Our socially distancing podcast team updates you on the state of the lockdown as the first signs emerge of the outbreak being brought under control. What do privacy campaigners have to say about the government's plan to use tracker apps? Why is Wopke Hoekstra persona non grata in Italy? And will the football season end sooner than the row about whether to end the football season? Away from the corona doom and gloom, we've got news of a bionic bird and how MPs short-circuited Utrecht's plan to sw...
Apr 10, 2020•45 min
We bring you up to date with the latest news on how the Dutch are dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. Find out how the government is planning to ramp up the number of intensive care beds, how an ambulance got held up for 20 minutes in Belgium and why finance minister Wopke Hoekstra had to eat a large slice of humble pie. The competition for 'most awkward bodyswerve of the year' award has two strong entries this week from Mark Rutte and Hugo de Jonge. And art thieves spoiled Van Gogh's birthda...
Apr 03, 2020•49 min
Our latest quarantined podcast brings you news of the latest coronavirus figures, the government's strict new social distancing rules and the efforts to step up testing. The KNVB still hopes to finish the football season and the MH17 trial is postponed to June for non-corona reasons. The virus is separating not just friends and families, but the men's and women's clothing racks in a shop on the Belgian border. And while the first corona babies may be a few months away, the storks are already pla...
Mar 27, 2020•42 min
In the first virtual edition of the DutchNews podcast this week brings you all the latest news on the shutdown, with some audio issues as we get used to our new working conditions. How are families managing home schooling? What help is the government giving to people and businesses? Can you still go outside? And should we quarantine Hugo de Jonge's shoes? We also look at the community initiatives that have sprung up to help people cope and the medical advances that might hold the key to controll...
Mar 20, 2020•1 hr 3 min
As the coronavirus rate among the podcast team hits 25%, we take stock of how the Netherlands is responding to the pandemic. Will isolated Brabanders produce a miracle drug? Is anyone checking on Dick Advocaat? And is cancelling Soldaat van Oranje the sign we really have reached the end of days? In non-corona news, the MH17 trial got under way and the king apologised to Indonesia for the Dutch excesses during the decolonisation war. Airbnb faces a €200 million bill after its booking fees were fo...
Mar 13, 2020•53 min
This week's podcast looks ahead to the start of the MH17 trial with an interview with Asymmetrical Haircuts, a two-woman team of reporters who specialise in international justice. We also do our best to keep up with the rapid spread of coronavirus, the even faster decline of Ajax and the extensive Dutch preparations for Eurovision. And we tell you why jumping on your bike after hours is a more hazardous undertaking than you might think.
Mar 06, 2020•1 hr 16 min
This week's podcast was recorded before news broke of the first case of coronavirus in the Netherlands. We examine how the country has been preparing as the disease spreads through Europe and ask the key questions, such as: is Brexit muppet safe? Elsewhere, there's a withering exposé of tax avoidance in the flower trade, Dutch clubs are knocked out of Europe and ophef champion Thierry Baudet threatens court action over a TV show that said what he was thinking. Our discussion looks at why Mark Ru...
Feb 28, 2020•53 min
As Dutch citizens are declared free from coronavirus, it seems the spirit of Brexit has infected the IND as it blunders not once, but twice on UK citizens' privacy. Dutch skaters dominate the world championships, but all the talk is of what was inside Kjeld Nuis's speedsuit. The debate on how to keep tourists and prostitutes apart in Amsterdam's red light district flared up once again. And find out why some off-colour parrots could land their breeder in jail. Our discussion this week examines wh...
Feb 21, 2020•39 min
Ciara blew into the Netherlands this week and left a trail of fallen trees, insurance claims and cancelled bicycle races. Police stepped up their search for a blackmailer who sent four letter bombs to Dutch companies and Chinese migrants spoke out against a surge in racist behaviour linked to the coronavirus. In politics, the Ceta treaty was the subject of a long and emotionally charged debate that stretched into the early hours. And 24 chihuahuas score a victory for the underdog at the Council ...
Feb 14, 2020•1 hr 2 min
It's been a turbulent week of naming, blaming and shaming. KLM suspended all flights to China because of fears about the coronavirus, the government cracked down on New Year firework sales and the football authorities announced plans to tackle racist behaviour. Health minister Bruno Bruins condemned people who ostracised Asian tourists on public transport, while Thierry Baudet refused to apologise for his discredited tale of harassment by train staff. And we discuss the implications of the recen...
Feb 07, 2020•54 min
As January stumbles, coughing and spluttering, into its last hours, we look back on a week bursting with apologies. Mark Rutte said sorry for the Dutch government's involvement in the Holocaust, while Arie Slob said 'sorry, there's no more money' to striking teachers. Two ministers were appointed to shake up the tax office, which is still apologising to parents over the child benefit scandal. National train operator NS, meanwhile, made no apology for its approval ratings, while the government th...
Jan 31, 2020•45 min
Originally this episode was intended as the bonus episode during the Christmas break but we failed to release it, mostlybecause we have the organizational skills of the Belgian railroads. Anyway, here is it and enjoy listening to Paul who tortures Molly and Gordon with Dutch popular culture, history and politics and with random facts about the Netherlands!
Jan 27, 2020•51 min
This week, there are too many tourists, too many sports injuries and too many pandas puns. We bring you the latest investigation into a 2009 plane crash that doesn't leave the Dutch Safety Board looking very safe and tell you why everyone you know with a PhD always looks very tired. In our discussion, we get into the child benefits scandal and what the government is doing to repair the broken system.
Jan 24, 2020•1 hr 1 min
At last we can reveal the results of the most undemocratic vote since the Brexit referendum: our very own Ophef of the Year Awards. Mister Stikstof puts a spanner in the works of Schiphol's expansion plans and joins the chorus of VVD mayors calling for a fireworks ban. Lego is urged to take the Dutch approach to road design, while the tax office also gears up for a structural overhaul. And there are big New Year developments in the careers of an Iranian Olympian and a Dutch YouTube star.
Jan 17, 2020•49 min
An even more explosive New Year's Eve than usual has forced politicians to talk seriously about banning neighbourhood fireworks. We discuss whether 2019 will prove to be the tipping point in the annual debate about a tradition that leaves hundreds of people injured each year. The Netherlands pulls its troops out of Iraq, Hudson's Bay pulls out of its Dutch stores and Ajax defender Sergino Dest pulls out of the team's controversial winter tour. Plus we've got a red-hot ophef of the week, so be su...
Jan 10, 2020•44 min
It's the final podcast of the year and that can only mean one thing: the nominations for Ophef of the Year are in. We update you on the situation in Duindorp, the tax office benefits scandal and Ajax's exit from the Champions League. There's a tall story about US basketball players bingeing on a Dutch delicacy, and Molly gets to ask Stef Blok the question on everyone's lips: who's inside the Brexit Muppet suit? Click here to vote for the Ophef of the Year: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIp...
Dec 13, 2019•1 hr
Hot gossip, dodgy deals and bureaucratic minefields dominate this week's news. Finance minister Menno Snel comes under fire over the tax office's blunderbuss approach to suspected benefit fraud and tempers flare as The Hague cracks down on New Year beach bonfires. The detention of a teenager who was unaware he was an illegal immigrant sparks uproar, as does Klaas Dijkhoff's decision to trouser thousands of euros for leaving a cabinet post after less than a month. We bring you the fascinating sto...
Dec 06, 2019•52 min
Several long-running sagas come to a head in this week's podcast. Prime minister Mark Rutte and defence minister Ank Bijleveld face more tough questions over the deaths of 70 civilians in a bombing raid in Iraq. The tax office's sledgehammer approach to families suspected of defrauding the child support system also comes in for heavy criticism. Meanwhile, decorated war hero Marco Kroon's career is dangling by a thread after his confrontation with police during Carnaval season. And we ask the que...
Nov 29, 2019•50 min
We're a man down this week, with Gordon disappearing under mysterious circumstances. Molly and Paul hold down the fort and tell you about why Kim Kardashian West ruffled some feathers in the Netherlands, why Dutch people are still chanting racist things at football matches and how Oscar Wilde got his ring back. In the discussion, they ask what is integration and why are the Dutch so bad at it?
Nov 22, 2019•57 min
As the nitrogen crisis continues to hang over the country like a vaguely threatening cloud, we examine how cutting speed limits became such a hot political potato. A court orders the government to bring home the children of jihadist mothers, while the MH17 takes another twist as prosecutors implicate Russian military commanders. The start of Sinterklaas season triggers the annual tide of rage about Zwarte Piet and GroenLinks leader Jesse Klaver is named the brightest star in the Dutch political ...
Nov 15, 2019•55 min
It's been a week of false starts and abrupt endings as Schiphol's timetable was thrown into turmoil by a trigger-happy instructor, teachers went out on strike following a double U-turn by unions, a lawyer survived a cross-border assassination attempt and Ajax salvaged a draw from a winning position after being reduced to nine men against Chelsea. We also discuss the fall-out from the recent revelations about a raid by Dutch fighter planes that killed 70 civilians in Iraq.
Nov 08, 2019•38 min
There's a groundhog day feel about this week's podcast as the builders' protest fills the deep tyre treads left by the farmers on the Malieveld, yet another do-or-die date is set for Brexit and our favourite football manager once again comes out of retirement for one last job. Plus we bring you an 11-year-old shaggy dog story from the Achterhoek and the lottery giveaway that made green-eyed punters see red. In our discussion we step into the legal and political minefield surrounding the issue of...
Nov 01, 2019•42 min
Sorry folks, no podcast this week!
Oct 25, 2019•29 sec
As 8,000 tractors roll into The Hague, the DutchNews podcast asks if the farmers will reap a bitter harvest from their rolling protests against anti-nitrogen regulations. We also try to unravel the mystery surrounding a family of cultists found living on a remote farmhouse in Drenthe, find out how undercover flower investigators blew the lid on the black tulip scam, explain how a team of engineers' hopes of winning Down Under went up in smoke and tell you why your neighbourhood is likely to be d...
Oct 18, 2019•48 min
The city of peace and justice resembles a Wild West frontier town this week after a corruption scandal and an inferno on the beach brought down The Hague's entire government. But the new sheriff, Johan Remkes, arrives with some heavy baggage as his report on the nitrogen ruling is cited as one reason why the renovation of parliament will be delayed by a year. We also update you on a scientific breakthrough for premature babies in Eindhoven, the ban on texting while cycling, the UN's view of raci...
Oct 11, 2019•1 hr 5 min
This week, Paul and Molly update you on endless things going on in The Hague, from the municipality coalition falling to improper building permits. They also talk sports, protests and the Marianne Thieme leaving her post as the leader of the animal rights party. In the discussion, it's tractors, stifstof and a PSA for eating less meat.
Oct 04, 2019•52 min
In a week literally exploding with news, we examine how the coalition may lose its majority over a building permit, the mayor of Amsterdam got in hot water over a non-smoking gun, ministers faced tough questions about Stints and jihadist passports, and some Dutch political horse-trading left British citizens in an unstable situation. There's also our usual round-up of the week's sporting action, ophef about the Battle of Arnhem and the strange but true story of Utrecht's smallest jailbird.
Sep 27, 2019•47 min
There was only one question on everybody's lips on Prinsjesdag (aka Budget Day) this year, eclipsing even the speculation about Marianne Thieme's outfit or whether Wopke or Erik came up with the €50 billion special projects fund: would King Willem-Alexander be the first monarch to deliver his speech through a beard? We also reflect on the shocking murder of a lawyer on his doorstep in Amsterdam, the sad death of Fernando Ricksen at 43, a stunningly candid interview by the mayor of Amsterdam's pa...
Sep 20, 2019•57 min
It's been a week of courtroom drama in the Netherlands as Geert Wilders calls for his race-baiting trial to be thrown out for political interference, a doctor is cleared of murder in a landmark euthanasia case, a woman seeks redress for having her baby taken away from the state in the 1960s and a key MH17 witness becomes a pawn in a prisoner exchange. We also look back at Oranje's historic 4-2 win over Germany and try to explain why the government paid millions of euros for the royal family's ta...
Sep 13, 2019•49 min
The podcast team look back over a summer of blistering heat and bristling with ophef: who poisoned the plants in Thierry Baudet's office? Why does Haarlem have a problem with globetrotters? And was the king wise to come out as a redbeard? We also look at how Amsterdam became a paradise for cocaine dealers, why the Labour party has done a U-turn on student funding and Ronald Koeman's return to Hamburg 31 years after he wiped the floor with the Germans.
Sep 06, 2019•50 min
