Germany's elections: should we freak out or not?

Germany just staged one of Europe's most crucial elections this year. The results are simultaneously shocking and not-shocking: shocking because the far-right made huge gains; not shocking because they are likely to deliver a coalition between the country's two legacy mainstream parties. So, to what extent should we be freaking out right now? In this election special, we ring up Germanysplainer extraordinaire Tarik Abou-Chadi to unpack that question. Plus, we speak to the writer and activist Emilia Roig about what it feels like to be a long-term immigrant in Germany right now — and how to think about the fightback. 

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Tarik is a professor of European politics at the University of Oxford. You can follow him on Bluesky here.

You can find out more about Emilia's work here and follow her on Instagram here.

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Producer

Morgan Childs and Wojciech Oleksiak

Mixing and mastering

Wojciech Oleksiak

Music

Jim Barne and Mariska Martina

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