The Europeans

We couldn't have two more different interviews for you this week: we're talking anti-Semitism in Germany and the art of remaining zen on a beach in Scotland. After two German rappers sparked national outrage with lyrics about the Holocaust, Human Rights Watch Germany's chief Wenzel Michalski is on the line to talk about his all too personal experience of Europe's rising anti-Semitism problem. Why throw stones when you can turn them into art instead? Scottish photographer Andy Buchanan brings us the weird, wonderful and unexpectedly hilarious story of the European Stone Stacking Championships. His beautiful photos in the Guardian: https://bit.ly/2KkCY3b Plus, Macron Does America and Bulgaria Does It Wrong (https://bit.ly/2qMCTgH). And why not stick around and Take A Chance On Dominic's happy ending this week? Thanks for listening, Europe! Twitter: @europeanspod | Instagram: @europeanspodcast | facebook.com/europeanspodcast The story behind our artwork: https://bit.ly/2HDXycZ

A treasure-themed episode for you this week: the natural treasures of Poland's ancient Białowieża forest, hidden treasures in rural France, and buried treasure on a German island. Dominic's been chatting to Agata Szafraniuk of environmental lawyers ClientEarth about their battle with the Polish government to protect Białowieża, one of the few remaining patches of the primeval forest that covered Europe 10,000 years ago. Also heading into the countryside are Parisian podcaster Oliver Gee of The Earful Tower fame and his fiancee Lina Nordin, on a quest to discover the real France through a heart-shaped (awwwwww) tour of the country. Plus: Strict Belgian gyms, 10th century bling and a bitcoin heist. We're being listed by Apple as a 'new and noteworthy' podcast for the next few weeks, woohoo! Help us make the most of it by leaving us a rating and/or review here: https://apple.co/2HPcgkK Thanks so much for listening!

Gather round, children, it's story time. This week in The Europeans, the dark tale of how Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán became one of the most powerful men in Europe, to the great disquiet of his western neighbours. Zselyke Csaky, expert on all things Central European, is on the line to explain why campaigning against immigrants, Muslims and billionaire George Soros has paid off so well for this worryingly autocratic leader. To cheer you up, Mick ter Reehorst of storytelling project Are We Europe has a happier tale to tell. He cracks open a couple of beers with Dominic as he sets out his mission to Make Europe Sexy Again with a beautifully-designed website and and magazine. Plus: murders, pizzas, and musical road surfaces. Thanks for listening! Get your Europeans fix in between Tuesdays: twitter.com/europeanspod facebook.com/europeanspodcast instagram.com/europeanspodcast

Bonjour Europe, we're all joining Katy in Paris this week to talk about some of the less rosy aspects of la belle France. Our guest this week is the French writer and film-maker Rokhaya Diallo, who has all too often found herself on the receiving end of troubling attitudes towards race in the country she calls home. And with train drivers unleashing three months of rail strikes and students barricading faculty buildings, is Emmanuel Macron heading for a summer of discontent? Plus: Dutch sugar highs, problematic theatre, Swedish beats and buried treasure. Join us on the internet where we post fun and interesting things from around Europe! facebook.com/europeanspodcast | twitter.com/EuropeansPod | instagram.com/europeanspodcast And if you're feeling extra generous, maybe drop us five stars on iTunes?

"Ever wonder where plastic ends up? I have a story I'd like to share." This week on The Europeans, the Irish journalist Naomi O'Leary describes what happened when she visited a remote paradise island in the Caribbean, only to find the entire Western world had got there first: plastic, plastic and yet more plastic. We talk about what Naomi found and what Europe can do to stop it. And we quizzed her about her podcast The Irish Passport too! In Zagreb, Daniel Martinović is on the line to discuss the success of Dugine Obitelji (Rainbow Families), Croatia's first children's picture book showing kids with LGBT parents. Plus: the Netherlands keeps its gas underground; a London embassy keeps Julian Assange off the net; and a tale of redemption for an amateur sculptor in Madeira. Thanks for listening! Let us know what you thought of this week's show: --> facebook.com/europeanspodcast | Twitter: @EuropeansPod | Insta: @europeanspodcast | Email: europeanspodcast@gmail.com

First up, fantastic news: The Europeans Podcast has been nominated for a prize! Hit play to find out all about it, we are over the moon. What a delicious episode we have for you this week. Michelin-starred chef Christian Puglisi is on the line from Copenhagen to talk about how his heritage has helped him shape cuisine that defies the rules. Born to a Norwegian mother and a Sicilian father, Christian's ideas about where he comes from have changed with time, as have his ideas about food. We hear all about how his hit restaurant Baest has blurred the lines of what makes an 'authentic' pizza by going for freshness first — to the point of making Danish mozzarella — and his ongoing battle to make his restaurants as green as possible. Plus: how the French learned to love burgers; how the world learned to hate Cambridge Analytica; and a German footballer with a huge heart (and lucky blood). europeanspodcast.com | facebook.com/europeanspodcast | @EuropeansPod | Instagram: @europeanspodcast

Katy makes no secret of the fact that she records this podcast in her pyjamas, but she may need to up her game after this week's interview with Vogue's legendary international editor, Suzy Menkes, about the European fashion scene and the death of iconic French designer Hubert de Givenchy. In other news, Dominic comes clean about his traumatic experience as a 12-year-old child star in Siberia and gets mixed up (like everyone else this week) between Slovenia and Slovakia. Plus: happy Finns, clowns, and a PR coup for some beer-brewing Belgian monks. Thanks for listening! If one weekly Europe fix isn't enough, check out our Facebook page where we post all kinds of interesting links from around the continent: https://www.facebook.com/europeanspodcast/ See you next week when we'll have our first-ever Michelin-starred chef on the show! Twitter: @EuropeansPod Instagram: @europeanspodcast

This week we're imagining a better future for baby Europeans and also what might happen after the nuclear apocalypse. Jennifer Pettersson is Swedish radio maker who's been based in Amsterdam for the last 20 years. She's always loved living in the city — until it came to putting her kids in school there. Dutch kids are famously supposed to be the happiest in the world, but is it really true? Since we're planning for the future we might as look all the way ahead to Doomsday. Katy's been chatting to Asmund Asdal, the coordinator of Norway's Global Seed Vault, which keeps back-ups of the world's grains and seeds for use in case of disaster. Also: good news for young Europeans with wanderlust, bad news for clocks, and some mile-high poetry. Thanks for listening! If you've got a few minutes to spare, we'd love it if you could help us spread the word by leaving us a review on iTunes: https://apple.co/2FtsBva europeanspodcast.com | Twitter: @EuropeansPod | Insta: @europeanspodcast

Hello Europe! Your favourite continental podcast is back with everything from salted snails to middle-fingered salutes on the menu. Dominic's been walking on thin ice and Katy's been cocooning; there's good news for Angela Merkel and bad news for press freedom in Slovakia. Eckard Helmers is on the line from Germany to explain why Europe fell in love with diesel cars even though they're poisoning our air. And we're talking English — literally — with Marko Modiano, a linguistics expert in Gävle, Sweden, about how the language is taking on a life of its own in Europe. Don't forget to review, rate and subscribe!

Our first ever bonus episode! We enjoyed our conversation in this week's show with Alexandra Pascalidou so much that we're sharing the whole thing with you. Raised by Greek parents in a working-class Stockholm suburb, Alexandra went on to become a prominent journalist in Sweden. But along with the job came the threats: years and years of horrific threats from neo-Nazis who didn't like the way she stood up for multi-culturalism. Last year, something unexpected happened: a former neo-Nazi got in touch to confess he had tormented her for years, and to say he was sorry. And Alexandra did something even more unexpected: she decided to meet up with her former tormentor for coffee. Katy and Dominic rang Alexandra in Stockholm to discuss her remarkable decision to forgive Martin, and why Sweden needs to take its neo-Nazi threat much more seriously. But along the way they also talk about national identity, the Eurovision song contest, and what it means to be European.

Who's afraid of the big bad wolf? Not Alexandra Pascalidou. The Greek-Swedish journalist did something that would scare many of us: after years of threats from neo-Nazis, she invited one of them for a cup of coffee. Alexandra gives us a masterclass in forgiveness — and stay tuned later in the week for a bonus episode featuring her full conversation with The Europeans. But first, actual wolves. After Belgium saw its first in a century, we're taking a look at how different countries across the continent are dealing with 20,000 of the proud predators — and our guest Max Rossberg of the European Wilderness Society argues we need a total rethink. Plus: the monster of Brussels, a monstrous week for Britain's Jeremy Corbyn, and some less monstrous news to cheer us up at the end. Thanks for listening, and don't forget to leave us a review on iTunes if you enjoyed the show! Twitter: @EuropeansPod europeanspodcast.com europeanspodcast@gmail.com

We've got two birthdays to celebrate this week. Independent Kosovo is officially 10, and your host Dominic Kraemer is officially old. Congrats to both! As Kosovo marks 10 years since declaring independence from Serbia, we give our man in the Balkans Andrew MacDowall a call to explain the challenges that lie ahead for Europe's youngest country. Meanwhile, Katy's been huddling under a duvet in Paris with a cold this week -- a great excuse to obsess over the Winter Olympics, not least that amazing Scottish invention, curling. Team Finland's Oona Kauste is on the line all the way from South Korea with a staunch defence of the sport against allegations that it 'looks weird', and how she manages to juggle the Olympics with her career as a hairdresser and make-up artist. Plus: out and proud LGBT Olympians, happy news for German commuters, and political truth, Dutch-style. Oh, and a mysterious Finnish tongue-twister. Anyone that solves the mystery gets a gold medal of their very own. We're

Hello from Paris and Amsterdam! Since we’ve seen a huge rise in listeners this week (welcome!) we’re in a giving mood, so we’re talking about organ donation. As countries across Europe weigh up how to save the most lives, transplant ethicist Greg Moorlock is on the line from Birmingham, England to discuss why Spain sees so many more donations than Germany and whether or not the Netherlands should make giving up our kidneys an ‘opt-out’ affair. And Ania Jakubek in Warsaw is back to explain what’s going on with Poland’s new Holocaust law. Plus: a good (ish) week for Angela Merkel, and a bad one for French fashion designer Christian Louboutin and his famous red-soled shoes. Thanks so much for the lovely reviews you’ve been writing — it’s not too late to add another to help people find the podcast across Europe and beyond! https://t.co/2qmA739cYh Check out our website: https://europeanspodcast.com/ Follow us on Twitter: @EuropeansPod

This week on The Europeans, two interviews about building things from scratch. We speak to in-house IKEA designer Sarah Fager in Älmhult, Sweden, about the philosophy that drove the company’s late founder Ingvar Kamprad to take over the world with his flatpack furniture. And in Milan, Andrea Venzon is on the line to give us the lowdown on the new pan-European political movement he’s just set up, Volt. Plus: gassed monkeys, dabblings in erotica by Jean-Claude Juncker, and a whole lot of oranges. Dominic and Katy are delighted that The Europeans has been listed by the British Podcast Awards in their Podwatch newsletter as one of the top five podcasts that will change your perspective! Join the 40,000 people signed up to their email updates here. In the meantime, a special thanks for helping to spread the word about the podcast. We'd love it if you could leave us a review on iTunes so we can get it plugged into every ear in Europe: https://t.co/M6OuFyn7kk. For more info, v

A war between France and the Netherlands over fish (trawling), a beginner’s guide to waltzing in Vienna (balling), and a tragic ski accident (falling). The Europeans comes to you from Amsterdam and Paris as always, but Katy and Dominic have both been in Austria this week and are taking a little inspiration from their (mis)adventures to delve into the traditions of the Viennese ball season. We’ve got devoted local fan Matthias Brandstetter on the line to run us through the do’s and dont’s of taking your first spin on the Viennese dance floor. But first, to the sea! We speak to Pavel Klinckhamers from Greenpeace Netherlands about the controversial fishing technique that may have landed the hake on your plate and has French fishermen furious with their Dutch competitors. Enjoying the show? We’d love it if you could leave us a review to help more listeners find us around Europe and beyond: ‪https://t.co/M6OuFyn7kk | ‬Twitter: @EuropeansPod | Insta: @