The world needs more drag cows

The world needs more drag cows

Author: Katy Lee and Dominic Kraemer January 23, 2025 Duration: 47:30
In an otherwise miserable week, this podcast is delighted to bring you a joyful interview with a drag cow. At least, an interview with the person behind the cow: the Swiss artist, performer and animal rights activist Daniel Hellmann. We chat to Daniel about why he decided to channel his campaigning side into something so wonderfully silly. We're also talking about a trigger-happy Croatian politician and Ursula von der Leyen's return from hospital.    Thanks for listening! If you enjoy our podcasts, we'd love it if you'd consider supporting our work in 2025. You can chip in to help us cover the weekly research and production of The Europeans at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/europeanspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (many currencies are available), or gift a donation to a super fan here.    You can follow Soya the Cow here and find out more about Daniel's work here.    This week's Inspiration Station recommendations: 'The Outrun', Danish spruce cookbook 'Mad med gran', and European TikTok.    Other resources for this episode 

'Što društvo može napraviti da spriječi porast nasilja?' (What can society do to prevent the rise in violence?') - HRT, January 16, 2025 https://vijesti.hrt.hr/hrvatska/otvoreno-659-11963849
'A Brit Explains Wagatha Christie To An American' - Bustle, October 19, 2023 https://www.bustle.com/entertainment/wagatha-christie-explained-by-a-brit-to-an-american   Producers: Morgan Childs and Wojciech Oleksiak  Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina   00:23 An (attempted) orange-man free zone
03:08 Good Week: Ursula von der Leyen
10:32 Bad Week: Croatia's government
21:40 Interview: Daniel Hellmann (Soya the Cow) on the case for joyful activism
39:05 The Inspiration Station: 'The Outrun', 'Mad men gran', and European TikTok
44:23 Happy Ending: A social network making a good decision, for once?!   Bluesky | Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | 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
Cold water, warm hearts [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:00
As the winter chill sets in, throngs of Europeans are heading each week to the nearest pond, lake or coastline to dunk themselves voluntarily in freezing cold water. Cold swimming has centuries of history on this contine…
The manosphere, the 'TikTok messiah', and 132 hamsters [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:29
We've got a heady mix of Romanian politics, online misogyny and animal-based chaos for you this week. Friend of the show Andrei Popoviciu joins us to explain why his dad and many other voters backed the TikTok-fuelled ca…
Has Donald Tusk fixed Poland? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 57:23
It's been a year since Donald Tusk took power, filling liberals and progressives in Poland with hope as eight years of rightwing populist rule came to an end. But how much has Tusk's coalition really improved things? Thi…
The perils of standing up to Iran from Europe [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:30
From Turkey to France and the UK, Iranians who've challenged the regime at home have often sought safety in Europe. But how safe are these dissidents, really? This week we speak to Fariba Nawa, host of 'Lethal Dissent',…
A special announcement from The Europeans [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 15:55
Producers Katz and Wojciech join Katy and Dominic for a very special announcement from The Europeans. We’re incredibly excited to make this series for you. Please help us turn it into a reality! Sign up to support this p…
Is this the end of Georgia's European dream? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:03
Georgia's pro-Russian ruling party claims to have won last weekend's election — a fraudulent election, according to a mounting pile of evidence. A country that was once on the path to EU membership is now veering much cl…
Naughty, naughty Switzerland [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:53
Wine fraud, migration policy and climate litigation: there's something for everyone this week. Back in April, Switzerland's government lost a groundbreaking European court case and was ordered to rewrite its climate poli…
Russia's mysterious sabotage campaign [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:56
Arson, vandalism, attacks on NATO vehicles: around Europe, mysterious acts of sabotage have been multiplying. And there's a pattern: the perpetrators were recruited on Telegram via accounts linked to Russian agencies. Th…
Using grandma to make people cry about climate change [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:27
Why is it so hard to talk about climate change in a way that actually makes us... feel something? This week, our producer Katz Laszlo talks to an Icelandic writer who manages against the odds to do just that: Andri Snær…