Common Ground Berlin

Berlin is ranked as one of the three unhappiest states in Germany. What role does a shortage of therapy play? And is there a way to get around that shortage if you need help? Guest host Eden Brockman explores the accessibility and quality of mental health care in Berlin and across Germany with Jöran Mandik , host of Get Help Berlin, and Berlin-based psychologist Irene Joubert . Also featuring Gus...

The number of people who are out of work in Germany increased by more than expected in February 2024 to more than 2.7 million as the slowdown in Europe’s largest economy bears down on the labor market. That translates to the highest jobless rate across Germany since 2021, with Berlin being one of two German cities where it’s the worst. But is there actually a shortage of jobs? And what can people...

Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson and senior producer Dina Elsayed untangle the landmark reform to Germany’s citizenship law with guests: Jan Schneider, deputy managing director of The Expert Council on Integration and Migration and head of its research unit; Gökçe Yurdakul, Georg Simmel Professor of Diversity and Social Conflict at Humboldt University in Berlin and director of the Berlin Institute of M...

Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson discusses the role of overseas voting in the 2024 U.S. primaries and why you should care, even if you aren’t a U.S. citizen, with guests:  Constance Chucholowski, chairman of the Berlin chapter of Democrats Abroad; Jeremy Shapiro, research director of the European Council on Foreign Relations,  Gary Schmitt, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

It’s been two years since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a war that is not going well for Kyiv at the moment. The war has killed and wounded a half million people and sent millions of Ukrainians fleeing to the West. Some 60,000 of them live here in Berlin.  Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson and Senior Producer Dina Elsayed update you on what’s happening in Ukraine and what it means to...

Everyone has an opinion of BER, and many of them aren't kind: Passengers recently ranked it 19th of 20 airports in Germany, which suggests it still isn’t the airport of our dreams. In this episode, host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson spoke on Feb. 6, 2024 with urban planner Dieter Faulenbach da Costa , who first helped plan BER and later often criticized it. We also hear about the latest improvements in t...

When we think of Franz Kafka, it’s usually about his books and short stories. But Kafka Band founder and Czech author Jaroslav Rudiš  and world renowned Irish composer Gerald Barry say the noise-averse author influences today’s music, too.  Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson and Senior Producer Dina Elsayed bring you their interviews that are part of the “Zeitgeister on Air” project, our joint collaborat...

Join host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson and senior producer Dina Elsayed who interview TV personality and Kafka sleuth Kathi Diamant, in San Diego; National Library of Israel archivist Stefan Litt in Jerusalem , and figurative abstract artist Marianne Kolb in Sacramento on how Franz Kafka changed their lives and why the iconic author who died 100 years ago is still so relevant today. The interviews are p...

Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson and Senior Producer Dina Elsayed share key moments, personal insights and a look ahead as Common Ground Berlin kicks off its 2024 season. Featuring German Comedian Christian Schulte-Loh; Iranian-American Comedian and Actor Maz Jobrani; Renae Watchman, who is an indigenous studies professor and co-author of “Indianthusiam,” and the late US Ambassador to Germany John Korn...

What Gen-Zers think of the United States is definitely not how their parents and grandparents view Germany’s important ally. So can student exchange programs help improve transatlantic relations?     Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson and Senior Producer Dina Elsayed talk with the German Marshall Fund’s Gesine Weber and Niklas Ebert, as well as Knut Moeller of AJA, a Berlin-based, umbrella organization f...

Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson interviews NPR icon and All Things Considered co-host Mary Louise Kelly as well as Kamal Nasir Hamyar , an Afghan journalist who was part of an on-air project the Germans helped create to ease Afghan mistrust of the West after the Taliban were ousted from power in Afghanistan in 2001. Produced by Dina Elsayed

Rents in “poor, but sexy” Berlin continue to skyrocket as the inventory of apartments remains low. But buying a home may not be the answer, either. Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson explores whether the German capital’s housing crisis can be solved with Wibke Werner, director of the Berlin Tenants’ Association and Konstantin Kholodilin, senior researcher and housing expert at the German Institute for Ec...

Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson of Common Ground Berlin and Rachel Tausenfreund of the German Marshall Fund of the United States host a powerful and international conversation about the invasion of Gaza and its consequences with guests: Menachem Klein, a political scientist in Jerusalem and former advisor to the Israel-PLO final status talks. Palestinian-American journalist Hebh Jamal in Mannheim. Senior P...

Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson and her guests, AFP correspondent Deborah Cole and Comedian Josh Telson tackle a variety of topics including Berlin and U.S. political follies, climate protests and rising costs of beer. This episode was recorded live at Noisy Rooms on Oct. 14, 2023 and produced by Dina Elsayed. 

It was a time of jubilation when East and West Germany became one country again in 1990, with Berlin as its capital. But the honeymoon quickly wore off and to this day, divisions fester. Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson talks with journalist and historian Katja Hoyer, author of Beyond the Wall , and award-winning producer Joerg Winger , co-creator of Deutschland 83 and Sam: A Saxon, about why Germans a...

This is the second of three episodes by Common Ground Berlin and Goethe Institute commemorating a century of German radio by bringing you stories from influential and interesting broadcasters worldwide who have had a lasting effect on radio. Senior Producer Dina Elsayed walks down the nostalgic memory lane and discovers how to keep the passion for radio alive with Emmy-and-Peabody winning screenwr...

The German Bundestag passed a controversial measure in September to reduce emissions from heated buildings, which accounts for an estimated 15 percent of Germany’s carbon dioxide output. But will this and other strategies of the German government to transform energy production and consumption help Germany reach its climate goals?  In this latest Transatlantic Takeaway episode recorded as world lea...

The first of three episodes by Common Ground Berlin and Goethe Institute commemorating a century of German radio by bringing you stories from influential and interesting broadcasters worldwide who have had a lasting effect on radio.  Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson delves into the triumphs, challenges and childhoods of American radio icon Steve Inskeep of NPR, U.K. community radio expert Keri Jones an...

#Beer is a staple of German culture and in partnership with the Checkpoint Charlie Foundation, host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson and senior producer Dina Elsayed explore the debate over the restrictive “#Reinheitsgebot” or purity law that beers in Germany are expected to abide by versus popular #craft beers by brewers eager to try new things. Adding to tensions is that brewers in Germany are struggling...

The government of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz recently announced plans to protect the public from AI misuse in the foreseeable future, but critics complain the time for action is now, especially when political actors like the far-right Alternative for Germany are using artificial intelligence to spread hatred and misinformation. Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson and senior producer Dina Elsayed delve...

Artificial Intelligence is proving to be a useful tool to Republican frontrunner and former president Donald Trump. But the Biden administration and Congress are struggling to regulate AI technology, a catch-up game similar to the one they’ve had with social media. Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson went to San Francisco to talk to Common Sense Media CEO Jim Steyer about what steps are needed when it com...

German polls suggest that if elections were held today, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) would garner more votes than most of the country’s mainstream parties, including those in the governing coalition. That has some politicians rethinking their “firewall” against the populist faction and whether it makes sense to partner with the AfD on local issues.   Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson talk...

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his cabinet recently unveiled their country’s long-awaited national security strategy, the first since World War II. Co-hosts Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson and Rachel Tausendfreund explore whether this strategy is groundbreaking as its proponents claim and the impact on Germany’s allies and enemies. This week’s guests are Michal Baranowski , senior fellow and managing di...