The Europeans The Europeans

The far-right surged but the centre held; somehow the two are true at once. Nearly 100 members of the new European Parliament have yet to tell us which political family they’ll be joining. And as for who’s actually going to be running the EU’s institutions for the next five years – right now, it’s anyone’s guess. How can we make sense of these European elections? Alberto Alemmano joins us to help decipher a momentous, and very confusing, moment in Europe’s democracy. 
 
Alberto is a professor of EU law at HEC in Paris and the College of Europe. You can follow him on Twitter here. 
 
We’ve got a new look! Check out our beautiful new website, designed by the wonderful RTiiiKA, at europeanspodcast.com. 
 
This week’s Inspiration Station offerings: ‘Untold: Power for Sale’ and ‘Under Paris’. You can check out ‘Mixed Signals’, the new podcast from Semafor, here.
 
This special episode was made possible thanks to the financial support of the Culture of Solidarity Fund, powered by the European Cultural Foundation in collaboration with Allianz Foundation and the Evens Foundation. You can check out the #CulturalDealEU campaign here.
 
Thanks for listening! If you enjoy our podcast, we'd love it if you'd consider chipping in a few bucks a month at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/europeanspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (many currencies are available). You can also help new listeners find the show by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠leaving us a review⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or giving us five stars on Spotify.
 
Hosts: Dominic Kraemer and Katy Lee
Producer: Katy Lee
Sound design, mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak 
Editorial support: Katz Laszlo  
Music: Jim Barne and Blue Dot Sessions
Sound effects: Freesound.org
Artwork: RTiiiKA
 
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They’re the second biggest elections on Earth. For the next four days, 373 million people are eligible to take part in the vote for the European Parliament. And yet in most EU countries, the prevailing mood is… ‘meh’. 
 
This week, we take on the challenge of convincing you that these elections are anything but meh, with the help of one of our favourite explainers of all things EU, Beatriz Ríos. 
 
You can follow Beatriz on Twitter here and find Politico Europe’s guide on how to vote here.
 
This special episode was made possible thanks to the financial support of the Culture of Solidarity Fund, powered by the European Cultural Foundation in collaboration with Allianz Foundation and the Evens Foundation. You can check out the #CulturalDealEU campaign here.
 
Thanks for listening! If you enjoy our podcast, we'd love it if you'd consider chipping in a few bucks a month at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/europeanspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (many currencies are available). You can also help new listeners find the show by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠leaving us a review⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or giving us five stars on Spotify.
 
Hosts: Dominic Kraemer and Katy Lee
Producer: Katy Lee
Sound design, mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak 
Editorial support: Katz Laszlo  
Music: Jim Barne and Blue Dot Sessions
Sound effects: Freesound.org (JoeDeshon)
 
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Protests by angry farmers have swept across Europe this year. But from country to country, powerful groups have taken these protests over and changed their agenda. Who are these people, and what are they up to?
 
This is a special episode produced in collaboration with investigative journalists from Lighthouse Reports and media partners across Europe. 
 
This podcast was made possible by our generous Patreon supporters. If you enjoy our work, we'd love it if you'd consider chipping in a few bucks a month at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/europeanspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (many currencies are available). You can also help new listeners find the show by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠leaving us a review⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or giving us five stars on Spotify. 
 
Read the articles published as part of this investigation: 
‘Farmers protest, who gains?’ - Lighthouse Reports https://www.lighthousereports.com/investigation/farmers-protest-who-gains/ 
‘Bauernschlaue Lobbyisten’ - Taz https://taz.de/Doppeltes-Spiel-des-Agrarverbandes/!6009938/ 
‘Le lobbying agricole de la FNSEA à la loupe’ - Splann! https://splann.org/lobby-agricole-fnsea/ 
 
Reporters: Wojciech Oleksiak, Thin Lei Win, Marianne Kerfriden, Silvia Lazzaris, Elena DeBre and Emmanuel Freudenthal
Producer: Wojciech Oleksiak
Editor: Katz Laszlo 
Editorial support: Dominic Kraemer and Katy Lee 
Sound design, scoring, mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak Music: Jim Barne, BlueDot Sessions
Sound effects: Freesound.org (miastodzwiekow, Cosmopolight, Quistard)
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This week, the high drama of both European wolf policy and the Eurovision Song Contest. Wolves have made a huge comeback in Europe in recent years. How can we coexist peacefully with these hungry carnivores? We speak to the social scientist Hanna Pettersson about how humans are living alongside predators in Spain and Sweden. Plus, all the controversy from the most chaotic Eurovision in history, and why Catalans just voted to boot out their separatist government after a decade in power. 
 
Hanna is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of York. You can listen to her interview with The Conversation here.
 
This week's Inspiration Station recommendations: 'The Regime' and this accompanying episode of 'Cautionary Tales'; 'There's Still Tomorrow'. 'Lost On Me' was translated into English by Leah Janeczko.
 

Thanks for listening! If you enjoy our podcast, we'd love it if you'd consider chipping in a few bucks a month at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/europeanspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (many currencies are available). You can also help new listeners find the show by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠leaving us a review⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or giving us five stars on Spotify. 
 

Other resources for this episode: 
 
'Why did Ireland give Israel 10 points at the Eurovision?' - RTE 
 
Aitor Hernández-Morales on the Catalan elections
 
00:22 Europe needs a new continent-wide public holiday02:38 Bad Week: The European Broadcasting Union20:35 Good Week: Catalonia's Socialists30:03 Interview: Hanna Pettersson on living with Europe's wolves44:45 The Inspiration Station: The Regime and There's Still Tomorrow49:28 Happy Ending: A pioneering law in Belgium
 
Producers: Morgan Childs and Katy Lee
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
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Across a fair chunk of Europe, we've grown used to seeing little traffic light symbols on our food packets that supposedly rate the healthiness of our food. But why might Dominic's chamomile tea get a Nutri-Score rating of C, when a diet cola gets an A? And does Giorgia Meloni have a point in claiming that the ratings are biased against Italians? This week we ring up Alie de Boer, an expert on all things food labelling, to demystify the Nutri-Score system once and for all. We're also talking about why Georgia's at a crossroads between Russia and the EU, and why it's such a scary moment in German politics. 

Alie is an assistant professor of nutrition and food law at Maastricht University's Venlo campus. You can watch her excellent video about Nutri-Score here.

This week's Inspiration Station offerings: Marina Abramović's new exhibition and Desert Island Discs interview; Gugelhupf. 

Thanks for listening! If you enjoy our podcast, we'd love it if you'd consider chipping in a few bucks a month at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/europeanspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (many currencies are available). You can also help new listeners find the show by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠leaving us a review⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or giving us five stars on Spotify. 

Other resources for this episode: 

'Is Georgian Dream Digging Its Own Grave?' - Transitions, May 2024 https://tol.org/client/article/is-georgian-dream-digging-its-own-grave.html

'Are right-wing populists more likely to justify political violence?' - European Consortium for Political Research, March 2024 https://ejpr.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1475-6765.12668?af=R

'How Italian "food nationalism" has blocked Nutri-Score nutrition labelling system in Europe' - Mediapart, January 2024 https://www.mediapart.fr/en/journal/international/060124/how-italian-food-nationalism-has-blocked-nutri-score-nutrition-labelling-system-europe 


00:23 A delicious, digestible bowl of European news
02:52 Good week: Georgia's brave protesters
09:43 Bad week: German democracy
21:10 Interview: Alie de Boer on how those Nutri-Score labels on your food actually work
37:51 The Inspiration Station: Marina Abramović and gugelhupf
42:52 Happy Ending: The European Seagull Screeching Championship

Producers: Morgan Childs and Katy Lee
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina
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It’s the only revolution in world history (that we know of) that began with a Eurovision song. This week, Portugal marks 50 years since the Carnation Revolution ended decades of dictatorship. We speak to Alex Fernandes, author of a new accessible history of the revolution, about the day that changed everything. We’re also talking about the UK’s missed opportunity to give an entire generation fun memories (and skills, but mostly fun memories) and Milan's ice cream uproar. 


Thanks for listening! If you enjoy our podcast, we'd love it if you'd consider chipping in a few bucks a month at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/europeanspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (many currencies are available). You can also help new listeners find the show by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠leaving us a review⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or giving us five stars on Spotify. 


FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT HERE: https://europeanspodcast.com/episodes/the-regime-that-ended-with-a-song

Alex’s book, ‘The Carnation Revolution: The Day Portugal’s Dictatorship Fell’ is out now. You can find him on Twitter here and read his article on the music of the revolution here.

Inspiration Station offerings: ‘E Depois Do Adeus’ by Paulo de Carvalho; Grândola, Vila Morena by José Afonso and MARO on tour. Bonus entry: the ‘Feat. NATURE’ playlist.

Other resources for this episode: 
‘What is behind the UK’s labour shortage?’ - UK in a Changing Europe, February 2024
‘Percentage of businesses experiencing a shortage of workers in the United Kingdom in 2023, by industry sector’ - Statista, November 2023
‘Nature is an artist! Inside AKQA’s design for mammoth Spotify and UN project, Sounds Right’ - It’s Nice That, April 2024

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