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
Wednesday Jan 27, 2021
Wednesday Jan 27, 2021
The oil giant Shell is Europe's biggest company — and it's facing an absolutely massive court case over climate justice. This week we speak to Anoek Nuyens, one of the women behind an extraordinary piece of theatre about Shell that laid bare the "crisis of responsibility" at the heart of global climate policy. We're also talking about Russia's opposition protests and the horrifying case of a TikTok challenge gone wrong in Italy.
To find out more about This Is What A Generation Sounds Like, the new podcast series we're making with our friends at Are We Europe, check out our website: europeanspodcast.com/call-for-stories-allianz-kulturstiftung.
And why not get yourself 50 percent off Are We Europe's excellent new magazine? Enter EUROPEANS at checkout.
This week's Isolation Inspiration: Call My Agent, Moonstruck, Dating Amber.
Thanks for listening. If you like 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.
Producer: Katz Laszlo
Assistant producer: Priyanka Shankar
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Wednesday Jan 20, 2021
Wednesday Jan 20, 2021
The 'Ndrangheta has become one of the most powerful and dangerous crime syndicates in the world. But how does the mafia actually operate? This week, as a massive trial of suspected 'Ndrangheta members gets underway in Italy, we delve into the inner workings of Europe's organised crime scene with the criminologist Federico Varese. We're also dishing up edible insects, the many European governments on the verge of collapse this week, and the magical power of seagrass.
Isolation Inspiration: Federico's fascinating book Mafia Life; French Netflix show Lupin; nepotistic but excellent theatre livestream The end of Eddy.
Thanks for listening! If you enjoy The Europeans and want to help us keep making it, we'd be hugely grateful if you'd consider chipping in a few euros/dollars/pounds at patreon.com/europeanspodcast.
Edited by Katz Laszlo.
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Wednesday Jan 13, 2021
Wednesday Jan 13, 2021
Happy New Year, Europeans and europhiles! We're back with a brand new episode featuring everything from ancient fast food to naughty aristocrats. Since Angela Merkel's party starts choosing her successor this weekend, German journalist Wolfgang Munchau is here to reflect on what kind of a hole the Queen of Europe will leave in our continent. We're also taking a look at Norway's split personality when it comes to the climate, and why Amsterdam cannabis tourism may become a thing of the past.
Wolfgang is the director of Eurointelligence. Check out his podcast!
This week's cutting-edge Isolation Inspiration: Fleabag (2016), The Bureau (2015), Bridgerton.
Thanks for listening! If you like our podcast and want to help us keep making it, you can chip in a few euros/dollars/pounds a week at patreon.com/europeanspodcast.
This episode was edited by Katz Laszlo.
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Wednesday Dec 16, 2020
Wednesday Dec 16, 2020
For our last episode of the year, we take you to a supermarket in the Dublin suburbs in 2006. We also discuss a string of mysterious explosions at Polish grocery stores in the Netherlands, doing a deal with Viktor Orbán, and the secret to happiness in Europe.
This week's beautiful story was written by Richy Craven, read by Darach Ó Séaghdha, and produced by Katz Laszlo. If you enjoyed it, please consider donating to Barnardos. You can check out Darach's podcast, Motherfoclóir, here, and listen to the sweet sounds of Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin and Ultan O'Brien here. Other music from Lena Orsa and Timbre at Freesound.
This week's Isolation Inspiration: The Great, Catherine The Great, The Romanovs, Handel's Messiah from VOCES8, To Catch A Thief and ÜberWeihnachten.
Thank you so much for listening to The Europeans in 2020. We've loved making the show. If you'd like to help us keep going in 2021, you can chip in a few euros/dollars/pounds a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast.
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Wednesday Dec 09, 2020
Wednesday Dec 09, 2020
Philip recently found out that his classmate was a member of a far-right group. This is what happened when the two of them sat down to talk.
This podcast was made possible by our Patreon supporters. If you'd like to help us keep making The Europeans, you can support us here: patreon.com/europeanspodcast.
Reporting by Philip Pollak; production by Katy Lee and Dominic Kraemer; editing by Katy Lee; artwork by Rosa ter Kuile; music by Jim Barne. With huge thanks to Natalie Nougayrède and Emily Schultheis for their editorial advice.
The original Hungarian audio and an annotated English transcript can be found here (password-protected).
Thanks for listening.
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Wednesday Dec 02, 2020
Wednesday Dec 02, 2020
This week, the Hollywood-worthy story of Janina Garbień. Her family hid a nine-year-old Jewish girl in their Warsaw home during the war; Janina would later fall in love with an Italian prisoner at a Nazi camp, lose him, and find him again. Ola Cichowlas tells us her grandmother's extraordinary tale. We also talk about a shocking case of police brutality and the controversy over France's security law. Plus, unfortunate village names and the truth about apples.
Ola is Moscow correspondent for Agence France-Presse (AFP). You can follow her here and read a beautiful thread about her grandmother here.
Katy guest-hosted the first episode of the new UN Women podcast Generations Talk Gender, featuring a conversation between a young Romanian feminist and a long-time activist in Serbia. Check it out here.
Thanks for listening! If you enjoy this podcast and would like to help us keep making it, you can chip in a few euros/dollars/pounds at patreon.com/europeanspodcast.
This week's Isolation Inspiration: Swedish comedy 'Love and Anarchy', Dutch TV show 'Een programma over de jaren negentig', and this accompanying 90s Eurodance playlist.
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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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