Immigrants and their descendants account for a quarter of Germany’s population, but still have a hard time breaking into the political arena. Will any of that change this election year? Is the first-ever Syrian refugee candidate a good start? Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson talks with MP Aydan Özoğuz, a Social Democrat who was previously the federal commissioner for migration, refugees and integration and Andreas Wüst, a professor of political science and government at the Munich University of Appli...
Mar 21, 2021•40 min•Ep. 22
What accounts for the slow digitalization of Europe’s economic powerhouse? Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson explores Germany’s digital reality with Social Democratic MP Daniela Kolbe, who serves on the Artificial Intelligence Study Commission; MP Anke Domscheit-Berg, The Left party’s spokeswoman on the Digital Agenda parliamentary committee; and Philip Meissner, founder and head of the European Center for Digital Competitiveness at the ESCP Business School Berlin. This show is produced by Dina Elsaye...
Mar 14, 2021•35 min•Ep. 21
Affordable housing in German cities is increasingly hard to find. What went wrong and can it be fixed? Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson talks with Berlin housing activist Thomas McGath of Expropriate Deutsche Wohnen und Co; Barbara Steenberger, head of the EU Liaison Office of the International Union of Tenants and Konstantin Kholodilin, senior economist at the German Institute for Economic Research. Also featuring commentary by Berlin MP Iris Spranger (SPD). This show is produced by Dina Elsayed....
Mar 07, 2021•47 min•Ep. 20
Where are we in the fight to curb climate change? And will having Joe Biden as the U.S. president help? Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson talks to Douglas Hengel, senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund who writes about global energy, climate and resource challenges; Tim Gore, head of the Low Carbon and Circular Economy Program at The Institute for European Environmental Policy in Brussels, and co-founder of @fridaysforfuture.de Carla Reemtsma. This show is produced by Dina Elsayed....
Feb 28, 2021•37 min•Ep. 19
Feb 21, 2021•1 min
Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson talks to Juliane von Reppert-Bismarck, founder of the news literacy project Lie Detectors in Brussels; Lisa Dittmer, Reporters without Borders’ advocacy officer in Berlin for internet freedom; Damaso Reyes, multimedia journalist and founder of Clarify Media; and Jacob Mchangama, founder of the Copenhagen-based think tank Justitia. This show is produced by Dina Elsayed.
Feb 14, 2021•42 min•Ep. 18
The coronavirus vaccination efforts in Germany and the EU are a mess. Why are some countries so much better at getting people inoculated? Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson is joined by Die Welt Middle East Correspondent and author Christine Kensche in Tel Aviv; Wall Street Journal Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Yaroslav Trofimov in Dubai and ARD Radio Correspondent Helga Schmidt in Brussels. This show is produced by Dina Elsayed
Feb 07, 2021•43 min•Ep. 17
E-learning isn’t working the way many students, teachers and parents would like. Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson explores the ramifications with psychologist Dr. Ilka Wolter, diversity consultant and parent Annette von Wedel and Berlin teachers Ryan Plocher and Adrianne Oldham. This show is produced by Dina Elsayed.
Jan 31, 2021•37 min•Ep. 16
The California company's new facility in Brandenburg is set to open this summer, leaving Germany’s auto giants scrambling to retain their dominance in the global luxury car market. Common Ground host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson talks to Jens Hanefeld, who is in charge International and European Policy at Volkswagen, and Bloomberg Correspondent Stefan Nicola about the future of German electric cars. This show is produced by Dina Elsayed
Jan 24, 2021•33 min•Ep. 15
Unprecedented bans by the U.S.-based tech giants are sparking debate in Germany over who should control social media. Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson is joined by German MP (Greens) Renate Künast, Bloomberg Opinion’s Andreas Kluth, digital rights blogger and lawyer Joachim Steinhöfel and Jillian York of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. This show is produced by Dina Elsayed
Jan 17, 2021•38 min•Ep. 14
Jan 15, 2021•1 min
On the last episode of Common Ground in 2020, host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson talks to a man who has profoundly influenced Berlin and transatlantic relations for many decades: Former U.S. Ambassador to Germany, John Kornblum. Tune in to hear about key moments in Berlin and the Cold War, the public radio station in the German capital he helped create, and the future of transatlantic relations. This show was produced by Dina Elsayed.
Dec 13, 2020•38 min•Ep. 13
During KCRW Berlin’s last week on air, we're sharing the story behind the story. Listen to the second of a special, two-part episode in collaboration with Studio Berlin, where we reflect on our favorite on air moments from the past year and look ahead to 2021. This show was produced by Monika Müller-Kroll.
Dec 09, 2020•25 min
Tune into the first part of a special, two-part episode with Studio Berlin. This show was produced by Monika Müller-Kroll.
Dec 06, 2020•28 min
Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson is joined by Christian Gräff, CDU member of the Berlin House of Representatives; Christian Stender, culture manager at Ketering GmbH that organizes the Lucia Christmas Market at Berlin’s Kulturbrauerei, and our Studio Berlin co-host Sylvia Cunningham. This show was produced by Dina Elsayed.
Nov 29, 2020•27 min•Ep. 12
Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson talks to Helen Arvanitakis, director of London's new Design District ; James Andrade, senior vice President and Head of Learning and Innovation at CapitaLand in Singapore and in Düsseldorf, Hans-Hermann Aldenhoff, country head and law partner at Simmons and Simmons. Also featuring Die Linke Berlin ’s Tobias Schulze . This show was produced by Dina Elsayed....
Nov 22, 2020•28 min•Ep. 11
Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson is joined by Bundestag member Daniela De Ridder (SPD), who is vice-chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Committee; Bloomberg Opinion columnist Andreas Kluth; Stormy-Annika Mildner, who heads the external economic policy department at the Federation of German Industries e. V. and Jana Puglierin, who heads the Berlin office of the European Council on Foreign Relations. This show was produced by Dina Elsayed
Nov 15, 2020•28 min•Ep. 10
Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson is joined by Said Ahmad Arif, Imam at the Khadija mosque in Berlin; David Wengenroth, editor at the Lutheran news outlet, Idea; Sadiqu Al-Mousllie, Central Council of Muslims in Germany board member; and Ernesto Grueneberg, immigration lawyer in Berlin. This show was produced by Dina Elsayed
Nov 08, 2020•28 min•Ep. 9
Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson is joined by John Emerson, former U.S. Ambassador to Germany; Kathryn Watts, Pendleton Miller Chair in Law at the University of Washington School of Law in Seattle; Peter Beyer, Germany’s Transatlantic Coordinator; and Ralph Freund, Vice President of U.S. Republicans Abroad in Germany. This show was produced by Dina Elsayed
Nov 01, 2020•28 min
Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson talks to Wenke Christoph, state secretary in the Berlin Senate Department for Urban Development and Housing , Christian Eckart, an attorney and partner at Redeker Sellner Dahs and Daniel Hofmann, housing market researcher at the Hamburg-based institute for urban, regional and housing research ( GEWOS ). This show was produced by Dina Elsayed...
Oct 25, 2020•28 min•Ep. 8
The EU’s Digital Services Act - What does it mean for Big Tech and for YOU? Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson is joined by Alexandra Geese , Member of the European Parliament with the German Greens; Travis Todd, co-founder of Berlin’s startup community Silicon Allee ; Mackenzie Nelson, researcher and project manager at AlgorithmWatch , and Lina Rusch , a journalist with Der Tagesspiegel who writes about digital politics and artificial intelligence. This show was produced by Dina Elsayed and Monika Mül...
Oct 18, 2020•28 min•Ep. 7
The pandemic has wreaked havoc on people’s travel plans and decimated the tourism industry and airlines. The German government’s guidance on travel is ever-changing and often confusing, making business and leisure travel difficult at best. With a new coronavirus wave erupting in Germany, across Europe and in parts of the US, will we see more border closures and quarantine rules? Or can increased testing help save holidaymakers’ fall and winter plans? Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson is joined by Volk...
Oct 11, 2020•28 min•Ep. 6
What many people feel about the upcoming U.S. presidential election can be described in one word: Fear. Some worry there won't be a peaceful transition of power following the vote next month. Others wonder whether democracy and women’s rights in the United States will radically change with a new Supreme Court. There is also anxiety over U.S. foreign policy, and the tone of the recent presidential debate only added to global uncertainty. Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson is joined by John Emerson, form...
Oct 04, 2020•28 min•Ep. 5
Is it safe to be Jewish in Germany? Should German authorities be doing more to stop rising anti-Semitism? Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson is joined by Germany's Federal Commissioner for Jewish life and against anti-Semitism Felix Klein; Sigmount Koenigsberg of the Jewish Community of Berlin ; Sharon Kuckuck of Berlin’s Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom and Biplab Basu of ReachOut Berlin , who debate these questions one year after the deadly Halle attack and discuss how to reverse the trend. Produced by Di...
Sep 27, 2020•28 min•Ep. 4
Frustration is high in Berlin over the rights of cyclists vs. drivers. But what about the rights of Berlin’s pedestrians vs. cyclists? We explore that fraught relationship and other human-powered, sustainable mobility conflicts in Berlin on the third episode of Common Ground with guests Carolina Mazza of ADFC (German Cyclists Association), Roland Stimpel of FUSS e.V. (Organization for Pedesterian Protection of Germany), Alena Büttner of the German Environment Agency and Dirk von Schneidemesser o...
Sep 20, 2020•28 min•Ep. 3
When Google announced plans to open a campus in the Berlin neighbourhood of Kreuzberg, local opposition was so loud that it ground the tech giant’s plans to a halt. A similar wave of protests hit Friedrichshain earlier this year against Amazon’s plans to erect a 140 meter-tall office building. In this episode, host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson is joined by Nina Monaghan, the vice-chairwoman of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg; Yonatan Miller, co-founder of the Berlin Tech Wo...
Sep 13, 2020•27 min•Ep. 2
John F. Kennedy’s “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech was embraced by an overwhelming majority of city residents nearly six decades ago. But these days, there’s a lot of disagreement over who gets to call themselves a Berliner as the German capital rapidly evolves into an international city with immigrants from around the globe. In the hour-long premiere of “Common Ground”, host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson is joined by a panel made up of Berlin politicians Sawsan Chebli and Christian Gräff, “Der Alte Ami” ...
Sep 09, 2020•54 min•Ep. 1
“Common Ground” is a 30-minute radio show airing weekly on 104.1 FM, KCRW Berlin. The one-hour premiere airs on Sept. 10, 2020. The show, hosted by former NPR international correspondent Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, aims to bring people together on sensitive issues, existential questions and flashpoints to find mutual understanding, compromise and solutions. In this short preview, we share a little about the background of the show, what it's about, and preview the one-hour premiere that is airing on ...
Aug 26, 2020•3 min•Ep. 1
