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
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
The Dutch Turn Right, Spain Stays Left
11/30/2023
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
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
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
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
In 1994, the world’s first oat milk company was born in Sweden. Three decades later, Oatly is on a high-stakes mission to defeat the dairy industry – by growing into the biggest plant-based brand the world has ever seen. Can a start-up from Malmö save us all through capitalism? This is the first episode in a three-part series, ‘The Oatly Chronicles’. This week we’re asking: just how much damage is our dairy addiction doing to the planet? This series is funded by Journalismfund Europe and the Allianz Foundation. 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 reported, written and produced by Katz Laszlo. 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. Thanks for talking to us: George Monbiot, Thin Lei Win, Elsa Guadarrama, Sonalie Figueiras, Ashley Allen, and Sofia Ehlde. 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 resources: https://interactive.carbonbrief.org/what-is-the-climate-impact-of-eating-meat-and-dairy/ https://drawdown.org/news/insights/the-powerful-role-of-household-actions-in-solving-climate-change https://theoutline.com/post/8384/sweden-milk-war-oatly Twitter | Instagram | hello@europeanspodcast.com
This week, we hear about the controversies surrounding the selection of the EU's climate commissioners, we look into the past, present, and future of the Nagorno Karabakh situation, and enjoy a delightful interview with David Ecker, the person behind the @_DiningCar Twitter/X account, dedicated entirely to the experience of dining while traveling on trains. 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 00:22 A Little Polish Election Update 06:39 Bad Week: Azerbaijan Ducks Peace Talks with Armenia 15:14 Good Week: Hoekstra, the Unexpected New EU Climate Chief 29:16 Interview: David Ecker - Dining on Rail Cars 40:10 Inspiration Station: Mae Martin’s stand-up - ‘SAP’ - on Netflix, Laura Mvula’s song ‘Pink Noise’ (but anything from Laura Mvula really) 42:04 Happy Ending: Barcelona’s BiciBús!
Anyone for fried jellyfish?
10/4/2023
Have you ever been stung by a jellyfish or found yourself unable to take a dip in the ocean because of them? In this week's episode, our guest, Professor Stefano Piraino, will answer the big question: What should we do about the overabundance of jellyfish in European waters? Professor Piraino and Katy Lee take a deep dive into the world of these ancient creatures, uncovering some unexpectedly fascinating quirks about jellyfish, as well as proposing a striking solution to address their burgeoning population. We're also discussing the shady manoeuvres of the Alicante city council regarding trees and Poland's pivotal election, which is less than two weeks away. And finally, stay tuned until the very end of this episode for a special surprise – a baby beaver awaits! 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 00:22 AI-powered podcast translations 04:06 Bad Week: Alicante’s tree falling 12:11 Good Week: Poland’s opposition march 22:52 Interview: Stefano Piraino on why jellyfish is your next favorite snack 36:29 Inspiration Station: A documentary about Sinéad O'Connor - ‘Nothing Compares’ and a new season of “Have You Heard George's Podcast’ 40:52 Happy Ending: Baby beaver born in London!
Politically Charged Post
9/27/2023
Our producer Wojciech has a theory that Central and Eastern Europe, in their broadest sense, share a common trait - they do not tolerate emptiness. Any deficit or shortage is promptly filled by individuals who have come to realize that they cannot always depend on their states to provide essential services. This is precisely the theme of our interview this week, with Ilir Gashi, who shares his story of getting involved in an unofficial courier system between Kosovo and Serbia when the state postal office ceased its deliveries. Against the backdrop of recent tensions between these countries flaring up once again, it provides a poignant glimpse into the daily life on the border of these nations. We're also talking about Greece’s new left-ish leader Stefanos Kasselakis (and his good-looking dog) and Spain's dealings with its gruesome past under the infamous General Franco. This is our first episode of the autumn season and we’ll stay with you until the end of the year! There’s lots to come with some very exciting special episodes coming up! 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 read Ilir’s piece here in In The Guardian, we heartily recommend you do! Hosts: Dominic Kraemer and Katz Laszlo Producers: Katy Lee and Wojciech Oleksiak Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina Twitter | Instagram | hello@europeanspodcast.com