Jean-Claude Kaufmann, Samuel Fitoussi, Mourad Winter and the duo formed by Peggy Sastre and Leonardo Orlando have signed works published or reissued this year that have not left the Regard Libre indifferent.
As moderators of a magazine for debate, which has also had a rich cultural section since its inception, we find our raw material in books, alongside other written or oral contributions from intellectuals and artists inviting themselves into our sights. There was no shortage of publications that caught our eye in 2025, from those scrutinized by our literary critic Quentin Perissinotto to those that fed our new monthly rendezvous «Essay of the Month» or gave rise to interviews or analyses, not to mention all those that enriched our reflections without appearing in our columns. Here's a selection of four grands crus to celebrate the end of the year in style.
Yann Costa's choice
What if intelligence wasn't always at the service of truth? What if, on the contrary, the most brilliant among us use their talent - sometimes in spite of themselves - to rationalize absurd ideas? In Why intellectuals get it wrong, Samuel Fitoussi draws on cognitive psychology and the history of ideas to expose the causes of this paradox and reveal its political implications. Remarkably well-sourced and up-to-date, this essay warns against our collective tendency to fall into error with conviction. Unless we put in place safeguards to counter the spirit of the times.
Read our interview by Samuel Fitoussi
Quentin Perissinotto's choice
Curiously, and in contrast to the previous year, 2025 was a relatively dull year in terms of reading. Not that it was a bad year, but few recent books really dazzled me or swept me off my feet like avalanches. One of the few that managed to shake me out of this literary torpor did so with a bang; I'm referring to Love is overrated by Mourad Winter.
Released in paperback this year, this novel is unlike anything I've read before; it's dynamite on the page. The whole plot hinges on the meaning of punchline and the worst part is, it works like a charm! The story and the lines go off in all directions, it's impulsive, carefree, totally insolent, but it feels so good to let it all hang out! A read that skids into 2025 in reverse. Or, as we might say of Diary of a prisoner of Nicolas Sarkozy: it's reads well.
Read also | Is Mourad Winter a good guy?
Nicolas Jutzet's choice
In his book L’Uniforme scolaire. Vêtement archaïque ou instrument de la modernité? («The school uniform. Archaic garment or instrument of modernity?»), sociologist Jean-Claude Kaufmann offers a historical analysis of the uniform as a political subject. Some of the facts are surprising for the reader. Here are two of them. Firstly, while in Europe the uniform is perceived as a symbol of the past, it turns out that everywhere else it is fashionable and appreciated. Secondly, the French author shows that the left, which rejects it today, defended it yesterday - and that it is therefore easier to turn one's coat around than to put a uniform on schoolchildren. At the end of the reading, everyone can choose to be for or against this idea, but doing so with more knowledge.
Full review Read it here
Jonas Follonier's choice
In Sexe, science & censure («Sex, science & censorship»), Peggy Sastre and Leonardo Orlando tackle a major academic issue: the denial or silencing of differences between men and women. Drawing on decades of research in biology, evolutionary psychology and neuroscience, the authors explain the significant statistical asymmetries that exist between the sexes, in terms of aptitudes, preferences and behavior, whatever the cultural or historical context.
Read also | Peggy Sastre: «French tradition fosters a distrust of logic».»
They show that a better understanding of our natural tendencies, far from leading to determinism, enables us to make better use of our freedom, and thus strengthens equality of opportunity. The book stands out above all for its criticism of contemporary academia, which is accused of sacrificing scientific rigor to ideology, particularly in the social sciences. An essay that is both pedagogical and combative, it reminds us of an obvious fact that has become polemical: no serious discourse can be built against the results of rigorous empirical and theoretical studies.
Read the full review in next month's issue
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Samuel Fitoussi
Why intellectuals get it wrong
Editions de l'Observatoire
April 2025
270 pages
Mourad Winter
Love is overrated
Pocket
Mars 2025 (Poche)
288 pages
Jean-Claude Kaufmann
L’uniforme scolaire («School uniform»)
Armand Colin
August 2025
208 pages
Peggy Sastre and Leonardo Orlando
Sex, science & censorship. The taboo truths of the gender war
Editions de l'Observatoire
October 2025
332 pages
French 
German 
English