After decades at the BBC and ITV, Rene Wyndham brings her experience, warmth, and instinct for a good conversation to Mosaïque FM’s weekly English Special
If you enjoy listening to good old-fashioned radio – as apparently more people do than like to confess to – and you tune into Mosaïque FM Estérel Méditerranée on 89.5 every now and then, chances are that you are one of the faithful followers of the English Special programme running on Saturdays at 1.15 pm, hosted by Rene Wyndham.
The topics Rene talks about range from local concerns to events on the other side of the world, and she understands how to expertly draw stories, anecdotes, and insights out of her interviewees while making them feel as if they are chatting with a good friend. Her warm voice and polished speech hint at a trained speaker – and indeed, she is. But this is not your ordinary radio show host: This is a woman with decades of experience at the BBC and ITV. How does someone with her credentials arrive at the microphone of a small community radio station in Fréjus?
Despite its worldwide online presence, Mosaïque FM Estérel Méditerranée is a deeply civic, locally focused, community-embedded station. This is not where you hear the latest chart toppers first, but it is there when you look for a voice for an entire coastal community. The thread running through everything it does is pluralism: youth alongside retirees, jazz beside metal, Corsican music beside international talk, reflecting the patchwork community on the Riviera shores, including its large English-speaking base.
Courtesy Mosaïque FM
And this is exactly the kind of format that lets a seasoned interviewer like Rene conduct unscripted chats with people from all walks of life. Sensing she is genuinely listening and truly interested in their stories, they open up to her easily. What follows is a friendly chat rather than a formal interview, even though Rene never veers off her path of professional objectivity.
Few would suspect Rene’s own fascinating life story, though: The Londoner, daughter of two Holocaust escapees, fell into radio early on. Her father repaired radios, and the young girl was fascinated by the invisible people trapped inside, but of course never found any.
Once early adulthood and career decision time rolled around, she wanted to become an actress but couldn’t memorise lines very well. Her O and A levels (US: post-secondary qualifications) had already given her a good grounding, so she turned to academia and acquired several advanced degrees in philosophy, German, and French.
Photo courtesy Rene Wyndham
Then fate, or chance, or happenstance rolled the dice and she landed her first job in the highly competitive radio world – on BBC Bristol, no less. “I knew very little about making radio. I’d never done an interview. I thought, how do you do an interview, actually? So I plunged right into it and hoped for the best.”
Some experienced radio personalities spotted her talent and took her under their wings. One day David Wayne, head of the station, asked her how many people she was broadcasting to. When she answered “Approximately one and a half million”, he corrected her, “No, you are broadcasting to one person, one only.”
That advice would define Rene’s entire career.
She quickly rose through the ranks, trying her hand at various beats, and then expanded into the world of television. Her ease in front of the camera was obvious. In time, she became one of the most popular presenters on the Beeb, then on ITV. High-profile collaborations with pan-European stations like ARTE, Euronews and national TV channels like Germany’s ARD followed. She is one of those rare personalities who refuse to be pegged to a specific beat but can seamlessly go from interviewing Sir David Attenborough to former French president François Mitterrand and bestselling author J.K. Rowling, of Harry Potter fame.
Video via irene Wyndham Sweeney on YouTube
With her natural charisma and authenticity, she also developed a successful parallel career as a dynamic public speaker and panel moderator. Being fluent in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Dutch, and having studied both counselling and conflict resolution, she is skilled at connecting effortlessly with her audience. Environmental and health topics are particularly close to her heart, and she knows how to present them eloquently without resorting to jargon or abstract concepts.
That professional success did not stop her from indulging in her passions for music and songwriting. Her lyrics are frequently facetious, gently poking fun at social conventions, but always in her understated British humour:
DINNER PARTIES
Dinner parties are frightfully super
Play your cards well and it’s all fun and games
Dinner parties are frightfully super
Meet the right people and drop the right names.
“Good evening, it’s so kind of you to have us here tonight.”
(I didn’t feel like coming but one has to be polite.)
“My word, you really do look well
And younger every year!”
(I feel I have to say that
Since that’s why you asked me here!)
“Your children have grown up so fast,
They change each time we come
They look really intelligent!”
(Though actually they’re dumb!
The little girl’s just like her mum
The boy’s just like his dad
If they keep growing up like this
Things will be pretty bad…)
“The coq au vin was quite superb!”
(It tasted like old hen!)
“I’d never had your cheesecake!”
(And I don’t want to again.
I couldn’t stand your home-made wine,
So I left it in the cup.)
“Could you pass me the recipe for your ratatouille?”
(So I can tear it up!)
“The evening was quite splendid,
We’ve not laughed so much in years.
I’m sorry, we really must go now!”
(Thank God, I’m bored to tears!)
–Lyrics: Rene Wyndham
Back to the question of how such an extraordinarily accomplished person does a small local radio station the honour of presenting a weekly show. “Passion for radio, especially for community-based radio, and a passion for people’s stories!” This is where Rene can be her true self without the guardrails a national or international media organisation would put in place, in this day and age of political correctness and pandering.
The woman of so many talents excels when talking off-the-cuff with those who shape the local fabric and narrative, from the municipal politician to the individual entrepreneur. And – not least – she lives locally a good part of the year, going back and forth between her UK and Riviera homes, which makes her intimately familiar with the Esterel’s social fabric.
What could someone like her, who has been a defining presence for several decades and given a voice to so many, possibly still hope for as she approaches retirement age? “Retirement? Not for me!” she laughs. “I would be happy to do some TV work once more, down here on the Côte d’Azur, in English or in French!”
One of the things today’s world is lacking most cruelly is sharp reporters who are both clear-eyed and empathetic. At a time when anyone with a camera and a following can present themselves as a public voice, Rene Wyndham remains one of the last beacons of rigorous, humane journalism in a muddled, jaded industry. And a true force of nature like her cannot be slowed down. Tune into Mosaïque FM Estérel Méditerranée on Saturdays at 1.15 pm to hear what we mean.
PHOTO CREDITS
- Lead image by Alan Findlay on Unsplash, licenced under the Unsplash License
- All other photos and posts as credited
- Video as credited
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