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
Wednesday Nov 25, 2020
Wednesday Nov 25, 2020
Moldova has just elected a pro-EU president, kicking out a favourite of Vladimir Putin's. This week, we wanted to talk to someone about daily life in a country that has seen a huge exodus to the rest of Europe; don't miss our moving conversation with Aliona Rotaru about what it's been like to stay behind. Also this week: naughty Dutch hackers, German glass ceilings, and Croatian winter warmers.
Thanks for listening! If you enjoy our podcast and want to help us keep making it, you can chip in a few euros/dollars/pounds a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast.
Check out Are We Europe's beautiful multimedia project featuring Aliona, 'The Drums of Democracy'; read R. Daniel Kelemen's piece in Politico, 'Time to call Hungary and Poland's bluff'; and cosy up with AFP's video on Croatian codpieces.
This week's Isolation Inspiration: 'Blindness' at Amsterdam's Royal Theater Carré, and Colette, a documentary from the Guardian.
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Wednesday Nov 18, 2020
Wednesday Nov 18, 2020
France has one of the biggest Asian communities in Europe. So why aren't there more Asians on the French screen? This week we talk to Grace Ly, writer and co-host of the hit podcast Kiffe Ta Race, about food, stereotypes, identity, and why it's so hard to talk about racism in France. Also this week: Europe's anti-terrorism balancing act, a round-up of LGBTQ good news, and celeb dad hangouts.
Thanks for listening! If you enjoy our show and want to help us keep making it, you can chip in a few euros/dollars/pounds a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast.
You follow Grace here and check out Kiffe Ta Race's crossover episode with Dipsaus, tackling racism in Europe, here.
This week's Isolation Inspiration: Sofia Loren's new movie The Life Ahead, the Voila Europe theatre festival, and the BBC podcast Mayday.
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Wednesday Nov 11, 2020
Wednesday Nov 11, 2020
This week's podcast is sponsored by Europe Talks. Sign up to have a conversation with a random European here!
Now that we are FINALLY turning our attention to other things, this week we bring you the enjoyably chaotic story of Berlin's new airport. Jöran Mandik is one of the co-hosts of How To F#€k Up An Airport, an entire podcast series about the saga. We chatted about too-short escalators, human fire alarms, and scandalous overspending. Also this week: carrier pigeons, Denmark's vegetarian u-turn, and how to punish undemocratic governments.
Thanks for listening! If you enjoy our show and want to help us keep running, you can chip in a few euros/dollars/pounds at patreon.com/europeanspodcast.
How To F#€k Up An Airport is a series from Berlin's English-language news show, Radio Spaetkauf.
Dominic has been listening to this Esther Perel interview. Katy has been watching The Queen's Gambit and enjoying this Twitter thread about the German filming location.
Katy is speaking at Bulgaria's Listen Up podcasting festival next week! Get tickets here.
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Wednesday Nov 04, 2020
Wednesday Nov 04, 2020
We're steering blissfully clear of the elephant in the global room this week: we're talking about books, sign language, and endemic corruption in Bulgaria. Investigative journalist Nikolay Staykov is here to explain why Bulgarians have protested for more than 100 nights against a government they compare to the mafia. We're also celebrating the Netherlands' life-saving whale sculpture and alternatives to Amazon.
Thanks for listening! If you enjoy our podcast and want to help us keep making it, you can chip in a few euros/dollars/pounds at patreon.com/europeanspodcast.
You can also leave us a review on Apple Podcasts.
Nikolay is the co-founder of Bulgaria's Anti-Corruption Fund. Find out more here.
Dominic has been listening to French and Saunders: Titting About. Katy has been watching this meme on repeat and listening to Bilal Göregen.
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Wednesday Oct 28, 2020
Wednesday Oct 28, 2020
This week the journalist Arzu Geybulla is here to help us untangle the conflict that has broken out between Armenia and Azerbaijan; if you're confused about Nagorno-Karabakh, this is the podcast for you. We're also discussing Poland's abortion ban, the Pope's big move on same-sex civil unions, and Europe's latest weird art prank.
Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this podcast and you have a few coins to spare, we'd love it if you'd consider chipping into our fund at patreon.com/europeanspodcast.
Arzu recommends Black Garden by Thomas de Waal, as well as updates from Laurence Broers. You can also follow Arzu on Twitter here.
Katy is watching Barbarians on Netflix. Dominic is watching Season 2 of Killing Eve.
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Wednesday Oct 21, 2020
Wednesday Oct 21, 2020
This week Dominic is furious about the EU vote on whether or not veggie burgers can be called veggie burgers, so we're distracting him with languages. Interpreter extraordinaire Alexander Drechsel is here to discuss the weird English dialect that has developed in Brussels, and whether the EU of the future will be anglophone. Plus, Sarkozy, Sweden's big-spending military, and adorable nuns.
Thanks for listening! If you like the show and have a couple of euros / dollars / pounds to spare each month, you can support us at patreon.com/europeanspodcast.
Alex is on Twitter @adrechsel, and you can get tickets for his November 18 debate on the role of English in the EU here.Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Wednesday Oct 14, 2020
Wednesday Oct 14, 2020
Ok, ok, the title of this episode might be a bit of a stretch, but she WAS prime minister for a day. This week we chatted to 16-year-old Aava Murto about what happened when she got to replace Finland's Prime Minister Sanna Marin for 24 hours. Also this week: the downfall of Greece's Golden Dawn neo-Nazis, Bulgaria's anti-corruption protests, and Iga Swiatek's brilliant French Open performance.
Thanks for listening! If you like our show and want to help us keep making it, you can chip in a few euros / pounds / dollars a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast.How Norway makes rule of law offenders pay - Politico
This week's isolation inspiration: Mary Wollestonecraft - Letters Written in Sweden, Norway and Denmark; Michelle Buteau - Welcome to Buteaupia Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Wednesday Oct 07, 2020
Wednesday Oct 07, 2020
We've got a food-themed episode for you this week: bread, meat, and oat milk ethics. We're talking to the documentary-maker Fredrik Gertten about why Swedish vegan company Oatly may be making a deal with the devil. We're also discussing why Subway bread isn't bread (in Ireland at least) and asking why the wurst may be over in Germany. Plus, foul-mouthed parrots. Because everyone needs foul-mouthed parrots.
Thanks for listening! If you like our show and want to help us keep making it, you can chip in a few euros / pounds / dollars a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast.
Watch Fredrik's award-winning documentary Push here, and listen to his podcast here.
This week's isolation inspiration: Notes to Self by Emilie Pine; Kidnapping (ARTE). Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Wednesday Sep 30, 2020
Wednesday Sep 30, 2020
This week, the game that unites this continent. We're talking to Eniola Aluko, former England and Juventus striker, about her experience as a black woman in European football. We're also talking about what it's like to recover from a Russian Novichok poisoning; Europe's latest refugee plan; and clever puffins.
Thanks for listening! If you'd like to help us keep making The Europeans, you can chip in a couple of euros/dollars/pounds a month to our Patreon fund: patreon.com/europeanspodcast.
You can watch Eni speaking at the Forum on European Culture here, and check out her book here.
This week's Isolation Inspiration: Hanna, The Vampire Ship, and the latest issue of Are We Europe.
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Wednesday Sep 23, 2020
Wednesday Sep 23, 2020
Could Europe do with a 19th-century reboot? This week we're talking to Simon Strauss, millennial star of the German literary world, about why he thinks Romanticism is the future. We also hear about a lovely project he's launched to collect the stories of ageing Europeans. Plus: Ursula's big day, eco-burials, and what Tchaikovsky got in the post.
Simon's smash-hit novel, Seven Nights, is now available in English: https://rare-bird-books.myshopify.com/products/seven-nights
Read his 2018 keynote from the Forum on European Culture: https://cultureforum.eu/report2018/wp-content/uploads/Day-3_keynote-simon-strauss.pdf
And check out the European Archive of Voices: https://usefenut.myhostpoint.ch/european-archive-of-voices/
This week's Isolation Inspiration:
Why Did You Betray Me? https://www.decomposedshow.org/episode/2019/04/30/why-did-you-betray-me-tchaikovsky
La Haine https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/la_haine
Thanks for listening. If you like our show and would like to help us keep making it, we'd be really grateful if you could chip in a few dollars a month at https://patreon.com/europeanspodcast.
Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com