Explore every episode of the podcast Sister Revolutions

Give Me Liberty: Charlottesville and the American Revolution from 1776 to 2026

Historian Benjamin Bernard and producer Sage Tanguay hand the microphone to their University of Virginia students to interview history-lovers and experts in Charlottesville. How did Charlottesville experience the Age of Revolutions? In the lead-up to 2026—which will represent the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence—what should citizens of our sister cities know about revolutionary historical memory today?

Sister Revolutions is a limited-run documentary series made possible by the Charlottesville Sister Cities Commission, Brown Residential College at the University of Virginia, and America 2026. You can learn more about each of these organizations on their websites: www.cvillesistercities.org, https://browncollege.virginia.edu/ and www.america2026.eu

• Sister Revolutions is produced and hosted by Benjamin Bernard and Sage Tanguay
• With production assistance from Sophia Moore
• French Transcription and Translation by Oriane Guiziou-Lamour
• Music in this episode was provided by Blue Dot Sessions

This episode featured the voices of:

• Iris De Rode
• Emily Hemlinger
• Kirt Von Daacke
• Brennen Muller
• Kay Slaughter
• Lara Howell
• David McCormick

Special thanks to

• Elizabeth Smiley of the Charlottesville Sister Cities Commission
• Ben Larsen of WTJU for running sound at our launch event
• Bertrand Van Ruymbeke of America 2026
• Prof. Ari Blatt, Chair of the University of Virginia French Department
• Florent Werguet, Head of international relations for the City of Besancon
• Hugo Toudic Associate director of the University of Chicago center in Paris

Sister Revolutions is hosted by Symposia: a production of Brown Residential College at the University of Virginia and the Virginia Audio Collective at WTJU 91.1 FM.

Sister Revolutions III: Liberty, Equality, Fraternity (1776–1848)

How did the provincial military town of Besançon experience the French Revolution? University of Virginia historian Benjamin Bernard and producer Sage Tanguay consider the transition from monarchy to democracy in a city that produced many of France’s leading social thinkers of the early nineteenth century. This episode features discussions with French and American doctoral students and historians--as well as an extended interview with Léonel de Moustier, a descendant of François-Elie de Moustier, who was the French ambassador to America during the French Revolution.

Sister Revolutions is a limited-run documentary series made possible by the Charlottesville Sister Cities Commission, Brown Residential College at the University of Virginia, and America 2026. You can learn more about each of these organizations on their websites: www.cvillesistercities.org, https://browncollege.virginia.edu/ and www.america2026.eu

• Sister Revolutions is produced and hosted by Benjamin Bernard and Sage Tanguay
• Production assistance from Sophia Moore and Ben Larsen
• French Transcription and Translation by Oriane Guiziou-Lamour
• English voiceover by Nathan Moore, Tracey Gerlach, Russ Perry, and Dan Hennicke

The music in this episode was provided by Blue Dot Sessions and by violinist Daniel Sender, Charlottesville Sister Cities grantee performing music by Michel Blavet (1700-1768).

This episode featured the voices of:

• Leïla Tnaïnchi
• Oriane Guiziou-Lamour
• André Ferrer from the Société d’émulation du Doubs and Professor Emeritus at the University of Burgundy Franche-Comté
• Gaëlle Cavalli from the Citadelle of Besançon
• Lionel Estavoyer
• Léonel de Moustier
• Amandine Royer

Special thanks to

• Elizabeth Smiley of the Charlottesville Sister Cities Commission
• Gaspard de Moustier
• Bertrand Van Ruymbeke of America 2026
• Prof. Ari Blatt, Chair of the University of Virginia French Department
• Florent Werguet, Head of international relations for the City of Besançon
• Hugo Toudic Associate director of the University of Chicago center in Paris

Sister Revolutions is hosted by Symposia: a production of Brown Residential College at the University of Virginia and the Virginia Audio Collective at WTJU 91.1 FM.

Enlightenment: Besançon, 1740–1788

Besançon feels in many ways like an eighteenth-century city. In this second episode of “Sister Revolutions,” historian Benjamin Bernard and producer Sage Tanguay explore the intellectual and architectural efflorescence of the Enlightenment in Franche-Comté through interviews with historians—and a visit to Claude Nicolas Ledoux's imaginative Saline Royale (royal salt works) in the nearby village of Arc-et-Senans.

Sister Revolutions is a limited-run documentary series made possible by the Charlottesville Sister Cities Commission, Brown Residential College at the University of Virginia, and America 2026. You can learn more about each of these organizations on their websites: www.cvillesistercities.org, https://browncollege.virginia.edu/ and www.america2026.eu

Sister Revolutions is produced and hosted by Benjamin Bernard and Sage Tanguay With production assistance from Sophia Moore French Transcription and Translation by Oriane Guiziou-Lamour And English voiceover by Lewis Reining and Nathan Moore The music in this episode was provided by Blue Dot Sessions

This episode featured the voices of:

• Andre Ferrer from the Societe d’emulation du Doubs and Professor Emeritus at the University of Burgundy Franche-Comte
• Pascal Brunet public architectural historian
• Gregory Le Moing at the Royal Salt Works of Arc-et-Senans
• Sarah MacDonald and Yves al-Ghazi

Special thanks to

• Elizabeth Smiley of the Charlottesville Sister Cities Commission
• Bertrand Van Ruymbeke of America 2026
• Prof. Ari Blatt, Chair of the University of Virginia French Department
• Florent Werguet, Head of international relations for the City of Besancon
• Hugo Toudic Associate director of the University of Chicago center in Paris

Sister Revolutions is hosted by Symposia: a production of Brown Residential College at the University of Virginia and the Virginia Audio Collective at WTJU 91.1 FM.

Conquest: When Besançon Became French, 1670–1740

Join historian Benjamin Bernard and producer Sage Tanguay as they learn about the French conquest of Besançon in the late seventeenth century through visits to Besançon's Saint-Jean Cathedral and its citadel. They explore the significance of this period for the “sister city" relationship between Charlottesville and Besançon.

Sister Revolutions is a limited-run documentary series made possible by the Charlottesville Sister Cities Commission, Brown Residential College at the University of Virginia, and America 2026. You can learn more about each of these organizations on their websites: www.cvillesistercities.org, https://browncollege.virginia.edu/ and www.america2026.eu

Sister Revolutions is produced and hosted by Benjamin Bernard and Sage Tanguay With production assistance from Sophia Moore French Transcription and Translation by Oriane Guiziou-Lamour And English voiceover by Tracey Gerlach The music in this episode was provided by Blue Dot Sessions

This episode featured the voices of:

• Dr. Katlyn Carter from the University of Notre Dame
• Mathieu Fantoni from the Cathédrale Saint-Jean de Besançon
• Gaelle Cavalli from La Citadelle Besancon
• Noelle Antolin and Styvie Bearns

Special thanks to

• Elizabeth Smiley of the Charlottesville Sister Cities Commission
• Bertrand Van Ruymbeke of America 2026
• Prof. Ari Blatt, Chair of the University of Virginia French Department
• Florent Werguet, Head of international relations for the City of Besancon
• Hugo Toudic Associate director of the University of Chicago center in Paris

Sister Revolutions is hosted by Symposia: a production of Brown Residential College at the University of Virginia and the Virginia Audio Collective at WTJU 91.1 FM.