The Europeans | European news, politics and culture

Suspicion machines and combustion engines

If you've claimed welfare benefits in Europe lately, there's a decent chance that authorities have used an algorithm to assess whether you might be trying to scam the system. The problem? All kinds of discrimination are baked into these calculations. This week we speak to Gabriel Geiger, one of the journalists behind an international investigation into these ‘suspicion machines’. We’re also looking back at a week of highs and lows for Europe’s climate policy, and celebrating Pompeii’s fluffy new recruits. 
You can find the various pieces published as part of Lighthouse Reports’ ‘suspicion machines’ investigation here and follow Gabriel on Twitter here.
The Guardian graphic that Dominic mentioned, explaining why it’s so hard to power ships with electricity, can be found here.
This week’s Isolation Inspiration: 'Lessons' by Ian McEwan, Traute Lafrenz's obituary, and 'A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived' by Adam Rutherford.
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 highs and lows of modern technology 02:52 Good week: Europe's maritime fuel deal 10:45 Bad week: The great combustion engine flop 19:33 Interview: Gabriel Geiger on Europe's suspicion machines 36:11 Isolation Inspiration: 'Lessons' by Ian McEwan, Traute Lafrenz's obituary, and 'A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived' 40:05 Happy Ending: Pompeii's fluffy new recruits
Producer: Katy Lee
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
Twitter | Instagram | hello@europeanspodcast.com

Why would you flood a forest?

Last year, conservationists deliberately flooded a Slovakian forest. Why would you do such a thing? This week we ring up the co-founder of one of the organisations behind the project, Duarte de Zoeten of Mossy Earth, to find out. We're also talking about Italy's rainbow families, a kind-of-sort-of deal between Kosovo and Serbia, and Europe's first wild river national park.
You can find Mossy Earth's YouTube channel here and their latest video about the Danube project here. Find out more about their Slovakian partners, Broz, here.
This week's Isolation Inspiration: Vrij Spel (NPO) - Arnout, Dominic, Felix & Timo vs. Purcell; Stanley Tucci - Searching for Italy. 
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 Rats and Covid03:12 Bad week: Milan's rainbow families09:39 Good week (ish): Serbia and Kosovo19:03 Interview: Duarte de Zoeten on flooding a Slovakian forest32:05 Isolation Inspiration: Arnout, Dominic, Felix & Timo vs. Purcell, and 'Searching for Italy'37:45 Happy Ending: Europe's first wild river national park
Producer: Katy Lee
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
Twitter | Instagram | hello@europeanspodcast.com

What is Putin up to in Moldova?

There've been a bunch of worrying reports from Moldova in recent weeks, from claims that Russia is fuelling street protests to fears of a coup d'etat. What exactly is going on, and what does Moscow have to do with it? This week we speak to Ivana Stradner, a specialist in Russian information warfare, to try to get to grips with Putin's strategy in the wider region. We're also talking about a teenager who may or may not have set up a non-existent airline, and what makes Swiss chocolate Swiss.
Ivana is a special correspondent at the Kyiv Post and a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. You can follow her on Twitter here.
Read more about the strangest story in German aviation here on One Mile At A Time.
This week's Isolation Inspiration: Tár, 'The Instrumentalist' by Zadie Smith, Aftersun, and Rádio Olisipo.
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 Viral cucumbers
03:13 Bad week: The teenager behind Germany's non-existent airline
09:48 Good week: Protecting Brand Switzerland (aka 'let's talk about Toblerones')
19:10 Interview: Ivana Stradner on Russian information warfare in Moldova and beyond
33:24 Isolation Inspiration: Tár, 'The Instrumentalist' by Zadie Smith, Aftersun, and Rádio Olisipo
38:08 Happy Ending: The opposite of burgling
Producers: Katy Lee and Wojciech Oleksiak
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
Twitter | Instagram | hello@europeanspodcast.com

So Nearly A Eurovision Hit

We're deep into the selection process for the world's most ridiculous music competition, with artists across the continent vying to be chosen as their nation's Eurovision entry. But what happens to the songs that don't actually make it to the contest? This week we've got a joyful interview with Monty Moncrieff, whose podcast Second Cherry gives some love to the nearly-Eurovision hits that still deserve a listen. We're also talking about Elly Schlein, Italy's new leader on the left, and an eyebrow-raising decision by Malta's prison service.
This week's Isolation Inspiration: 'Euphoria' and 'Tattoo' by Loreen; 'The Last Soviet', and bonus entry 'Email to Berlin' by Double Date.
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.
00:23 Continental drama and bird noises
02:36 Good Week: Elly Schlein
12:13 Bad week: Malta's prison service
22:09 Interview: Monty Moncrieff on nearly-Eurovision hits
34:50 Isolation Inspiration: Loreen and 'The Last Soviet'
38:44 Happy Ending: A Roman dildo?
Producers: Katy Lee and Wojciech Oleksiak
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
Twitter | Instagram | hello@europeanspodcast.com

Valeria

An overnight career change. Switching the language you love in. This week, how war transforms your life in ways you’d never expect.
This is the final instalment of our award-winning mini-series This Is What A Generation Sounds Like, a co-production by The Europeans and Are We Europe, made in cooperation with the Allianz Foundation. You can find the other episodes, which take us from Italy to Belarus, here.
Our regular show will be back next week. Thanks as ever to the listeners who support this podcast so that we can keep making it. You can chip in at patreon.com/europeanspodcast.
Thanks for listening.
Producers: Katz Laszlo and Valeria Fokina
Sound design: Katz Laszlo
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Editor: Katy Lee
Editorial support: Wojciech Oleksiak and Dominic Kraemer
You can find Valeria on Instagram here.
Music: The Kiffness x Boombox - Remix of Andrii Horolski singing ‘Oy u luzi chervona kalyna’; коники by Tik Tu; Vesna, Baby and Alambari by DakhaBrakha; Valeria Fokina covering ‘I Will Survive’ by Gloria Gaynor; When It Hits You and The Final Cut from Epidemic Sound. Theme music by Jim Barne. SFX from Freesound.org.
Twitter | Instagram | hello@europeanspodcast.com

Spies, wolves and taxes

There's been a steady drip-drip of revelations for months now that an alarming number of people in Greece have had their phones tapped. Who is behind this mass snooping, and why are they doing it? This week we call up our favourite Greek-splainer Nick Malkoutzis to unravel a complicated scandal. We're also talking about oil and gas companies' bonanza profits, and the wolf that killed Ursula von der Leyen's pony.
Nick is the co-founder and editor of MacroPolis. You can find The Agora, his excellent podcast on Greek politics, here.
This week's Isolation Inspiration: Cunk on Earth and The Making of Modern Ukraine (on Youtube here and on Spotify 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.
00:23 Duolingo fraud
02:22 Bad Week: Ursula and the Wolf
08:03 Good week: Filthy-rich oil and gas giants
18:35 Interview: Nick Malkoutzis on Greece's snooping scandal
30:48 Isolation Inspiration: 'Cunk on Earth' and 'The Making of Modern Ukraine'
34:25 Happy Ending: Hercules rises from the sewer
Producers: Katy Lee and Wojciech Oleksiak
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
Twitter | Instagram | hello@europeanspodcast.com

Germany’s Gonna Germany

Germany’s government has faced international criticism in recent weeks for dithering over whether or not to send tanks to Ukraine. The Leopard 2s are finally on their way — but why is Europe’s richest country so reluctant to look like a military leader? This week we’re diving into the psychology of Germany’s foreign policy with Sophia Besch, Europe fellow at the Carnegie Endowment. We’re also talking about Czechia’s anti-populist new president, and a bitter row over wine labels.
You can follow Sophia on Twitter here and find out more about her work here.
This week’s Isolation Inspiration: Stromae’s Tiny Desk Concert and ‘The Door’ by Magda Szabó.
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.
00:00 Good Week, Fast Week
02:50 Good Week: Bye-bye Babiš
11:08 Bad week: The Great Wine Label Row
22:00 Interview: Sophia Besch on how Germany sees its place in the world
39:27 Isolation Inspiration: Stromae’s Tiny Desk Concert and ‘The Door’ by Magda Szabó
41:33 Happy Ending: Sharks in Liverpool
Producers: Katy Lee and Wojciech Oleksiak
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
Twitter | Instagram | hello@europeanspodcast.com

The dark side of fine dining

When legendary Copenhagen restaurant Noma announced that it's planning to close its doors, its star chef René Redzepi said that producing his kind of elite cuisine had become 'unsustainable'. The restaurant, and others like it, have faced vocal criticism over working practices ranging from exploitative unpaid internships to gruelling 16-hour days. This week we speak to Lisa Lind Dunbar, an industry veteran and critic of Denmark's restaurant working culture, to try to understand how fine dining went so wrong. We're also talking about Polish bison, why Turkey is blocking Sweden's NATO bid, and the Irish president's vision of a blissfully homework-free childhood.
You can follow Lisa on Instagram here. This week's Isolation Inspiration: Paolo Sorrentino's 'Hand of God', and 'Ukraine: Under the Counter', reported by our very own Katz Laszlo for Rough Translation / Radiolab.
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.
00:00 The Europeans, brought to you by ChatGPT
03:49 Good Week: A proposed homework ban in Ireland
10:15 Bad week: Why Turkey is blocking Sweden's NATO bid
20:55 Interview: Lisa Lind Dunbar on Denmark's broken restaurant industry
39:03 Isolation Inspiration: 'The Hand of God' and 'Under the Counter'
42:07 Hooray for Polish bison
Producers: Katy Lee and Wojciech Oleksiak
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
Twitter | Instagram | hello@europeanspodcast.com

Andrea

This week, a story about being incredibly sure you’re right about something, and then realising you weren’t. We’re heading to Cyprus for the latest instalment of our award-winning mini-series This Is What A Generation Sounds Like.
This series is a co-production by The Europeans and Are We Europe, made in cooperation with the Allianz Foundation. You can find the other episodes, which take us from Italy to Belarus, here.
Our regular show will be back next week! Thanks as ever to the listeners who support this podcast so that we can keep making it. You can chip in at patreon.com/europeanspodcast.
Thanks for listening.
Producers: Wojciech Oleksiak and Andrea Solomonides
Scoring, sound design and mixing: Wojciech Oleksiak
Editors: Katz Laszlo, Katy Lee and Dominic Kraemer
Music by Blue Dot Sessions. Theme music by Jim Barne.
With special thanks to Eleni Tzialli and Hilmi Tekoglu.
Twitter | Instagram | hello@europeanspodcast.com

Merry Christmas And A Penis Morning To You

*Content warning: This episode contains some colourful language and a discussion of what happens to letters to Sinterklaas*
It's our final episode of 2022! This week we're getting into the festive spirit with Berlin-based historian Kathrin Schwarz, creator of an entire series of Christmassy European podcasts. We're also talking about Belgium's Sinterklaas postal failure, and why a 1970s Eurovision hit has gone viral in Ukraine.
This episode was recorded live on Zoom in front of an audience of our supporters! Thank you so much to everyone who chips in so that we can keep making The Europeans. You can join us 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.
Kathrin's podcast, available in German, is called 'Have yourself a very European Christmas - Adventskalenderpodcast'. You can find all 24 episodes here on Spotify, as well as on Apple. You can also follow Kathrin on Twitter here or Instagram here, and find her latest work on witches in Brandenberg here.
This week's Isolation Inspiration: @balthazar_theblackmagus and 'Limbic' by Peter Scapello.
04:01 Good Week: Goeiemorgen, morgen
09:56 Bad Week: The great Sinterklaas postal failure
18:03 Kathrin Schwarz on Christmas in the EU
29:13 Isolation Inspiration: @balthazar_theblackmagus and 'Limbic' by Peter Scapello
31:11 Happy Ending: Fighting loneliness at the supermarket checkout
Thanks for listening! We'll be back in January.
Hosts: Dominic Kraemer and Katy Lee
Producers: Katy Lee, Wojciech Oleksiak and Katz Laszlo
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
This podcast is part of the Are We Europe family. You can find more like-minded European podcasts at areweeurope.com/audio-family.
Twitter | Instagram | hello@europeanspodcast.com
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Kathrin's Recipe: Sardine sandwiches with Christmas cognac
Ingredients
200 ml béchamel sauce*
4 slices of toast
50 g grated Gruyère cheese
1 tin of sardines in olive oil (115 g)
1 teaspoon mustard
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon chopped thyme
salt
black pepper
*Melt butter, mix with flour, then steadily milk in at medium temperature
Preparation
Bring the béchamel sauce to boil in a small saucepan over medium heat.
Add the mustard, thyme, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Stir only briefly and remove from the heat. Place 2 slices of toast in a small ovenproof dish.
Spread half of the resulting mixture on the toast slices in a bowl, then arrange the drained sardines and half of the grated cheese on top.
Top with the remaining slices of toast and pour over the remaining béchamel sauce and grated cheese.
Place in the oven preheated to 220 °C and bake for 10-15 minutes until the surface is lightly browned and the cheese melts.
Tip
Before baking, place a lemon slice on each sandwich as a garnish or sprinkle with chives.