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.
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Episodes
Thursday May 13, 2021
Thursday May 13, 2021
Like everyone else, we Europeans have been watching a LOT of television over the past year. But something rather nice has been happening: we've been watching *each other's* television. Could streaming giants like Netflix be helping develop a shared European culture, as we all sit down to enjoy shows like Lupin and Money Heist? This week we speak to Jérôme Dechesne of European producers' group CEPI about the Europeanisation of binge-watching. We're also talking about the prince who apparently-accidentally shot Romania's largest bear, and the Belgian farmer who may have apparently-accidentally moved the French border.
This episode was produced as part of Sphera, a brand-new collective of independent European media. Find out more at sphera-hub.com.
This week's Isolation Inspiration: Quo Vadis, Aida?, Toksvig's Almanac 2021, and The Economist: How Netflix is creating a common European culture.
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.
Producer: Katz Laszlo
Assistant producers: Andrei Popoviciu and Priyanka Shankar
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 06, 2021
Thursday May 06, 2021
The Oscar-nominated Romanian film Collective is enraging and inspiring in equal measure. This week we hear from Răzvan Luțac, one of the investigative journalists who uncovered the vast healthcare scandal at the heart of the film. We're also talking about a fascinating court case brought by young German climate activists, censorship allegations on Italian TV, and a missing finger.
Special thanks to Maja and Zoe in Ukraine, Ruben in Switzerland, Leo and Florence in France, Remy in the UK and Raul in Germany for lending us their voices to help us celebrate Europe Day this week. For more Europe Day inspiration, check out europeday.eu.
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.
Producer: Katz Laszlo
Assistant producers: Andrei Popoviciu and Priyanka Shankar
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
The Europeans is part of the Are We Europe family. You can find more like-minded European podcasts at areweeurope.com/audio-family.
Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Thursday Apr 29, 2021
Thursday Apr 29, 2021
This week we're delighted to have an excuse to talk about Dominic's favourite salty cheese. Halloumi has just been recognised as a product unique to Cyprus — something that eurocrats have hailed as a positive step towards reconciliation on the divided Mediterranean island. Is there any truth to that? Cypriot podcaster Natalie Lamprou is here for a great chat about cheese, politics and Cypriot identity. We're also talking about the French mayor running a town from his jail cell, and the German gymnasts taking a stand against sexualisation in sport.
This is our first-ever episode as part of Sphera, a new collective of brilliant independent media outlets from across Europe. We are excited to be a part of it! Sign up to follow Sphera on Instagram, TikTok and more: https://linktr.ee/Sphera
You can find Natalie's podcast Evris here and read her beautiful piece about Cypriot identity here.
This week's Isolation Inspiration: Romanian documentary Collective, virtual reality experience Pollinator Park, and the Feel Good Film Festival.
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.
Producer: Katz Laszlo
Assistant producers: Andrei Popoviciu and Priyanka Shankar
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
This podcast is a proud partner of Are We Europe. If you enjoy beautiful, border-breaking journalism, check out their website and buy their latest magazine.
Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Thursday Apr 22, 2021
Thursday Apr 22, 2021
It's a green-themed episode this week: we're talking about why Germany's Greens are the party of the moment, and taking a look at the environmentalists now running the Danish territory of Greenland. Plus, Katy's been chatting to the Polish artist Joanna Rajkowska about why she put a giant palm tree on a Warsaw roundabout.
You can visit the palm tree here and read an interview with Joanna by friend of the show Ania Jakubek here. Joanna's latest work, Rhizopolis, sadly can't be visited right now because of the pandemic, but you can check out this beautiful environmental work on her website.
This week's Isolation Inspiration: Anne+ and The Good Life Elsewhere by Vladimir Lorchenkov.
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!
Producer: Katz Laszlo
Assistant producers: Andrei Popoviciu and Priyanka Shankar
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
This podcast is a proud partner of Are We Europe. If you enjoy beautiful, border-breaking journalism, check out their website and buy their latest magazine.
Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Thursday Apr 15, 2021
Thursday Apr 15, 2021
Why are so many British people completely clueless when it comes to understanding Northern Ireland, given that it's part of the UK? After days of rioting in Northern Irish towns and cities, we speak to historian Tim Mc Inerney, co-host of the excellent podcast The Irish Passport, about the strange island-of-Ireland-shaped hole in many Brits' understanding of their own history. We're also talking about Czech vaccines, Spanish vultures, and Brigadier Broccoli, the Swiss army cat.
You should all listen to The Irish Passport! Find it in all the usual places, as well as here on their website.
This week's Isolation Inspiration: Louis Theroux: Shooting Joe Exotic and "Jemima!" from jingle man Jim Barne and his writing partner Kit Buchan.
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.
Producer: Katz Laszlo
Assistant producers: Andrei Popoviciu and Priyanka Shankar
This podcast is a proud partner of Are We Europe. If you enjoy beautiful, border-breaking journalism, check out their website and buy their latest magazine.
Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Thursday Apr 08, 2021
Thursday Apr 08, 2021
All aboard! We love trains here at The Europeans, but your ability to get around the continent by rail depends a lot on where you live. This week we're chatting to Italian data journalist Lorenzo Ferrari about why Vienna has a ton of international train connections and Albania has... zero. We're also talking about Kosovo's super-popular new female president, the Netherlands' less-popular PM, and a Swiss underwear controversy.
You can check out Lorenzo's investigation into the state of international rail in Europe here.
This week's Isolation Inspiration: Are We Europe's new magazine and West Cork.
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.
Producer: Katz Laszlo
Assistant producers: Andrei Popoviciu and Priyanka Shankar
Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Thursday Apr 01, 2021
Thursday Apr 01, 2021
This week, the young Romanian activist who has the patriarchy shaking in its boots. Sofia Scarlat founded Romania's first ever gender equality organisation for teenagers; in a country where the very idea of sex education has come under fierce debate, Girl Up Romania's Instagram account has become a vital source of information for young women. We chat to Sofia about her hopes for a gender equality revolution; we're also talking about the cultural appropriation of Portuguese sweaters, Roman traffic cops, and why it's illegal to call the Polish president a moron.
You can check out Sofia's excellent TED Talk here, and read Politico Europe's round-up of where it's illegal to insult the head of state here.
This week's Isolation Inspiration: 'Rembrandt in the Blood' from The Daily, and French TikTok accounts Lulucaskip, Maitresse Adeline and Loïc Suberville.
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.
Producer: Katz Laszlo
Assistant producers: Andrei Popoviciu and Priyanka Shankar
Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Thursday Mar 25, 2021
Thursday Mar 25, 2021
For decades, Eastern Europe has suffered a massive brain drain of people heading abroad in search of opportunity. But something remarkable happened during the pandemic: huge numbers started coming back. Can they be convinced to stay? This week we speak to urban researcher Ognyan Georgiev about his fascinating work tracking Bulgaria's returnees — and we get his predictions for which European cities are going to be the coolest in 20 years time. We're also talking about sexism in German football, Iceland's spectacular volcano eruption, and why Finland has yet again been named the world's happiest country.
This week's Isolation Inspiration: Oscar-nominated Romanian film Collective; My Family And Other Animals; and the fabulous music of our Patreon supporter (and newest jingle composer) Mariska Martina: instagram.com/mariskamartina
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.
Producer: Katz Laszlo
Assistant producers: Andrei Popoviciu and Priyanka Shankar
Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Thursday Mar 18, 2021
Thursday Mar 18, 2021
Pretty much everyone has their face covered in public these days, and yet Switzerland is set to become the latest European country to ban (non-Covid) face coverings in public — including Muslim garments like the niqab and burqa. Given that barely any Swiss women wear these, what exactly is going on here? This week we speak to Inès El-Shikh of the Foulards Violets feminist group about what this referendum campaign has felt like for Muslim women.
Also this week: Eurovision! We've been scrutinising the rather threatening lyrics of the Belarusian band kicked out for being too political. Plus, an ancient Roman coffee table and France's reckoning with the past.
This week's Isolation Inspiration: White Rabbit Red Rabbit; And Then We Danced; and Are We Europe's delightful recipe cards, a perk of their awesome membership programme.
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.
Producer: Katz Laszlo
Assistant producers: Priyanka Shankar and Andrei Popoviciu
Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Thursday Mar 11, 2021
Thursday Mar 11, 2021
To mark International Women's Day this week, we speak to one of this continent's most courageous activists: Marta Lempart of the Women's Strike, the movement that that has organised massive street protests in recent months against Poland's incredibly restrictive abortion laws. We're also talking about Berlin's gender-neutral acting prize, Fidesz, and the power of oranges.
This week's Isolation Inspiration: "It's A Sin", "African Europeans: An Untold History" and El País' long-read about José Epita Mbombo.
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.
Producer: Katz Laszlo
Assistant producers: Andrei Popoviciu and Priyanka Shankar
Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com