Nepo great-great-great-grand-babies
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.
Toxic air and toxic politicians
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.
Why is it so hard to fix Kosovo's problems?
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.
The naughty child of NATO?
We've been glued to the Turkish elections over the past week. But what does Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's victory in the first round mean for the country, and for Europe as a whole? This week we ring up political scientist Ahmet Erdi Öztürk to find out. We're also talking about a big boost in Germany's support for Ukraine, a fake tan controversy, and the teeny tiny bridge behind the Mona Lisa.
Normal and Boring
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.
Bananadrama
This week, a celebration of the quintessential Renaissance man: yes, it's opera singer Dominic Kraemer with an interview about CHEMICAL ELEMENTS. We're also marking the 500th deathday of some guy called Leonardo who was similarly talented in both the arts and sciences.
In Poland, the art world has gone bananas; in Spain, there's life in socialism yet; and British chemist and YouTube sensation Martyn Poliakoff is here to explain why he wants to turn the periodic table upside down, literally.
Happy Birthday Bauhaus!
This week, European cultural greats past and present. We discuss the good, the bad and the Bauhaus with the American painter Henry Isaacs, who grew up surrounded by many of the key figures from the legendary German art school that marked its 100th birthday this month. And Katy chats to Kurt Overbergh, artistic director of the Ancienne Belgiquemusic venue, about new sounds, immigration and the return of Turkish psychedelia.
MEGALITHS!!!!
After the week it's been, we could all do with a break from the present. This week, we're venturing into Europe past -- about six thousand years ago, to a time when mysterious stone structures were springing up all around the continent. Today we call them megaliths, and there's a lot we still don't know about them. But one woman has been on a quest to work out how these extraordinary monuments spread around Europe. Archaeologist Bettina Schulz Paulsson is on the line from Gothenburg to talk about how early Europeans were exchanging knowledge and culture a good few millennia before the EU was invented. Also: a reverse art heist, a blow for the anti-vaxxers , and how to say no to big business.
The brands that Karl built
This week, the kid from Hamburg who grew up to become one of the most powerful forces in global fashion. Karl Lagerfeld built not one but three hugely successful brands. After his death last week at the age of 85, we're exploring the flaws, quirks and legacy of this complicated man with the help of Fiachra Gibbons, culture editor at Agence France-Presse and long-time observer of 'the Kaiser'. We also discuss Europe's rising problem with anti-Semitism, some good news for Serbia's gay first couple, and how to make it big in Finland.
Watching Over The Night Watch
This week, the story of a painting that's been attacked with knives, chopped up, hidden in a cave from Nazis, and has probably had beer spilled on it. It also happens to be one of the world's greatest masterpieces. Our very special guest is Taco Dibbits, director of the Rijksmuseum, here to explain why the Netherlands' national museum is going to be restoring The Night Watch while the whole world watches. And from Rembrandt to race, the playright Marjorie H. Morgan is on the line from Liverpool to talk about the difference between being black in Europe and black in America.
Suzy Menkes and the Beer-Brewing Monks
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.
Mi kidney, su kidney
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.
Build your own Europe, baby
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.