The far-right Alternative für Deutschland could soon have its own state-funded political foundation called the Desiderius Erasmus Stiftung (DES). We speak with freelance journalist Ruairi Casey about why this matters, and ask him what the deal is with all these political Stiftungen anyway.  Read Ruairi's recent article in Foreign Policy on the subject: Germany May Soon Pay Millions to Far-Right Operatives  And follow Ruairi on Twitter for more from him! @Ruairi_Casey Co-hosted by Ted (@ted_knudsen) and Michelle (@shhellgames). Produced by Isaac (@wuermann). -- Thank so much to everyone who has already started supporting us on Patreon! We'll still be publishing full-length episodes twice monthly available on our main podcast feed, but Patreon supporters will also get access to a couple bonus episodes per month. It's a tough time out there so we totally understand if you don't have the capacity to support right now, but if you're able we'd really appreciate you becoming a subscriber. All the details here: www.patreon.com/spassbremse Follow Spaßbremse on Twitter (@spassbremse_pod). Music by Lee Rosevere. Art by Franziska Schneider.

Pride Month in North America may have just ended, but here in Germany the local Pride festivals — or "Christopher Street Days" — are just beginning. To talk about the complicated history of Germany's queer movements, we're joined on this episode by writer and historian Ben Miller, co-host of the podcast Bad Gays and co-author of the book Bad Gays: A Homosexual History, which just came out last month.  To learn more about Ben's podcast and book, check out www.badgayspod.com. If you’re in Berlin, you can join Ben and Bad Gays co-author Huw Lemmey at Prinz Eisenherz on Tuesday, July 5th at 8:30 p.m.! For more from Ben, check out his Twitter: @benwritesthings. You can also learn more about the Schwules Museum, the Gay Museum in Berlin where Ben is on the board, at www.schwulesmuseum.de. Co-hosted by Ted (@ted_knudsen) and Michelle (@shhellgames). Produced by Isaac (@wuermann). -- Thank so much to everyone who has already started supporting us on Patreon! We'll still be publishing full-length episodes twice monthly available on our main podcast feed, but Patreon supporters will also get access to a couple bonus episodes per month. It's a tough time out there so we totally understand if you don't have the capacity to support right now, but if you're able we'd really appreciate you becoming a subscriber. All the details here: www.patreon.com/spassbremse Follow Spaßbremse on Twitter (@spassbremse_pod). Music by Lee Rosevere. Art by Franziska Schneider.

On our thirtieth episode on the main feed (!!) we have an interview that Ted did with historian Jan Tattenberg about the "clean Wehrmacht" myth, or the idea that members of the German Wehrmacht were not complicit in the crimes and atrocities of the Holocaust. Ted and Jan go into quite a bit of detail about why this myth doesn't hold water, so we have abut 45 minutes of their conversation on this episode, and you can listen to the rest over on our Patreon (www.patreon.com/spassbremse).   For more from Jan, you can read his piece in 1/200 about German rearmament: https://www.1of200.nz/articles/germany-rearms You can (and should!) also follow him on Twitter: @jantattenberg  Co-hosted by Ted (@ted_knudsen) and Michelle (@shhellgames). Produced by Isaac (@wuermann). -- Thank so much to everyone who has already started supporting us on Patreon! We'll still be publishing full-length episodes twice monthly available on our main podcast feed, but Patreon supporters will also get access to a couple bonus episodes per month. It's a tough time out there so we totally understand if you don't have the capacity to support right now, but if you're able we'd really appreciate you becoming a subscriber. All the details here: www.patreon.com/spassbremse Follow Spaßbremse on Twitter (@spassbremse_pod). Music by Lee Rosevere. Art by Franziska Schneider.

Ted and Michelle sit down with journalist David de Jong to talk about his new book, Nazi Billionaires: The Dark History of Germany's Wealthiest Dynasties.  Longtime listeners will know that this is a recurring subject on Spaßbremse. You can listen to our three-part series about the history of some specific Nazi businesses on Patreon: Pt. 1: Nazi Pizzas, Pt. 2: Nazi Soda, Pt. 3: Nazi Washing Machines For more on this subject, you can of course read David's book, which you can order from the publisher here.   You can also read his guest essay in the New York Times, called "They Are the Heirs of Nazi Fortunes, and They Aren't Apologizing," and you can find David on Twitter: @davidthejong.  Co-hosted by Ted (@ted_knudsen) and Michelle (@shhellgames). Produced by Isaac (@wuermann). -- Thank so much to everyone who has already started supporting us on Patreon! We'll still be publishing full-length episodes twice monthly available on our main podcast feed, but Patreon supporters will also get access to a couple bonus episodes per month. It's a tough time out there so we totally understand if you don't have the capacity to support right now, but if you're able we'd really appreciate you becoming a subscriber. All the details here: www.patreon.com/spassbremse Follow Spaßbremse on Twitter (@spassbremse_pod). Music by Lee Rosevere. Art by Franziska Schneider.

A short preview of our latest premium episode, in which we discuss the beloved German "Mittelstand" and why your favourite family-owned screw company might not be as cool and relatable as you think.  To listen to the full episode, support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/spassbremse If you're not able to support us monetarily right now, we totally get it! We'll be back in a few days with another full-length episode. 

It's Spargelzeit! For those of you lucky enough to be unfamiliar, that's the time of year when Germany's most prized vegetable — the white asparagus — is in season. On this episode, we try to get in the mind of the Germans to understand their obsession with this mediocre dish by sitting down with some Spargel and Schnitzel. We give a bit of background to the German Spargelkult before speaking with Benjamin Luig, the branch coordinator for agriculture at IG Bau's Initiative for Fair Work in Agriculture as well as at Fair Mobility, to talk about the labour conditions for the seasonal workers who pick our asparagus and other fruits and vegetables.  For further reading on this subject:  Der Spargelkult muss enden by Margarete Stokowski in Der Spiegel (Keen listeners will recognize this phrase from the intro to our podcast, which features Christian Lindner reacting to this column)  Keine Dumpinglöhne für Geflüchtete by Szabolcs Sepsi in Jacobin Ernten ohne Versicherung by Nelli Tügel in Der Freitag  Corona-Ausbruch: Über 100 Covid-19-Fälle auf Spargelbetrieb by Katharina Krenn in agrarheute  The Queens of Asparagus by Ben Miller for Arts of the Working Class You can also follow the work of Fair Mobility on Facebook and Twitter.  Co-hosted by Ted (@ted_knudsen) and Michelle (@shhellgames). Produced by Isaac (@wuermann). -- Thank so much to everyone who has already started supporting us on Patreon! We'll still be publishing full-length episodes twice monthly available on our main podcast feed, but Patreon supporters will also get access to a couple bonus episodes per month. It's a tough time out there so we totally understand if you don't have the capacity to support right now, but if you're able we'd really appreciate you becoming a subscriber. All the details here: www.patreon.com/spassbremse Follow Spaßbremse on Twitter (@spassbremse_pod). Music by Lee Rosevere. Art by Franziska Schneider.

As we celebrate May Day, we’re asking: Why do things keep getting worse for so many workers around the world? For one answer to that question, we look at the neoliberalisation of formerly “left-wing” parties such as the SPD. To walk us through this history, Ted spoke with Stephanie Mudge, a professor of sociology at the University of California at Davis. In 2018, she published Leftism Reinvented: Western Parties from Socialism to Neoliberalism, which analyses the history of four parties in particular: the Swedish Social Democrats, the British Labour Party, the American Democrats and, of course, our very own German SPD.  For more from Stephanie Mudge, check out her article from last year in Phenomenal World, which is referenced a number of times in this episode, called "Democracy of the Market." You can also follow her on Twitter: @stephaniemudge. Co-hosted by Ted (@ted_knudsen) and Michelle (@shhellgames). Produced by Isaac (@wuermann). -- Thank so much to everyone who has already started supporting us on Patreon! We'll still be publishing full-length episodes twice monthly available on our main podcast feed, but Patreon supporters will also get access to a couple bonus episodes per month. It's a tough time out there so we totally understand if you don't have the capacity to support right now, but if you're able we'd really appreciate you becoming a subscriber. All the details here: www.patreon.com/spassbremse Follow Spaßbremse on Twitter (@spassbremse_pod). Music by Lee Rosevere. Art by Franziska Schneider.

A short preview of our latest premium episode, in which Ted and Isaac discuss the Danish-German border. This is part 3 of our ongoing series "Spaßbremse Grenzen" about the histories and legacies of Germany's borders.  To listen to the full episode and all other premium episodes — including parts 1 and 2 of our Grenzen series, in which we discuss the Czech-German and Polish-German borders — support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/spassbremse If you're not able to support us monetarily right now, we totally get it! We'll be back in a few days with a full length episode on the main feed.

They're the largest ethnic group in the United States but remain relatively invisible, despite contributions that include beer, kindergartens, and Kissinger (oops). That's right, we're talking German Americans on this episode, joined by special guest Matt Christman of Chapo Trap House. How, when, and where did Germans immigrate in such huge numbers, what makes them different from other white ethnic groups in the United States, and what are some peculiarities of German Americans today?  You can of course listen to more of Matt over on Chapo Trap House (www.chapotraphouse.com) and you can find him on Twitter @cushbomb. Co-hosted by Ted (@ted_knudsen) and Michelle (@shhellgames). Produced by Isaac Würmann (@wuermann). -- Thank so much to everyone who has already started supporting us on Patreon! We'll still be publishing full-length episodes twice monthly available on our main podcast feed, but Patreon supporters will also get access to a couple bonus episodes per month. It's a tough time out there so we totally understand if you don't have the capacity to support right now, but if you're able we'd really appreciate you becoming a subscriber. All the details here: www.patreon.com/spassbremse Follow Spaßbremse on Twitter (@spassbremse_pod). Music by Lee Rosevere. Art by Franziska Schneider.

Transport researcher Giulio Mattioli returns to talk about the ongoing debates over introducing a "Spritpreisbremse"—a limit on the price of fuel—in Germany.  To hear more from Giulio, you can follow him on Twitter: @giulio_mattioli. He also has a recent book chapter out on transport poverty and car dependence. Co-hosted by Ted (@ted_knudsen) and Michelle (@shhellgames). Produced by Isaac Würmann (@wuermann). -- Thank so much to everyone who has already started supporting us on Patreon! We'll still be publishing full-length episodes twice monthly available on our main podcast feed, but Patreon supporters will also get access to a couple bonus episodes per month. It's a tough time out there so we totally understand if you don't have the capacity to support right now, but if you're able we'd really appreciate you becoming a subscriber. All the details here: www.patreon.com/spassbremse Follow Spaßbremse on Twitter (@spassbremse_pod). Music by Lee Rosevere. Art by Franziska Schneider.