Talking Europe: The UCL European Institute podcast

In this episode, we talk about one of the most fundamental things in all our lives: food. How can food help us understand culture, identity, and history? How does food bring people together in dark times? How has Ukraine’s status as a major global exporter of food been affected by the war? We discuss all these questions and more with two brilliant food writers - Olia Hercules and Felicity Spector....

This episode of Talking Europe focuses on a unique literary project that underscores the enduring cultural ties between the UK and the rest of the European continent: the interactive, online European Literary Map of London devised by University College London's European Institute. Highlighting London’s relevance for European culture and in particular for European writers. Dr Uta Staiger Director o...

In this episode of our podcast 'Talking Europe', Hayley Anderson, one of our 2024-25 Student Ambassadors, sits down with Ciara Broderick, the UCL 2025 European Literary Map of London Writer in Residence. Their conversation delves into Ciara’s journey as a writer, her experiences settling into London, and the creative process behind her upcoming short story for the Literary Map. Together, they expl...

How can we speak and write about war? What role does silence play in this process? What does it mean for people and places to survive war? We discussed these questions and more with two brilliant writers, Maria Tumarkin and Yuliya Musakovska, whose works have interrogated war and trauma in uncompromisingly honest and perceptive ways. For more information, visit our webpage: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/e...

In this episode, we explore the industrial regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. From 2014 until 2022, this was where Russia focused its war of aggression against Ukraine, killing and uprooting thousands of people. Russia claimed these regions were culturally and historically Russian, but history, and the people of these regions themselves, tell a different story: the majority consider themselves Ukrain...

Russia has attempted to repress and destroy Ukrainian statehood and identity over two centuries. In this episode, we trace the historical roots of Russia’s current aggression to imperial myths from the early 19th century, and look at how these myths have resurfaced repeatedly over time. We explore the most recent wave of violence through the tragic story of Victoria Amelina, a Ukrainian writer who...

Russia’s aggression against Ukraine began not in 2022, but in 2014, with the invasion and occupation of Crimea. This episode explores Crimea’s significance as a strategically important nexus between east and west, between Europe, Russia and the Middle East, and as an integral part of Ukraine historically, politically and culturally. The focus of our discussion is Rory Finnin’s book Blood of Others...

A soundscape commissioned as part of the UCL European Literary Map of London project, featuring voices reading texts about London written by European writers across the centuries in a variety of original languages and in English translation.

In conversation with Olivia Scher, our European Literary Map of London Writer-in-Residence Joanna Elmy and writer, artist and director, Larisa Faber Larisa Faber talk about London: journeys, languages, writing and cultures. This episode explores central themes of identity, belonging, and how London shapes and is shaped by its rich tapestry of stories. European Literary Map of London: https://www.u...

Allan Sikk, Associate Professor in Comparative Politics at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London, and Philipp Köker, Lecturer Political Science at Leibniz University Hannover join ‘Talking Europe’ to discuss their new book on political parties, how they change, and what this has to do with the people who make them up. Party People: Candidates and Party Evoluti...

European Literary Map: Ion Codru Drăguşanu read in Romanian by Oana Borlea-Stancioi by Talking Europe: The UCL European Institute podcast

European Literary Map: Ion Codru Drăguşanu read in English by Oana Borlea-Stancioi by Talking Europe: The UCL European Institute podcast

European Literary Map: Elif Shafak read in English by Olivia Scher by Talking Europe: The UCL European Institute podcast

European Literary Map: Hans Christian Andersen read in Danish by Vincent Rasmussen by Talking Europe: The UCL European Institute podcast

European Literary Map: Hans Christian Andersen read in English by Vincent Rasmussen by Talking Europe: The UCL European Institute podcast

European Literary Map: Hector Berlioz read in English by Yanis Fekar by Talking Europe: The UCL European Institute podcast

European Literary Map: Hector Berlioz read in French by Yanis Fekar by Talking Europe: The UCL European Institute podcast

European Literary Map: Susanna Alakoski read in English by Annika Lindskog by Talking Europe: The UCL European Institute podcast

European Literary Map: Susanna Alakoski read in Swedish by Annika Lindskog by Talking Europe: The UCL European Institute podcast

European Literary Map: Susanna Alakoski read in English by Annika Lindskog (East End) by Talking Europe: The UCL European Institute podcast

European Literary Map: Susanna Alakoski read in Swedish by Annika Lindskog (East End) by Talking Europe: The UCL European Institute podcast

European Literary Map: Pavel Vilikovský read in Slovak by Dr Tim Beasley-Murray by Talking Europe: The UCL European Institute podcast

European Literary Map: Pavel Vilikovský read in English by Dr Tim Beasley-Murray by Talking Europe: The UCL European Institute podcast

European Literary Map: Karel Čapek read in English by Tim Beasley-Murray by Talking Europe: The UCL European Institute podcast

European Literary Map: Karel Čapek read in Czech by Dr Tim Beasley-Murray by Talking Europe: The UCL European Institute podcast