Common Ground Berlin

Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson and Senior Producer Dina Elsayed share key moments, personal insights and a look ahead as Common Ground Berlin kicks off its 2024 season. Featuring German Comedian Christian Schulte-Loh; Iranian-American Comedian and Actor Maz Jobrani; Renae Watchman, who is an indigenous studies professor and co-author of “Indianthusiam,” and the late US Ambassador to Germany John Kornblum, among others.Music: “A Thought” and “Gentle Chase” by Podington Bear. “Rodolfo’s Death” by Livio Amato.“Latin” by Crowander“Lemoncholy” by Tea K Pea"Nine Count" by Blue Dot Studios.Produced by Axel Scheele

What Gen-Zers think of the United States is definitely not how their parents and grandparents view Germany’s important ally. So can student exchange programs help improve transatlantic relations?    Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson and Senior Producer Dina Elsayed talk with the German Marshall Fund’s Gesine Weber and Niklas Ebert, as well as Knut Moeller of AJA, a Berlin-based, umbrella organization for long-term youth exchange programs in Germany, and with Christian Andersch of YFU – Germany. This episode is brought to you by Checkpoint Charlie Foundation and was produced by Axel Scheele.

Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson interviews NPR icon and All Things Considered co-host Mary Louise Kelly as well as Kamal Nasir Hamyar, an Afghan journalist who was part of an on-air project the Germans helped create to ease Afghan mistrust of the West after the Taliban were ousted from power in Afghanistan in 2001.Produced by Dina Elsayed

Rents in “poor, but sexy” Berlin continue to skyrocket as the inventory of apartments remains low. But buying a home may not be the answer, either. Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson explores whether the German capital’s housing crisis can be solved with Wibke Werner, director of the Berlin Tenants’ Association and Konstantin Kholodilin, senior researcher and housing expert at the German Institute for Economic Research in Berlin.Produced by Dina Elsayed.

Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson of Common Ground Berlin and Rachel Tausenfreund of the German Marshall Fund of the United States host a powerful and international conversation about the invasion of Gaza and its consequences with guests:Menachem Klein, a political scientist in Jerusalem and former advisor to the Israel-PLO final status talks.Palestinian-American journalist Hebh Jamal in Mannheim.Senior Policy Fellow Hugh Lovatt of the European Council on Foreign Affairs in London. German journalist Hanno Hauenstein in Berlin.Recorded on Oct. 31, 2023.Produced by Dina Elsayed. 

Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson and her guests, AFP correspondent Deborah Cole and Comedian Josh Telson tackle a variety of topics including Berlin and U.S. political follies, climate protests and rising costs of beer.This episode was recorded live at Noisy Rooms on Oct. 14, 2023 and produced by Dina Elsayed. 

It was a time of jubilation when East and West Germany became one country again in 1990, with Berlin as its capital. But the honeymoon quickly wore off and to this day, divisions fester. Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson talks with journalist and historian Katja Hoyer, author of Beyond the Wall, and award-winning producer Joerg Winger, co-creator of Deutschland 83 and Sam: A Saxon, about why Germans are still at odds.This episode was produced by Dina Elsayed.  

This is the second of three episodes by Common Ground Berlin and Goethe Institute commemorating a century of German radio by bringing you stories from influential and interesting broadcasters worldwide who have had a lasting effect on radio. Senior Producer Dina Elsayed walks down the nostalgic memory lane and discovers how to keep the passion for radio alive with Emmy-and-Peabody winning screenwriter Anna Winger (Deutschland 83, Transatlantic), ‘Der Alte Ami’ Rik de Lisle, and audio journalist Lulu Garcia-Navarro. 

The German Bundestag passed a controversial measure in September to reduce emissions from heated buildings, which accounts for an estimated 15 percent of Germany’s carbon dioxide output. But will this and other strategies of the German government to transform energy production and consumption help Germany reach its climate goals? In this latest Transatlantic Takeaway episode recorded as world leaders discuss climate change at the UN General Assembly in New York, hosts Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson of Common Ground Berlin and Rachel Tausendfreund of the German Marshall Fund interview Sven Egenter, editor in chief and executive director of Clean Energy wire in Berlin and Max Gruenig, senior policy advisor in Washington, D.C., focusing on US-EU climate diplomacy for independent climate change think E3G.Dina Elsayed produced this episode.