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.

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.

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.

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.

Your favourite plucky Parisian reporter and glamorous Amsterdam opera singer are BACK. Episode 6 is about two people with bouffant hair but little else in common: Donald Trump and Catherine Deneuve. We’ve got a great interview with the voice of Trump on German television, Franz Kubaczyk, and his fellow interpreter Leonie Wagener about the perils of translating the most unpredictable president in US history. And the French writer Agnès Poirier is on the line to discuss Deneuve’s controversial letter criticising the #MeToo movement and what may have been lost in translation. Plus: fantastic plastic news and an unwelcome flashback from early-2000s pop.

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?

For the last episode of The Europeans before a little break to indulge in some festive merry-making, we talk to influential man about Brussels Ryan Heath of Politico about why the corridors of EU power are so goddamn white. Phosphate-laden euro kebabs and novelty avocados are also on the menu for our millennial listeners. And we give Dutch trans activist Jonah Lamers a ring to ask why the Netherlands picked ‘gender neutral’ as the most irritating word of 2017.

This week in The Europeans, we're looking at national icons -- the beloved, in the form of French rock star Johnny Hallyday who died this week -- and the controversial, in the form of the Netherlands' Black Pete. Dominic talks to Anousha Nzume from Dipsaus, the hit podcast for Dutch women of colour, about why the Netherlands insists on making blackface a festive affair at this time of year. And Katy makes a valiant attempt to explain why Hallyday wasn't remotely famous outside France despite being a legend at home.

Plus Ania Jakubek is back with news of a new Polish prime minister, with Dominic's Happy Ending bringing up the rear... Literally.

Episode 2 of The Europeans, in which Dominic stays in a German haunted house. It’s been a dramatic week on the continent, with a convicted war criminal committing suicide in the middle of a courtroom in The Hague. Elsewhere, we talk to journalist Claire Sergent about whether French could really one day be the world’s most widely spoken language, and to European gay travel supremos A Couple Of Men about their hugely successful blog. This podcast contains no traces of Brexit at all, it’s a near-Christmas miracle! Please leave us a review if you enjoyed The Europeans, and help us to spread the word.

Episode 1 is here! Featuring Angela Merkel, angry French nudists,  and charming interludes from Katy’s friends and colleagues Frank Zeller in Berlin and Ania Jakubek in Poznan, Poland.