Mapping our genes has already allowed humanity to make huge strides in medicine. But the vast majority of the genomes we’ve decoded are those of people of white European heritage. Why is that a problem, and how do we fix it? This week we talk to the Nigerian geneticist Segun Fatumo about fixing the genome gap. We’re also talking about Andalucía’s bid to protect flamenco, and why Europe’s most powerful media mogul is in hot water.

What comes to mind when you imagine a library? Rows of books, probably. But across the continent, libraries are transforming into places that serve communities in all sorts of other ways. This week we hear from two very different libraries about how they're doing just that: Bojana Grujic of the Novi Sad City Library in Serbia and Myrto Tsilimpounidi from the Feminist Library at the Feminist Autonomous Centre in Athens. We're also talking about the fallout from Macron's trip to China, the international fight against Hungary's homophobic law, and the hallucinogenic adventures of early Europeans.

Trillions of euros — trillions! — are currently invested in 'sustainable' investment funds across Europe. But how green really are these funds? This week we ring up El País journalist Daniele Grasso, part of the international team of reporters behind the Great Green Investment Investigation, to find out. We're also talking about Sanna Marin's defeat, Italy's move to ban ChatGPT, and courgette flowers.

If you've claimed welfare benefits in Europe lately, there's a decent chance that authorities have used an algorithm to assess whether you might be trying to scam the system. The problem? All kinds of discrimination are baked into these calculations. This week we speak to Gabriel Geiger, one of the journalists behind an international investigation into these ‘suspicion machines’. We’re also looking back at a week of highs and lows for Europe’s climate policy, and celebrating Pompeii’s fluffy new recruits.

Last year, conservationists deliberately flooded a Slovakian forest. Why would you do such a thing? This week we ring up the co-founder of one of the organisations behind the project, Duarte de Zoeten of Mossy Earth, to find out. We're also talking about Italy's rainbow families, a kind-of-sort-of deal between Kosovo and Serbia, and Europe's first wild river national park.

There've been a bunch of worrying reports from Moldova in recent weeks, from claims that Russia is fuelling street protests to fears of a coup d'etat. What exactly is going on, and what does Moscow have to do with it? This week we speak to Ivana Stradner, a specialist in Russian information warfare, to try to get to grips with Putin's strategy in the wider region. We're also talking about a teenager who may or may not have set up a non-existent airline, and what makes Swiss chocolate Swiss.

We're deep into the selection process for the world's most ridiculous music competition, with artists across the continent vying to be chosen as their nation's Eurovision entry. But what happens to the songs that don't actually make it to the contest? This week we've got a joyful interview with Monty Moncrieff, whose podcast Second Cherry gives some love to the nearly-Eurovision hits that still deserve a listen. We're also talking about Elly Schlein, Italy's new leader on the left, and an eyebrow-raising decision by Malta's prison service.

An overnight career change. Switching the language you love in. This week, how war transforms your life in ways you’d never expect.

There's been a steady drip-drip of revelations for months now that an alarming number of people in Greece have had their phones tapped. Who is behind this mass snooping, and why are they doing it? This week we call up our favourite Greek-splainer Nick Malkoutzis to unravel a complicated scandal. We're also talking about oil and gas companies' bonanza profits, and the wolf that killed Ursula von der Leyen's pony.

Germany’s government has faced international criticism in recent weeks for dithering over whether or not to send tanks to Ukraine. The Leopard 2s are finally on their way — but why is Europe’s richest country so reluctant to look like a military leader? This week we’re diving into the psychology of Germany’s foreign policy with Sophia Besch, Europe fellow at the Carnegie Endowment. We’re also talking about Czechia’s anti-populist new president, and a bitter row over wine labels.

When legendary Copenhagen restaurant Noma announced that it's planning to close its doors, its star chef René Redzepi said that producing his kind of elite cuisine had become 'unsustainable'. The restaurant, and others like it, have faced vocal criticism over working practices ranging from exploitative unpaid internships to gruelling 16-hour days. This week we speak to Lisa Lind Dunbar, an industry veteran and critic of Denmark's restaurant working culture, to try to understand how fine dining went so wrong. We're also talking about Polish bison, why Turkey is blocking Sweden's NATO bid, and the Irish president's vision of a blissfully homework-free childhood.

This week, a story about being incredibly sure you’re right about something, and then realising you weren’t. We’re heading to Cyprus for the latest instalment of our award-winning mini-series This Is What A Generation Sounds Like.

The first episode of The Europeans aired five years ago this week! To mark this very special occasion, producers Katz and Wojciech join Katy and Dominic to look back on how Europe has changed in the half-decade we've been making this podcast.

As the COP27 climate talks wrap up in Egypt, we’re turning our attention to an issue that got less attention at the summit than you might expect: the growing number of people having to flee their homes as a result of climate change. What role does Europe have to play in all this, both in terms of finding solutions and as a major driver of climate change in the first place? This week we find out with the help of Alexandre Porteret of the European Commission’s Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations department, and François Gemenne of the Hugo Laboratory, the world’s first interdisciplinary research centre focusing on how climate change impacts migration.

This week we're wrestling with a big idea: time, and the lack of it. Most Europeans have experienced burnout, or felt close to it, at some point in their lives. What if we redesigned policies to give citizens their time back?

Last weekend, we took over the European Parliament (kind of) along with more than 1,000 young activists from across the continent. This week we hear from some of those activists as well as from President Roberta Metsola, in a conversation recorded live on stage inside the Hemicycle. We're also talking about Germany's plans to legalise cannabis, and how to steal a Polish tram.

Can we find ways to live happily alongside people with radically different values than our own? This week, we journey to one of the most isolated corners of Europe for the sixth installment in our series ‘This Is What A Generation Sounds Like’.