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
Friday Jan 26, 2024
Friday Jan 26, 2024
A lot of us are pretty diligent when it comes to throwing our plastic into the dedicated bin. But how much of that stuff actually gets recycled? This week we're digging into the truth behind Europe's trash with Nico Schmidt, reporter for Investigate Europe. We're also talking about Germany's massive anti-AfD protests, and Saudi sell-out Rafael Nadal.
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT HERE: https://europeanspodcast.com/episodes/what-actually-happens-to-europes-recycling
Resources for this episode:
'Secret plan against Germany' - Correctiv
‘Everyone, together, against fascism’: protests sweep Germany after exposé of AfD party’s deportation ‘masterplan’ - The Guardian
Wasteland - Europe's plastic disaster - Investigate Europe
‘Queen of trash’ and employees arrested over Sweden’s ‘largest environmental crime’ - The Guardian
On the French border, drowning in a sea of trash - PoliticoHitster'Black Butterflies' by Priscilla Morris
Thanks for listening! If you enjoy our podcast, we'd love it if you'd consider chipping in a few bucks a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast (many currencies are available). You can also help new listeners find the show by leaving us a review or giving us five stars on Spotify.
Many thanks to our friends at Outside/In for featuring our Oatly mini-series recently. You can find their show here.
00:22 The Europeans: coming to you soon in 200 languages?02:35 Good Week: Standing up against the German far-right14:35 Bad Week: Saudi sellout Rafael Nadal38:58 The Inspiration Station: Hitster and Black Butterflies41:50 Happy Ending: A 3,000-year-old map of the stars?
Producers: Katy Lee and Wojciech Oleksiak
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
Instagram | Threads | Twitter | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Thursday Jan 18, 2024
Thursday Jan 18, 2024
We’re kicking off the new year with a heady mix of urban policy, cake-based scandal and political controversy. Find out which European city ranks as the most ‘liveable’ in Good Week, and dive into the fraud case embroiling Italian mega-influencer Chiara Ferragni in Bad Week. And in this week’s interview, hear from historian Quinn Slobodian about the parallel he sees between the current discourse around Israel-Palestine in Germany, and events 50 years ago.
FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: https://europeanspodcast.com/episodes/influencer-fraud-liveable-cities-and-the-israel-taboo
Quinn is Professor of History at Boston University. You can follow him on Twitter here and read his New Statesman article, ‘Germany’s new years of lead’, here.
Resources for this episode:
Report on the quality of life in European cities, 2023
‘How to define genocide’: an interview with historian Omer Bartov in The New Yorker
German police statistics on politically-motivated crimes
‘Oral’ by Björk and Rosalía
Continental Riffs
The Guardian: ‘New “riskier” wave of British musicals to challenge West End’s established order’
Tickets for Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York)
Thanks for listening! If you enjoy our podcast, we'd love it if you'd consider chipping in a few bucks a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast (many currencies are available). You can also help new listeners find the show by leaving us a review or giving us five stars on Spotify.
00:22 Happy 2024, listeners!
02:57 Good Week: Europe's most liveable city?
08:17 Bad Week: Italian mega-influencer Chiara Ferragni
20:49 Interview: Quinn Slobodian on Germany's history of 'militant democracy'
40:31 The Inspiration Station: 'Oral' by Björk and Rosalía; Continental Riffs; Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)
44:12 Happy Ending: Rodney's helping hand
Producers: Katy Lee and Wojciech Oleksiak
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
Instagram | Threads | Twitter | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Sunday Dec 24, 2023
Sunday Dec 24, 2023
In the winter of 2020, deep into the misery of the global pandemic, Richy Craven lit up the internet with a tale about working at Christmas in a fancy department store in Dublin. His story went viral and we loved it so much that we asked our friend, the writer and podcaster Darach Ó Séaghdha, to read it for us. Producer Katz Laszlo added some audio magic, and a classic episode of The Europeans was born. As a little early Christmas present, here it is again.
A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from The Europeans! If you enjoyed this story, please consider donating to Barnados.
Music by Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin and Ultan O'Brien, as well as Lena Orsa and Timbre on Freesound.
Instagram | Bluesky | Twitter | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Thursday Dec 14, 2023
Thursday Dec 14, 2023
In Iceland, the night of December 24 is traditionally spent curled up with a book. Why? Because you're very likely to have been gifted one, given the huge array of literary offerings that get published in Iceland in the run-up for Christmas. In this festive last episode of the year, we're speaking to the writer Hildur Knútsdóttir about the Christmas Book Flood and why Iceland is such a nation of bookworms. We're also talking about Christmas tree diplomacy, a new twist on an old tradition, and an Italian tyre-slashing mystery.
You can find Hildur here on Instagram and here on Twitter. You can find details of her new book, 'The Night Guest', here on her website.
This week's Inspiration Station offerings: 'Small Things Like These' by Claire Keegan, 'My Father's House' by Joseph O'Connor, and 'La Ride' by Simon Boileau and Florent Pierre. Hildur's recommendations are 'Shadows of the Short Days' and 'The Shadows of a Midnight Sun' by Alexander Dan Vilhjálmsson.
Thanks so much to everyone who's supported us this year. If you enjoy our podcast and would like to help us keep making it in 2024, we'd love it if you'd consider chipping in a few bucks a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast (many currencies are available). You can also help new listeners find the show by leaving us a review or giving us five stars on Spotify.
Producer: Katy Lee
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
Instagram | Bluesky | Twitter | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Monday Dec 11, 2023
Monday Dec 11, 2023
In Part 1, you learned how illiberal regimes have used the political tools at their disposal – and their rich friends – to turn the media outlets of democratic European countries into propaganda machines. In Part 2 we’re exploring the legal tools needed to complete the job and talking to local journalists who found themselves on the receiving end of these takeovers. Finally, we’re asking: how can you stop a wannabe autocrat doing this in *your* country?
This series was funded by Journalism Fund Europe, the Allianz Foundation, and supporters of The Europeans.
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 bucks a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast (many currencies are available). You can also help new listeners find the show by leaving us a review or giving us five stars on Spotify.
Credits
Reporters: Viktória Serdült, Dimitar Ganev and Wojciech Oleksiak
Writers: Wojciech Oleksiak and Dimitar Ganev
Production, scoring, sound design and mixing: Wojciech Oleksiak
Editors: Adam Zulawski and Katy Lee
Editorial support: Katz Laszlo and Dominic Kraemer
Director of recording sessions: Dominic Kraemer
Artwork: RTiiiKA
Thanks for talking to us: Vesislava Antonova, Ervin Gűth, Antal Józing, Zuzanna Nowicka, Venelina Popova, Anna Wójcik, Spas Spassov, Marek Twaróg, Ágnes Urbán, and Cezary Węgliński.Instagram | Bluesky | Twitter | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Thursday Dec 07, 2023
Thursday Dec 07, 2023
It’s a playbook that’s been used by illiberal governments across Central and Eastern Europe: muzzling the media until it resembles little more than propaganda. But how exactly does one go about dismantling the free press, in a democratic country within the European Union?
In Part 1 of this two-part special, Viktória Serdült, Dimitar Ganev and our producer Wojciech Oleksiak ask: how the hell did we get here? And how did the local press become such a powerful political weapon?
This series was funded by Journalism Fund Europe, the Allianz Foundation, and supporters of The Europeans.
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 bucks a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast (many currencies are available). You can also help new listeners find the show by leaving us a review or giving us five stars on Spotify.
Credits
Reporters: Viktória Serdült, Dimitar Ganev and Wojciech Oleksiak
Writers: Wojciech Oleksiak and Dimitar Ganev
Production, scoring, sound design and mixing: Wojciech Oleksiak
Editors: Adam Zulawski and Katy Lee
Editorial support: Katz Laszlo and Dominic Kraemer
Director of recording sessions: Dominic Kraemer
Artwork: RTiiiKA
Thanks for talking to us: Vesislava Antonova, Ervin Gűth, Antal Józing, Zuzanna Nowicka, Venelina Popova, Anna Wójcik, Spas Spassov, Marek Twaróg, Ágnes Urbán, and Cezary Węgliński.
Instagram | Bluesky | Twitter | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Thursday Nov 30, 2023
Thursday Nov 30, 2023
In Spain, an unlikely left-leaning coalition has managed to block the right from taking power; in the Netherlands, the far-right has come out on top. This week we’re talking about two very different political situations with the help of Politico reporter Aitor Hernández-Morales and producer Katz Laszlo in Amsterdam.
You can follow Aitor on Twitter here and read his reporting here. Our episode about life as an undocumented person in the Netherlands, ‘Mohamed’, is here.
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 bucks a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast (many currencies are available). You can also help new listeners find the show by leaving us a review or giving us five stars on Spotify.
This week's Inspiration Station offerings: ‘Anatomy of a Fall’, ‘Ordinary People’, and ‘Treasure Islands’ by Nicholas Shaxson.
Producers: Katz Laszlo and Katy Lee
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
Instagram | Bluesky | Twitter | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Thursday Nov 16, 2023
Thursday Nov 16, 2023
Ukraine has seen an exodus of foreign journalists in the wake of the terrible conflict in the Middle East. But coverage of the war on this continent remains more crucial than ever. This week we talk to the writer Sasha Dovzhyk about what is happening in Ukraine right now, as well as Ukrainians' complicated feelings around the struggle for international attention. We're also talking about the corruption scandal rocking Portugal's government, and Greta Thunberg's fraught appearance at Amsterdam's huge climate protest.
Sasha is the editor of the London Ukrainian Review. You can read her piece in the New York Times here and subscribe to her newsletter, Ukrainian Killjoy Dispatch, here.
The NRC piece on the climate movement's soul-searching over Palestine can be found here (in Dutch). And Aitor Hernández Morales’ excellent tweeting on the dramatic events in Portuguese politics can be found here.
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 bucks a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast (many currencies are available). You can also help new listeners find the show by leaving us a review or giving us five stars on Spotify.
This week's Inspiration Station offerings: The Deepest Breath' on Netflix and the Spotify playlist of 'Le Guess Who?' festival in Utrecht (Katz’ top pick: Swedish Ethiopian band BITOI, combining vocals and bass heavily inspired by birdsong).
Producers: Katz Laszlo and Katy Lee
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
Instagram | Bluesky | Twitter | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Wednesday Nov 08, 2023
Wednesday Nov 08, 2023
The Swedish oat milk brand Oatly has taken on some eyebrow-raising investments over the past few years. It insists those investments haven’t changed its proud identity as a climate-saving company – but is that really true? In the third and final episode of ‘The Oatly Chronicles’, we investigate a piggy controversy, why oat milk is so damn expensive, and whether Oatly is acting like a big, bad oat milk monopoly. And we ask: what *should* we be eating, to save the planet?
This series is funded by Journalismfund Europe and the Allianz Foundation.
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 bucks a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast (many currencies are available). You can also help new listeners find the show by leaving us a review or giving us five stars on Spotify.
Credits: This episode was produced by Katz Laszlo, and reported by Katz Laszlo and Katy Lee. Editing came from Katy Lee, as well as Justine Paradis, visiting from NPR’s excellent podcast, Outside/In. Editorial support came from Margot Gibbs, Dominic Kraemer and Wojciech Oleksiak, and mastering, scoring and sound design also came from Wojciech.
Artwork came from favourite illustrator RTiiiKA.
Thank you for talking to us: George Monbiot, Fredrik Gertten, Laura Young, Ashley Allen, Lisa van der Velden, Thin Lei Win, Sonalie Figueiras, Sara Berger, and Boris de Lorn.
Special thanks to lovely neighbours Joris Klingen and Thomas van Dijk, for letting us use their very nice studio. You can find their music under Bovenburen.
Interesting links:
Oatly’s ‘Fuck Oatly’ website: https://fckoatly.com
‘The Awkward Truth about Oatly and Alpro’: Lisa van der Velden’s reporting in the Financiele Dagblad, December 2022
https://fd.nl/bedrijfsleven/1458366/ongemakkelijke-waarheid-oatly-en-alpro-voeden-intensieve-veehouderij
‘Big Dairy is trying to get Gen Z’ - New York Times, 2023 https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/04/dining/milk-dairy-industry-gen-z.html
Instagram | Bluesky | Twitter hello@europeanspodcast.com
Friday Oct 27, 2023
Friday Oct 27, 2023
Swedish oat milk company Oatly says it's on a mission to defeat the almighty dairy industry and save the planet. To do that, it claims it needs to grow into a massive corporate success — and it’s willing to take on controversial investments to get there.
In episode two of ‘The Oatly Chronicles’, we investigate what makes those investors so controversial. It takes us on a journey from green capitalism being battled out in the coffee shops of Malmö; to enormous housing protests in a post-financial crisis Spain; to… China?
This series is funded by Journalismfund Europe and the Allianz Foundation
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 bucks a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast (many currencies are available). You can also help new listeners find the show by leaving us a review or giving us five stars on Spotify.
Credits: This episode was produced by Katz Laszlo, and reported by Katz Laszlo and Katy Lee. Editing came from Katy Lee, as well as Justine Paradis, visiting from NPR’s excellent podcast, Outside/In. Editorial support came from Margot Gibbs, Dominic Kraemer and Wojciech Oleksiak, and mastering, scoring and sound design also came from Wojciech.
Artwork came from favourite illustrator RTiiiKA.
Thank for talking to us: Fredrik Gertten, Lucía Gonzalez Martín, Laura Young, George Monbiot, Max Carbonell, Ben Axler, Brett Christophers, and Gregor Sebastian.
Special thanks to lovely neighbours Joris Klingen and Thomas van Dijk, for letting us use their very nice studio. You can find their music under Bovenburen.
Interesting links:
‘Change Isn’t Easy’ - Oatly’s statement on the Blackstone investment (August 2022 update) https://community.oatly.com/conversations/news-and-views/change-isnt-easy/62f2f4c91b4bf47dd15fb249
‘Private Equity Propels the Climate Crisis’ - a report by the Private Equity Stakeholder Project, 2021 https://pestakeholder.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/PESP_SpecialReport_ClimateCrisis_Oct2021_Final.pdf
‘These Photos Show the Reality of Spain's Housing Crisis’ - Time, August 2015 https://time.com/4007349/spain-evictions-housing-crisis/
‘#RavalVsBlackstone. The right to the city versus the finance-real estate-tourism complex’ - European Network of Corporate Observatories, June 2020
https://corpwatchers.eu/en/investigations/cities-versus-multinationals/ravalvsblackstone-the-right-to-the-city-versus-the-finance-real-estate-tourism
‘Activists sour on Oatly vegan milk after stake sold to Trump-linked Blackstone’ - The Guardian, September 2020
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/sep/01/oatly-vegan-milk-sale-blackstone
Instagram | Bluesky | Twitter hello@europeanspodcast.com