Enough politics: we’ve got a nature-themed episode for you this week. Producer Katz Laszlo joins Katy to explain how Austria’s environment minister went rogue to save the EU’s hugely important nature restoration law; we’re also talking about the German town that just voted to kill all its pigeons. And in the human world: the podcast that brings Scandinavians together in their own languages. Hilde Sandvik takes us behind the scenes of ‘Norsken, svensken og dansken’, a show described as family therapy for neighbouring nations. 

The far-right surged but the centre held; somehow the two are true at once. Nearly 100 members of the new European Parliament have yet to tell us which political family they’ll be joining. And as for who’s actually going to be running the EU’s institutions for the next five years – right now, it’s anyone’s guess. How can we make sense of these European elections? Alberto Alemmano joins us to help decipher a momentous, and very confusing, moment in Europe’s democracy.

We all know this continent has major issues with social mobility. But having a rich ancestor from *six centuries ago* shouldn't make it more likely that you're rich today... should it? This week we speak to Guglielmo Barone, one of the economists behind some fascinating research into this question in Florence. We're also talking about Ursula von der Leyen's 'jobs for the boys' scandal and the road to a shared European cycling policy.

This week, music and politics collide. We're talking about Greece's plan to enforce quotas for Greek-language lyrics on the radio, and the racist backlash against Aya Nakamura's rumoured booking for the Paris Olympics. Plus, a great interview with Politico's senior climate reporter Zia Weise about the EU's once-trumpeted nature restoration law. Can the EU still claim to be a world leader when it comes to going green?

Poland's rightwing populists are finally out of power. But what happens now? This week, our producer Wojciech Oleksiak and Warsaw-based journalist Claudia Ciobanu join us to explain why restoring Polish democracy is easier said than done. We're also talking about Finland's elections and the EU's much-criticised migration plan.

Last weekend, Parisians voted to triple parking fees for SUVs in a bid to remove some of the city's more polluting vehicles. It's just one of many policy ideas that are being tested out in European cities to clean up the air we breathe — but how bad is the problem really, and can we really fix it? This week we ring up Oliver Lord from the Clean Cities Campaign to find out. We're also talking about the exhausting antics of Viktor Orbán and some juicy Italian art theft allegations.

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.

Once upon a time, European powers drew up borders in Africa as part of their colonisation of the continent. These days the EU is increasingly interested in those borders again — including the idea of placing its own agents there to stop migrants heading towards Europe. This week we hear from investigative journalist Andrei Popoviciu about how EU funds are being used to police West African borders, often with a disturbing lack of scrutiny. We're also talking about Italy's #10secondi outrage, France's plan to subsidise clothing repairs, and artistic revenge in the 16th century.

How much sway do giant interest groups have over the way our food gets grown? This week we're delving into the murky world of farm lobbying with Thin Lei Win, one of the reporters behind a fascinating investigation into the highly influential Copa-Cogeca group. We're also talking about the mass FOMO outbreak resulting from Threads' absence from the EU and what the hell is going on with Europe's electricity prices right now.

It's easy to feel doomed when it comes to climate change. In her latest book, the Italian political scientist Nathalie Tocci makes the case for cautious optimism about Europe's climate and energy policies. We chat to her this week about the opportunities and challenges of the European Green Deal, as well as how to interpret the death last week of Silvio Berlusconi. We're also talking about a push to ban unpaid internships across the EU, and whether or not we should be blaming Beyoncé for stubbornly high inflation in Sweden.

Last week, dozens of NATO peacekeepers were injured after violent protests broke out in northern Kosovo. What is going on, and why do Kosovo's problems seem so hard to fix? This week we dig into the deeper context behind the unrest with political analyst Agon Maliqi. We're also talking about why much of Europe is antsy about who's going to be steering the EU next year, and a bizarre dispute in the art world.

This week is a bonanza for fans of Europe's two favourite competitions: the Champions League football tournament and the Eurovision Song Contest. Both are held up as events that bring Europeans together, but which one does the job better? This week we aim to settle the debate once and for all with a face-off between sports commentator Barbara Barend and Eurovision historian Dean Vuletic. We're also talking about a €300-million EU pension black hole and France's first rap awards.

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 week we travel to the heart of the continent to ask: who is Ursula, and should you give a damn about her?

Katy's never voted in a European election before. This week she tries to make amends by figuring out, finally, what the European parliament is and what MEPs actually do.