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The Europeans is a fresh and entertaining weekly podcast about European politics and culture, recorded each week between Paris and Amsterdam with fascinating guests joining from across Europe. This multiple award-winning podcast fills you in on the major European politics stories and other European news of the week, as well as fun and quirky nuggets that have been missed by most media outlets.
Hosted by Katy Lee, a journalist based in Paris, and Dominic Kraemer, an opera singer in Amsterdam, The Europeans covers everything from elections and climate policy to the best new European films and TV shows. We also produce investigative podcasts about everything from the European farming lobby to oat milk. Yes, oat milk.
Katy and Dominic are old friends, and the warmth and intimacy of their conversations will soon make you feel like you’ve known them a long time too. They approach topics with a light and humorous tone that makes The Europeans stand out from other European news podcasts, while remaining journalistically rigorous and meticulously fact-checked. The Europeans has been recommended by The New York Times, The Guardian, Buzzfeed, The Financial Times, and many other outlets.
Katy Lee, a British-French reporter, has written for major outlets including The Guardian, Politico Europe, Agence France-Presse (AFP), Foreign Policy and The New Statesman for more than a decade, covering French and European politics and more recently, climate change. Dominic Kraemer, a British-German opera singer, performs across Europe when he is not co-hosting The Europeans, with roles recently at the Staatsoper in Berlin, the Dutch National Opera and the Münchener Biennale. The Europeans’ team is completed by producers Katz Laszlo in Amsterdam and Wojciech Oleksiak in Warsaw. You’ll hear them joining Katy and Dominic from time to time, particularly during investigative episodes like ‘The Oatly Chronicles’ and ‘The Big-Agri Bully Boys’.
The Europeans’ breezy, informal approach to covering European news has won awards such as a Covering Climate Now award for an episode about the Swiss women who sued their government at the European Court of Human Rights demanding more climate action; Germany’s prestigious CIVIS Media Prize for ‘Mohamed’, an episode that explores the everyday life of a young undocumented man in Amsterdam; and best LGBTQIA+ short at the MiraBan UK Film Awards for ‘Josh and Franco’, the coming-of-age story of a father and son, both gay.
Our guests have included everyone from major figures in European politics such as Alexander Stubb, now the President of Finland, and Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament, to star chefs Asma Khan and Christian Puglisi, celebrated illustrator Christoph Niemann, and environmentalist George Monbiot. Since launching in 2017, we’ve talked about everything from elections in France, Italy and many more countries besides, to the politics of halloumi cheese in Cyprus, to why Donald Trump is so hard for TV interpreters to translate.
We pride ourselves on covering European politics, European news and European culture from a pan-European perspective. You’ll often hear stories on The Europeans from parts of the continent that don’t usually receive enough attention from major international media outlets, especially Central, Eastern and Southern Europe.
You might enjoy The Europeans if you also enjoy one of these other podcasts: The News Agents, On the Media, Today in Focus, Inside Europe, The Journal, EU Confidential, The Daily, The Globalist, Reasons to be Cheerful, The Media Show, Power Play, and The New Statesman. Whether you’re already a European news nerd, or simply someone who’d like to be better informed about what’s happening across Europe, The Europeans is the podcast for you.
Hosted by Katy Lee, a journalist based in Paris, and Dominic Kraemer, an opera singer in Amsterdam, The Europeans covers everything from elections and climate policy to the best new European films and TV shows. We also produce investigative podcasts about everything from the European farming lobby to oat milk. Yes, oat milk.
Katy and Dominic are old friends, and the warmth and intimacy of their conversations will soon make you feel like you’ve known them a long time too. They approach topics with a light and humorous tone that makes The Europeans stand out from other European news podcasts, while remaining journalistically rigorous and meticulously fact-checked. The Europeans has been recommended by The New York Times, The Guardian, Buzzfeed, The Financial Times, and many other outlets.
Katy Lee, a British-French reporter, has written for major outlets including The Guardian, Politico Europe, Agence France-Presse (AFP), Foreign Policy and The New Statesman for more than a decade, covering French and European politics and more recently, climate change. Dominic Kraemer, a British-German opera singer, performs across Europe when he is not co-hosting The Europeans, with roles recently at the Staatsoper in Berlin, the Dutch National Opera and the Münchener Biennale. The Europeans’ team is completed by producers Katz Laszlo in Amsterdam and Wojciech Oleksiak in Warsaw. You’ll hear them joining Katy and Dominic from time to time, particularly during investigative episodes like ‘The Oatly Chronicles’ and ‘The Big-Agri Bully Boys’.
The Europeans’ breezy, informal approach to covering European news has won awards such as a Covering Climate Now award for an episode about the Swiss women who sued their government at the European Court of Human Rights demanding more climate action; Germany’s prestigious CIVIS Media Prize for ‘Mohamed’, an episode that explores the everyday life of a young undocumented man in Amsterdam; and best LGBTQIA+ short at the MiraBan UK Film Awards for ‘Josh and Franco’, the coming-of-age story of a father and son, both gay.
Our guests have included everyone from major figures in European politics such as Alexander Stubb, now the President of Finland, and Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament, to star chefs Asma Khan and Christian Puglisi, celebrated illustrator Christoph Niemann, and environmentalist George Monbiot. Since launching in 2017, we’ve talked about everything from elections in France, Italy and many more countries besides, to the politics of halloumi cheese in Cyprus, to why Donald Trump is so hard for TV interpreters to translate.
We pride ourselves on covering European politics, European news and European culture from a pan-European perspective. You’ll often hear stories on The Europeans from parts of the continent that don’t usually receive enough attention from major international media outlets, especially Central, Eastern and Southern Europe.
You might enjoy The Europeans if you also enjoy one of these other podcasts: The News Agents, On the Media, Today in Focus, Inside Europe, The Journal, EU Confidential, The Daily, The Globalist, Reasons to be Cheerful, The Media Show, Power Play, and The New Statesman. Whether you’re already a European news nerd, or simply someone who’d like to be better informed about what’s happening across Europe, The Europeans is the podcast for you.
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From Turkey to France and the UK, Iranians who've challenged the regime at home have often sought safety in Europe. But how safe are these dissidents, really? This week we speak to Fariba Nawa, host of 'Lethal Dissent', a fascinating new podcast series that investigates Iran's efforts to silence those in exile on European soil and beyond. We're also talking about Denmark's remarkable mass rewilding plan, and Slovakia's nationalist crackdown on the use of Hungarian and other minority languages.
You can find 'Lethal Dissent' wherever you're listening to this. It was produced by the team at slow journalism podcast On Spec.
We're crowdfunding a new series! You can find out all about it in the special announcement on our feed, as well as on the crowdfunding page itself: https://4fund.com/z/europeanspodcast. You can also support the weekly running of The Europeans via Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/europeanspodcast. Thank you so much to everyone who makes our independent European journalism possible.
This week's Inspiration Station offerings: Bluesky (here's the Sky Follower Bridge) and 'Metrokosmos' on Arte.
00:23 Hot and fresh in your ear canals
04:52 Good Week: Denmark's huge rewilding plan
11:28 Bad Week: Slovakia's Hungarian minority
24:15 Interview: Fariba Nawa on Iran's hunting of its citizens abroad
40:09 The Inspiration Station: Bluesky and 'Metrokosmos'
45:32 Happy Ending: Granny's revenge on the phone scammers
Producers: Morgan Childs and Wojciech Oleksiak
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
Instagram | Bluesky | Mastodon | Threads | Twitter | hello@europeanspodcast.com
1Producers Katz and Wojciech join Katy and Dominic for a very special announcement from The Europeans.
We’re incredibly excited to make this series for you. Please help us turn it into a reality! Sign up to support this project here: https://4fund.com/z/europeanspodcast
Got ideas for places we need to go or people we need to interview for this series? Email us at hello@europeanspodcast.com.
Thank you, as always, for listening.
Instagram | Threads | Twitter | Mastodon | europeanspodcast.com
The world may be transfixed by the US election results, but this was a huge week for news on this side of the Atlantic too. This week we're trying to make sense of the cataclysmic floods in Spain, and talking about another presidential election with major consequences — the one in Moldova. Plus, a much-needed palate-cleanser: we're delving into a fascinating report into what European children are watching, and what grown-up film producers can do to make better stuff for kids.
Anne Schultka is the project manager of KIDS Regio, which campaigns for the children's film industry in Europe. Rikke Flodin is a partner at PUBLIKUM. You can download the report, 'European Children's Film in Focus', here.
This week's Inspiration Station offerings: 'Kapsalon Romy' ('Romy’s Salon') and 'Leto kada sam naucila da letim' ('How I Learned To Fly').
Thanks for listening! If you enjoy our podcast, we'd love it if you'd consider chipping in a few bucks a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast (many currencies are available). You can also help new listeners find the show by leaving us a review or giving us five stars on Spotify.
Other resources for this episode:
'Valencian president downplayed floods while Spain’s rivers rose' - Politico Europe, November 1, 2024 https://www.politico.eu/article/spain-valencia-floods-death-toll-carlos-mazon/
'Pumpkin paddling season: Kasterlee's giant pumpkin regatta' - DW News, October 28, 2024 https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2701632486675304
00:22 A non-US election podcast
04:48 Bad Week: Spain's floods
24:39 Good Week: Maia Sandu
37:26 Interview: Anna Schultka and Rikke Flodin on what the kids of Europe are watching
55:00 The Inspiration Station: 'Romy's Salon' and 'How I Learned To Fly'
58:19 Happy Ending: Belgium's pumpkin kayak race
Producers: Morgan Childs and Katz Laszlo
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
Instagram | Threads | Twitter | Mastodon | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Georgia's pro-Russian ruling party claims to have won last weekend's election — a fraudulent election, according to a mounting pile of evidence. A country that was once on the path to EU membership is now veering much closer to the Kremlin. Is there any hope left? We ring Anna Gvarishvili, Tbilisi-based journalist and head of the Investigative Media Lab, to unpack what just happened and what might happen next. We're also discussing two suitably scary topics in this Halloween episode: France's money problems, and the noxious substances spewing out of your gas cooker.
This episode was recorded before Wednesday's devastating floods in Spain. You can donate to the Cruz Roja (Spanish Red Cross) relief efforts here.
Thanks for listening. If you enjoy our podcast, we'd love it if you'd consider chipping in a few bucks a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast (many currencies are available). If you're short on cash but still want to support us, it would be amazing if you could leave us five juicy stars, as Dominic put it, on Pocket Casts: https://pocketcasts.com/ratings.
This week's Inspiration Station picks: fave dei morti (recipe here) and the Swiss video game Mundaun.
Other resources for this episode
Search Engine: 'Why is it so hard to tax billionaires? (Part 1)', October 18, 2024 https://www.searchengine.show/listen/search-engine-1/why-is-it-so-hard-to-tax-billionaires-part-1
'They will protest ketchup': Hugh Vuillier's Europe Letter newsletter, October 3, 2024 https://hughvuillier.substack.com/p/french-budget-not-good
Universitat Jaume I's study on the health impact of gas stoves, October 28, 2024 https://repositori.uji.es/items/156fbd65-070d-4ca4-9856-9415513d505f
00:23 It's Halloween, but we won't be talking about He Who Must Not Be Named
02:15 Good Week: French efforts to tax the super-rich
16:42 Bad Week: Gas stove fans
24:55 Please rate us on Pocket Casts!
26:06 Interview: Anna Gvarishvili on Georgia's elections
43:26 The Inspiration Station: Fave dei morti and 'Mundaun'
46:08 Happy Ending (?): Norway's teen social media ban
Producers: Morgan Childs and Wojciech Oleksiak
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
Instagram | Threads | Twitter | Mastodon | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Wine fraud, migration policy and climate litigation: there's something for everyone this week. Back in April, Switzerland's government lost a groundbreaking European court case and was ordered to rewrite its climate policy. Has it actually done that? No, no it has not. We speak to Geneva-based climate lawyer Seb Duyck about whether Switzerland can be forced to change its tune. We're also talking about offshore migrant detention centres, a full-bodied fraud case and the latest sign that AI is coming for podcasters' jobs.
Thanks for listening! If you enjoy our podcast, we'd love it if you'd consider chipping in a few bucks a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast (many currencies are available). You can also help new listeners find the show by leaving us a review or giving us five stars on Spotify.
Seb is a senior attorney at the Center for International Environmental Law. You can follow him on Twitter here.
You can listen to our award-winning 2023 episode about the KlimaSeniorinnen case, 'The Biggest Climate Case That Ever Was', here and find the follow-up interview with Molly Quell here.
This week's Inspiration Station offerings: 'Swimming in the Dark' by Tomasz Jędrowski, translated by Robert Sudół; 'World Without End' by Christophe Blain and Jean-Marc Jancovici, translated by Edward Gauvin.
Other resources for this episode:
Ursula von der Leyen's letter to EU leaders on migration, October 14, 2024 https://www.politico.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/15/October-2024-EUCO-Migration-letter.pdf
'What is refugee rentierism? An explainer'. The New Humanitarian, August 14, 2024 https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/analysis/2024/08/14/what-refugee-rentierism-explainer
00:22 Katy's parents made a podcast
06:18 Good Week: Pedro Sánchez
19:48 Bad Week: Rich wine-drinkers
29:14 Interview: Seb Duyck on Switzerland's failed response to the KlimaSeniorinnen ruling
46:26 Inspiration Station: 'Swimming In The Dark' and 'World Without End'
51:02 Happy Ending: Luka Modrić, an inspiration for all people in their late thirties
Producers: Katz Laszlo and Wojciech Oleksiak
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
Instagram | Threads | Twitter | Mastodon | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Arson, vandalism, attacks on NATO vehicles: around Europe, mysterious acts of sabotage have been multiplying. And there's a pattern: the perpetrators were recruited on Telegram via accounts linked to Russian agencies. This week, we hear from Marta Vunš about how she and other journalists went undercover to figure out how this recruitment actually works. We're also asking whether Germany's nausea-inducing opera deserves its scandalised headlines, and why France has been low-key obsessed with a treasure hunt for the past three decades.
Thanks for listening! If you enjoy our podcast, we'd love it if you'd consider chipping in a few bucks a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast (many currencies are available). You can also help new listeners find the show by leaving us a review or giving us five stars on Spotify.
"‘Make a Molotov Cocktail’: How Europeans Are Recruited Through Telegram to Commit Sabotage, Arson, and Murder". You can read the investigation by Delfi, Der Standard, Paper Trail Media and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project here.
This week's Inspiration Station offering, sponsored by the European Cultural Foundation: Liquid Becomings.
Other resources for this episode:
Trailer: SANCTA | Staatsoper Stuttgart
Talk Eastern Europe: Spies, sabotage and Russia-West relations
00:22 The week EU politics got spicy
03:22 Bad Week: Unwell opera-goers
13:54 Good Week: France's mystery treasure-hunt winner
24:38 Interview: Marta Vunš on Russia's shady Telegram recruitment
38:46 The Inspiration Station - The European Cultural Foundation presents: Liquid Becomings
42:45 Happy Ending: Phew! Art saved from the garbage can
Producers: Morgan Childs and Wojciech Oleksiak
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
Instagram | Threads | Twitter | Mastodon | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Why is it so hard to talk about climate change in a way that actually makes us... feel something? This week, our producer Katz Laszlo talks to an Icelandic writer who manages against the odds to do just that: Andri Snær Magnason, author of — among many other things — the hit memoir 'On Time And Water'. We're also talking about the German politician alleged to have hired Belarusian political prisoners, and the extraordinary bounceback of Mediterranean turtles.
Thanks for listening! If you enjoy our podcast, we'd love it if you'd consider chipping in a few bucks a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast (many currencies are available). You can also help new listeners find the show by leaving us a review or giving us five stars on Spotify.
You can find out more about Andri's work here and watch Emergence Magazine's documentary, 'The Last Ice Age', here.
This week's Inspiration Station offerings: 'When I Lived In Modern Times' by Linda Grant and 'Kneecap'.
Other resources for this episode
'Finance minister responds to book VAT backlash, cuts the rate on books' - The Slovak Spectator, 26/09/2024
'«Onion is tasty». Political prisoners work on an onion plantation owned by AfD MP Jörg Dornau' - Reform News, 24/09/2024
'Hanna' - The Europeans, 02/06/2022
'Germany’s far right loves one migrant group: Russian Germans' - Politico Europe, 29/09/24
'Cruinniú na nÓg 2024 - The Spark' - Creative Ireland
'How Germany outfitted half a million balconies with solar panels' - Canary Media, 27/09/2024
00:22 Good job, Slovakia!
02:42 Good Week: Mediterranean turtles
12:38 Bad Week: Jörg Dornau
24:03 Interview: Andri Snær Magnason on how to talk about climate change in a way that makes people Actually Feel Something
44:12 The Inspiration Station: 'When I Lived In Modern Times' and 'Kneecap'
48:30 Happy Ending: Germany's mini solar panel bonanza
Producers: Morgan Childs and Katz Laszlo
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
Instagram | Threads | Twitter | Mastodon | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Are European leaders living in a Barbie-like dreamworld? This week, the idealised fantasy of the EU versus its awkward reality. Far from being a continent of grateful europhiles, a lot of people feel apathetic about the European project at best. Paweł Zerka joins us to discuss why non-white, young and Eastern Europeans feel especially left out of the EU, and what we can do to fix this.
We're also joined by Deutsche Welle's Kate Laycock for a special guest edition of Good Week, Bad Week! We discuss how victory was snatched from the AfD in last weekend's state elections in Brandenburg, as well as the backlash against tax hikes on books in both Slovakia and the Netherlands.
Thanks for listening! If you enjoy our podcast, we'd love it if you'd consider chipping in a few bucks a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast (many currencies are available). You can also help new listeners find the show by leaving us a review or giving us five stars on Spotify.
You can read Paweł's report here. The European Sentiment Compass is a joint initiative of the European Council on Foreign Relations and the European Cultural Foundation.
Kate is the presenter of DW's Inside Europe. You'll be able to catch Katy and Dominic on the show next week!
Inspiration Station offerings:
'What language does your inner child speak?' - The First 1,000 Days
'How Libraries Thrive' - you can read the whole book online here
Other resources for this episode:
'German far-right AfD song calls for deporting millions - DW News
'Elderly Romanian woman used amber nugget worth over $1 million as a doorstop for decades' - El País
00:22 Insure yourselves, people!
04:07 Good Week: Dietmar Woidke (Special edition with Kate Laycock from Deutsche Welle)
12:24 Bad Week: Book-lovers in Slovakia and the Netherlands
22:00 Interview: Paweł Zerka on the Barbie-like European Union
39:13 The Inspiration Station: 'The First 1,000 Days' and 'How Libraries Thrive'
43:45 Happy Ending: The world's fanciest door-stop?
Producers: Morgan Childs and Wojciech Oleksiak
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
Instagram | Threads | Twitter | Mastodon | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Last week we brought you geopolitics, this week we're bringing you testicles. Why has male contraception remained such an underground idea, despite decades of research? We speak to Paul Labourie, one of a growing number of men (in the francophone world at least) who are turning to DIY contraception devices to take on more of the responsibility in their relationships. We're also talking about the crackdown on Germany's borders and a surprise move by Mussolini's granddaughter.
Paul is a journalist and photographer based in Brussels. You can find his website here and follow him on Instagram here. You can read Paul's article about heat-based contraception for VICE Belgium here and find out more about Samuel Flambard's workshops here.
This week's Inspiration Station offerings: 'Another Round' and 'The Gullspång Miracle' (available here via the BBC and here via DR).
Thanks for listening! If you enjoy our podcast, we'd love it if you'd consider chipping in a few bucks a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast (many currencies are available). You can also help new listeners find the show by leaving us a review or giving us five stars on Spotify.
00:23 Not sponsored by any kind of nasal irrigation device
03:02 Good Week: Standing up to the far-right in Italy
09:50 Bad Week: The Schengen Zone
21:19 Interview: Paul Labourie's primer on thermal contraception
35:19 The Inspiration Station: 'Another Round' and 'The Gullspång Miracle'
38:38 Happy ending: Fewer screens, more desserts
Producers: Morgan Childs and Wojciech Oleksiak
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
Instagram | Threads | Twitter | Mastodon | hello@europeanspodcast.com
We're back from our summer break! Rym Momtaz, the new editor-in-chief of the Strategic Europe blog, is here to catch us up on the main political developments we missed over the summer, from Ukraine to France. We're also talking about Sweden's suggestions for cutting kids' screen time, and a possible crackdown on outrageous concert ticket prices.
Thanks for listening! If you enjoy our podcast, we'd love it if you'd consider chipping in a few bucks a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast (many currencies are available). You can also help new listeners find the show by leaving us a review or giving us five stars on Spotify.
Strategic Europe is a blog from the Carnegie Europe think-tank. You can find it here, and follow Rym on Twitter here.
This week's Inspiration Station picks: 'Evenings and Weekends' by Oisín McKenna and 'Berlin' by Andris Kuprišs, translated by Ian Gwin.
Other resources for this episode:
'A Different Way to Look at Screen Time' - ParentData, April 2024
If you're feeling brave, you can download Mario Draghi's competitiveness report here.
If you're short on time because you're contributing to European productivity, you can read his summary here.
Waldrapteam, the conservationists working with the northern bald ibis, can be found on Instagram here. You can follow their progress here.
03:10 Bad Week: Ticketmaster
14:23 Good Week: Swedish kids
26:40 Interview: Rym Momtaz catches us up on the main European political developments of the summer
47:44 The Inspiration Station: 'Evenings and Weekends' by Oisín McKenna; 'Berlin' by Andris Kuprišs
50:24 Happy Ending: The return of the northern bald ibis
Producers: Morgan Childs and Wojciech Oleksiak
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
Instagram | Threads | Twitter | Mastodon | hello@europeanspodcast.com
This week, we're re-releasing another of our all-time favourite episodes to entertain your ears during our summer break. First aired in 2022, it's a story from our long-running series, 'This Is What A Generation Sounds Like', and it takes us to Georgia.
Thanks for listening! We'll be back in September. If you enjoy our podcast, we'd love it if you'd consider chipping in a few bucks a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast (many currencies are available). You can also help new listeners find the show by leaving us a review or giving us five stars on Spotify.
Producers: Wojciech Oleksiak and Kinga Goc
Mixing, mastering and sound design: Wojciech Oleksiak
Editorial support: Katz Laszlo, Katy Lee and Dominic Kraemer
Music by Casletila. Theme music by Jim Barne
You can find a beautiful visual version of this podcast, produced by our friends at Are We Europe, here.
This series was co-produced with Are We Europe and made in cooperation with the Allianz Foundation.
Instagram | Threads | Twitter | Mastodon | hello@europeanspodcast.com
We're away on our summer break until September, but this week and next week we're re-releasing two of our favourite episodes from The Europeans' award-winning series, 'This Is What A Generation Sounds Like.
This week, a story that spans three generations of women: Sara, her mother, and her grandmother. In their collective lifetimes, Albania entered a communist dictatorship; the regime fell; and then there was a transition. And through it all, there was a dish: trahana.
This episode first aired in 2021. You can find a beautiful visual version of this podcast, produced by our friends at Are We Europe, here.
This series was co-produced with Are We Europe and made in cooperation with the Allianz Foundation.
Producers: Katz Laszlo and Sara
Assistant producer: Priyanka Shankar
Editor: Katy Lee
Sound design: Katz Laszlo
Editorial support: Dominic Kraemer, Katy Lee and Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Era e Feminise, by Elina Duni; Song of Emigration, by Women’s Choir from Permet; Tana, by Saziso; Ka Nje mot e gjysem viti, by Elina Duni Quartet; Jonuzi Me Shoket by Vaome Kaba; Ballerina by Yehezkel Raz; Mëmëdheu by the Peter Pan Quartet; Jim Barne. SFX from Freesound.org.
Thanks for listening! If you enjoy our podcast, we'd love it if you'd consider chipping in a few bucks a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast (many currencies are available). You can also help new listeners find the show by leaving us a review or giving us five stars on Spotify.
Instagram | Threads | Twitter | Mastodon | hello@europeanspodcast.com
It’s our first ever Q&A episode! Katy, Dominic, Katz and Wojciech answer listeners’ questions – from how we make the show, to the episodes we’d make if we were gazillionaires.
We’ve saved a couple of our answers for supporters of the podcast. If you’d like to hear them, we’d love it if you could send a few bucks our way at patreon.com/europeanspodcast (many currencies are available). Thanks so much to everyone who makes our show possible by helping us cover our production costs!
You can also help new listeners find the show by leaving us a review or giving us five stars on Spotify.
Producer: Katz Laszlo
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne
Instagram | Threads | Twitter | Mastodon | hello@europeanspodcast.com
One Hungarian family. One piece of land. Two very different visions.
This is the final episode in our long-running series This Is What A Generation Sounds Like, made in cooperation with the Allianz Foundation. You can find the other episodes in the series here.
Thanks, as ever, to the listeners who support this podcast so that we can keep making it. You can chip in at patreon.com/europeanspodcast.
Producers: Katz Laszlo and Luca Borsos
Sound design: Katz Laszlo
Editors: Dominic Kraemer and Katy Lee
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Odú, 777, Fa Lenni and O, by Deva; Palinka, by Mónika Lakatos and Hangok Cigány; Zenebuddhizmus by Akkezdat Phiai; Marsh Warbler by Cosmo Sheldrake; Arcade Ride by Vens Adams; BlueDot Sessions and of course our theme music by Jim Barne. SFX from Freesound.org
Instagram | Threads | Twitter | Mastodon | Bluesky hello@europeanspodcast.com
A surprise left-wing election win? In Europe? In 2024? This week, we turn to our resident Parisian journalist to try to get our heads around what just happened in France, as well as what might happen next. We’re also looking at the other big left-wing winners of the week: the UK Labour Party. What might their new government mean for Britain’s relationship with Europe? Plus, Barcelona’s anti-tourist revolt and what may be the world’s toughest crackdown on Airbnb.
Thanks for listening! If you enjoy our podcast, we'd love it if you'd consider chipping in a few bucks a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast (many currencies are available). You can also help new listeners find the show by leaving us a review or giving us five stars on Spotify.
This week's Inspiration Station picks: BBC Assignment: 'Germany's AI detectives' and The Europeans on YouTube.
Other resources:
'El malestar por el turismo masivo se traslada a las calles de Barcelona' - La Vanguardia, July 6, 2024
'Quelle coalition ? Composez votre majorité absolue avec notre simulateur de coalitions exclusif' - Le Grand Continent, July 7, 2024
00:22 The return of human co-host Dominic Kraemer
03:51 Good Week: Britain's relationship with the EU
15:02 Bad Week: Tourists in Barcelona
28:16 Interview: Katy on France's surprise election results and what might happen next
48:33 Isolation Inspiration: 'Germany's AI detectives' and The Europeans on YouTube
51:24 Happy Ending: Climate-resilient cacao
Producers: Wojciech Oleksiak and Katy Lee
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
Instagram | Threads | Twitter | Mastodon | Bluesky hello@europeanspodcast.com
Fewer expensive car chases, more moody shots and ambiguous endings: movies made in Europe are often very different from those made in the US. But Europe's more arty film output isn't just a product of our culture — it has a lot to do with how the industry is financed. This week, we're asking: why is European cinema the way it is, and should we be trying to change it? Plus, producer Wojciech Oleksiak joins Katy to discuss Europe's latest far-right alliance and why Kaja Kallas may be glad to be stepping down as Estonia's prime minister.
This episode was supported by KIDS Regio. Thanks so much to project manager Anne Schultka for joining us, along with Tamara Kolarić, assistant professor in social sciences at SALIS, Dublin City University.
Thanks for listening! If you enjoy our podcast, we'd love it if you'd consider chipping in a few bucks a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast (many currencies are available). You can also help new listeners find the show by leaving us a review or giving us five stars on Spotify.
This week's Inspiration Station picks: Euro 2024 and Search Engine: 'Why didn't Chris and Dan get into Berghain?' Parts 1 and 2
Other resources:
'The Hungarian presidency: Let the games begin' - Politico Europe, June 25, 2024
00:22 Hot in Warsaw, even hotter in Paris
02:45 Good Week: Kaja Kallas (and her replacement)
12:40 Bad Week: The Mainstream
26:05 Interview: Anne Schultka and Tamara Kolarić on how money shapes Europe's film industry
43:56 The Inspiration Station: Something called 'football', and Search Engine: 'Why didn't Chris and Dan get into Berghain?' Parts 1 and 2
48:58 Happy Ending: Dominic's holiday voice note
Producers: Morgan Childs and Katy Lee
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
Enough politics: we’ve got a nature-themed episode for you this week. Producer Katz Laszlo joins Katy to explain how Austria’s environment minister went rogue to save the EU’s hugely important nature restoration law; we’re also talking about the German town that just voted to kill all its pigeons. And in the human world: the podcast that brings Scandinavians together in their own languages. Hilde Sandvik takes us behind the scenes of ‘Norsken, svensken og dansken’, a show described as family therapy for neighbouring nations.
Thanks for listening! If you enjoy our podcast, we'd love it if you'd consider chipping in a few bucks a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast (many currencies are available). You can also help new listeners find the show by leaving us a review or giving us five stars on Spotify.
Hilde is one of the board members of NORD 55, an initiative seeking to build public debate in the Nordic region. You can listen to ‘Norsken, svensken og dansken’ here via NRK.
This week’s Inspiration Station picks: Garden to Grill and ‘Midsummer Night’.
Other resources:
‘Pigeon problems: German town votes to have birds killed, outraging animal rights’ activists’ - Euronews, July 12, 2024
‘How do we survive the media apocalypse?’ - Search Engine, March 15, 2024
00:22 Summer plunges and untranslatable words
04:19 Good Week: Europe's plants and animals
16:17 Bad Week: The pigeons of Limburg
28:43 Interview: Hilde Sandvik on creating Scandinavia's cross-border, multilingual podcast
41:03 The Inspiration Station: 'Garden to Grill' and 'Midsummer Night'
44:52 Happy Ending: Wild times for Windy
Producers: Katy Lee and Wojciech Oleksiak
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
Instagram | Threads | Twitter | Mastodon | Bluesky hello@europeanspodcast.com
The far-right surged but the centre held; somehow the two are true at once. Nearly 100 members of the new European Parliament have yet to tell us which political family they’ll be joining. And as for who’s actually going to be running the EU’s institutions for the next five years – right now, it’s anyone’s guess. How can we make sense of these European elections? Alberto Alemmano joins us to help decipher a momentous, and very confusing, moment in Europe’s democracy.
Alberto is a professor of EU law at HEC in Paris and the College of Europe. You can follow him on Twitter here.
We’ve got a new look! Check out our beautiful new website, designed by the wonderful RTiiiKA, at europeanspodcast.com.
This week’s Inspiration Station offerings: ‘Untold: Power for Sale’ and ‘Under Paris’. You can check out ‘Mixed Signals’, the new podcast from Semafor, here.
This special episode was made possible thanks to the financial support of the Culture of Solidarity Fund, powered by the European Cultural Foundation in collaboration with Allianz Foundation and the Evens Foundation. You can check out the #CulturalDealEU campaign here.
Thanks for listening! If you enjoy our podcast, we'd love it if you'd consider chipping in a few bucks a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast (many currencies are available). You can also help new listeners find the show by leaving us a review or giving us five stars on Spotify.
Hosts: Dominic Kraemer and Katy Lee
Producer: Katy Lee
Sound design, mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Editorial support: Katz Laszlo
Music: Jim Barne and Blue Dot Sessions
Sound effects: Freesound.org
Artwork: RTiiiKA
Instagram | Threads | Twitter | Mastodon | Bluesky | hello@europeanspodcast.com
They’re the second biggest elections on Earth. For the next four days, 373 million people are eligible to take part in the vote for the European Parliament. And yet in most EU countries, the prevailing mood is… ‘meh’.
This week, we take on the challenge of convincing you that these elections are anything but meh, with the help of one of our favourite explainers of all things EU, Beatriz Ríos.
You can follow Beatriz on Twitter here and find Politico Europe’s guide on how to vote here.
This special episode was made possible thanks to the financial support of the Culture of Solidarity Fund, powered by the European Cultural Foundation in collaboration with Allianz Foundation and the Evens Foundation. You can check out the #CulturalDealEU campaign here.
Thanks for listening! If you enjoy our podcast, we'd love it if you'd consider chipping in a few bucks a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast (many currencies are available). You can also help new listeners find the show by leaving us a review or giving us five stars on Spotify.
Hosts: Dominic Kraemer and Katy Lee
Producer: Katy Lee
Sound design, mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Editorial support: Katz Laszlo
Music: Jim Barne and Blue Dot Sessions
Sound effects: Freesound.org (JoeDeshon)
Instagram | Threads | Twitter | Mastodon | Bluesky | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Protests by angry farmers have swept across Europe this year. But from country to country, powerful groups have taken these protests over and changed their agenda. Who are these people, and what are they up to?
This is a special episode produced in collaboration with investigative journalists from Lighthouse Reports and media partners across Europe.
This podcast was made possible by our generous Patreon supporters. If you enjoy our work, we'd love it if you'd consider chipping in a few bucks a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast (many currencies are available). You can also help new listeners find the show by leaving us a review or giving us five stars on Spotify.
Read the articles published as part of this investigation:
‘Farmers protest, who gains?’ - Lighthouse Reports https://www.lighthousereports.com/investigation/farmers-protest-who-gains/
‘Bauernschlaue Lobbyisten’ - Taz https://taz.de/Doppeltes-Spiel-des-Agrarverbandes/!6009938/
‘Le lobbying agricole de la FNSEA à la loupe’ - Splann! https://splann.org/lobby-agricole-fnsea/
Reporters: Wojciech Oleksiak, Thin Lei Win, Marianne Kerfriden, Silvia Lazzaris, Elena DeBre and Emmanuel Freudenthal
Producer: Wojciech Oleksiak
Editor: Katz Laszlo
Editorial support: Dominic Kraemer and Katy Lee
Sound design, scoring, mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne, BlueDot Sessions
Sound effects: Freesound.org (miastodzwiekow, Cosmopolight, Quistard)
Instagram | Threads | Twitter | Mastodon | Bluesky | hello@europeanspodcast.com
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This was great! I particularly found interesting what Alexander said about the future generation of politicians and that there isn't one single career goal to achieve. Looking forward to hearing more of this podcast!
Great episode. I hope all gets better for. Mohamed.
For someone who is supposed to know about the EU - you confuse Lithuania and Latvia when talking about president Dalia Grybauskaite..
12:22 Missed opportunity for "Bannondwagon".
Lame centrist ramblings from thoroughly uninteresting middle class British people on gap year in Paris.
Very informative but also fun. Katy and Dominic sound lovely and enthusiastic. Really enjoying it.