Smiling may not come easily to Russians, as you'll hear about on this episode. But here at The Europeans we've got plenty to smile about this week:
1) Katy's at a pig farm
2) Dominic's latest opera is going great
3) We have fantastic guest Aljaž Pengov Bitenc on the line to talk about what we can learn from Slovenia's recent election. Follow him at twitter.com/pengovsky and hear us on his podcast Evropska četrt: https://bit.ly/2sUjkDk
4)Spain's Mr Handsome is off to a good start and the US ambassador to Germany is off to a bad one
5) We're going on holiday! We'll be back in a few weeks. Please stay subscribed because we won't be gone long and we'll likely be dropping by to say hello!

A longer version of our conversation with Akbar Ahmed on his book 'Journey into Europe' about Islam's role in the continent.

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.

What a week. There’s been wonderful news from Ireland and so much drama in Italy that we actually had to re-record part of this week’s show at the last minute. Speaking of Italian thrillers: we’ve been chatting to Giuseppe Porcaro, author of brand-new sci-fi novel DISCO SOUR (https://amzn.to/2IVCi7s), about why he decided to set it in a parallel European universe. And Katy’s been talking to Sweden-based Florian Tirnovan about his great project organizing a talent show for deaf people from all around the continent.

Plus: a thunderstorm, a requisitioned towel, and an unlikely friendship in the most beautiful (?) corner of Europe.

This week we're going back to the 1970s to look at two great mysteries: an unsolved murder in Norway, and Britain's ever-enigmatic relationship with Europe.

Norwegian investigative journalist Marit Higraff joins us to talk about Death In Ice Valley, the true crime podcast from the BBC and NRK hoping to uncover the truth behind a woman's death half a century ago.

Also delving into the past is British comedian Kieran Hodgson, whose new show looks for laughs in the unlikeliest of places: the story of how Britain ended up joining the EU.

Plus: Cold comfort for the Balkans, Amsterdam's war on 'mono-culture', and the secret to living a very, VERY long life. Oh, and the tiniest mention of a certain wedding.

A big warm European welcome to the many new listeners who've joined us over the last few weeks! Here's a little bonus episode in which Dominic and Katy introduce themselves and suggest a few favourite episodes you may want to check out.

It’s been a week of highs and lows for Europe and The Europeans. Katy came back from Germany with empty pockets but a full heart (and a selfie). It’s been a bad week for euro diplomacy, but a great one for trashy pop. Someone who’s seen more than her fair share of highs and lows is our guest Farah Abdi, a transgender Somali refugee who arrived in Malta by boat in 2012. She tells Katy about her journey and her fight for better rights for LGBT refugees in Europe. And songwriter MaJiKer, who’s penned songs for Eurovision hopefuls, is on hand to explain why Israel snatched victory and Sweden got robbed.

Katy gets all mushy about Europe as we talk to a very clever man who makes his living by speculating on Eurovision. Daniel Gould (Mr Gould to Dominic), is the founder of www.Sofabet.com and gives us all the latest from Lisbon.

We then head over to Spain to speak to the activist and writer, Brigitte Vasallo about Spain's #MeToo movement and the public reaction to the shocking court ruling in a rape case in Pamplona.

Plus, we have meatballs, terrorists, Harry Potter Royalty and a healthy serving of cultural appropriation.

We couldn't have two more different interviews for you this week: we're talking anti-Semitism in Germany and the art of remaining zen on a beach in Scotland.

After two German rappers sparked national outrage with lyrics about the Holocaust, Human Rights Watch Germany's chief Wenzel Michalski is on the line to talk about his all too personal experience of Europe's rising anti-Semitism problem.

Why throw stones when you can turn them into art instead? Scottish photographer Andy Buchanan brings us the weird, wonderful and unexpectedly hilarious story of the European Stone Stacking Championships.

Plus, Macron Does America and Bulgaria Does It Wrong. And why not stick around and Take A Chance On Dominic's happy ending this week?

A treasure-themed episode for you this week: the natural treasures of Poland's ancient Białowieża forest, hidden treasures in rural France, and buried treasure on a German island. Dominic's been chatting to Agata Szafraniuk of environmental lawyers ClientEarth about their battle with the Polish government to protect Białowieża, one of the few remaining patches of the primeval forest that covered Europe 10,000 years ago. Also heading into the countryside are Parisian podcaster Oliver Gee of The Earful Tower fame and his fiancee Lina Nordin, on a quest to discover the real France through a heart-shaped (awwwwww) tour of the country.

Plus: Strict Belgian gyms, 10th century bling and a bitcoin heist.

Gather round, children, it's story time. This week in The Europeans, the dark tale of how Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán became one of the most powerful men in Europe, to the great disquiet of his western neighbours. Zselyke Csaky, expert on all things Central European, is on the line to explain why campaigning against immigrants, Muslims and billionaire George Soros has paid off so well for this worryingly autocratic leader.

To cheer you up, Mick ter Reehorst of storytelling project Are We Europe has a happier tale to tell. He cracks open a couple of beers with Dominic as he sets out his mission to Make Europe Sexy Again with a beautifully-designed website and and magazine. Plus: murders, pizzas, and musical road surfaces.

"Ever wonder where plastic ends up? I have a story I'd like to share." This week on The Europeans, the Irish journalist Naomi O'Leary describes what happened when she visited a remote paradise island in the Caribbean, only to find the entire Western world had got there first: plastic, plastic and yet more plastic. We talk about what Naomi found and what Europe can do to stop it. And we quizzed her about her podcast The Irish Passport too! In Zagreb, Daniel Martinović is on the line to discuss the success of Dugine Obitelji (Rainbow Families), Croatia's first children's picture book showing kids with LGBT parents. Plus: the Netherlands keeps its gas underground; a London embassy keeps Julian Assange off the net; and a tale of redemption for an amateur sculptor in Madeira.

First up, fantastic news: The Europeans Podcast has been nominated for a prize! Hit play to find out all about it, we are over the moon.

What a delicious episode we have for you this week. Michelin-starred chef Christian Puglisi is on the line from Copenhagen to talk about how his heritage has helped him shape cuisine that defies the rules. Born to a Norwegian mother and a Sicilian father, Christian's ideas about where he comes from have changed with time, as have his ideas about food. We hear all about how his hit restaurant Baest has blurred the lines of what makes an 'authentic' pizza by going for freshness first — to the point of making Danish mozzarella — and his ongoing battle to make his restaurants as green as possible. Plus: how the French learned to love burgers; how the world learned to hate Cambridge Analytica; and a German footballer with a huge heart (and lucky blood).

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.

This week we're imagining a better future for baby Europeans and also what might happen after the nuclear apocalypse. Jennifer Pettersson is Swedish radio maker who's been based in Amsterdam for the last 20 years. She's always loved living in the city — until it came to putting her kids in school there. Dutch kids are famously supposed to be the happiest in the world, but is it really true?

Since we're planning for the future we might as look all the way ahead to Doomsday. Katy's been chatting to Asmund Asdal, the coordinator of Norway's Global Seed Vault, which keeps back-ups of the world's grains and seeds for use in case of disaster.

Also: good news for young Europeans with wanderlust, bad news for clocks, and some mile-high poetry.

Hello Europe! Your favourite continental podcast is back with everything from salted snails to middle-fingered salutes on the menu. Dominic's been walking on thin ice and Katy's been cocooning; there's good news for Angela Merkel and bad news for press freedom in Slovakia. Eckard Helmers is on the line from Germany to explain why Europe fell in love with diesel cars even though they're poisoning our air. And we're talking English — literally — with Marko Modiano, a linguistics expert in Gävle, Sweden, about how the language is taking on a life of its own in Europe.

Our first ever bonus episode! We enjoyed our conversation in this week's show with Alexandra Pascalidou so much that we're sharing the whole thing with you. Raised by Greek parents in a working-class Stockholm suburb, Alexandra went on to become a prominent journalist in Sweden. But along with the job came the threats: years and years of horrific threats from neo-Nazis who didn't like the way she stood up for multi-culturalism.

Last year, something unexpected happened: a former neo-Nazi got in touch to confess he had tormented her for years, and to say he was sorry. And Alexandra did something even more unexpected: she decided to meet up with her former tormentor for coffee.

Katy and Dominic rang Alexandra in Stockholm to discuss her remarkable decision to forgive Martin, and why Sweden needs to take its neo-Nazi threat much more seriously. But along the way they also talk about national identity, the Eurovision song contest, and what it means to be European. 

Who's afraid of the big bad wolf? Not Alexandra Pascalidou. The Greek-Swedish journalist did something that would scare many of us: after years of threats from neo-Nazis, she invited one of them for a cup of coffee. Alexandra gives us a masterclass in forgiveness — and stay tuned later in the week for a bonus episode featuring her full conversation with The Europeans.

But first, actual wolves. After Belgium saw its first in a century, we're taking a look at how different countries across the continent are dealing with 20,000 of the proud predators — and our guest Max Rossberg of the European Wilderness Society argues we need a total rethink.

Plus: the monster of Brussels, a monstrous week for Britain's Jeremy Corbyn, and some less monstrous news to cheer us up at the end.

We've got two birthdays to celebrate this week. Independent Kosovo is officially 10, and your host Dominic Kraemer is officially old. Congrats to both!

As Kosovo marks 10 years since declaring independence from Serbia, we give our man in the Balkans Andrew MacDowall a call to explain the challenges that lie ahead for Europe's youngest country. Meanwhile, Katy's been huddling under a duvet in Paris with a cold this week -- a great excuse to obsess over the Winter Olympics, not least that amazing Scottish invention, curling. Team Finland's Oona Kauste is on the line all the way from South Korea with a staunch defence of the sport against allegations that it 'looks weird', and how she manages to juggle the Olympics with her career as a hairdresser and make-up artist.

Plus: out and proud LGBT Olympians, happy news for German commuters, and political truth, Dutch-style. Oh, and a mysterious Finnish tongue-twister. Anyone that solves the mystery gets a gold medal of their very own.