary from Popular Front, which has footage. Yeah. A little dispatch, which has footage from this, which people should definitely check out, especially if they'd like to see some of the tactics that we've talked about on this episode so far. Is there anywhere else you might recommend they go for further reading on this subject? Not to be, oh, yeah, only popular front,

but it's just something that I've just been specifically fascinated and obsessed with for a long time so when the time came i was very well prepared um everyone has said like oh you know this is this is crazy like you know you how did you understand all of this so quickly it's like because i've been reading about it and and the problem with a lot of the french reporting is you know it's it's naturally very fresh skewed it's a little bit sneery like all the island people are kicking off again whereas it's like no come on like this is an incredible beautiful place of course they want to preserve it of course they want to control

it in whatever way they want to so again it's very difficult um but i will say that there are some really good reporters um there there's a um a friend of mine um from corsica lionel dumas uh he runs like a thing called um corsican passport or he used to which was kind of um kind of humorous but at the same time you know news about kind of corsican related um patriotic stuff and then who we worked with, Jean Collinard, he's not related to Yvon Collinard. It's quite a common last name. Exactly, yeah.

To us, it sounds quite, oh, right, you must be related. But over there, it's like, not Smith, but it's quite common. So yeah, Jean Collinard, he's great. And there's also the local papers in Corsica, Course Matin.

They're really good. You might have to translate stuff, but they're very on the ball. You know what I mean? They're focused on everything. So if people are interested in it, honestly, I would say like seek out local French reporters. From what I gathered as well, there's a quiet,

but really thriving kind of youth media. I wouldn't say it's a movement's a movement but there's something growing there you know i spoke before i went out i spoke to quite a few reporters really nice people really enthusiastic um really you know love loving their island but not full of hatred or anything like that that's something that i've seen a lot of french people say oh corsicans are really full of hatred they're racist they're blah blah it's like, I didn't experience that. And at the same time, it's like, have you been to Paris? It's so fucking racist.

Have you seen a French riot? Yeah. Well, yeah. You know, like, it's like, at the end of the day, I think the whole region probably has an issue with that. But certainly the youth are very open-minded, very nice. And like I said, this isn't just me basing it off of one trip i've been fascinated with this place for about six to eight years

and i i have not experienced anything like that sure you'll hear the old comment like oh you know very yeah it's europe yeah it's europe exactly exactly it's europe yeah not to minimize it but like it's not just corsica exactly you know for fuck's sake whatever but generally you know for a small island it could be way worse and yeah so i had a lot of french people like they're really nasty they're really violent and it's like they're not actually like they're very angry but they don't hate they don't hate the french in that sense of like, Oh, you're a French person kill you. It's the same thing as we hate the state,

you know, like, and at the same time, they have a very, quite a few people brought up Ireland and the Basque situation and Sardinia. And so they have this, they have an internationalist mentality as well, actually.

And in fact, years ago, there used to be a youth conference in Corsica hosted there. I don't think it goes on anymore, but it was hosted in Corsica by what was a very well organized radical socialist youth movement in Corsica, where people from Northern Ireland, people from the Basque country, people from. What's the one in Barcelona? Oh, Catalonia. Yeah, Catalonia. uh what's the one in barcelona oh um um catalonia yeah catalonia yeah people from there would come you know all people from different breakaway regions or or whatever and they would all come

and they would all meet in corsica and they would talk about tactics and politics and whatever so it's a very very interesting cultured place amazing history fucking napoleon is from napoleon is from there you know that's all you want um so yeah it's a really cool place and you know we only documented one side of it a very radical side of it because that's what was happening that weekend yeah it's a dispatch but there are a lot of moderates as well there are a lot of like political very smart political moderate moderates that are like look we don't want violence but we do want autonomy we want We want something. And they, you know, they said, oh, you only showed the militant side of it.

It's like, well, you weren't on the street that day. You know, these kids were. So obviously that's how it works. But yeah, to answer your question again, sorry. I would say just if you're interested in the region, check it out. And there's a film, if you can find it in English subtitle, send it to me.

But there's a fictionalized film about the FLNC. I think it's called A Life of Violence. That's actually quite good. It's a bit romanticized, but it's quite good in terms of explaining the situation there. If you speak French, check that out. And just check out Course Martin and all these other kind of local reporters there. People are like, oh, it's too hard to find them it does feel like that but once you find them you find them all so yeah awesome well jay canrahan thank you so much check out the new popular front

dispatch on corsica um on the youtube by the way to yeah youtube yeah yeah so check out all the popular front stuff on youtube you've got a great documentary out also about the territorial defense militias in Ukraine that you filmed right before shit went, you know, where it is. Yeah, we're still editing it because we're a bit like, how do we make this most relevant? But it's coming. It will be quite interesting. I'm excited. Yeah. The perspective beforehand.

Yeah, the shit you were posting on Twitter was really interesting. Yeah, man. So, yeah, check that out when it's out check out all the popular fronts other stuff um and yeah thank you jake let's uh we'll we'll have you back on soon all right man thank you very much it could happen here as a production of cool zone media for more podcasts from cool zone media visit our website, coolzonemedia.com, or check us out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can find sources for It Could Happen Here updated monthly at coolzonemedia.com. Thanks for listening. You should probably keep your lights on for Nocturnal Tales from the Shadow.

Join me, Danny Trails, and step into the flames of fright. An anthology podcast of modern day horror stories inspired by the most terrifying legends and lore of Latin America. Listen to Nocturnal on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Curious about queer sexuality, cruising, and expanding your horizons? Hit play on the sex-positive and deeply entertaining podcast, Sniffy's Cruising Confessions.

Join hosts Gabe Gonzalez and Chris Patterson Rosso as they explore queer sex, cruising, relationships, and culture in the new iHeart podcast, Sniffy's Cruising Confessions. Sniffy's Cruising Confessions will broaden minds and help you pursue your true goals. You can listen to Sniffy's Cruising Confessions, sponsored by Gilead, now on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every Thursday. Hi, I'm Ed Zitron, host of the Better Offline podcast,

and we're kicking off our second season digging into Tex Elite and how they've turned Silicon Valley into a playground for billionaires. From the chaotic world of generative AI to the destruction of Google search, Better Offline is your unvarnished and at times unhinged look at the underbelly of tech brought to you by an industry veteran with nothing to lose. Listen to Better Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever else you get your podcasts from. Welcome to Gracias Come Again, a podcast by Honey German, where we get real and dive straight into todo lo actual y viral. We're talking música, los premios, el chisme, and all things trending in my cultura. I'm bringing you all the latest happening in our entertainment world and some fun and

impactful interviews with your favorite Latin artists, comedians, actors, and influencers. Each week, we get deep and raw life stories, combos on the issues

that matter to us, and it's all packed with gems, fun, straight-up comedia, and that's a song that only nuestra gente can sprinkle. Listen to Gracias Come Again on the iHeartRadio

app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.