The Europeans

Last July, a group of fishermen near the coast of Norway were surprised to see a submarine burst out of the water in front of them. A terrible disaster had struck the Losharik, a highly advanced Russian vessel that had been lurking on the seafloor. But what happened? And what was the submarine doing so close to European shores? This mystery has fascinated the Norwegian journalist Thomas Nilsen, one of the authors of a New York Times investigation into the Losharik disaster. We talked to him about why Russia is so interested in what lies beneath these waters. Spoiler alert: your internet connection depends on it. Also this week: Finland's basic income experiment, a setback for German homophobes, and graffiti for the green-fingered. Thomas is the editor of the Barents Observer. Read his New York Times investigation: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/20/world/europe/russian-submarine-fire-losharik.html We're hosting an Online Pub Quiz for our Patreon supporters this week! To join the fun, you can sign up to support us here: https://www.patreon.com/europeanspodcast Isolation Inspiration: Trying: https://youtu.be/nGA_6WTD3vM Under Milk Wood: https://youtu.be/WJtzOD3KbLM Thanks for listening! Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com

This week we've got a cultural bonanza for you. We're talking about Poland's Netflix tax and the new drive-in cinema in Vilnius, as well as all the TV and online concerts we've been bingeing on. Plus, a great interview with the French screenwriter Noé Debré about Parlement, the European satire we've been waiting for. Thanks to all the generous supporters who are helping us keep this podcast running right now. If you have a few dollars to spare a month, you can chip in at patreon.com/europeanspodcast. Watch Parlement here: https://www.france.tv/series-et-fictions/series-comedies/parlement Hope@Home: https://www.arte.tv/en/videos/RC-019356/hope-home Floyd on France: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=floyd+on+france Fleabag Live: https://www.sohotheatreondemand.com/show/FleabagFourPound Thanks for listening. Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com

This week we bring you: coal, chess, and the circular economy. We speak to Esther Goodwin-Brown of Circle Economy about the economic model that's getting environmentalists all hot and bothered. We're also talking about why Europe's fallen out of love with the black stuff and why chess is getting a revamp. Plus, metal detectors — because what would this podcast be without metal detectors? Thanks for listening! If you like our show, you can help us keep it running by chipping in a couple of dollars a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast. Isolation Inspiration: Frankenstein at the National Theatre https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/shows/nt-at-home-frankenstein Wordsworth 250 https://wordsworth250.org Parlement https://www.france.tv/series-et-fictions/series-comedies/parlement That climate litigation thing that Katy forgot about: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/24/dutch-officials-reveal-measures-to-cut-emissions-after-court-ruling Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com 

The superstar illustrator Christoph Niemann is on a mission to better understand Europe. 'In Praise of a Normal, Boring Country', the latest installment of his New York Times visual essay series, took him to Estonia. We rang him up in Berlin to talk about his trip and a bunch of other stuff.  Also this week: Dominic gets to grips with debt mutualisation, and Katy gets to grips with mittens. Thanks for listening! If you like our show, you can help us keep making it at Patreon: https://patreon.com/europeanspodcast Read Christoph's lovely visual essay about Estonia here: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/03/25/magazine/dispatches-estonia.html Isolation Inspiration: Sunday Sketching by Christoph Niemann | Unorthodox on Netflix Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com

There's a bunch of interesting stuff happening in Poland right now, so we rang up our favourite Polish journalist Ania Jakubek to untangle it for us. Also this week: blue tits, volcanoes, mutant enzymes and an Easter panda. Thanks for listening. If you like our show, you can help us keep making it at https://www.patreon.com/europeanspodcast. Isolation Inspiration: Ania's drawings: https://www.instagram.com/amjakubek Making An Opera: https://www.nporadio4.nl/podcasts/making-an-opera Are We Europe magazine: https://www.areweeurope.com/ Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com

The Irish writer Mark O'Connell spent three years meeting people who are preparing for the end of the world. At a time when a lot of us have been gripped by a general sense of doom, we had a weirdly reassuring chat about the apocalypse. Also this week: big developments in Central Europe, bouncy pavements, and a celebration of the theremin. Mark's book, Notes from an Apocalypse, is out on April 14. This week's Isolation Inspiration: Cross-border romance (http://tiny.cc/jo5nmz listen from 24:50), Field Recordings (https://fieldrecordings.xyz/) and live jazz from Mariska Martina (http://tiny.cc/xr5nmz). Thanks for listening! If you like the show and have a few euros to spare, you can help us keep making it at patreon.com/europeanspodcast. Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com

In this time of crisis, many, many people are watching marbles roll down miniature race tracks. We talk to Dion Bakker, one of the Dutch brothers behind the hit marble-racing YouTube channel that's filling the void left by cancelled sports events. We also catch up with atmospheric physicist Meganne Christian, who spent a year in Antarctica, to hear her tips on surviving isolation. Also this week: Viktor Orbán's terrifying power grab, and trees, lots of trees. Like the show? If you have a couple of spare dollars to spare each month, you can help us keep making it at patreon.com/europeanspodcast. Thanks for listening! Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com

Calming things are much needed this week, so we're talking about lakes and we're talking about dogs. Our guest is the poet and author Kapka Kassabova, whose latest book To The Lake is a beautiful account of life on the borders of Greece, Albania and North Macedonia. We're also celebrating cleaner skies, human-canine relationships, and putting booze to good use. Thanks to the amazing people who support this podcast on Patreon, especially in these uncertain times. If you have a couple of dollars to spare each month, you can chip in at patreon.com/europeanspodcast. Watch Dominic's latest opera here! Thanks for listening. Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com

The show goes on. This week, aside from bringing you some positivity from around the continent, we're talking to someone who turned something terrible into something empowering. Emma Holten was 20 years old when nude photos of her were leaked onto the internet without her consent. We gave her a call in Copenhagen to hear about her inspiring fightback. Also this week: good dogs and good decisions in Spain and Greece. You can follow Emma on Instagram here and Twitter here. Thank you to the generous supporters who keep this show going! You can pledge just $2 a month or more at patreon.com/europeanspodcast. Thanks for listening. Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com

This week, the distances travelled in search of love and safety. The Finnish novelist and playwright Saara Turunen has written beautifully about what it's like to navigate a relationship between Helsinki and Barcelona. We chat to her about European culture clashes and what feminism looks like in the two countries she lives between. Plus, Europe's failed refugee policy, magical taps, and ill-chosen words by a billionaire populist (no, not that one). Saara's piece appears in Europa28, a collection of writing by European women which comes out on March 12. Read the New York Times investigation on how oligarchs milk EU farming subsidies here. Fancy seeing Lysistrata in Dortmund on March 23 or Greentea Peng in Lisbon on April 23? We have free tickets! Tag us in a post alongside @liveurope for your chance to win. Thanks for listening. If you like the show and have a couple of spare dollars a month, you can help keep us running at patreon.com/europeanspodcast. Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com

You might not think of the corridors of Brussels as a particularly spiritual place, but all kinds of religious groups are jostling for influence there. This week we delve into the world of religious lobbying with the French journalist Quentin Ariès. Also this week: a secret passage, winds of change in Slovakia, and the power of the Paris agreement. You can read Quentin's article on religious lobbying in the latest issue of Are We Europe magazine. Listeners to this podcast get 25% off with the code EUROPEANSPOD. Watch Iceland's amazing Eurovision entry here and help support this podcast at patreon.com/europeanspodcast. Thanks for listening. Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com

In 2015, the 'migrant crisis' was the front page story of every newspaper in Europe. Today more than 42,000 people are still stranded on the Greek islands, in shameful conditions — and yet we barely talk about it. Migration researcher Apostolis Fotadis joins us from Athens to explain why Greece's refugee policy has become such a disaster. Also this week: big changes in Portugal, criminally-bad (?) singing in Croatia, and a Finnish mystery. Thanks for listening. You can support the podcast on Patreon here: https://patreon.com/europeanspodcast Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | hello@europeanspodcast.com 

This week, a tale of two continents. Katy speaks to the Kenyan writer Patrick Gathara about Eurafrica, an idea that informed the European project after World War II but is now largely forgotten. Sixty years after a wave of African countries won their independence in 1960, we're also talking about why decolonisation is an ongoing process. Also this week: jilted Balkan lovers, mixed meat messages, and a lost summer soundtrack. Read Patrick's piece about Eurafrica for Al Jazeera: https://bit.ly/2HE5s88 Take part in our survey and help us make the podcast better: https://iter.ly/w9d8i Enter our competition for free Charlotte dos Santos tickets: http://tiny.cc/n3p7jz  Thanks for listening. Patreon | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com

Something huge just happened in Irish politics, but as outsiders it's difficult to understand what exactly. Naomi O'Leary from the excellent podcast The Irish Passport is here to untangle everything for us. Also this week: coronavirus racism, a step forward for LGBTQ+ rights in Switzerland, and what happens when a celeb does the 'double-clicky-likey-thing' on one of your social media posts. We're doing a survey to work out how to make the podcast better! If you've got 5 minutes to spare, we'd love to hear your thoughts. You can take part here. We also have a competition this week, courtesy of our friends at our favourite European concert venue chain Liveurope! We have three pairs of free tickets to see the brilliant Charlotte Dos Santos in Copenhagen, Brussels and London in March. For a chance to get their hands on them, tag us in a tweet or Instagram post letting the world know you listen to The Europeans! Thanks for listening. Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Patreon | hello@europeanspodcast.com

We've been wondering how on earth the European Union makes laws for 27 countries at once. Producer Katz Laszlo went to the beach to find out. This is the last episode in our mini-series Bursting the Bubble, explaining how the EU works in the least boring way possible. Huge thanks to the European Cultural Foundation for funding this series. They support projects that promote Europe as an open and democratic space. Thank you also to the amazing Patreon supporters who keep this show running, and to The Europeans' tote bag designer and beach trash collector Rosa ter Kuile. Written and produced by Katz Laszlo, with help from Katy Lee and Dominic Kraemer. Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Patreon | hello@europeanspodcast.com