Germany in Focus

In the first episode of our latest season, host  Rachel Loxton  is joined by The Local Germany journalists  Imogen Goodman  and  Aaron Burnett.  Our sound engineer is  Rhys Edwards. We start off by having a chat about a court case involving a company in Frankfurt who tried to get a rent reduction because they were bothered by their landlord sunbathing naked. Nake...

In the latest episode, host  Rachel Loxton  is joined by The Local Germany journalists  Imogen Goodman  and  Rachel Stern.  Our sound engineer is  Rhys Edwards. We start off by having a chat about the German government's new watered-down cannabis legalisation plan. Since we recorded the podcast, more details have emerged which you can find in this story: What you...

Become a member of The Local In the second part of our episode on immigration law reforms, host  Rachel Loxton  talks to Jan Dannenbring , the head of the department of labour law at the  German Confederation for Skilled Crafts , and Green member of the Bundestag,  Misbah Khan , who is a rapporteur on the law changes.  Our guests discuss the skilled worker s...

In the latest episode, host  Rachel Loxton  is joined by The Local Germany journalists  Imogen Goodman  and  Aaron Burnett. We start off by talking about some German Easter traditions, from egg painting to bonfires.  How to celebrate Easter 2023 in Germany We talk about the possibility of strikes over the long weekend, other disruption to travel and what we can expect...

In the latest episode, host  Rachel Loxton  is joined by The Local Germany journalists  Sarah Magill  and  Aaron Burnett. We start off by talking about some important changes happening in Germany in April, including updates on the €49 ticket and why people will likely see more money leftover in their wage slip after tax. The German tax changes coming into effect in April E...

In the latest episode, host  Rachel Loxton  is joined by The Local Germany journalists  Rachel Stern  and  Aaron Burnett. We start off by discussing what a 'megastrike' in Germany could look like. Since we recorded the podcast, unions have announced a nationwide transport strike on Monday March 27th.  German unions call major nationwide major transport strike on Monda...

In the latest episode, host  Rachel Loxton  is joined by The Local Germany journalists  Imogen Goodman  and  Aaron Burnett. We start off by talking about gun laws in Germany after a shooting in Hamburg.  German minister wants crackdown on gun laws after shooting We talk about why anyone - regardless of their gender - can now swim topless in Berlin's swimming pools, an...

In the latest episode, host  Rachel Loxton  is joined by The Local Germany journalists  Imogen Goodman  and  Aaron Burnett. We start off by talking about some key changes to know about this month in Germany, from youth travel tickets and train track upgrades to energy price caps. Everything that changes in Germany in 2023 Then we have a little chat about Germany's mild win...

In the latest episode, host  Rachel Loxton  is joined by The Local Germany editor  Rachel Stern  and journalist  Sarah Magill  as well as political analyst  Jessica Berlin. We start by talking about how Germany celebrated carnival this year and the significance of the culture across different regions.  Politics takes centre stage in Rosenmontag parades throu...

In the latest episode, host  Rachel Loxton  is joined by The Local Germany editor  Rachel Stern  and journalist  Aaron Burnett,  as well as jobs expert  Chris Pyak  and dating and relationships expert  Sami Wunder.  We kick things off by talking about the strikes hitting Germany and how they are affecting daily life, whether travel, post or childca...

In the latest episode, host  Rachel Loxton  is joined by journalists  Imogen Goodman  and  Aaron Burnett,  as well as political scientist  Florian Hartleb   and professor of sports management at the German Sport University in Cologne Sebastian Uhrich.     We start by talking about how communities in Germany are supporting victims after the dev...

In the latest episode, host  Rachel Loxton  is joined by journalists  Imogen Goodman  and  Aaron Burnett,  as well as experienced mortgage broker   Peter Kleinwächter from MLP Berlin and culture and history writer Mike Stuchbery.  Germany's €49 monthly transport ticket will start on May 1st. We discuss all the details we know so far, how the states are alrea...

In the latest episode, host  Rachel Loxton  is joined by journalists  Imogen Goodman  and  Aaron Burnett,  and writer and co-host of the  Decades from Home  podcast,  Nic Houghton.  A major news story this week has been Germany's reluctance to give the green light to send so-called Leopard tanks to Ukraine in the fight against the Russian invasion....

In the latest episode, host  Rachel Loxton  is joined by journalists  Imogen Goodman  and  Aaron Burnett,  and German teacher at the  Goethe Institut  Birgit Schneider.  We talk about why the German Defence Minister has stepped down - and who her replacement is.  German Defence Minister quits as pressure grows for Ukraine aid Attacks against emerge...

In the latest episode, host  Rachel Loxton  is joined by journalists  Sarah Magill  and  Aaron Burnett,  and German member of the Bundestag  Hakan Demir.  We start by talking about what the German words of the year tell us about Germany right now (and this exceptional year).  What do Germany's top 10 words of the year tell us? We then talk about some of...

In the latest episode, host  Rachel Loxton  is joined by journalists  Sarah Magill  and journalist  Aaron Burnett  as well as writer and researcher  Mike Stuchbery  and  Kumar Ashish,  who's a student originally from Nepal studying at the University of Oldenburg, and he heads up the the  Federal Union of International Students in Germany...

In the latest episode, host  Rachel Loxton  is joined by journalists  Imogen Goodman  and journalist  Aaron Burnett  as well as  Olga Kravchenko , a refugee from Donbas, Ukraine, based in Cottbus, eastern Germany.  We start off by discussing a major news story that broke this week about an alleged coup plot in Germany.   Who was involved in the alleged...

In this episode, host  Rachel Loxton  is joined by The Local Germany editor  Rachel Stern  and journalist  Imogen Goodman  as well as citizenship lawyer  Julie Schäfer . We start things off by talking about the  German tradition of Nikolaustag and Krampus. We then talk about the results of an InterNations survey that ranked Frankfurt second worst for expats...

In the latest episode,  Rachel Loxton  is joined by The Local Germany editor  Rachel Stern  and journalist  Aaron Burnett  as well as freelance journalist  James Jackson,  who covers Germany and central eastern Europe. We kick things off by talking about a  how Germans mark the Advent tradition in the run up to Christmas. We then talk about train disrup...

In the latest episode of Germany in Focus, host  Rachel Loxton  is joined by regular panelists  Sarah Magill  and  Aaron Burnett  as well as Germany sports correspondent for AFP,  Dan Wighton. We start off by talking about a  regional holiday in the eastern state of Saxony. We move onto breaking down how rising consumer prices are affecting daily life in Ger...

In the latest episode of Germany in Focus, host Rachel Loxton is joined by regular panelists Imogen Goodman and Aaron Burnett as well as historian and author Katja Hoyer.  The podcast team start off by talking about why November 9th is known as the "day of fate" in German history.  Why November 9th is a fateful day in German history  Then we hear t...

In the latest episode of Germany in Focus, host Rachel Loxton is joined by regular panelists  Imogen Goodman  and  Aaron Burnett  as well as  Anna Baatz,  who is part of the  Autofrei Berlin  campaign group, which is calling for a referendum on reducing the number of cars in a large part of the capital.  We talk about the unusually warm October, why it'...

JOIN THE LOCAL: Podcast listener offer __ In the newest episode of our podcast Germany in Focus, host  Rachel Loxton is joined by The Local journalists Imogen Goodman and Aaron Burnett  as well as culture and history expert Mike Stuchbery.  We start off by talking about some public holidays and other celebrations in Germany before we dig into one of the biggest news stories of the w...

In this week's Germany in Focus podcast, host Rachel Loxton is joined by The Local journalists Sarah Magill and Aaron Burnett and startup founder Constantin Weiss. Listen in as we chat about what a legal cannabis market could look like in Germany under initial proposals drawn up by the Health Minister. We also share with you the latest developments on the government's proposals to relax citizenshi...

In the latest episode of our Germany in Focus podcast, host Rachel Loxton is joined by The Local journalists Imogen Goodman and Aaron Burnett in Berlin, while writer Brian Melican joins us from Hamburg.  Listen in as we chat about the Covid-19 pandemic in Germany and how the government is preparing for autumn and winter with a new set of regulations . We break down what the rules are, and any...