Mussolini, testicles, and the Schengen zone

Mussolini, testicles, and the Schengen zone

Author: Katy Lee and Dominic Kraemer September 19, 2024 Duration: 41:00
Last week we brought you geopolitics, this week we're bringing you testicles. Why has male contraception remained such an underground idea, despite decades of research? We speak to Paul Labourie, one of a growing number of men (in the francophone world at least) who are turning to DIY contraception devices to take on more of the responsibility in their relationships. We're also talking about the crackdown on Germany's borders and a surprise move by Mussolini's granddaughter.    Paul is a journalist and photographer based in Brussels. You can find his website here and follow him on Instagram here. You can read Paul's article about heat-based contraception for VICE Belgium here and find out more about Samuel Flambard's workshops here.   This week's Inspiration Station offerings: 'Another Round' and 'The Gullspång Miracle' (available here via the BBC and here via DR).    Thanks for listening! If you enjoy our podcast, we'd love it if you'd consider chipping in a few bucks a month at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/europeanspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (many currencies are available). You can also help new listeners find the show by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠leaving us a review⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or giving us five stars on Spotify.      00:23 Not sponsored by any kind of nasal irrigation device
03:02 Good Week: Standing up to the far-right in Italy
09:50 Bad Week: The Schengen Zone
21:19 Interview: Paul Labourie's primer on thermal contraception
35:19 The Inspiration Station: 'Another Round' and 'The Gullspång Miracle'
38:38 Happy ending: Fewer screens, more desserts  

Producers: Morgan Childs and Wojciech Oleksiak 
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina

 

Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Threads⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mastodon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠hello@europeanspodcast.com⁠

 

Every week, Katy Lee and Dominic Kraemer sit down to untangle the stories shaping the continent, moving beyond the headlines to find the human threads within European news, politics, and culture. Their conversations feel like joining two well-informed friends who are genuinely curious, offering clarity on complex political shifts in Brussels one moment and diving into a compelling film from Berlin or a novel from Lisbon the next. This isn't about dry analysis; it's about understanding the forces that define daily life from Dublin to Sofia. In this The Europeans podcast, you'll hear interviews with policymakers, artists, and everyday people, all contributing to a richer, more nuanced picture of a region in constant motion. The tone is engaging and accessible, designed for anyone who feels that Europe's narrative is too often reduced to stereotypes or institutional jargon. By weaving together current affairs with deeper cultural trends, each episode builds a more complete and surprisingly relatable portrait. If you've ever wanted to feel more connected to the ideas and debates circulating across the Channel and beyond, this is a consistent and thoughtful guide.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

The Europeans | European news, politics and culture
Podcast Episodes
Is real change coming to Serbia? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:08
Serbia’s government has come under intense pressure since a deadly disaster at Novi Sad’s main railway station last November. Student-led protests have spiralled into a nation-wide resistance movement and for months, Ser…
Hungary's plight, kids' rights, and Spargelzeit [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:59
Asparagus, lesbian family rights and Viktor Orbán’s latest power plays: like all good meals, this podcast episode is perfectly balanced. German food writer Ursula Heinzelmann joins us to explain the ‘Spargelzeit’ phenome…
What the hell just happened in Romania (and at Eurovision)? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:09:10
Romania, Poland, Portugal... and of course, most importantly of all (?), Eurovision. It's been a huge week of voting across Europe! This week we're mostly diving into Romania's election drama with Codruţa Simina, a journ…
Europe, an unfinished love story [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 17:53
This week, a not-so-classic 'girl meets boy' story. Başak Layic, storyteller extraordinaire, reflects on what the European Dream looks like from the outside. This story was recorded live at SPUI25 in Amsterdam as part of…
Is a pregnant nun about to crash Poland's election? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:12:58
In theory, the government's guy looks set to win Poland's presidential election, making life a hell of a lot easier for Donald Tusk as he attempts to undo eight years of destructive authoritarian rule under the previous…
How to make sense of Europe's place in the world right now [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:52
The world is in flux. What's Europe's place in it, exactly? This week, we're bringing you something different: a big, sprawling conversation with leading European historian Timothy Garton Ash. Can anything good come from…
Hungary's Pride crackdown, Ukrainian sleuths, and 158 barrels of poop [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:06:27
We've got a veritable smörgåsbord for you this week on The Europeans, from human rights in Hungary to the sorry tale of two Danish sustainability influencers whose eco-resort business went spectacularly wrong. We discuss…
Inside Europe: Exploring Grief [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:31
We're away this week, but you're in good company: our friends at Deutsche Welle (DW), Germany's international broadcaster, are here to fill in for us. On this special edition of DW's weekly podcast Inside Europe, the tea…
Tesla, Turkey, and unnecessary trash [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:46
We're taking the Schadenfreude approach to the chaos that Trump's tariffs have unleashed upon Europe (and the rest of the world). This week, our favourite Luxembourger Nina Lamparski joins Dominic to explain why sales of…
Rockets, recipes and Le Pen(itentiary) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:30
Marine Le Pen has been banned from running for the French presidency after this week's bombshell court ruling finding her guilty in a huge embezzlement case. But does she have any chance of a comeback? And could the far-…