Trains!
4/8/2021
All aboard! We love trains here at The Europeans, but your ability to get around the continent by rail depends a lot on where you live. This week we're chatting to Italian data journalist Lorenzo Ferrari about why Vienna has a ton of international train connections and Albania has... zero. We're also talking about Kosovo's super-popular new female president, the Netherlands' less-popular PM, and a Swiss underwear controversy. You can check out Lorenzo's investigation into the state of international rail in Europe here. This week's Isolation Inspiration: Are We Europe's new magazine and West Cork. 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 euros / dollars / pounds a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast. Producer: Katz Laszlo Assistant producers: Andrei Popoviciu and Priyanka Shankar Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com
The power of Romanian teenagers
4/1/2021
This week, the young Romanian activist who has the patriarchy shaking in its boots. Sofia Scarlat founded Romania's first ever gender equality organisation for teenagers; in a country where the very idea of sex education has come under fierce debate, Girl Up Romania's Instagram account has become a vital source of information for young women. We chat to Sofia about her hopes for a gender equality revolution; we're also talking about the cultural appropriation of Portuguese sweaters, Roman traffic cops, and why it's illegal to call the Polish president a moron. You can check out Sofia's excellent TED Talk here, and read Politico Europe's round-up of where it's illegal to insult the head of state here. This week's Isolation Inspiration: 'Rembrandt in the Blood' from The Daily, and French TikTok accounts Lulucaskip, Maitresse Adeline and Loïc Suberville. 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 euros / dollars / pounds a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast. Producer: Katz Laszlo Assistant producers: Andrei Popoviciu and Priyanka Shankar Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com
The Great Reverse Migration
3/25/2021
For decades, Eastern Europe has suffered a massive brain drain of people heading abroad in search of opportunity. But something remarkable happened during the pandemic: huge numbers started coming back. Can they be convinced to stay? This week we speak to urban researcher Ognyan Georgiev about his fascinating work tracking Bulgaria's returnees — and we get his predictions for which European cities are going to be the coolest in 20 years time. We're also talking about sexism in German football, Iceland's spectacular volcano eruption, and why Finland has yet again been named the world's happiest country. This week's Isolation Inspiration: Oscar-nominated Romanian film Collective; My Family And Other Animals; and the fabulous music of our Patreon supporter (and newest jingle composer) Mariska Martina: instagram.com/mariskamartina 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 euros / dollars / pounds a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast. Producer: Katz Laszlo Assistant producers: Andrei Popoviciu and Priyanka Shankar Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Headscarves & Eurovision
3/18/2021
Pretty much everyone has their face covered in public these days, and yet Switzerland is set to become the latest European country to ban (non-Covid) face coverings in public — including Muslim garments like the niqab and burqa. Given that barely any Swiss women wear these, what exactly is going on here? This week we speak to Inès El-Shikh of the Foulards Violets feminist group about what this referendum campaign has felt like for Muslim women. Also this week: Eurovision! We've been scrutinising the rather threatening lyrics of the Belarusian band kicked out for being too political. Plus, an ancient Roman coffee table and France's reckoning with the past. This week's Isolation Inspiration: White Rabbit Red Rabbit; And Then We Danced; and Are We Europe's delightful recipe cards, a perk of their awesome membership programme. 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 euros / dollars / pounds a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast. Producer: Katz Laszlo Assistant producers: Priyanka Shankar and Andrei Popoviciu Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Poland’s abortion fight
3/11/2021
To mark International Women's Day this week, we speak to one of this continent's most courageous activists: Marta Lempart of the Women's Strike, the movement that that has organised massive street protests in recent months against Poland's incredibly restrictive abortion laws. We're also talking about Berlin's gender-neutral acting prize, Fidesz, and the power of oranges. This week's Isolation Inspiration: "It's A Sin", "African Europeans: An Untold History" and El País' long-read about José Epita Mbombo. 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 euros / dollars / pounds a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast. Producer: Katz Laszlo Assistant producers: Andrei Popoviciu and Priyanka Shankar Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com
A polyphonic episode
2/24/2021
We've got a musical episode for you this week: a Catalan rapper jailed for controversial lyrics and tweets, an ancient French instrument, and some vintage Dutch pop. Plus the historian Timothy Garton Ash is here to explain why he thinks we need a more "polyphonic" Europe. Timothy and his team at University of Oxford want to hear your stories! Take part in their Europe's Stories project here. This week's Isolation Inspiration: Capitani on Netflix, Mangrove on Amazon Prime / the BBC, "Ding-a-Dong" by Teach-In. Thanks for listening! If you like our podcast and want to help us keep making it, we'd be hugely grateful if you'd consider chipping in a few euros / dollars / pounds a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast. Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Decolonising Kitchens
2/17/2021
A lot of this continent's favourite food comes originally from its former colonies — often with tweaks to suit European tastes. This week we talk to the superstar chef Asma Khan about food that has crossed borders, as well as her bid to banish macho culture from the restaurant industry. We're also talking about Super Mario, Greece's student protests, and an extremely old nun. Thanks for listening! If you like our show and would like to help us keep making it, we'd be hugely grateful if you'd consider chipping in a few euros/dollars/pounds a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast. Producer: Katz Laszlo Assistant producers: Andrei Popoviciu and Priyanka Shankar Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Why has a book about eels become a smash-hit in Sweden and beyond? This week we talk to Patrik Svensson, author of The Gospel of the Eels, about these strange and wonderful creatures and their epic annual migration from Europe to the Sargasso Sea. We're also talking about the Balkans' #MeToo uprising, Germany's mass coming-out, and the world's greatest Zoom meeting. Isolation Inspiration: Italian Netflix comedy Rose Island (L'incredibile storia dell'Isola delle Rose), and live dance performance Our House Is On Fire, amplifying the words of Greta Thunberg, on Thursday February 11. Thanks for listening! If you like our podcast and would like to help us keep making it, you can chip in a few euros/dollars/pounds at patreon.com/europeanspodcast.com. We're hugely grateful for your support! Producer: Katz Laszlo Assistant producer: Andrei Popoviciu Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Taming Big Tech
2/3/2021
Europe has big plans to regulate the giant internet companies that shape our lives. But just how much will they force the likes of Google and Facebook to behave? This week we ring up Andrii Degeler, host of the Tech.eu podcast, to explain the whole thing without putting us to sleep. We're also talking about the French village with an astonishing history of helping the persecuted; bingeing on movies on a lonely Swedish island; and why the EU's design might make it harder to fight poverty. Listen to the Tech.eu podcast here (https://podcast.tech.eu/) and find out more about how Le Chambon-sur-Lignon helped Jewish refugees during the Holocaust here (https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/le-chambon-sur-lignon). This week's Isolation Inspiration: Orff-Schulwerk: Gassenhauer (https://open.spotify.com/track/1sbtYPTZ2TW5T54JZaIshg?si=-bSHVY3nSNyn98LtKt3O4Q) from Klassix for Kidz (!) and Danish Netflix comedy Rita. If you enjoy our podcast and want to help us keep making it, we'd be hugely grateful if you could chip in a few euros, dollars or pounds a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast. You can also support our friends at the beautiful magazine Are We Europe, who have just launched a new membership drive. Find out more: https://2021.areweeurope.com Thanks for listening! Producer: Katz Laszlo Assistant producers: Priyanka Shankar and Andrei Popoviciu Twitter @europeanspod | Instagram @europeanspodcast | Facebook The Europeans Podcast | hello@europeanspodcast.com
The Shell Case
1/27/2021
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 Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com