

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

May 6, 2019 • 32min
Bananadrama
This week, a celebration of the quintessential Renaissance man: yes, it's opera singer Dominic Kraemer with an interview about CHEMICAL ELEMENTS. We're also marking the 500th deathday of some guy called Leonardo who was similarly talented in both the arts and sciences.
In Poland, the art world has gone bananas; in Spain, there's life in socialism yet; and British chemist and YouTube sensation Martyn Poliakoff is here to explain why he wants to turn the periodic table upside down, literally.
In a week when we won a big prize, we want to say thanks more than ever for listening. Particularly huge thanks go to our Patreon supporters. If you want to throw a dollar or so into the tip jar, you can do so at patreon.com/europeanspodcast.
Beat Polish censorship by watching Natalia LL's work here. Love it? Hate it? Let us know:
Twitter.com/EuropeansPod
Instagram.com/europeanspodcast
Facebook.com/europeanspodcast
europeanspodcast@gmail.com

Apr 30, 2019 • 33min
Happy Birthday Bauhaus!
This week, European cultural greats past and present. We discuss the good, the bad and the Bauhaus with the American painter Henry Isaacs, who grew up surrounded by many of the key figures from the legendary German art school that marked its 100th birthday this month. And Katy chats to Kurt Overbergh, artistic director of the Ancienne Belgique music venue, about new sounds, immigration and the return of Turkish psychedelia.
In Brussels? Come and see Katy at this great event at the Ancienne Belgique on May 7!
Thanks for listening. If you have a euro or more to throw in the tip jar, the more the merrier at patreon.com/europeanspodcast. You can also help other listeners find the show by leaving us a review here.
Twitter.com/EuropeansPod
Instagram.com/europeanspodcast
Facebook.com/europeanspodcast
europeanspodcast@gmail.com

Apr 22, 2019 • 28min
Lyra
This week a brilliant young journalist was shot dead in Northern Ireland, on the 21st anniversary of the Good Friday peace agreement. The senseless death of Lyra McKee is a reminder of a conflict that most in the country have put behind them. Her friend, the writer Susan McKay, is here with a very moving tribute to a remarkable person.
Also this week: a rebellion in London, rising from the ashes in Paris, and the magnificent species that is the European honey bee.
You can follow Susan on Twitter here. Many thanks to BBC Radio Foyle in Derry for recording Susan's tribute for us.
Thanks for listening. If you have a euro or two a month to spare, you can help support the show at patreon.com/europeanspodcast.com.
And if you fancy writing a (flattering) review on Apple Podcasts, you can do so here.
See you next week, Europe.
Twitter.com/EuropeansPod
Instagram.com/europeanspodcast
Facebook.com/europeanspodcast
europeanspodcast@gmail.com

Apr 15, 2019 • 29min
Disinformation Wars
No, European governments are not handing out 'brothel vouchers' to immigrants; and no, the EU is not trying to ban bendy cucumbers. Euro-myths are as old as the union itself, but with elections just around the corner, setting the record straight feels more important than ever. This week's guest is on the frontlines of the fight against disinformation: Jules Darmanin, the coordinator of a new continent-wide band of fact-checkers. Plus: Julian Assange, Swiss democracy, and the world's greatest neighbours.
You can find the Fact Check EU website here in 11 beautiful languages.
That nice article about our former guest Flavia Kleiner that Dominic was talking about is here, and the Swiss podcast episode that Katy was raving about is available here.
Huge thanks to the incredibly generous people helping us to keep this show running with their donations. You can chip in at patreon.com/europeanspodcast.
Thanks for listening.
Twitter.com/EuropeansPod
Instagram.com/europeanspodcast
Facebook.com/europeanspodcast
europeanspodcast@gmail.com

Apr 8, 2019 • 26min
Nice One, Slovakia
This week, a little glimmer of hope from central Europe in the form of a new Slovakian president who refuses to fight dirty. And a little glimmer of the future in the form of our guest, bionic woman and tech journalist Mimi Billing, one of a growing number of Swedes to have got themselves... microchipped? Plus: Russian whale jails, a decades-old French mystery, and germs at the opera.
Follow Mimi on Twitter here and read her great article about Swedish body-hacking here!
And for more on Slovakia's badass president-elect Zuzana Čaputová, there's no better place to start than the latest episode of the In Between Europe podcast hosted by our former guest Zselyke Csaky, which you can check out here.
A massive thanks to our growing army of Patreon supporters for keeping the show going. You can chip in at patreon.com/europeanspodcast.
See you next week, and in the meantime, see you online!
Twitter.com/EuropeansPod
Instagram.com/europeanspodcast
Facebook.com/europeanspodcast
europeanspodcast@gmail.com

Mar 26, 2019 • 32min
Political Tinder
This week, like so many other weeks, it's been easy to take a look at the world and think: how did things get so polarised? Ahead of the European elections, the battle lines are already being drawn: nationalists vs globalists, liberals vs conservatives. But a fascinating project is trying to get Europeans from across the political spectrum to actually sit down and talk about their differences. Sebastian Horn, the deputy editor of Die Zeit online, is on the line from Berlin to explain the thinking behind the Europe Talks project. Plus: changing populist fortunes from Budapest to Amsterdam, and the mathematics of soap bubbles.
Sign up to take part in Europe Talks here.
Thanks so much to our listeners who've donated on Patreon! Every little helps and we're hugely grateful for the support. You can chip in at patreon.com/europeanspodcast.
Thanks for listening.
Twitter.com/EuropeansPod
Instagram.com/europeanspodcast
Facebook.com/europeanspodcast
europeanspodcast@gmail.com

Mar 19, 2019 • 30min
MEGALITHS!!!!
After the week it's been, we could all do with a break from the present. This week, we're venturing into Europe past -- about six thousand years ago, to a time when mysterious stone structures were springing up all around the continent. Today we call them megaliths, and there's a lot we still don't know about them. But one woman has been on a quest to work out how these extraordinary monuments spread around Europe. Archaeologist Bettina Schulz Paulsson is on the line from Gothenburg to talk about how early Europeans were exchanging knowledge and culture a good few millennia before the EU was invented. Also: a reverse art heist, a blow for the anti-vaxxers , and how to say no to big business.
Thanks so much to the new supporters who joined our Patreon this week! You can help us carry on making the show by chipping at https://www.patreon.com/europeanspodcast.
Thanks for listening.
Twitter.com/EuropeansPod
Instagram.com/europeanspodcast
Facebook.com/europeanspodcast
europeanspodcast@gmail.com

Mar 12, 2019 • 34min
A taste of the nuclear apocalypse
This week The Europeans are heading underground to the nearest bunker. Julie McDowall, Cold War writer and expert on all things atomic, is on the line from Glasgow to talk about how different countries in Europe planned for nuclear war and what it’s like to visit Chernobyl, three decades after the disaster. We also talk about the woman shaking up Estonian politics, questionable ethics in Italian opera, and Slovenian sandwiches.
You can check out Julie’s excellent podcast The Atomic Hobo here and follow her on Twitter here.
Thanks so much to the new supporters who joined our Patreon this week! You can help us carry on making the show by chipping at https://www.patreon.com/europeanspodcast.
Thanks for listening.
Twitter.com/EuropeansPod
Instagram.com/europeanspodcast
Facebook.com/europeanspodcast
europeanspodcast@gmail.com

Mar 5, 2019 • 37min
They / Them / Theirs
This week we're talking about transgender rights in Europe with the author and activist CN Lester, whose wonderful book Trans Like Me gets its mainstream paperback release on Thursday. And on a continent where young people mostly stayed at home for the last elections, Mick ter Reehorst calls in to explain why he's launched a new campaign, #ProveThemWrong, to get out the youth vote in May. Plus: winter bacon, sticking it to the homophobes, and a mile-high culture clash between France and the Netherlands.
Check out CN's work at cnlester.com!
Get the youth vote out at provethemwrong.eu!
And watch this great video about women getting the vote in Switzerland!
Thanks so much to everyone who's started chipping in to our Patreon fund. Help us keep the show going at patreon.com/europeanspodcast.
Thanks for listening.
🇪🇺
Twitter.com/EuropeansPod
Instagram.com/europeanspodcast
Facebook.com/europeanspodcast
europeanspodcast@gmail.com

Feb 25, 2019 • 31min
The brands that Karl built
This week, the kid from Hamburg who grew up to become one of the most powerful forces in global fashion. Karl Lagerfeld built not one but three hugely successful brands. After his death last week at the age of 85, we're exploring the flaws, quirks and legacy of this complicated man with the help of Fiachra Gibbons, culture editor at Agence France-Presse and long-time observer of 'the Kaiser'. We also discuss Europe's rising problem with anti-Semitism, some good news for Serbia's gay first couple, and how to make it big in Finland.
Thanks to everyone who's started chipping in to our Patreon fund! Help us keep the show going at patreon.com/europeanspodcast.
Thanks for listening.
🇪🇺
Twitter.com/EuropeansPod
Instagram.com/europeanspodcast
Facebook.com/europeanspodcast
europeanspodcast@gmail.com