Cold water, warm hearts
As the winter chill sets in, throngs of Europeans are heading each week to the nearest pond, lake or coastline to dunk themselves voluntarily in freezing cold water. Cold swimming has centuries of history on this continent, but why do it? This week we're delving into the science of why it makes us feel good — but also why it helps so many people through difficult times, with the help of Katharina Smets, audio maker and proud member of Antwerp's biggest cold plunge club. We're also talking about the Vatican's Christmas tree drama and a festive inflation-busting policy in Greece.
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.
The Great Pull of China
You can blame Dominic for the pun. This week, as tensions between the United States and China reach fever-pitch, we're asking: does Europe need to pick a side? Tom Wan, Research Director in European Politics at the Global Studies Institute in Hong Kong, is on the line to explain what's at stake in Europe's relationship with China.
Sarajevo calling
This week, the increasingly worrying politics of a country with one of the most complicated governments in the world. We're talking to the Bosnian journalist Aleksandar Brezar about troubles that go ignored all too often in Europe and wartime scars that have yet to heal. We're also talking about European countries' varying approaches to regulating what women do with their bodies, and a transatlantic romance that has stood the test of time.
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.
Wall, Rocket, Bottle, Horse
This week a tiny horse made a grand entrance to Europe, and one of France's finest singers took his final bow. RIP Charles Aznavour, trailblazer and source of the most embarassing story of Dominic's life (listen til the end). Our guest this week is Monique Van den Abbeel, a Belgian campaigner for the visually impaired who is soon to be welcoming Europe's first guide horse into her home in Bruges. Yes, this is a thing, and we are very excited about it.
In Week 2 of our partnership with Are We Europe we also talk to co-editor Alexander Hurst about being an American on the continent. Check out the magazine's latest issue here: https://areweeurope.com
Also: a space race, a non-existent wall, and a message from the past.
Changing PMs at 103 BPMs
In Europe our clocks may be slow (see our March 13 episode) but our politics moves fast. Two new governments in a week! Katy and Dominic get you up to speed on what's been happening in Spain and Italy.
Our guest this week is Akbar Ahmed, one of the world's leading experts on Islam, who has just published a major new study on Europe's Muslims. We enjoyed our conversation so much that we'll be releasing it in full as a bonus episode, so look out for that later in the week.
Plus: how Spain's trashiest 1990s dance hit could save your life.
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.
Fake snus
The Europeans let loose discussing snus and fake news. German journalist Juliane von Reppert-Bismarck tells us all about her plans to teach school kids across Europe how to spot propaganda and media bias on the internet with her new project Lie Detectors. And we delve into the world of Scandinavian snus tobacco, illegal in most of the EU. For the first time, it’s more popular in Norway than cigarettes. But why? We find out from Kris Johansson in Oslo, and the author Christopher Snowdon is on hand to explain why this stuff is still banned around Europe despite growing evidence that it helps people quit smoking.
Plus: news from Davos with the tiniest mention of T***p, and a weaponised sausage for dessert.
The Dumbest Farmer Finds The Biggest Potatoes
Happy New Year, The Europeans are back! We’re kicking off 2018 by brushing up on our Luxembourgish, giving Nina Lamparski a call to find out why a language officially listed as endangered is making an unexpected comeback. And Georgi Gotev is on the line to talk about what we can expect from Bulgaria as the EU’s poorest country takes the helm as president for the next six months. We ask why a baby born in Bulgaria has a much lower life expectancy than one born in Spain; and there’s a feminist, vodka-flavoured happy ending for you. What more could you want from your favourite European podcast?