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
Thursday Jun 29, 2023
Thursday Jun 29, 2023
Being able to move freely around 27 countries is one of the biggest benefits of living in the EU. In reality, this is pretty hard if you’ve got a disability. This week we speak to Alejandro Moledo, deputy director of the European Disability Forum, about plans to start addressing that. We’re also diving into Greece’s elections and, with the help of producer Katz Laszlo, the decision to halt Iceland’s summer whale-hunting season.
FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT HERE: https://europeanspodcast.com/episodes/greeces-elections-whales-and-disability-rights
You can follow Alejandro on Twitter here and find the EDF's podcast mini-series here. The reports Alejandro mentioned can be found here.
This week's Isolation Inspiration: 'The Employees' by Olga Ravn and 'Fanfic' on Netflix. Bonus: best-selling whale song album 'Songs of the Humpback Whale'.
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.
00:22 Busy busy busy, hot hot hot
02:52 Good Week: Iceland's whales
12:19 Bad Week: Greek leftwingers
22:42 Interview: Alejandro Moledo on the EU's (lack of a) disability policy
34:03 Isolation Inspiration: 'The Employees' and 'Fanfic'
37:57 Happy Ending: A bunch of things to celebrate this Pride Month
Producers: Katy Lee and Wojciech Oleksiak
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
Twitter | Instagram | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Thursday Jun 22, 2023
Thursday Jun 22, 2023
It's easy to feel doomed when it comes to climate change. In her latest book, the Italian political scientist Nathalie Tocci makes the case for cautious optimism about Europe's climate and energy policies. We chat to her this week about the opportunities and challenges of the European Green Deal, as well as how to interpret the death last week of Silvio Berlusconi. We're also talking about a push to ban unpaid internships across the EU, and whether or not we should be blaming Beyoncé for stubbornly high inflation in Sweden.
FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT HERE: https://europeanspodcast.com/episodes/beyonc-inflation-and-the-case-for-climate-optimism
Nathalie is the director of the Istituto Affari Internazionali in Rome. You can follow her on Twitter here and find more information about her latest book, 'A Green and Global Europe', here.
We are over the moon that the animated version of our episode 'Mohamed', made with our friends at Are We Europe, has won a CIVIS prize! You can watch the beautiful animation here on YouTube.
This week's Isolation Inspiration: roasted fennel and 'The Council of Egypt' by Leonardo Sciascia.
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.
00:22 Amsterdam heat and breakfast tears03:44 Good Week: Interns10:49 Bad Week: Beyoncé21:31 Interview: Nathalie Tocci on the case for climate optimism in Europe36:32 Isolation Inspiration: Roasted fennel and The Council of Egypt40:02 Happy Ending: (Everyone's) Free-To-Wear Sunscreen
Producers: Katy Lee and Wojciech Oleksiak
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
Twitter | Instagram | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Thursday Jun 08, 2023
Thursday Jun 08, 2023
Last week, dozens of NATO peacekeepers were injured after violent protests broke out in northern Kosovo. What is going on, and why do Kosovo's problems seem so hard to fix? This week we dig into the deeper context behind the unrest with political analyst Agon Maliqi. We're also talking about why much of Europe is antsy about who's going to be steering the EU next year, and a bizarre dispute in the art world.
FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT HERE: https://europeanspodcast.com/episodes/why-is-it-so-hard-to-fix-kosovos-problems
You can follow Agon on Twitter at @AgonMaliqi.
This week's Isolation Inspiration: Turn of the Tide and Fatma Aydemir: The State of European Literature at the Forum on European Culture, De Balie.
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.
00:22 The sunny side of the continent02:14 Bad Week: Looming EU presidencies12:37 Good Week for Dutch art trolls?23:20 Interview: Agon Maliqi on why it's so hard to fix the Kosovo-Serbia relationship35:46 Isolation Inspiration: Turn of the Tide and the Forum on European Culture40:36 Happy Ending: The magic of Enhanced Rock Weathering
Producers: Katy Lee and Wojciech Oleksiak
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
Twitter | Instagram | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Thursday Jun 01, 2023
Thursday Jun 01, 2023
The last time we interviewed the physicist Meganne Christian, she was working on the French-Italian research base on Antarctica. Now she has her eye on outer space. We ring her up to find out more about her new life as a reserve astronaut for the European Space Agency, and Europe's role in the new commercial space era. We're also talking about Pedro Sánchez's Spanish election gamble and a hopeful court verdict for same-sex Romanian couples.
FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT HERE: https://europeanspodcast.com/episodes/europes-place-in-outer-space
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.
You can follow Meganne here on Twitter and Instagram, and the ESA here and here. The report on Europe's future role in space exploration can be found here, and you can find out more about the ESA astronaut selection process here. Some other links you might want to check out:
ESA Space Ambition book
ESA Terrae Novae 2030+ Strategy Roadmap
International Space Station Benefits for Humanity 2022
ESA Human Spaceflight on Twitter
This week's Isolation Inspiration: 'The [Queer] Politics of Eurovision' from verilybitchie, and This Is Love: The Museum of Broken Relationships.
00:22 Welcome to the western-most peninsulas of Eurasia03:28 Bad Week: Spain's Socialists11:36 Good Week: LGBT couples in Romania20:53 Interview: Meganne Christian on life as a reserve astronaut and what Europe is up to in space32:53 Isolation Inspiration: The Queer Politics of Eurovision and The Museum of Broken Relationships35:09 Happy Ending: Cheers to you, Gert-Jan
Producers: Katy Lee and Wojciech Oleksiak
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
Twitter | Instagram | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Friday May 26, 2023
Friday May 26, 2023
We usually see young people as the face of climate activism. This week, we find out how 2,000 Swiss women, all over the age of 65, took their government to court in a case that could change climate laws across Europe. And along the way, we figure out once and for all how the European Court of Human Rights actually works.
This is a special episode made in cooperation with the Allianz Foundation, one of several podcasts we're making this year about sustainability with their support. Stay tuned later in the year to hear more.
You can find out more about the KlimaSeniorinnen here.
Listening from Amsterdam? The Forum on European Culture runs at De Balie from May 31-June 4, with a ton of great speakers on the line-up. Find the full programme here: https://cultureforum.eu/programme-2023
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.
FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT HERE: https://europeanspodcast.com/episodes/the-biggest-climate-case-that-ever-was
Reporter and producer: Katz Laszlo
Editor: Katy Lee
Editorial support: Dominic Kraemer and Wojciech Oleksiak
Sound design, mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music by Jim Barne, Epidemic Sound and Blue Dot Sessions
Twitter | Instagram | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Thursday May 18, 2023
Thursday May 18, 2023
We've been glued to the Turkish elections over the past week. But what does Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's victory in the first round mean for the country, and for Europe as a whole? This week we ring up political scientist Ahmet Erdi Öztürk to find out. We're also talking about a big boost in Germany's support for Ukraine, a fake tan controversy, and the teeny tiny bridge behind the Mona Lisa.
FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT HERE: https://europeanspodcast.com/episodes/the-naughty-child-of-nato
You can follow Erdi on Twitter @ahmeterdiozturk.
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 Isolation Inspiration: Cautionary Tales: 'The Man Who Bet His House on a Pop Song - A Eurovision Tale' and 'The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window And Disappeared' by Jonas Jonasson
00:22 Together again
03:31 Good Week: Is Germany's Ukraine 'turning point' actually here?
11:27 Red-faced over orange-face
19:26 Interview: Ahmet Erdi Öztürk on the Turkish elections
28:23 Isolation Inspiration: 'The Man Who Bet His House on a Pop Song' and 'The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window And Disappeared'
33:19 Happy Ending: A Mona Lisa mystery solved?
Producers: Katy Lee and Wojciech Oleksiak
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
Twitter | Instagram | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Thursday May 11, 2023
Thursday May 11, 2023
This week is a bonanza for fans of Europe's two favourite competitions: the Champions League football tournament and the Eurovision Song Contest. Both are held up as events that bring Europeans together, but which one does the job better? This week we aim to settle the debate once and for all with a face-off between sports commentator Barbara Barend and Eurovision historian Dean Vuletic. We're also talking about a €300-million EU pension black hole and France's first rap awards.
Do you live in Europe, and do you enjoy this podcast? If so, you can celebrate democracy and fund our show at the same time, by signing up to join the Capital of European Democracy jury. It only takes a few clicks and it's a huge help to us! Sign up here before May 15: https://join.capitalofdemocracy.eu/europeanspod
FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT HERE: https://europeanspodcast.com/episodes/eurovision-vs-the-champions-league
The Eurovision vs. Champions League debate was part of a special event for Europe Day hosted by the European Cultural Foundation. You can find out more about this year's celebrations at europeday.eu.
This week's Isolation Inspiration: 'King Charles III's Secret Kingdom' and 'If Found'. You can find the article Katy mentioned on the Flamme awards here in the Guardian, and the ECF's Radio Europe Day playlist here on Spotify.
00:22 Beyoncé in the Brussels bubble
03:49 Bad Week: A €300m pensions black hole
13:25 Good Week: France's first rap awards
18:39 Help us out by joining the European Capital of Democracy Jury!
20:23 The ultimate debate: Eurovision vs The Champions League
37:46 Isolation Inspiration: 'King Charles III's Secret Kingdom' and 'If Found'
40:54 Happy Ending: Aurimas Valujavičius's epic journey
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.
Producer: Katy Lee
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
Twitter | Instagram | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Thursday May 04, 2023
Thursday May 04, 2023
The EU is a lot of things. But is it funny? And would Europe be a better place if we *could* find it funny? This week we're talking to Lise Witteman, one of the co-founders of live comedy show The Schuman Show, about finding humour in the Brussels machine. We're also talking about Pope Francis' face-off with Viktor Orbán and the Italian tourism campaign that spawned a thousand memes.
Do you live in Europe, and do you enjoy this podcast? If so, you can celebrate democracy and fund our show at the same time, by signing up to join the Capital of European Democracy jury. It only takes a few clicks and it's a huge help to us! Sign up here: https://join.capitalofdemocracy.eu/europeanspod
FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT HERE: https://europeanspodcast.com/episodes/brussels-that-well-known-comedy-goldmine
You can find out more about the Schuman Show at https://www.schumanshow.eu.
The final visual version of the episodes in our series This Is What A Generation Sounds Like, produced by our friends at Are We Europe, can be found here.
This week's Isolation Inspiration: The Allusionist's Eurovision episodes and 'The Curious Case of Columbo's Message to Romania'
00:22 King's Day and erotic fiction penned by a finance minister
03:53 Good Week: The Pope v Viktor Orbán
11:44 Bad Week: Open to Meraviglia!
18:12 Help us out by joining the European Capital of Democracy Jury!
20:26 Interview: Lise Witteman on making the EU funny
31:58 Isolation Inspiration: The Allusionist's Eurovision episodes and 'The Curious Case of Columbo's Message to Romania'
35:53 Happy Ending: Gamefy The Dam Removal
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.
Producers: Katy Lee and Wojciech Oleksiak
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
Twitter | Instagram | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Thursday Apr 20, 2023
Thursday Apr 20, 2023
Mapping our genes has already allowed humanity to make huge strides in medicine. But the vast majority of the genomes we’ve decoded are those of people of white European heritage. Why is that a problem, and how do we fix it? This week we talk to the Nigerian geneticist Segun Fatumo about fixing the genome gap. We’re also talking about Andalucía’s bid to protect flamenco, and why Europe’s most powerful media mogul is in hot water.
Segun is an associate professor of genetic epidemiology and bioinformatics at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He tweets @SFatumo.
You can find a video of flamenco performers celebrating Andalucía’s new law here, and watch the latest visual podcast in our series with Are We Europe, 'Andrea', here. We are delighted that the visual version of an earlier episode of This Is What A Generation Sounds Like, 'Mohamed', has been nominated for the CIVIS Prize! Watch it here.
This week's Isolation Inspiration: this interview on the European Space Agency's Jupiter mission; How To Sell Drugs Online (Fast); World Leader or My Friend's Dad? and Luis Sal's Parisian croissant review.
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.
FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT HERE: https://europeanspodcast.com/episodes/how-racial-bias-is-messing-with-dna-research
00:22 Make Europe Digestible Again
02:23 A Good Week for protecting flamenco?
09:22 A Bad Week for Axel Springer's CEO
19:30 Interview: Segun Fatumo on the European bias of genomic studies
30:24 Isolation Inspiration: Juice, 'How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast)', World Leader or My Friend's Dad, croissant reviews
34:59 Happy Ending: 500 days of reading and knitting (in a pitch-black cave)
Producers: Katy Lee and Wojciech Oleksiak
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
Twitter | Instagram | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Thursday Apr 13, 2023
Thursday Apr 13, 2023
What comes to mind when you imagine a library? Rows of books, probably. But across the continent, libraries are transforming into places that serve communities in all sorts of other ways. This week we hear from two very different libraries about how they're doing just that: Bojana Grujic of the Novi Sad City Library in Serbia and Myrto Tsilimpounidi from the Feminist Library at the Feminist Autonomous Centre in Athens. We're also talking about the fallout from Macron's trip to China, the international fight against Hungary's homophobic law, and the hallucinogenic adventures of early Europeans.
Bojana and Myrto's libraries are taking part in the European Cultural Foundation's Europe Challenge. The hunt for new participants begins soon; keep an eye on the ECF's website for updates, or subscribe to their newsletter.
This week's Isolation Inspiration: Birdsbesafe cat collars, available via the Royal Belgian League for the Protection of Birds, and 'The Shadow King' by Maaza Mengiste. Bonus: Katy's amazing Notion template.
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.
FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT HERE: https://europeanspodcast.com/episodes/libraries-the-safest-spaces-we-have
00:22 No Easter eggs for Dominic
02:43 Messy / Bad Week: Macron and von der Leyen's trip to China
14:47 Good Week: The fight against Hungary's anti-LGBTQ law
23:06 Interview: Bojana Grujic and Myrto Tsilimpounidi on the reinvention of Europe's libraries
35:51 Isolation Inspiration: Birdsbesafe cat collars and 'The Shadow King' by Maaza Mengiste
40:59 Happy Ending: Early Europeans' psychedelic dabbling
Producers: Katy Lee and Wojciech Oleksiak
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
Twitter | Instagram | hello@europeanspodcast.com