What happens when a European demographic research project asks a Berlin podcaster from the United States to explore their findings? Find out in Episode three of Certain Futures. Episode three takes host Daniel Stern from the playgrounds of Berlin to the parental policies of Finland, and a conversation with demographer/sociologist Anna Rotkirch , a leading researcher and policy advisor on the topic. Why are we having fewer children? A look at the policies, social cues, personal experiences, econo...
Nov 07, 2025•28 min•Season 5Ep. 3
Rain Clouds and Silver Linings. Certain Futures host Daniel Stern walks through Milan, recording both hope and apprehension in the streets. His conversations with university researchers reveal forecasts and forewarnings that mirror the mood outside the ivory tower. Certain Futures: What happens when a European demographic research project asks a Berlin podcaster from the United States to explore their findings? In this episode Dan's journey into demography takes him to Milan, where he explores w...
Sep 23, 2025•30 min•Season 5Ep. 2
What happens when a European demographic research project asks a Berlin podcaster (Dan from the RS team) to explore their findings? We find out in Episode one of Certain Futures: "Nine Months Per Year" Host Daniel Stern begins his journey into demography and takes a peek at what ageing might mean for himself, and for Europe. We find out the origins of demography and look at how the science has evolved. We also see how confronting ageing isn't just policy and percentages - it is also very persona...
Aug 21, 2025•25 min•Season 5Ep. 1
"Saving Culture" is Season 2 of Radio Spaetkauf 's Collaboration with the EAB - Europäische Akademie Berlin . In Episode two: "Everything is Culture" we discuss club culture, sports, comics, and video games are part of our cultural world. We reflect on the challenges of preserving diverse cultural spaces, the importance of inclusivity, practical ways to get involved and how expanding our definition of culture also means expanding our understanding of how we support cultural creators, spaces and ...
Aug 14, 2025•1 hr 18 min•Season 3Ep. 6
"Saving Culture" is Season 2 of Radio Spaetkauf 's Collaboration with the EAB - Europäische Akademie Berlin . In Episode one "Can We Support Subculture?" we look at the needs of independent artists, underground scenes, and freelance creatives. We examine the role of institutions, the state and individuals in ensuring that they survive and thrive and create without constraint. Host Daniel Stern is joined by a fantastic panel exploring the preservation of cultural diversity amidst funding cuts and...
Jul 16, 2025•1 hr 12 min•Season 3Ep. 5
In this episode RSxEAB of Radio Spaetkauf (our spinoff series recorded in collaboration with the Europäische Akademie Berlin )we focus on the future of urban living; asking the question, "What is the city of tomorrow?". Host Daniel Stern is joined by architect Max Schwitalla and author Aiki Mira . The conversation begins with Max sharing how skateboarding background influenced his urban design approach, and with Mira reading a passage from their award-winning novel "Neurobiest" describing Berlin...
Nov 01, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Season 3Ep. 4
Public space in Berlin is used for private profit. Does that rob or enrich the citizens? From business-run toilets to footpath vehicles and food sales in parks, we share our space with commerce. Can we also use private spaces like empty malls as public property? Radio Spaetkauf partners with the Europäische Akademie Berlin to invite an intelligent panel of activists and politicians to discuss the good and bad uses of public space for commercial gain. Sophie Menzel is a big fan of public toilets....
Sep 11, 2024•1 hr 22 min•Season 3Ep. 3
Recorded live in Grunewald, Dan is joined by guests Josefine Köhn-Haskins, Ryan Balmer, Júlia Mota Albuquerque and a handful of chirping birds to explore the significance of urban art in public spaces. In partnership with the Europäische Akademie Berlin. Support Radio Spaetkauf: https://www.radiospaetkauf.com/donate Guests and Links: Josefine Köhn-Haskins, Journalist: Berlin Street Art Map Ryan Balmer, Tour Guide: https://www.instagram.com/berlin_reguided Júlia Mota Albuquerque, Muralist: https:...
Aug 01, 2024•1 hr•Season 3Ep. 2
Zombies in the GDR. Deutschrap. Heavenly lakes. Joy despite cancer. Days before her death, Maisie Hitchcock and I talked for one last time. In a hospital room in London, she shared her favourite memories from her years in Berlin - and revealed a few untold surprises. It's not all tears, because Maisie could be so funny. Her depth of knowledge about architecture, German history, music and culture is astounding. This is just a sample of her best moments from more than a decade of co-hosting Radio ...
Jun 17, 2024•2 hr 11 min•Season 4Ep. 1
RSxEAB: "Sharing Urban Space". Radio Spaetkauf host Daniel Stern dives into a discussion of public spaces informed by three insightful guests. Johnny Whitlam ( Whitlam's Berlin Tours ) shares his passion for Berlin's history and hidden stories. Martin Aarts, the former head of spatial planning in Rotterdam emphasizes child-friendly cities and nature's role in urban design. Lea Fink ( Strassenverlauf ) offers a philosophical angle, stressing the need for accessible spaces that encourage learning ...
May 07, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Season 3Ep. 1
The Berlin Mietendeckel experiment is finished. The city's revolutionary attempt to freeze rental prices for five years, and reduce overpriced leases, has been killed off by Germany's highest court. The decision has unleashed a political storm. Everyone is angry - but who will voters punish? The R2G parties who tried to regulate rents? Or their opponents, the CDU and FDP who successfully derailed the project? We make the case for why each side is to blame. There's a big bill to pay, as hundreds ...
May 07, 2021•1 hr 26 min•Season 2Ep. 4
This month residents of Berlin should experience the biggest collective rent reduction in history. About 340,000 residents - one in six - may be eligible for a rent cut under the Mietendeckel, Berlin's radical new housing policy. But landlords are doing their best to stop it. On November 23 landlords must reduce rents to regulation levels or face fines of €500,000. Tenants can check if they're paying too much at this website: http://www.mietendeckel.berlin.de And they can cheating landlords to t...
Nov 22, 2020•41 min•Season 2Ep. 3
Every Berliner knows the new airport is about to open. But few know about the disasters that could happen next. We're here to explain. Masie, Joel and Jöran take part in a test of the new terminal and find it functional, if a bit dull. We meet the only hero in the BER saga - Engelbert Lütke Daldrup, the airport's fourth CEO, and the one who finally finished the job. He's a bureaucratic nerd who visited the building site on weekends to check on progress. And he has a penchant for prose when talki...
Oct 29, 2020•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 5
How To F#€k Up An Airport team presents: Rent Freeze, a podcast about Berlin's rental revolution. Berlin's rent freeze has begun, but nobody seems to know what's going on. Landlords and tenants alike are confused about what to do next. Rents are now capped at the rate paid in June 2019 - all increases since then are invalid. New contracts can't exceed about €9.80 a square meter - half as much as many advertised prices. And landlords face fines of half a million euros for cheating. On this episod...
Mar 05, 2020•27 min•Season 2Ep. 2
Radio Spaetkauf presents our new series - Rent Freeze. What happens when an entire city of 3.5 million residents stops paying rent increases for the next five years? Welcome to Rent Freeze, a podcast about Berlin's rental revolution. Berlin is about to introduce the Mietendeckel, a law that will freeze rents for five years, cap new rental contracts at a maximum price, and allow some tenants to claim a rent reduction. Supporters say it will be the best thing to happen to the city since the fall o...
Jan 29, 2020•19 min•Season 2Ep. 1
A special live recording of the fourth and (maybe) last episode. Take a tour of all four of Berlin's under-construction, out-of-use, falling-apart and over-capacity airports. Each has had a part to play in the story of how Berlin f#cked up an airport. At BER, we hear the airport company's side of the story: damn high regulations got in the way, they say. Tempelhof is closed, Tegel is operating precariously, and only socialist-built Schönefeld is muddling through. The end is in sight - October 20...
Apr 30, 2018•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 4
BER has been built twice - the first time incorrectly, the second time incompletely. We hear from Marco, an engineer who worked on site. Employees were busy stealing copper instead of fixing the fire system. Some managers got rich taking bribes. Informers had their coffee poisoned. Joel and Jöran drive out to the unfinished BER terminal to inspect the too-short escalators that end with stairs. They were just one of 150,000 mistakes discovered in an audit after the 2012 cancellation. Cables were ...
Mar 02, 2018•52 min•Season 1Ep. 3
Days away from the planned 2012 opening party, nothing seemed wrong at BER. What was really going on? On this episode, we look at how the airport managers and politicians were messing with the plans, even as construction was underway. They demanded a 70% increase in terminal space to add hundreds of extra shops, and requested special double story boarding gates for the supersized Airbus A380, even though no airline requested it. Instead of a working fire safety system, they planned to hire up to...
Feb 25, 2018•43 min•Season 1Ep. 2
BER is the international airport code for Berlin Brandenburg Airport, nickname Willy Brandt. It has also become a signifier of failure, incompetence, corruption and Berlin's general inability to get its act together. If you've flown to Berlin Schönefeld Airport in the last few years, you'll have seen BER as your plane taxied along the runway. But despite outward appearances, BER is far from finished. It has been under construction for 11 years, blown through six opening dates, three general mana...
Feb 18, 2018•41 min•Season 1Ep. 1
