Science at UM [S04-ep04]: The health of France's mayors
This week on A l’UM la science, Olivier Torrès and Mathieu Le Moal from the observatory Amarok present a groundbreaking study on the mental health of French mayors. The report takes you to the elementary analysis room of the physical measurement laboratory laboratory with Magalie Lefeuvre. Finally, we end with a special, off-season edition of Bar des sciences! A program co-produced and broadcast on Divergence radio, every Wednesday at 6 p.m.
Since the 19th century, the figure of the mayor has established itself in France as a major public figure. It is Monsieur de Rénal in The Red and the Black, it is Jean Valjean who became Monsieur Madeleine, it is Fabrice Lucchini in Alice and the Mayor, and Clovis Cornillac in the film Monsieur le maire released last year.
The smallest level of representative democracy, the mayor is both the person who enforces the rules of the Republic and the person who marries you, signs the permit to build your house or bury a loved one. The person who inaugurates the canteen or the city stadium, who sits on the hospital's supervisory board, or who guarantees public safety. Being mayor, even in a metropolis like Montpellier, means continuing to ride to work on a bike, wearing a tie and with your hair blowing in the wind!
Being mayor of a small town means learning to deal with phone calls at home day and night.
–"Hello, Madam Mayor? I'm sorry to bother you, but our neighbor left two days ago and left his dog on the balcony. The poor thing is howling, and we don't know what to do."
– "Hello, Mr. Mayor? Yes, this is the new general practitioner. Well, this is not acceptable! In the installation specifications, I requested a blue wall in my office, and now... the wall is green!"
– "Hello, Mr. Mayor. Sorry to wake you up in the middle of the night, but there's been an accident on Route de l'Avenir involving two girls on scooters. Yes, it's serious, Mr. Mayor, you need to come!"
Being mayor is a job that requires you to be close to people, not to say intimate, and you have to do it seven days a week, day and night, with no weekends off, few vacations, and often little recognition. But does this constant availability have an impact on the mental health and well-being of France's 34,893 mayors? Well, our guests are the first and only ones to have taken an interest in this question.
Olivier Torres and Mathieu Le Moal, researchers atthe Amarok Observatory, have co-authored a report entitled: From the risk of burnout to the well-being of mayors: breaking out of ignorance.
Learn more:
- Download the press kit
- Read also: My small business will overcome the crisis, 2020, Lum 13
In the second part of the program, we return to the physical measurements laboratory to visit the elemental analysis room. Magalie Lefeuvre shows us a technique that can be used to determine the percentage of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulfur, and oxygen in organic compounds. She analyzes some surprising samples: plants, oils, soups, cocoa, fish eggs, tires, and even hospital bed cover fabric.
Finally, our last-minute guest is back again, as it is once more Thomas Pichery, communications officer for scientific culture. He presents a special edition of the Science Bar, or rather an off-season edition: an autumn Science Bar! Unprecedented...! Its theme? "Water: source of life for men, source of inequality for women?" It's this Thursday at 8 p.m. at the Émile Zola media library.
At UM Science, you have the program, so let's get started!
Co-production: Divergence FM / University of Montpellier
Host: Lucie Lecherbonnier
Interview: Lucie Lecherbonnier / Aline Périault
Reporting and editing: Aline Périault
Production: Tom Chevalier
Listen to the program “A l’UM la science” on Divergence FM 93.9
