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
Listen on:
Episodes
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
Wednesday Feb 24, 2021
Wednesday Feb 24, 2021
We've got a musical episode for you this week: a Catalan rapper jailed for controversial lyrics and tweets, an ancient French instrument, and some vintage Dutch pop. Plus the historian Timothy Garton Ash is here to explain why he thinks we need a more "polyphonic" Europe.
Timothy and his team at University of Oxford want to hear your stories! Take part in their Europe's Stories project here.
This week's Isolation Inspiration: Capitani on Netflix, Mangrove on Amazon Prime / the BBC, "Ding-a-Dong" by Teach-In.
Thanks for listening! If you like our podcast and want to help us keep making it, we'd be hugely grateful if you'd consider chipping in a few euros / dollars / pounds a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast.
Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Wednesday Feb 17, 2021
Wednesday Feb 17, 2021
A lot of this continent's favourite food comes originally from its former colonies — often with tweaks to suit European tastes. This week we talk to the superstar chef Asma Khan about food that has crossed borders, as well as her bid to banish macho culture from the restaurant industry. We're also talking about Super Mario, Greece's student protests, and an extremely old nun.
Thanks for listening! If you like our show and would like to help us keep making it, we'd be hugely grateful 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
Wednesday Feb 10, 2021
Wednesday Feb 10, 2021
Why has a book about eels become a smash-hit in Sweden and beyond? This week we talk to Patrik Svensson, author of The Gospel of the Eels, about these strange and wonderful creatures and their epic annual migration from Europe to the Sargasso Sea. We're also talking about the Balkans' #MeToo uprising, Germany's mass coming-out, and the world's greatest Zoom meeting.
Isolation Inspiration: Italian Netflix comedy Rose Island (L'incredibile storia dell'Isola delle Rose), and live dance performance Our House Is On Fire, amplifying the words of Greta Thunberg, on Thursday February 11.
Thanks for listening! If you like our podcast and would like to help us keep making it, you can chip in a few euros/dollars/pounds at patreon.com/europeanspodcast.com. We're hugely grateful for your support!
Producer: Katz Laszlo
Assistant producer: Andrei Popoviciu
Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Wednesday Feb 03, 2021
Wednesday Feb 03, 2021
Europe has big plans to regulate the giant internet companies that shape our lives. But just how much will they force the likes of Google and Facebook to behave? This week we ring up Andrii Degeler, host of the Tech.eu podcast, to explain the whole thing without putting us to sleep. We're also talking about the French village with an astonishing history of helping the persecuted; bingeing on movies on a lonely Swedish island; and why the EU's design might make it harder to fight poverty.
Listen to the Tech.eu podcast here (https://podcast.tech.eu/) and find out more about how Le Chambon-sur-Lignon helped Jewish refugees during the Holocaust here (https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/le-chambon-sur-lignon).
This week's Isolation Inspiration: Orff-Schulwerk: Gassenhauer (https://open.spotify.com/track/1sbtYPTZ2TW5T54JZaIshg?si=-bSHVY3nSNyn98LtKt3O4Q) from Klassix for Kidz (!) and Danish Netflix comedy Rita.
If you enjoy our podcast and want to help us keep making it, we'd be hugely grateful if you could chip in a few euros, dollars or pounds a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast.
You can also support our friends at the beautiful magazine Are We Europe, who have just launched a new membership drive. Find out more: https://2021.areweeurope.com
Thanks for listening!
Producer: Katz Laszlo
Assistant producers: Priyanka Shankar and Andrei PopoviciuTwitter @europeanspod | Instagram @europeanspodcast | Facebook The Europeans Podcast | hello@europeanspodcast.com