

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

Mar 16, 2018 • 29min
March 6: Don’t put salt on every snail
Hello Europe! Your favourite continental podcast is back with everything from salted snails to middle-fingered salutes on the menu. Dominic's been walking on thin ice and Katy's been cocooning; there's good news for Angela Merkel and bad news for press freedom in Slovakia. Eckard Helmers is on the line from Germany to explain why Europe fell in love with diesel cars even though they're poisoning our air. And we're talking English — literally — with Marko Modiano, a linguistics expert in Gävle, Sweden, about how the language is taking on a life of its own in Europe.
Don't forget to review, rate and subscribe! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
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Twitter: @EuropeansPod
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Mar 1, 2018 • 28min
BONUS EPISODE: ALEXANDRA PASCALIDOU
Our first ever bonus episode! We enjoyed our conversation in this week's show with Alexandra Pascalidou so much that we're sharing the whole thing with you. Raised by Greek parents in a working-class Stockholm suburb, Alexandra went on to become a prominent journalist in Sweden. But along with the job came the threats: years and years of horrific threats from neo-Nazis who didn't like the way she stood up for multi-culturalism.
Last year, something unexpected happened: a former neo-Nazi got in touch to confess he had tormented her for years, and to say he was sorry. And Alexandra did something even more unexpected: she decided to meet up with her former tormentor for coffee.
Katy and Dominic rang Alexandra in Stockholm to discuss her remarkable decision to forgive Martin, and why Sweden needs to take its neo-Nazi threat much more seriously. But along the way they also talk about national identity, the Eurovision song contest, and what it means to be European.

Feb 26, 2018 • 35min
Feb 27: Making peace with the wolves
Who's afraid of the big bad wolf? Not Alexandra Pascalidou. The Greek-Swedish journalist did something that would scare many of us: after years of threats from neo-Nazis, she invited one of them for a cup of coffee. Alexandra gives us a masterclass in forgiveness — and stay tuned later in the week for a bonus episode featuring her full conversation with The Europeans.
But first, actual wolves. After Belgium saw its first in a century, we're taking a look at how different countries across the continent are dealing with 20,000 of the proud predators — and our guest Max Rossberg of the European Wilderness Society argues we need a total rethink.
Plus: the monster of Brussels, a monstrous week for Britain's Jeremy Corbyn, and some less monstrous news to cheer us up at the end.
Thanks for listening, and don't forget to leave us a review on iTunes if you enjoyed the show!
Twitter: @EuropeansPod
europeanspodcast.com
europeanspodcast@gmail.com

Feb 19, 2018 • 31min
Feb 20: Olympic gold, Dominic is old, Katy has a cold
We've got two birthdays to celebrate this week. Independent Kosovo is officially 10, and your host Dominic Kraemer is officially old. Congrats to both!
As Kosovo marks 10 years since declaring independence from Serbia, we give our man in the Balkans Andrew MacDowall a call to explain the challenges that lie ahead for Europe's youngest country. Meanwhile, Katy's been huddling under a duvet in Paris with a cold this week -- a great excuse to obsess over the Winter Olympics, not least that amazing Scottish invention, curling. Team Finland's Oona Kauste is on the line all the way from South Korea with a staunch defence of the sport against allegations that it 'looks weird', and how she manages to juggle the Olympics with her career as a hairdresser and make-up artist.
Plus: out and proud LGBT Olympians, happy news for German commuters, and political truth, Dutch-style. Oh, and a mysterious Finnish tongue-twister. Anyone that solves the mystery gets a gold medal of their very own.
We're

Feb 12, 2018 • 32min
Feb 13: Mi kidney, su kidney
Hello from Paris and Amsterdam! Since we’ve seen a huge rise in listeners this week (welcome!) we’re in a giving mood, so we’re talking about organ donation. As countries across Europe weigh up how to save the most lives, transplant ethicist Greg Moorlock is on the line from Birmingham, England to discuss why Spain sees so many more donations than Germany and whether or not the Netherlands should make giving up our kidneys an ‘opt-out’ affair. And Ania Jakubek in Warsaw is back to explain what’s going on with Poland’s new Holocaust law. Plus: a good (ish) week for Angela Merkel, and a bad one for French fashion designer Christian Louboutin and his famous red-soled shoes.
Thanks so much for the lovely reviews you’ve been writing — it’s not too late to add another to help people find the podcast across Europe and beyond! https://t.co/2qmA739cYh
Check out our website: https://europeanspodcast.com/
Follow us on Twitter: @EuropeansPod

Feb 6, 2018 • 30min
Feb 6: Build your own Europe, baby
This week on The Europeans, two interviews about building things from scratch. We speak to in-house IKEA designer Sarah Fager in Älmhult, Sweden, about the philosophy that drove the company’s late founder Ingvar Kamprad to take over the world with his flatpack furniture. And in Milan, Andrea Venzon is on the line to give us the lowdown on the new pan-European political movement he’s just set up, Volt. Plus: gassed monkeys, dabblings in erotica by Jean-Claude Juncker, and a whole lot of oranges.
Dominic and Katy are delighted that The Europeans has been listed by the British Podcast Awards in their Podwatch newsletter as one of the top five podcasts that will change your perspective! Join the 40,000 people signed up to their email updates here.
In the meantime, a special thanks for helping to spread the word about the podcast. We'd love it if you could leave us a review on iTunes so we can get it plugged into every ear in Europe: https://t.co/M6OuFyn7kk. For more info, v

Jan 29, 2018 • 30min
Jan 30: Trawlin’, Ballin’, Fallin’
A war between France and the Netherlands over fish (trawling), a beginner’s guide to waltzing in Vienna (balling), and a tragic ski accident (falling).
The Europeans comes to you from Amsterdam and Paris as always, but Katy and Dominic have both been in Austria this week and are taking a little inspiration from their (mis)adventures to delve into the traditions of the Viennese ball season. We’ve got devoted local fan Matthias Brandstetter on the line to run us through the do’s and dont’s of taking your first spin on the Viennese dance floor.
But first, to the sea! We speak to Pavel Klinckhamers from Greenpeace Netherlands about the controversial fishing technique that may have landed the hake on your plate and has French fishermen furious with their Dutch competitors.
Enjoying the show? We’d love it if you could leave us a review to help more listeners find us around Europe and beyond: https://t.co/M6OuFyn7kk | Twitter: @EuropeansPod | Insta: @

Jan 22, 2018 • 32min
Jan 23: Fake snus
Fake snus
The Europeans let loose discussing snus and fake news. German journalist Juliane von Reppert-Bismarck tells us all about her plans to teach school kids across Europe how to spot propaganda and media bias on the internet with her new project Lie Detectors. And we delve into the world of Scandinavian snus tobacco, illegal in most of the EU. For the first time, it’s more popular in Norway than cigarettes. But why? We find out from Kris Johansson in Oslo, and the author Christopher Snowdon is on hand to explain why this stuff is still banned around Europe despite growing evidence that it helps people quit smoking. Plus: news from Davos with the tiniest mention of T***p, and a weaponized sausage for dessert.
If you like The Europeans, help us spread the word! Write us a review on iTunes: https://t.co/M6OuFyn7kk
Twitter: @EuropeansPod
Insta: @europeanspodcast
https://europeanspodcast.com

Jan 15, 2018 • 31min
Jan 16: Translating Trump, Defending Deneuve
Your favourite plucky Parisian reporter and glamorous Amsterdam opera singer are BACK. Episode 6 is about two people with bouffant hair but little else in common: Donald Trump and Catherine Deneuve. We’ve got a great interview with the voice of Trump on German television, Franz Kubaczyk, and his fellow interpreter Leonie Wagener about the perils of translating the most unpredictable president in US history. And the French writer Agnès Poirier is on the line to discuss Deneuve’s controversial letter criticizing the #MeToo movement and what may have been lost in translation. Plus: fantastic plastic news and an unwelcome flashback from early-2000s pop.
Have Katy and Dominic won you over? Please loudly proclaim your love to Buzzfeed to help us get noticed! https://www.buzzfeed.com/scottybryan/podcasts-2018
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EuropeansPod | https://europeanspodcast.com
Email us: europeanspodcast@gmail.com

Jan 8, 2018 • 30min
Jan 9: The Dumbest Farmer Finds The Biggest Potatoes
Happy New Year, The Europeans are back! We’re kicking off 2018 by brushing up on our Luxembourgish, giving Nina Lamparski a call to find out why a language officially listed as endangered is making an unexpected comeback. And Georgi Gotev is on the line to talk about what we can expect from Bulgaria as the EU’s poorest country takes the helm as president for the next six months. We ask why a baby born in Bulgaria has a much lower life expectancy than one born in Spain; and there’s a feminist, vodka-flavoured happy ending for you. What more could you want from your favourite European podcast?
https://europeanspodcast.com | https://twitter.com/EuropeansPod


