The Europeans | European news, politics and culture
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. Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/europeanspodcast
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Episodes
Thursday Jun 16, 2022
Thursday Jun 16, 2022
When Remco Yizhak Cooremans moved home to the Netherlands after many years abroad, the authorities told him something shocking: his son wasn't legally his son. This week, we hear about Dutch plans to bring the law up to date with the realities of 21st-century parenting. We're also talking about Roman trash and minimum wages you can actually live on.
Remco is the chairman of Meer dan Gewenst. If you're interested in the multi-parenting law, you can catch him speaking at De Balie in Amsterdam on June 16, and it's being streamed online too. Details here.
This week's Isolation Inspiration: Navalny, and Rough Translation's episode on France's forbidden desk lunches.
We're taking a break next week so that Katy can go stand in a muddy field. While we're away, check out this beautiful episode from Belarusian poet Hanna Komar, reflecting on the meaning of freedom.
Thanks for listening! If you enjoy our podcast and would like to help us keep making it, 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.
02:41 Good Week: Minimum wages you can actually live on
08:54 Bad Week: Messy Rome
18:06 Interview: Remco Yizhak Cooremans on the Netherlands' planned multi-parent law
32:33 Isolation Inspiration: 'Navalny' and Rough Translation's French lunch episode
34:23 Happy Ending: Congratulations, Candida!
Producers: Katy Lee and Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
This podcast is part of the Are We Europe family. Find more like-minded European podcasts at areweeurope.com/audio-family.
Twitter | Instagram | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Thursday Jun 09, 2022
Thursday Jun 09, 2022
In the EU's complicated efforts to present a united front on Ukraine, Viktor Orbán stands out like a sore thumb. Why is Orbán cosying up to Vladimir Putin? This week, we catch up with longtime Orbán-watcher Viktória Serdült on what game the Hungarian leader might be playing. We're also talking about the toxic row engulfing Germany's documenta fifteen festival, and a gamechanger for annoying customer service calls in Spain.
Viktória is a journalist at HVG, one of the few remaining bastions of independent media in Hungary. You can follow her on Twitter here.
This week's Isolation Inspiration: On Spec and Season 3 of Derry Girls.
Thanks for listening! If you enjoy our podcast and would like to help us keep making it, 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.
03:07 Bad Week: documenta fifteen
14:06 Good Week: Spain's amazing customer service bill
20:18 Interview: Viktória Serdült on Viktor Orbán's latest antics
31:16 Isolation Inspiration: On Spec and Derry Girls
34:09 Happy Ending: Pompeii DNA
Producers: Katy Lee and Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
This podcast is part of the Are We Europe family. Find more like-minded European podcasts at areweeurope.com/audio-family.
Twitter | Instagram | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Thursday Jun 02, 2022
Thursday Jun 02, 2022
From Minsk and London, a story about the meaning of freedom. Hanna Komar, a poet, was jailed for her activism in Belarus. This week, she tells us what it’s like to move from a place where people have to fight for basic rights, to a place where people take them for granted.
This is the fifth episode in our series This Is What A Generation Sounds Like: intimate stories from young Europeans across the continent.
A beautiful visual version of this podcast will be available later this year. In the meantime, check out the first visual podcast in this series: Josh and Franco.
This series is co-produced with Are We Europe and is made in cooperation with Allianz Kulturstiftung, an independent not-for-profit cultural foundation committed to strengthening cohesion in Europe using the tools of art and culture. Find out more at kulturstiftung.allianz.de.
Producers: Katy Lee and Hanna Komar
Sound design: Katz Laszlo and Wojciech Oleksiak
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Editors: Katz Laszlo and Dominic Kraemer
Music: ‘Girl in White’ by Naviband, ‘Ballerina’ by Yehezkel Raz, ‘Ballerina Remix’ by Yehezkel Raz and Lalinea, ‘Магутны Божа’ by Volny Chor; ‘Looking for You’ by Christof Waters; Blue Dot Sessions; and Papa Bo mixing tracks by Meute, live during the protests in Minsk. Theme music by Jim Barne. SFX from Freesound.org.
Thanks for listening! If you enjoy our podcast and would like to help us keep making it, we'd love it if you'd consider chipping in a few euros / dollars / pounds a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast. You can also help new listeners find the show by leaving us a review.
This podcast is part of the Are We Europe family. Find more like-minded European podcasts at areweeurope.com/audio-family.
Twitter | Instagram | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Thursday May 26, 2022
Thursday May 26, 2022
Moldova represents a prime example of social media giants' failure to tackle disinformation in smaller and less wealthy countries — in this case, with hugely dangerous potential consequences. This week we speak to civil society activist Diana Filimon about the propaganda war that Russia has been waging in countries neighbouring Ukraine. We're also talking about Germany's €9 transport experiment, the morality of a lockdown for cats, and scallop discothèques.
You can find out more about Diana's work at Forum Apulum here and read Philip Oltermann's reporting on racism claims against Berlin ticket inspectors here.
This week's Isolation Inspiration: The Truffle Hunters, and the New York Times' reporting on the legacy of Haiti's reparations to enslavers. You can read more about the methods used for the NYT's reporting here and more on reactions to the story here. A video of dancing scallops can be found here.
Thanks for listening! If you enjoy our podcast and would like to help us keep making it, 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. And this week, why not #TellASwede about this podcast's existence?
02:51 Good Week: Germany's €9 transport experiment
09:40 Bad Week: Walldorf's lockdown for cats
17:12 Interview: Diana Filimon on disinformation in Moldova
33:06 Isolation Inspiration: 'The Truffle Hunters' and the NYT's reporting on Haiti's reparations to enslavers
38:19 Happy Ending: Scallop disco
Producers: Katy Lee and Wojciech Oleksiak, with thanks to Katz Laszlo
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
This podcast is part of the Are We Europe family. Find more like-minded European podcasts at areweeurope.com/audio-family.
Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Thursday May 12, 2022
Thursday May 12, 2022
Kris de Decker's balcony in Barcelona is nice and sunny. Which is just as well, because a website depends on it. This week we chat to Kris, co-founder of Low-Tech Magazine, about why he built a solar-powered website and how human history can inspire modern environmental solutions. We're also talking about foie gras, faux gras, and bringing EU and non-EU Europe together.
You can check out the solar-powered version of Low-Tech Magazine's website here.
This week's Isolation Inspiration: 'Today in Focus - The Wagatha Christie case'; 'Multiples: 12 stories in 18 languages by 61 authors'; this vegan foie gras recipe; Impact from Les Glorieuses, a feminist newsletter in English and French.
Thanks for listening! If you enjoy our podcast and would like to help us keep making it, we'd love it if you'd consider chipping in a few euros / dollars / pounds a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast. You can also help new listeners find the show by leaving us a review or giving us five stars on Spotify.
03:23 Good Week? Macron's big new idea
12:09 Bad Week: Foie gras
20:09 Interview: Kris De Decker on building a solar-powered website
34:38 Isolation Inspiration: 'Today in Focus - The Wagatha Christie case' and 'Multiples'
38:04 Happy Ending: Italy's women footballers go pro
Producers: Katy Lee and Wojciech Oleksiak, with thanks to Katz Laszlo
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
This podcast is part of the Are We Europe family. Find more like-minded European podcasts at areweeurope.com/audio-family.
Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Thursday May 05, 2022
Thursday May 05, 2022
We know, we know, not everyone loves Eurovision — but we think you'll enjoy this week's interview even if you're not as nuts about the annual celebration of euro-kitsch as we are. Dr Dean Vuletic is the world's pre-eminent Eurovision historian, and we were delighted to talk to him about how the contest came into being and why it's always been so political. We're also talking about the EU's Russian oil embargo, a row over WWII reparations in 2022, and a first for wind power in the Mediterranean.
We'll be running a Eurovision sweepstake for our Patreon supporters on the night of the finals, May 10! More details soon at patreon.com/europeanspodcast.
Financing Putin's war: you can find the real-time tracker of EU fossil fuel imports here and read the Atlantic Council's research on replacing Russian gas here.
This week's Isolation Inspiration: 'Young Mungo' by Douglas Stuart, the photography of Wolfgang Tillmans, and Russian Doll, Season 2.
02:26 (Tentative) Good Week: The EU's Russian oil embargo
10:24 Bad Week: Italy, Germany, and WWII reparations
15:57 Interview: Dean Vuletic on the history of Eurovision
32:45 Isolation Inspiration: 'Young Mungo', Wolfgang Tillmans and Russian Doll, Season 2
Thanks for listening! If you enjoy our podcast and would like to help us keep making it, we'd love it if you'd consider chipping in a few euros / dollars / pounds a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast. You can also help new listeners find the show by leaving us a review or giving us five stars on Spotify.
Producer: Katy Lee and Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
This podcast is part of the Are We Europe family. Find more like-minded European podcasts at areweeurope.com/audio-family.
Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Thursday Apr 28, 2022
Thursday Apr 28, 2022
This week, a story about Mohamed, living in limbo while trapped in a labyrinth of bureaucracy.
This is the fourth episode from our series This Is What A Generation Sounds Like: intimate stories from young Europeans across the continent.
A beautiful visual version of this podcast will be available later this year. In the meantime, check out the first visual podcast in this series: Josh and Franco.
This series is co-produced with Are We Europe and is made in cooperation with Allianz Kulturstiftung, an independent not-for-profit cultural foundation committed to strengthening cohesion in Europe using the tools of art and culture. Find out more at kulturstiftung.allianz.de.
Producers: Katz Laszlo and Mohamed Bah
Mixing and Mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Sound design: Katz Laszlo
Editor: Katy Lee
Editorial support: Dominic Kraemer and Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel To Be Free, covered by Bahghi; Ancore une Staggione by Bottega Baltazar; Blurry by Curtis Cole; Kongo by Trio Particular; Coco Bread by Wearethegood; Mas Feliz Del Mundo by Ofir Atar; Fandanguillo also by Ofir Atar; No One Is Out Here by Yehezkel Raz. Theme music by Jim Barne. SFX from Freesound.org.
Thanks for listening! If you enjoy our podcast and would like to help us keep making it, we'd love it if you'd consider chipping in a few euros / dollars / pounds a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast. You can also help new listeners find the show by leaving us a review.
This podcast is part of the Are We Europe family. Find more like-minded European podcasts at areweeurope.com/audio-family.
Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Thursday Apr 21, 2022
Thursday Apr 21, 2022
Every year, Europeans chuck away millions of tons of clothing. The EU has a new plan to tackle the huge environmental impact of the fashion and textile industry — but can it make a difference? We asked the model and activist Nimue Smit to take a look. We're also talking about the UK's extremely controversial plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, and a legal leap forward for Spain's single parents.
This week's Isolation Inspiration: Lithuanian clothing exchange Vinted, and Belgian Netflix comedy 'Soil' ('Grond').
A few things Nimue mentioned that listeners might want to check out: 'Consumed' by Aja Barber, Depop, Vestiaire Collective, Sustainable Fashion Giftcard, Rank A Brand.
02:17 Bad Week: UK asylum policy
13:44 Good Week: Spain's single parents
19:49 Interview: Nimue Smit on fixing the fashion industry
34:02 Isolation Inspiration: Vinted and Grond
36:28 Happy Ending: Teaching teens to love natural history
Thanks for listening! If you enjoy our podcast and would like to help us keep making it, we'd love it if you'd consider chipping in a few euros / dollars / pounds a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast. You can also help new listeners find the show by leaving us a review or giving us five stars on Spotify.
Producer: Katy Lee and Wojciech Oleksiak, with thanks to Katz Laszlo
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
This podcast is part of the Are We Europe family. Find more like-minded European podcasts at areweeurope.com/audio-family.
Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Tuesday Apr 12, 2022
Tuesday Apr 12, 2022
Iiiiit's French election week! Katy spent the big night at Le Pen HQ. This week, in a Europeans first, Dominic and Katz turn the microphone on our resident French person to ask: what just happened? And could Marine Le Pen really become France's first far-right president?
We're also talking about the soaring cost of housing (again) and the European microstate that just pulled off an LGBTQ+ world first.
You can listen to Cody Hochstenbach calling for a revolution in housing policy here and find the latest figures from Eurostat here. And you can read here about why microstates have often been slow to catch up on LGBTQ rights.
Isolation Inspiration: 'Free' by Lea Ypi and Große Freiheit (Great Freedom).
02:07 Bad Week: Housing costs up AGAIN
04:49 Good Week: San Marino's world-first LGBTQ+ head of state
10:22 Interview: Katy on the French election
28:09 Isolation Inspiration: 'Free' by Lea Ypi and Große Freiheit (Great Freedom)
30:31 Happy Ending: Making the most of the Greek sunshine
Thanks for listening! If you enjoy our podcast and would like to help us keep making it, we'd love it if you'd consider chipping in a few euros / dollars / pounds a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast. You can also help new listeners find the show by leaving us a review or giving us five stars on Spotify.
Producer: Katy Lee, with thanks to Katz Laszlo and Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
This podcast is part of the Are We Europe family. Find more like-minded European podcasts at areweeurope.com/audio-family.
Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Thursday Apr 07, 2022
Thursday Apr 07, 2022
We're back! And we're headed into the classroom. Kids across Europe have very different experiences of school depending on where they live and how rich their parents are. One country that's been praised for getting public education right is Finland. This week we speak to education professor Pasi Sahlberg about what the world can learn from the Finnish way.
We're also talking about Orbán's victory, bridging Europe's North-South divide, and a particularly special edition of El Clásico.
Pasi is Professor of Education at Southern Cross University. You can read more about his work here and follow him on Twitter here.
You can read the joint Spain-Netherlands paper here and find Politico's reporting on it here.
This week's Isolation Inspiration: Flee, Talking France, and Paroles de France(s).
02:50 Bad Week: Hungary's opposition
11:48 Good Week: Bridging the North-South divide
20:46 Interview with Pasi Sahlberg
34:56 Isolation Inspiration: Flee and French election podcasts
38:39 Happy Ending: A very special Clásico
Thanks for listening! If you enjoy our podcast and would like to help us keep making it, we'd love it if you'd consider chipping in a few euros / dollars / pounds a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast. You can also help new listeners find the show by leaving us a review or giving us five stars on Spotify.
Producers: Katy Lee and Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
This podcast is part of the Are We Europe family. Find more like-minded European podcasts at areweeurope.com/audio-family.
Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com