The Europeans

There's a bunch of interesting stuff happening in Poland right now, so we rang up our favourite Polish journalist Ania Jakubek to untangle it for us. Also this week: blue tits, volcanoes, mutant enzymes and an Easter panda.

Thanks for listening. If you like our show, you can help us keep making it at https://www.patreon.com/europeanspodcast.

Isolation Inspiration:

Ania's drawings: https://www.instagram.com/amjakubek

Making An Opera: https://www.nporadio4...

The Irish writer Mark O'Connell spent three years meeting people who are preparing for the end of the world. At a time when a lot of us have been gripped by a general sense of doom, we had a weirdly reassuring chat about the apocalypse. Also this week: big developments in Central Europe, bouncy pavements, and a celebration of the theremin.

Mark's book, Notes from an Apocalypse, is out on April 14.

This week's Isolation Inspiration: Cross-border romance (http://tiny...

In this time of crisis, many, many people are watching marbles roll down miniature race tracks. We talk to Dion Bakker, one of the Dutch brothers behind the hit marble-racing YouTube channel that's filling the void left by cancelled sports events. We also catch up with atmospheric physicist Meganne Christian, who spent a year in Antarctica, to hear her tips on surviving isolation. Also this week: Viktor Orbán's terrifying power grab, and trees, lots of trees...

Calming things are much needed this week, so we're talking about lakes and we're talking about dogs. Our guest is the poet and author Kapka Kassabova, whose latest book To The Lake is a beautiful account of life on the borders of Greece, Albania and North Macedonia. We're also celebrating cleaner skies, human-canine relationships, and putting booze to good use.

Thanks to the amazing people who support this podcast on Patreon, especially in these uncertain times...

The show goes on. This week, aside from bringing you some positivity from around the continent, we're talking to someone who turned something terrible into something empowering. Emma Holten was 20 years old when nude photos of her were leaked onto the internet without her consent. We gave her a call in Copenhagen to hear about her inspiring fightback. Also this week: good dogs and good decisions in Spain and Greece.

You can follow Emma on Instagram here and Twitter here...

This week, the distances travelled in search of love and safety. The Finnish novelist and playwright Saara Turunen has written beautifully about what it's like to navigate a relationship between Helsinki and Barcelona. We chat to her about European culture clashes and what feminism looks like in the two countries she lives between. Plus, Europe's failed refugee policy, magical taps, and ill-chosen words by a billionaire populist (no, not that one)...

You might not think of the corridors of Brussels as a particularly spiritual place, but all kinds of religious groups are jostling for influence there. This week we delve into the world of religious lobbying with the French journalist Quentin Ariès. Also this week: a secret passage, winds of change in Slovakia, and the power of the Paris agreement.

You can read Quentin's article on religious lobbying in the latest issue of Are We Europe magazine...

In 2015, the 'migrant crisis' was the front page story of every newspaper in Europe. Today more than 42,000 people are still stranded on the Greek islands, in shameful conditions — and yet we barely talk about it. Migration researcher Apostolis Fotadis joins us from Athens to explain why Greece's refugee policy has become such a disaster. Also this week: big changes in Portugal, criminally-bad (?) singing in Croatia, and a Finnish mystery.

Thanks for listening...

This week, a tale of two continents. Katy speaks to the Kenyan writer Patrick Gathara about Eurafrica, an idea that informed the European project after World War II but is now largely forgotten. Sixty years after a wave of African countries won their independence in 1960, we're also talking about why decolonisation is an ongoing process. Also this week: jilted Balkan lovers, mixed meat messages, and a lost summer soundtrack...

Something huge just happened in Irish politics, but as outsiders it's difficult to understand what exactly. Naomi O'Leary from the excellent podcast The Irish Passport is here to untangle everything for us. Also this week: coronavirus racism, a step forward for LGBTQ+ rights in Switzerland, and what happens when a celeb does the 'double-clicky-likey-thing' on one of your social media posts...