A l'UM la science [S04-ep04]: The health of France's mayors
This week in A l'UM la science, Olivier Torrès and Mathieu Le Moal from the observatory Amarok Observatory present a ground-breaking study on the mental health of France's mayors. The report takes you into the elementary analysis room of the physical measurements laboratory with Magalie Lefeuvre. Last but not least, we close with an off-season Bar des sciences! A program co-produced and broadcast on Divergence radio, every Wednesday at 6pm.

Since the 19th century, the figure of the mayor has established himself in France as the great public figure. It's Monsieur de Rénal in Le Rouge et le Noir, it's Jean Valjean who becomes Monsieur Madeleine, it's Fabrice Lucchini in Alice and the Mayoror Clovis Cornillac in the film Monsieur le maire released last year.
The smallest tier of representative democracy, the mayor is also the person who enforces the rules of the Republic, who marries you, who signs the authorization to build your house or bury a relative. The man or woman who inaugurates the canteen or the city stadium, who sits on the hospital's supervisory board, or who guarantees public safety. To be a mayor, even in a metropolis like Montpellier, is to be the one who continues to cycle to work, wearing a tie and with his or her hair blowing in the wind!
In a small commune, being mayor means learning to cope with phone calls at home, day and night.
- Hello, Madam Mayor? I'm sorry to bother you but our neighbor has been gone for two days, he left his dog on the balcony, the poor beast does nothing but howl we don't know what to do."
- Hello, Mr. Mayor? Yes, this is the new general practitioner. Well, this isn't going well at all! I asked for a blue wall in my practice and now... the wall is green!"
- Hello, Mr. Mayor. Sorry to wake you 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've got to come!"
To be a mayor is to be close to people, not to say intimate with them, 7 days a week, day and night, without weekends, with few vacations and often little recognition. But does this unfailing availability have no effect 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 at theObservatoire Amarok, have co-signed a report entitled: Du risque de burn-out au bien être des maires, sortir de l'ignorance.
Read more :
- Download the press kit
- Read also: My small business will overcome the crisis, 2020, Lum 13
In the second half of the program, we return to the physical measurements laboratory to visit the elemental analysis room. Magalie Lefeuvre introduces us to a technique for determining the percentage of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulfur and oxygen in organic compounds. Here, she analyzes some surprising samples: plants, oils, soups, cocoa, fish eggs, tires and even hospital bed cover fabrics.





Last but not least, our last-minute guest is once again Thomas Pichery, in charge of communications for scientific culture. He presents an unusual, or rather out-of-season, Science Bar: an autumn Science Bar! Never before seen...! The theme? "Water: source of life for man, source of inequality for women? And it's this Thursday at 8pm at the Émile Zola multimedia library.
At UM la science you've got the program, let's go!
Coproduction: Divergence FM / Université de Montpellier
Animation: Lucie Lecherbonnier
Interviews : 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
