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A few months after the fire at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, which took place on April 15, 2019, the "writer-traveler" Sylvain Tesson strives to identify, through various readings, "what the fire at Notre-Dame is a sign of." He first evokes his intimate knowledge of the cathedral through the climbs he made as a teenager, which founded his attachment to Gothic architecture - where Victor Hugo and Arthur Rimbaud accompanied him variously. Then, claiming Paul Valéry, Gaston Bachelard and André Breton, Tesson argues for a symbolic reading of the world before delivering, with the support of Charles Péguy, Alain Erlande-Brandenburg, Joris-Karl Huysmans, Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, Simone Veil and Julien Gracq, a reflection on the meaning of Gothic architecture that he doubles, citing Leopold Kohr, with a critique of the "hypertrophies" of our time. Finally, Tesson, citing Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and Chateaubriand, sketches, in contrast to the Barrésian conception of identity, a conception of heritage and community based on emotion: an "identity of tears". Sylvain Tesson is a writer, essayist, radio and theatre man. His numerous essays, novels and short stories are for the most part travel stories. Sylvain Tesson won the Prix Goncourt for short stories and the Prix de la nouvelle de l'Académie française for Une vie à coucher dehors (Gallimard, 2009), the Prix Médicis essai for Dans les forêts de Sibérie (Gallimard, 2011), the Prix Renaudot for La Panthère des neiges (Gallimard, 2019) and the Prix Combourg for Avec les fées (Équateur, 2024). He has also co-directed or been the subject of around ten documentaries. This episode, presented by Charles Personnaz (director of the Inp), was recorded on September 30, 2019. Hosted by Ausha. Visit ausha.co/fr/politique-de-confidentialite for more information.