The Europeans | European news, politics and culture
Katy Lee and Dominic Kraemer
The Europeans is a fresh and entertaining weekly podcast about European politics and culture, recorded each week between Paris and Amsterdam with fascinating guests joining from across Europe. This multiple award-winning podcast fills you in on the major European politics stories and other European news of the week, as well as fun and quirky nuggets that have been missed by most media outlets.
Hosted by Katy Lee, a journalist based in Paris, and Dominic Kraemer, an opera singer in Amsterdam, The Europeans covers everything from elections and climate policy to the best new European films and TV shows. We also produce investigative podcasts about everything from the European farming lobby to oat milk. Yes, oat milk.
Katy and Dominic are old friends, and the warmth and intimacy of their conversations will soon make you feel like you’ve known them a long time too. They approach topics with a light and humorous tone that makes The Europeans stand out from other European news podcasts, while remaining journalistically rigorous and meticulously fact-checked. The Europeans has been recommended by The New York Times, The Guardian, Buzzfeed, The Financial Times, and many other outlets.
Katy Lee, a British-French reporter, has written for major outlets including The Guardian, Politico Europe, Agence France-Presse (AFP), Foreign Policy and The New Statesman for more than a decade, covering French and European politics and more recently, climate change. Dominic Kraemer, a British-German opera singer, performs across Europe when he is not co-hosting The Europeans, with roles recently at the Staatsoper in Berlin, the Dutch National Opera and the Münchener Biennale. The Europeans’ team is completed by producers Katz Laszlo in Amsterdam and Wojciech Oleksiak in Warsaw. You’ll hear them joining Katy and Dominic from time to time, particularly during investigative episodes like ‘The Oatly Chronicles’ and ‘The Big-Agri Bully Boys’.
The Europeans’ breezy, informal approach to covering European news has won awards such as a Covering Climate Now award for an episode about the Swiss women who sued their government at the European Court of Human Rights demanding more climate action; Germany’s prestigious CIVIS Media Prize for ‘Mohamed’, an episode that explores the everyday life of a young undocumented man in Amsterdam; and best LGBTQIA+ short at the MiraBan UK Film Awards for ‘Josh and Franco’, the coming-of-age story of a father and son, both gay.
Our guests have included everyone from major figures in European politics such as Alexander Stubb, now the President of Finland, and Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament, to star chefs Asma Khan and Christian Puglisi, celebrated illustrator Christoph Niemann, and environmentalist George Monbiot. Since launching in 2017, we’ve talked about everything from elections in France, Italy and many more countries besides, to the politics of halloumi cheese in Cyprus, to why Donald Trump is so hard for TV interpreters to translate.
We pride ourselves on covering European politics, European news and European culture from a pan-European perspective. You’ll often hear stories on The Europeans from parts of the continent that don’t usually receive enough attention from major international media outlets, especially Central, Eastern and Southern Europe.
You might enjoy The Europeans if you also enjoy one of these other podcasts: The News Agents, On the Media, Today in Focus, Inside Europe, The Journal, EU Confidential, The Daily, The Globalist, Reasons to be Cheerful, The Media Show, Power Play, and The New Statesman. Whether you’re already a European news nerd, or simply someone who’d like to be better informed about what’s happening across Europe, The Europeans is the podcast for you.
Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/europeanspodcast
Hosted by Katy Lee, a journalist based in Paris, and Dominic Kraemer, an opera singer in Amsterdam, The Europeans covers everything from elections and climate policy to the best new European films and TV shows. We also produce investigative podcasts about everything from the European farming lobby to oat milk. Yes, oat milk.
Katy and Dominic are old friends, and the warmth and intimacy of their conversations will soon make you feel like you’ve known them a long time too. They approach topics with a light and humorous tone that makes The Europeans stand out from other European news podcasts, while remaining journalistically rigorous and meticulously fact-checked. The Europeans has been recommended by The New York Times, The Guardian, Buzzfeed, The Financial Times, and many other outlets.
Katy Lee, a British-French reporter, has written for major outlets including The Guardian, Politico Europe, Agence France-Presse (AFP), Foreign Policy and The New Statesman for more than a decade, covering French and European politics and more recently, climate change. Dominic Kraemer, a British-German opera singer, performs across Europe when he is not co-hosting The Europeans, with roles recently at the Staatsoper in Berlin, the Dutch National Opera and the Münchener Biennale. The Europeans’ team is completed by producers Katz Laszlo in Amsterdam and Wojciech Oleksiak in Warsaw. You’ll hear them joining Katy and Dominic from time to time, particularly during investigative episodes like ‘The Oatly Chronicles’ and ‘The Big-Agri Bully Boys’.
The Europeans’ breezy, informal approach to covering European news has won awards such as a Covering Climate Now award for an episode about the Swiss women who sued their government at the European Court of Human Rights demanding more climate action; Germany’s prestigious CIVIS Media Prize for ‘Mohamed’, an episode that explores the everyday life of a young undocumented man in Amsterdam; and best LGBTQIA+ short at the MiraBan UK Film Awards for ‘Josh and Franco’, the coming-of-age story of a father and son, both gay.
Our guests have included everyone from major figures in European politics such as Alexander Stubb, now the President of Finland, and Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament, to star chefs Asma Khan and Christian Puglisi, celebrated illustrator Christoph Niemann, and environmentalist George Monbiot. Since launching in 2017, we’ve talked about everything from elections in France, Italy and many more countries besides, to the politics of halloumi cheese in Cyprus, to why Donald Trump is so hard for TV interpreters to translate.
We pride ourselves on covering European politics, European news and European culture from a pan-European perspective. You’ll often hear stories on The Europeans from parts of the continent that don’t usually receive enough attention from major international media outlets, especially Central, Eastern and Southern Europe.
You might enjoy The Europeans if you also enjoy one of these other podcasts: The News Agents, On the Media, Today in Focus, Inside Europe, The Journal, EU Confidential, The Daily, The Globalist, Reasons to be Cheerful, The Media Show, Power Play, and The New Statesman. Whether you’re already a European news nerd, or simply someone who’d like to be better informed about what’s happening across Europe, The Europeans is the podcast for you.
Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/europeanspodcast
Episodes
Mentioned books
Feb 12, 2020 • 29min
What just happened in Ireland?
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.
We're doing a survey to work out how to make the podcast better! If you've got 5 minutes to spare, we'd love to hear your thoughts. You can take part here.
We also have a competition this week, courtesy of our friends at our favourite European concert venue chain Liveurope! We have three pairs of free tickets to see the brilliant Charlotte Dos Santos in Copenhagen, Brussels and London in March. For a chance to get their hands on them, tag us in a tweet or Instagram post letting the world know you listen to The Europeans!
Thanks for listening.
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Feb 5, 2020 • 31min
How the hell do you make an EU law?
We've been wondering how on earth the European Union makes laws for 27 countries at once. Producer Katz Laszlo went to the beach to find out.
This is the last episode in our mini-series Bursting the Bubble, explaining how the EU works in the least boring way possible.
Huge thanks to the European Cultural Foundation for funding this series. They support projects that promote Europe as an open and democratic space. Thank you also to the amazing Patreon supporters who keep this show running, and to The Europeans' tote bag designer and beach trash collector Rosa ter Kuile.
Written and produced by Katz Laszlo, with help from Katy Lee and Dominic Kraemer.
Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Patreon | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Jan 22, 2020 • 24min
Fanya and the Forest
This week, Katy heads to the forest in Lithuania. Ahead of International Holocaust Memorial Day on January 27, we're talking about memory politics with a formidable 97-year-old.
This is the last podcast in our mini-series Postcards from Europe, featuring intimate portraits of lives and places across the continent. It was made possible by the European Cultural Foundation, who support initiatives that rethink Europe as an open and democratic space.
This podcast was written, produced and edited by Katy Lee, with help from Sonia Zhuravlyova, Dominic Kraemer and Katz Laszlo. Voiceover by Haya Vardy. Music provided by Moni Ovadia, Yad Vashem and Blue Dot Sessions. Artwork by La Kingsbeer.
Thanks for listening.
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europeanspodcast.com | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Jan 15, 2020 • 29min
Why are monarchies still a thing in Europe?
Monarchies might seem out of date on a continent that prides itself on its democratic values, but nearly a third of Europeans still live in countries that have them. This week the drama in the British royal family finally convinced Katy to lift her ban on the topic. She and Dominic are joined by Bob Morris — constitutional expert at UCL and co-editor of a forthcoming book comparing European monarchies — to talk about why the royals are still a thing in the 21st century. Plus, flight-shaming, Federer-shaming, and Hungary's quest for a baby boom.
Fancy a postcard from Paris or Amsterdam? Chip in to our Patreon fund before the end of the month! Thanks to the amazing donors who are already keeping this show running: patreon.com/europeanspodcast.
Thanks for listening.
Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Jan 8, 2020 • 26min
A fisherman goes to Brussels
This week, a story that puts the romance back into European policy negotiations. What does a ninth-generation Catalan fisherman have to do with a law that affects an entire continent? Quite a lot, it turns out.
This is the third in our series of original reported podcasts, Postcards from Europe, featuring intimate portraits of lives and places across the continent. It was made possible by the European Cultural Foundation, who support initiatives that rethink Europe as an open and democratic space.
This podcast was written, produced and edited by Katz Laszlo. Editing and production assistance from Katy Lee, Dominic Kraemer and Valentina Vivona. Voiceover by Kike Molares. Music by Martí Batalla i Busquets and Blue Dot Sessions. Artwork by La Kingsbeer. With thanks to the Tarridas family, Alfons Garrido and our amazing Patreon supporters.
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Dec 17, 2019 • 21min
A bar in Budapest
In Budapest, going out for a drink can be a political act. For the final episode of 2019, Dominic takes us to Auróra, a very special bar at the heart of the fightback against Hungary's authoritarian government.
This is the second in our new series of original reported podcasts, Postcards from Europe, featuring intimate portraits of lives and places across the continent.
This series was made possible by the European Cultural Foundation, who support initiatives that rethink Europe as an open and democratic space.
Thank you also to our generous Patreon supporters and to Budapest band Jü for the music you heard in this episode.
Looking for the infamous Instagram pics of police officers posted outside the bar? You can find them here. Happily, Gyuri says they haven't had to post on the account for two months.
Reporter and producer: Dominic Kraemer. Assistant producer: Philip Pollak. Editors: Katz Laszlo and Katy Lee. Artwork: La Kingsbeer.
Thanks for listening. We'll see you in 2020!
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Dec 10, 2019 • 26min
What’s going on in Malta?
“There are crooks everywhere you look now," Malta's top investigative journalist wrote on her blog in 2017. "The situation is desperate.” Half an hour later, Daphne Caruana Galizia was dead. The fallout from her murder has now tipped Malta into a full-blown political crisis. Ranier Fsadni, columnist for The Times of Malta and The Shift, is on the line to help us untangle the situation. Also this week: ancient wood transportation and the slashing of Danish art.
Thanks to our generous Patreon supporters for keeping the show going. You can chip in at patreon.com/europeanspodcast, or leave us a review to help other people find us.
Thanks for listening.
Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Dec 3, 2019 • 28min
President of the European what now?
This week we travel to the heart of the continent to ask: who is Ursula, and should you give a damn about her?
This special episode was made with help from the European Cultural Foundation, who support projects that promote Europe as an open and democratic space.
Liked the show? Please leave us a review or help keep us going by chipping in to our Patreon fund at patreon.com/europeanspodcast.
Thanks for listening.
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Nov 26, 2019 • 29min
Europe’s colonial past and present
Europe's museums are facing growing calls to give back treasures stolen during the colonial era. But what about colonial hand-me-downs that can be found in ordinary households? Elliot Ross, who covers Everyday Colonialism for The Correspondent, is here to explain why this ugly part of our past is still very much a part of our present. We're also talking about a scandal that has been rocking Iceland and nuggets of good news for the planet.
You can follow Elliot on Twitter here and check out his work for The Correspondent here.
Thanks for listening! If you like the show, please leave us a review to help other people find us!
And if you're feeling extra generous, you can chip in to our Patreon fund to help us keep the show running at patreon.com/europeanspodcast.
Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | hello@europeanspodcast.com
Nov 19, 2019 • 21min
Postcards from Europe: Herstedvester
For this special episode, we're taking you inside Herstedvester, a maximum-security prison in Denmark.
Herstedvester houses prisoners with serious mental health issues, as well as those who are considered a danger to others. Lene Bech Sillesen went to meet some inmates who are facing a choice with drastic consequences.
This is the first in our new series of original reported podcasts, Postcards from Europe, featuring intimate portraits of lives and places across the continent. It was made possible by the European Cultural Foundation, who support initiatives that rethink Europe as an open and democratic space.
A note on this week's show: we do not explore the inmates' crimes in this episode. Our aim is not to vindicate them, but we want to show what life is like for Greenlandic prisoners in the Danish penal system. That said, if you or people close to you have been affected by serious crime in Greenland, you might want to skip this episode.
Hosts: Dominic Kraemer and Katy Lee. Reporter and producer: Lene Bech Sillesen. Editor: Katz Laszlo. Voice actors: Peter Frederik Olsen and Vivi Nielsen. Artwork by La Kingsbeer.
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