Common Ground Berlin

The EU’s Digital Services Act - What does it mean for Big Tech and for YOU? Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson is joined by Alexandra Geese, Member of the European Parliament with the German Greens; Travis Todd, co-founder of Berlin’s startup community Silicon Allee; Mackenzie Nelson, researcher and project manager at AlgorithmWatch, and Lina Rusch, a journalist with Der Tagesspiegel who writes about digital politics and artificial intelligence.This show was produced by Dina Elsayed and Monika Müller-Kroll.

The pandemic has wreaked havoc on people’s travel plans and decimated the tourism industry and airlines. The German government’s guidance on travel is ever-changing and often confusing, making business and leisure travel difficult at best. With a new coronavirus wave erupting in Germany, across Europe and in parts of the US, will we see more border closures and quarantine rules? Or can increased testing help save holidaymakers’ fall and winter plans?Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson is joined by Volker Adams, the head of government affairs at the German Travel Association (DRV); Christian Tänzler, a spokesman for visitBerlin, the city’s official tourism service and Elizabeth Becker, an award-winning journalist and author of “Overbooked: The Exploding Business of Travel and Tourism.” This show was produced by Sylvia Cunningham.

What many people feel about the upcoming U.S. presidential election can be described in one word: Fear. Some worry there won't be a peaceful transition of power following the vote next month. Others wonder whether democracy and women’s rights in the United States will radically change with a new Supreme Court. There is also anxiety over U.S. foreign policy, and the tone of the recent presidential debate only added to global uncertainty. Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson is joined by John Emerson, former U.S. Ambassador to Germany; Kathryn Watts, Pendleton Miller Chair in Law at the University of Washington School of Law in Seattle; Peter Beyer, Germany’s Transatlantic Coordinator; and Ralph Freund, Vice President of U.S. Republicans Abroad in Germany. This show was produced by Dina Elsayed.

Is it safe to be Jewish in Germany? Should German authorities be doing more to stop rising anti-Semitism? Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson is joined by Germany's Federal Commissioner for Jewish life and against anti-Semitism Felix Klein; Sigmount Koenigsberg of the Jewish Community of Berlin; Sharon Kuckuck of Berlin’s Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom and Biplab Basu of ReachOut Berlin, who debate these questions one year after the deadly Halle attack and discuss how to reverse the trend.Produced by Dina Elsayed

Frustration is high in Berlin over the rights of cyclists vs. drivers. But what about the rights of Berlin’s pedestrians vs. cyclists? We explore that fraught relationship and other human-powered, sustainable mobility conflicts in Berlin on the third episode of Common Ground with guests Carolina Mazza of ADFC (German Cyclists Association), Roland Stimpel of FUSS e.V. (Organization for Pedesterian Protection of Germany), Alena Büttner of the German Environment Agency and Dirk von Schneidemesser of Changing Cities e.V.Produced by Dina Elsayed

When Google announced plans to open a campus in the Berlin neighbourhood of Kreuzberg, local opposition was so loud that it ground the tech giant’s plans to a halt. A similar wave of protests hit Friedrichshain earlier this year against Amazon’s plans to erect a 140 meter-tall office building.In this episode, host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson is joined by Nina Monaghan, the vice-chairwoman of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg; Yonatan Miller, co-founder of the Berlin Tech Workers Coalition, and freelance journalist and activist John Malamatinas. This show was produced by Dina Elsayed and hosted by Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson.

John F. Kennedy’s “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech was embraced by an overwhelming majority of city residents nearly six decades ago. But these days, there’s a lot of disagreement over who gets to call themselves a Berliner as the German capital rapidly evolves into an international city with immigrants from around the globe.In the hour-long premiere of “Common Ground”, host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson is joined by a panel made up of Berlin politicians Sawsan Chebli and Christian Gräff, “Der Alte Ami” – DJ Rik de Lisle, and Maxim Gorki Theater Director Shermin Langhoff.This show was recorded live on Sept. 7, 2020 and produced by Dina Elsayed. 

“Common Ground” is a 30-minute radio show airing weekly on 104.1 FM, KCRW Berlin.  The one-hour premiere airs on Sept. 10, 2020.The show, hosted by former NPR international correspondent Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, aims to bring people together on sensitive issues, existential questions and flashpoints to find mutual understanding, compromise and solutions.In this short preview, we share a little about the background of the show, what it's about, and preview the one-hour premiere that is airing on Thursday, September 10. You're invited to attend the taping of the first show, live, via Zoom, on September 7, 2020. Visit our website to sign up. www.kcrwberlin.com/commonground.