Dominic's singing in Berlin, Katy's painting in Paris, and a forest is quietly growing just outside Oslo. Our guest this week is Anne Beate Hovind, project manager of a strange and wonderful project in Norway involving books, trees and the passage of time. Also on the menu, Florence is taking things OFF the street food menu and Poland is harnessing the power of the howling wind. Plus, a glimmer of hope after some dark days in Chemnitz.

This week on The Europeans: national branding done right (Sweden) and wrong (Theresa May's robot dancing). Or will the British PM have the last laugh on that one? The jury's still out. Swedish journalist Charlotte Boström is on the line to explain how her country successfully marketed itself as an eco-friendly feminist paradise. And as Dominic packs his bags for two months in Berlin, he and Katy talk clocks, democracy, fine food and Lego.

This week we're talking about a couple of journeys. Greece has gone from the depths of despair to something a little less like despair; Nick Malkoutzis of Macropolis (@NickMalkoutzis) is on the line from Athens to explain. And Frenchman Fabrice Pothier is here to tell us about his fun (?) 700-kilometre cycle from Foie Gras country to Santander, hoping to learn a thing or two about Europe. Also: an artistic mishap, virulent success, and a discordant initative by Berlin transport authorities.

This week, sex and the internet. For once it's not us making the filthy innuendos, although Dominic does his best. It's Lithuania's capital Vilnius! We ask tour guide Agneta Ladek (https://bit.ly/2BBRNyi) if her city is really 'the G-spot of Europe — nobody knows where it is, but when you find it, it's amazing'. Dimi Dimitrov is on the line to explain why changes to the way we regulate the internet in Europe would have made life harder for Wikipedia and more boring for everyone else. And one woman is on a quest to bring some ancient Norman sass to modern-day Guernsey.

This week, something a little different: Deborah Cole, a Berlin-based reporter since 1995, reads us her beautiful piece about the race to collect the memories of elderly Germans who lived through some of the most tumultuous events in modern history. Follow Deborah on Twitter @doberah, she's our favourite person tweeting from Merkel Land.

Also: an airborne mishap, an ingenious Spaniard, and irony, Slovenian-style, explained with the help of the brilliant Aljaž Pengov Bitenc (aka @pengovsky).

As you'll see in this week's episode, we're warming to two themes this season: urine, and the far-right.

Timo Lochocki (@TLochocki), an expert on populism in Europe, is on the line from Berlin to talk about why we SHOULDN'T talk about Steve Bannon's new venture on this side of the Atlantic. On a brighter note, Adrian Murphy's here to talk about Europeana, a lovely EU culture project that is currently collecting personal stories about migrating around the continent. Check it out at https://www.europeana.eu.

Also: good times for cash-strapped Berlin parents, bad times for Shakespearean amateur voiceover artists, and a disaster averted in Katy's hometown.

We're back! What's cooking, Europe? Apparently the whole continent. Greece has just suffered Europe's deadliest forest fires in a century, part of a spate of extreme weather all over the northern hemisphere. Just back from Athens, we ask incoming AFP science correspondent Patrick Galey (and his dog) whether this is the new normal. Follow @patrickgaley for the angriest climate tweets in town.

Things have been heating up in Germany too, in the form of a huge debate over identity politics. Dicle Akar, a teacher at the Berlin International School, gives us her thoughts on Turkish identity in Germany and the row over football star Mesut Özil.

Plus: how the summer's been going for Europe's biggest political egos, and the bright side of the forthcoming apocalypse.

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.