Spaßbremse

Talk is heating up of an impending split in the German Left Party, Die Linke. Sahra Wagenknecht, who has long been a controversial figure in the party, is now openly considering forming a breakaway party. On this episode, we have Loren Balhorn of Jacobin Germany and the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung on to discuss what this would mean for the Die Linke and the potential new party...

With the finals of this year's Eurovision Song Contest taking place this evening, we thought it would be a perfect time to reflect on the weird and sometimes surprising political and cultural history of the world's most-watched non-sporting event. Ted is joined by Kat Friege, a modern European historian at the University of Oxford.

For some more info about Eurovision, check out this article that Isaac wrote last year: https://xtramagazine...

Ted interviews Arne Semsrott of Freiheitsfonds, a bail fund for people who have been imprisoned for riding public transit without a ticket.

Check out the Freiheitsfonds website for more info: https://www.freiheitsfonds.de/ We encourage you to donate if you can!

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Co-hosted by Ted (⁠@ted_knudsen⁠) and Michelle (⁠@shhellgames⁠). Produced by Isaac Würmann (⁠@wuermann⁠).

Follow Spaßbremse on Twitter (@spassbremse_pod). Music by Lee Rosevere...

Ted talks to transport researcher Giulio Mattioli about recent transit-related German news, including Germany’s recent efforts to block a measure ending the sale of internal combustion engine cars at the EU-level. You can read more about that here. 

For more from Giulio, you can follow him on Twitter: ⁠@giulio_mattioli⁠.

Following the interview, we consider a recent article in Der Spiegel that says, come on, give the FDP a break! (Spoiler: we will not be giving the FDP a break...

We're talking about something a bit different on this episode, and about a time period much earlier than we usually discuss: the witch trials of early-modern Germany. Why? Because it's Witchy Zeit in Germany! 

Carnival/Fasching/Fastnacht just happened last month and at the end of April is Walpurgisnacht, also known as Hexenbrennen (witch burning)...

Here's a preview of our latest premium episode, where Ted talks about tanks! Specifically, he laments the anglophone media's gratuitous hand-wringing over Germany's alleged reluctance to adequately support Ukraine.

To listen to the full episode, support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/spassbremse

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Co-hosted by Ted (@ted_knudsen) and Michelle (@shhellgames). Produced by Isaac (@wuermann).

Follow Spaßbremse on Twitter (@spassbremse_pod). Music by Lee Rosevere...

The whole team's back together again to discuss the upcoming repeat election happening in Berlin on Sunday, February 12. 

Here's a link to the candidates' debate that we reference throughout the episode: https://www.rbb24.de/politik/hintergrund/livestream-ihre-wahl-kandidatencheck-berlin-abgeordnetenhaus.html 

You can check out the latest polls and coalition possibilities here: https://interaktiv.tagesspiegel...

We're joined by journalist Ruairi Casey to talk about the evacuation of the climate protest in Lützerath earlier this month, and what it can tell us about climate politics in Germany.

Read the piece Ruairi wrote on this subject here: www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2023/january/in-luetzerath

For more from Ruairi, follow him on Twitter: @Ruairi_Casey

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Co-hosted by Ted (@ted_knudsen) and Michelle (@shhellgames). Produced by Isaac (@wuermann)...

Happy (belated) New Year! Here's a short preview of our latest premium episode featuring part two of Ted's interview with Fritz Bartel, Assistant Professor of International Affairs at Texas A&M at the George H. W. Bush School of Government and Public Service, about his new book The Triumph of Broken Promises: The End of the Cold War and the Rise of Neoliberalism. After the interview, Ted and Michelle share some of their reflections...

Back by popular demand, we’re joined by Nathan to talk about this year’s Christmas market scandals! Check out last year’s two-part episode “The Twelve Days of Christmas Market Scandals” for more holiday drama.

This year, we’re discussing six different scandals:

1. Not heeding the energy-saving restrictions

https://www.insuedthueringen.de/inhalt.eisenach-trotz-energiekrise-weihnachtsmarkt-ohne-einschraenkungen.c3f15953-26ef-4833-9abf-758482dd6cf4.html

2...