Radio Free Europe

In which lessons are learned and observations are noted and there are announcements about the future of this podcast

In which we are transiting home and the notion of being half way away from home in any direction is explored in a city that has always been just such a place

In which a Miracle is explored, our cap is tipped to Christopher and Kenneth, our friend Vauban returns and there is a meditation on centuries-old contested ground

In which the legacy of young Australian men from nearly a century before us explored along with the land in which they fought and were buried.

In which we reflect upon the legacies of the Hanseatic League, Thomas Mann, Colm Toibin, trade, war, survival, preservation, progress and memory all on the edge of the Baltic Sea

In which the distinctiveness of the Hungarian people is explored along with the glory of their capital and the scars that it quietly bares as it stands at another historical turning point of its own

In which the spirit and identity of Poland is examined but its survival is unquestionable

In which Polish identity, The banality of evil, the monstrosity of the Holocaust and the continuity of a culture are considered

In which the centre of European history for 150 years is explored, as is the reunification of a city over nearly thirty years.

In which we discover that world “citification” cannot hide a city’s real identity, that sovereignty cannot be suppressed by the left or the right, that there will always be young men and women willing to give their lives for the freedom of others, & there is always a terrible price to be paid.

In which the beginning of the Romantic Road triggers thoughts of fortune, survival, faith, forgiveness, luck and pennance

In which a fairytale is glossed over in favour of the beautiful, the lived-in and the overlooked; and the meaning of confected and evolved fairytales are pondered.

In which a city built on water is explored, and there is room to breathe and to think even while the realties of climate change lap at the ankles of this city.

In which the eternal city is unearthed; the height of the world is pondered along with the depths of its history; mass tourism is endured where necessary but is best avoided when it is not; and the art of feeling like a local is explored.

In which we trace the echoes of the power and the glory of the Medici family across Europe and down through centuries; we celebrate the power of ideas, thought and expression; and we remember the importance of preserving and restoring what has gone before.

In which a fulcrum of European history is revealed; Kate Mosse is proved right, over and over; the power of history and the instinct of preservation and restoration is proven just as strong; as is the magic of contemporary exhibitionism

In which an ancient pilgrim trail is touched, modern pilgrims are met in wonder, the white city is beheld, and rain washes clean the heart

In which students are observed, history is strolled past, generations are reached across, learning survives and thrives, and some things do not change regardless of the era

In which the city of light is explored and interpreted

In which there is a solemn procession, octave ends, there is a castle, & we get very close to an Grand Duke

In which the death of Private John Parr and millions more after him are commemorated.

In which Rubens, Brueghel & Magritte are also the forshadawers of the European project in the centre of the European Union

In which the Menin Gate is closed and the missing are no longer missing.

In the which is experienced a city which has come to terms with itself and learned to live with the consequences of its beauty (including having an eponymous movie made about it)

A meditation on the extraordinary survival of the Ghent altarpiece and the allegory of the transformation of its host city, Ghent