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 Apr 01, 2020
Wednesday Apr 01, 2020
In this time of crisis, many, many people are watching marbles roll down miniature race tracks. We talk to Dion Bakker, one of the Dutch brothers behind the hit marble-racing YouTube channel that's filling the void left by cancelled sports events. We also catch up with atmospheric physicist Meganne Christian, who spent a year in Antarctica, to hear her tips on surviving isolation. Also this week: Viktor Orbán's terrifying power grab, and trees, lots of trees.
Like the show? If you have a couple of spare dollars to spare each month, you can help us keep making it at patreon.com/europeanspodcast.
Thanks for listening!
Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Wednesday Mar 25, 2020
Wednesday Mar 25, 2020
Calming things are much needed this week, so we're talking about lakes and we're talking about dogs. Our guest is the poet and author Kapka Kassabova, whose latest book To The Lake is a beautiful account of life on the borders of Greece, Albania and North Macedonia. We're also celebrating cleaner skies, human-canine relationships, and putting booze to good use.
Thanks to the amazing people who support this podcast on Patreon, especially in these uncertain times. If you have a couple of dollars to spare each month, you can chip in at patreon.com/europeanspodcast.
Watch Dominic's latest opera here!
Thanks for listening.
Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Wednesday Mar 18, 2020
Wednesday Mar 18, 2020
The show goes on. This week, aside from bringing you some positivity from around the continent, we're talking to someone who turned something terrible into something empowering. Emma Holten was 20 years old when nude photos of her were leaked onto the internet without her consent. We gave her a call in Copenhagen to hear about her inspiring fightback. Also this week: good dogs and good decisions in Spain and Greece.
You can follow Emma on Instagram here and Twitter here.
Thank you to the generous supporters who keep this show going! You can pledge just $2 a month or more at patreon.com/europeanspodcast.
Thanks for listening.Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Wednesday Mar 11, 2020
Wednesday Mar 11, 2020
This week, the distances travelled in search of love and safety. The Finnish novelist and playwright Saara Turunen has written beautifully about what it's like to navigate a relationship between Helsinki and Barcelona. We chat to her about European culture clashes and what feminism looks like in the two countries she lives between. Plus, Europe's failed refugee policy, magical taps, and ill-chosen words by a billionaire populist (no, not that one).
Saara's piece appears in Europa28, a collection of writing by European women which comes out on March 12.
Read the New York Times investigation on how oligarchs milk EU farming subsidies here.
Fancy seeing Lysistrata in Dortmund on March 23 or Greentea Peng in Lisbon on April 23? We have free tickets! Tag us in a post alongside @liveurope for your chance to win.
Thanks for listening. If you like the show and have a couple of spare dollars a month, you can help keep us running at patreon.com/europeanspodcast.Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Wednesday Mar 04, 2020
Wednesday Mar 04, 2020
You might not think of the corridors of Brussels as a particularly spiritual place, but all kinds of religious groups are jostling for influence there. This week we delve into the world of religious lobbying with the French journalist Quentin Ariès. Also this week: a secret passage, winds of change in Slovakia, and the power of the Paris agreement.
You can read Quentin's article on religious lobbying in the latest issue of Are We Europe magazine. Listeners to this podcast get 25% off with the code EUROPEANSPOD.
Watch Iceland's amazing Eurovision entry here and help support this podcast at patreon.com/europeanspodcast.
Thanks for listening. Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Wednesday Feb 26, 2020
Wednesday Feb 26, 2020
In 2015, the 'migrant crisis' was the front page story of every newspaper in Europe. Today more than 42,000 people are still stranded on the Greek islands, in shameful conditions — and yet we barely talk about it. Migration researcher Apostolis Fotadis joins us from Athens to explain why Greece's refugee policy has become such a disaster. Also this week: big changes in Portugal, criminally-bad (?) singing in Croatia, and a Finnish mystery.
Thanks for listening. You can support the podcast on Patreon here: https://patreon.com/europeanspodcastTwitter | Facebook | Instagram | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Wednesday Feb 19, 2020
Wednesday Feb 19, 2020
This week, a tale of two continents. Katy speaks to the Kenyan writer Patrick Gathara about Eurafrica, an idea that informed the European project after World War II but is now largely forgotten. Sixty years after a wave of African countries won their independence in 1960, we're also talking about why decolonisation is an ongoing process. Also this week: jilted Balkan lovers, mixed meat messages, and a lost summer soundtrack.
Read Patrick's piece about Eurafrica for Al Jazeera: https://bit.ly/2HE5s88
Take part in our survey and help us make the podcast better: https://iter.ly/w9d8i
Enter our competition for free Charlotte dos Santos tickets: http://tiny.cc/n3p7jz
Thanks for listening.Patreon | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Wednesday Feb 12, 2020
Wednesday Feb 12, 2020
Something huge just happened in Irish politics, but as outsiders it's difficult to understand what exactly. Naomi O'Leary from the excellent podcast The Irish Passport is here to untangle everything for us. Also this week: coronavirus racism, a step forward for LGBTQ+ rights in Switzerland, and what happens when a celeb does the 'double-clicky-likey-thing' on one of your social media posts.
We're doing a survey to work out how to make the podcast better! If you've got 5 minutes to spare, we'd love to hear your thoughts. You can take part here.
We also have a competition this week, courtesy of our friends at our favourite European concert venue chain Liveurope! We have three pairs of free tickets to see the brilliant Charlotte Dos Santos in Copenhagen, Brussels and London in March. For a chance to get their hands on them, tag us in a tweet or Instagram post letting the world know you listen to The Europeans!
Thanks for listening.
Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Patreon | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Wednesday Feb 05, 2020
Wednesday Feb 05, 2020
We've been wondering how on earth the European Union makes laws for 27 countries at once. Producer Katz Laszlo went to the beach to find out.
This is the last episode in our mini-series Bursting the Bubble, explaining how the EU works in the least boring way possible.
Huge thanks to the European Cultural Foundation for funding this series. They support projects that promote Europe as an open and democratic space. Thank you also to the amazing Patreon supporters who keep this show running, and to The Europeans' tote bag designer and beach trash collector Rosa ter Kuile.
Written and produced by Katz Laszlo, with help from Katy Lee and Dominic Kraemer.Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Patreon | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Wednesday Jan 22, 2020
Wednesday Jan 22, 2020
This week, Katy heads to the forest in Lithuania. Ahead of International Holocaust Memorial Day on January 27, we're talking about memory politics with a formidable 97-year-old.
This is the last podcast in our mini-series Postcards from Europe, featuring intimate portraits of lives and places across the continent. It was made possible by the European Cultural Foundation, who support initiatives that rethink Europe as an open and democratic space.
This podcast was written, produced and edited by Katy Lee, with help from Sonia Zhuravlyova, Dominic Kraemer and Katz Laszlo. Voiceover by Haya Vardy. Music provided by Moni Ovadia, Yad Vashem and Blue Dot Sessions. Artwork by La Kingsbeer.
Thanks for listening.Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Patreon
europeanspodcast.com | hello@europeanspodcast.com