Inside Europe

Azerbaijan, Russia and Turkey… who’s allied with whom? Radical countryside – are innocuous sounding rural meetings hiding a darker agenda? Plus all the latest on Czechia’s hottest infrastructure debate. Then: welcome to a glorious European summer, complete with river diving, bears, camper vans, and traditional alcoholic beverages. Seeding Reparations research link: https://linktr.ee/seedrep &maca=...

In this special edition, we take a break from the news to explore grief as a lens for understanding global events and as a force for social change. Author Sarah Jaffe joins host Kate Laycock to unpack how personal and communal loss – from COVID-19 and Hurricane Katrina to deindustrialization – shape politics, protests and solidarity. A powerful journey through mourning, memory and hope.

A press freedom special with Georgian journalist Tamar Kintsurashvili on the worsening situation for media workers in the country gripped by protests. Also: Natalia Belikova, international lawyer at Press Club Belarus, on how Belarusian exile journalists are fairing. Then, Olga Rudenko, editor-in-chief of the Kyiv Independent, talks about the situation for journalists during the war in Ukraine.

30 years since Srebrenica, Hanno Hauenstein on why language matters when reporting on Gaza, Global Rights Compliance President, Wayne Jordash KC, on gathering war crimes evidence in Ukraine, PKK fighters disarm, and a personal account of Kosovo’s past and present.

More mayors under arrest in Turkey, and press freedom takes centre stage at the DW Global Media Forum. Later in the show: spotlight on journalists in the post-Soviet space, from pens to protest: a portrait of the Italian cartoonist Gianluca Costantini, and what can Germany learn from Estonia when it comes to digitalisation? ++ Check out Gianluca's drawings: https://www.channeldraw.org/ ++&maca=en-...

A protest special as we look at recent events in Budapest and Belgrade - two cities experiencing mass-scale demonstrations in defiance of strongman leaders. And, as the UK parliament votes to proscribe Palestine Action, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights outlines his concerns.

A NATO Summit special with the view from Turkey, France, Spain and The Netherlands, Security Correspondent Teri Schultz answering listener questions from The Hague and Political Correspondent Thomas Sparrow on Friedrich Merz’s foreign policy gamble. Then: Sami rights, Bezos in Venice and Ye in Bratislava.

An “Alternative Economies” special, featuring concrete examples of European experiments with rethinking business as usual… ranging from the reformist, to the downright radical.

“We took democracy for granted…. don’t make the same mistake!”: an interview with Klára Dobrev MEP, leader of Hungary’s Democratic Coalition Party and former Vice President of the European Parliament. Plus: the cost of climate change, Valencia after the floods and rebuilding quake-struck Hatay.

Political earthquakes in Poland and the Netherlands, France’s crypto entrepreneur kidnappings, Russia doubles down on traditional gender roles, Ian Urbina feels the pull of the ocean, a haven for migrants near Rome’s central station, and the uplifting story of the Spanish Refugee National Football Team.

Released RFE journalist Alsu Kurmasheva on her colleague Farid Mehralizada, who is facing a 12 year prison sentence in Azerbaijan. We meet some of the young people on trial in Turkey following the recent crackdown on dissent, and take a look at the Franco-US relationship in the run up to D-Day.

On the show this week: Poland’s presidential elections reveal a country on a knife-edge, Exercise Hedgehog in Estonia and the Baltics’ hybrid warfare fears. Plus a Hungarian spy ring, Icelandic intrigue, Swiss bunkers, and Syrians returning home from Europe. A security special packed with stories from the frontlines of Europe’s shifting geopolitics.

Romania goes to the polls in the final round of high-stakes presidential elections, Albania's Edi Rama sails to victory once again, and the PKK disbands. Later: Pope Leo XIV, Russian volunteers help Ukrainians in Armenia, Eurovision attempts a reset in politically neutral Switzerland, and an adult toy craze that’s perhaps more “constructive” than most…

Germany’s new chancellor gets off to a bumpy start. Is Google helping Turkey to strangle independent media? And Malta is forced to abandon a lucrative business model. Then a VE Day Special: Nathalie Tocci on Europe, a look at Britain and France’s “coalition of the willing”, and a very personal tour of synagogues in the Netherlands.

Light in the dark - how people came together during Spain’s energy blackout, plus a very special story of faith, loss and renewal on the ancient Catholic pilgrimage known as “the way”. Later in the show: Could Rome’s colosseum be considered the antecedent to modern day reality TV? And what can the world learn from the Swedish concept of “lagom”?

Kate's away this week, so we're sharing another podcast we love: The Europeans. They've got a veritable smörgåsbord in this episode, from human rights in Hungary to the sorry tale of two Danish sustainability influencers whose eco-resort business went spectacularly wrong. Plus, how an army of volunteer online sleuths is helping Ukraine use open-source intelligence to fight back against Russia.

On this special edition of DW's Inside Europe, we take a break from the news to explore grief as a lens for understanding global events. Author Sarah Jaffe joins host Kate Laycock to unpack how loss—from COVID to deindustrialization—shapes politics, protest, and our shared humanity. A powerful journey through mourning, memory, and hope.

A coalition deal is reached in Germany, France sees opportunities in US academic flight, Turkey’s opposition change tack, and Slovakia gets tough on bears. Also on the show: an iconic opera house fights for survival amidst Berlin’s culture cuts, plus a conversation with Patrick Strickland, author of ‘You Can Kill Each Other After I Leave: Refugees, Fascism, and Bloodshed in Greece.’

Hungary announces it will withdraw from the ICC, Berlin moves to deport four foreign national Gaza protesters, and a French court finds Marine Le Pen guilty of embezzlement. Also: Why aren’t European leaders finding tougher words on Turkey? Can Europe really go it alone? Who will save Radio Free Europe? All that, plus the craziest spy story you ever heard!

Focus on Turkey: on-the-ground reporting and an interview with celebrated journalist-in-exile, Can Dündar. Also: French-Algerian relations, the German Green-Card holder caught up in Trump's immigration crackdown, the record-breaking new Olympics boss, the Democratic Odyssey project, and a brand-new town square.

France's answer to Starlink, North Macedonia's deadly nightclub fire and Germany's break with austerity. All that plus the longest tram in the world, protests in Serbia and Hungary and a star-turn from 100 year old actor and activist, Thelma Ruby.

Environmental lawyer Svitlana Romanko spotlights the role of fossil fuels and minerals in the war in Ukraine. Meet Russian activists still defying authoritarianism after 25 years. Marking 50 years since Franco’s death stirs political tensions in Spain, while German coalition talks raise questions about migration and civil rights. Plus, Latvia’s refugee treatment and Italy’s backyard chicken trend.

War and peace: as Europe braces for an unprecedented rearmament drive, in Turkey, the PKK prepares to lay down its weapons. We’ll also be finding out why Serbian politicians got literal egg on their faces this week, as well as meeting a Spanish photo journalist determined to bring dignity and recognition to the marginalised and forgotten.

Germany after the election: What do the results mean? And how is this playing out with economic decline in the once proud home of Volkswagen? With the third anniversary of the war in Ukraine, we reflect on the relationship between Ukraine, Brussels and Washington. Also, myth busting about Russia's war in Ukraine, a war memorial in Spain and Jehovah's Witnesses facing Russian persecution.

We hit the streets of Berlin this week for an action-packed German Elections Special! Join host, Kate Laycock and political correspondent, Thomas Sparrow, as they tiptoe through the German Parliament buildings, relax in Berlin’s most famous political hang-out, gatecrash a TV news studio, and look back on some defining moments of German political history.