Avsnittssammanfattning
Europe is getting bigger, and so, it seems, are its problems. This week, Katy gives us a report from her home country of France, which for weeks has been embroiled in protests, some of which have brought significant destruction to French buildings and businesses. What began as a series of student demonstrations in early September has grown into a movement that has captured France’s growing anger over its government and the cost of living – grievances that are being echoed in similar protests across many other European countries as well. Amidst the chaos, some of us have wondered: would a bigger EU be a better EU? To think through the implications of EU expansion, we’re joined this week by Tinatin Akhvlediani, head of the EU Enlargement Programme at the Centre for European Policy Studies. There’s no better person to unpack what EU enlargement would mean for candidate countries and potential candidates, and for the bloc more broadly. (You don’t become known as Tina Enlargement for nothing.) Have questions…
Europe is getting bigger, and so, it seems, are its problems. This week, Katy gives us a report from her home country of France, which for weeks has been embroiled in protests, some of which have brought significant destruction to French buildings and businesses. What began as a series of student demonstrations in early September has grown into a movement that has captured France’s growing anger over its government and the cost of living – grievances that are being echoed in similar protests across many other European countries as well. Amidst the chaos, some of us have wondered: would a bigger EU be a better EU? To think through the implications of EU expansion, we’re joined this week by Tinatin Akhvlediani, head of the EU Enlargement Programme at the Centre for European Policy Studies. There’s no better person to unpack what EU enlargement would mean for candidate countries and potential candidates, and for the bloc more broadly. (You don’t become known as Tina Enlargement for nothing.) Have questions…
Avsnitt
Where do France's protesters go from here?
LyssnatEurope is getting bigger, and so, it seems, are its problems. This week, Katy gives us a report from her home country of France, which for weeks has been embroiled in protests, some of which have brought significant destruction to French buildings and businesses. What began as a series of student demonstrations in early September has grown into a movement that has captured France’s growing anger over its government and the cost of living – grievances that are being echoed in similar protests across many other European countries as well. Amidst the chaos, some of us have wondered: would a bigger EU be a better EU? To think through the implications of EU expansion, we’re joined this week by Tinatin Akhvlediani, head of the EU Enlargement Programme at the Centre for European Policy Studies. There’s no better person to unpack what EU enlargement would mean for candidate countries and potential candidates, and for the bloc more broadly. (You don’t become known as Tina Enlargement for nothing.) Have questions…
Pedro Sánchez's biggest gamble yet
LyssnatEurope is in chaos, but we’re here to talk about it all, as long as the wifi holds out! This week, we’re chatting about Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s call for a snap election in light of his country’s recent housing demonstrations and a host of other controversies roiling Madrid. Please note: this podcast was recorded before news broke on Wednesday night of the death of Maricarmen Abascal, the 87-year-old whose eviction sparked Spain’s massive housing protests. We’re also discussing Russia’s decision to cancel Kanye West’s sold-out concerts in St Petersburg – and various scripts you can borrow if a racist antisemite wants to play a concert in YOUR country. And ahead of Friday’s announcement of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner, we’re joined by Haakon Gjerløw, acting director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo, to try to make sense of this controversial prize and who deserves to win it in 2026. Honestly, now feels like a really great time to give peace a chance. Speaking of reasons to get the…
Can Europe save the world from the AI apocalypse?
LyssnatWhen it comes to the future of AI, we – like seemingly everyone else – have way more questions than answers. Could European legislation do anything to protect us from job losses and “rogue” models? Can the chatbots created on this continent compete with those being developed by the US and China? What would it mean to win (or lose) the “AI race”? And most importantly: how doomed are we? We put those questions and more to Aleksandra Przegalińska, a Polish AI researcher and philosopher and a fellow at the Center for Labor and a Just Economy at Harvard Law School. Aleksandra is one of the most engaging and entertaining voices we know on this topic, and we walked away from this conversation feeling… dare we say… hopeful? We hope you’ll feel the same. For most of a decade, small donations from listeners like you have made it possible for us to continue making this fully independent weekly podcast. You can help us ring in our 10-year anniversary next year – and support another decade of non-boring news – by joining…
Why are Europeans so bad at imagining the future?
LyssnatWhen it comes to envisioning the future, what’s your type? The Positive? The Negative? The Uncertain? The Disconnected? No, these aren’t characters in a pop group or a teen movie – they’re the four ways of imagining a European future. So says Paweł Zerka of the European Council on Foreign Relations, a three-peat guest and true Friend of the Podcast. Paweł is back once more to walk us through this year’s European Sentiment Compass, “Future Nostalgia: Europe’s Unfinished Song”. Come for the Dua Lipa reference, stay because you’re a polling nerd like the rest of us. We’re also talking about British lawmakers’ quest to figure out why the UK does quite so badly at Eurovision and what the seizure of Nestlé and Auchan’s Russian assets says about the Kremlin’s finances. You can read this year’s European Sentiment Compass – which is, like us, supported by the European Cultural Foundation – and have fun categorising yourself here. FREE ON MONDAY NIGHT? Join Katy and Paweł for discussion and documentary-watching in…
Hooray for normalised boredom!
LyssnatThis week, we’re attempting to solve some tricky problems. How can the EU tackle the ballooning housing crisis? Can we revive a cinema industry on death’s door? And how on earth can we get bureaucrats to communicate like human people in order to really, truly get something done? We’re unpacking plans for a new Affordable Housing Act and Macron’s attempt to save le cinéma, and we’re also getting an exclusive from the EU’s Directorate General of Memes, Satire, and Sober Fun, a.k.a. Fabio Mauri, the meme-maker who loves nothing more than to poke fun at Europe’s policymakers on Twitter and Instagram. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, et cetera. GET IN ON THE ACTION. Don’t just listen – get in on the fun! Did you know that just a small monthly donation to The Europeans helps us keep the good time rolling? AND… Did you know that that small monthly donation comes with cool perks? So much fun! Check us out at patreon.com/europeanspodcast and see what’s cookin’. You can also make a donation via our website. This week’s…