Michelle and Ted dissect German politics from Spargel to the Schwarze Null, and tell us why Germany isn't as seen on TV. Support us at https://www.patreon.com/spassbremse
We're joined by journalist Ruairi Casey to talk about the evacuation of the climate protest in Lützerath earlier this month, and what it can tell us about climate politics in Germany. Read the piece Ruairi wrote on this subject here: www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2023/january/in-luetzerath For more from Ruairi, follow him on Twitter: @Ruairi_Casey -- Co-hosted by Ted ( @ted_knudsen ) and Michelle ( @shhellgames ). Produced by Isaac ( @wuermann ). Follow Spaßbremse on Twitter ( @spassbremse_pod ). Musi...
Happy (belated) New Year! Here's a short preview of our latest premium episode featuring part two of Ted's interview with Fritz Bartel, Assistant Professor of International Affairs at Texas A&M at the George H. W. Bush School of Government and Public Service, about his new book The Triumph of Broken Promises: The End of the Cold War and the Rise of Neoliberalism. After the interview, Ted and Michelle share some of their reflections. To listen to the full episode, support us on Patreon:...
Back by popular demand, we’re joined by Nathan to talk about this year’s Christmas market scandals! Check out last year’s two-part episode “The Twelve Days of Christmas Market Scandals” for more holiday drama. This year, we’re discussing six different scandals: 1. Not heeding the energy-saving restrictions https://www.insuedthueringen.de/inhalt.eisenach-trotz-energiekrise-weihnachtsmarkt-ohne-einschraenkungen.c3f15953-26ef-4833-9abf-758482dd6cf4.html 2. Tax evasion and not following the receipt ...
Despite the many controversies—from the deaths of thousands of labourers in horrible working conditions to the corrupt bidding process—the 2022 FIFA World Cup is happening now in Qatar. Instead of focusing on the World Cup, we sat down with journalist Dave Braneck to talk about the politics of German soccer/football. Here are some of the sources we referenced on this episode: Too cool for their own good? Union Berlin’s fight to retain their identity by Kit Holden in The Guardian: https://www.the...
Ted talks to Fritz Bartel, Assistant Professor of International Affairs at Texas A&M at the George H. W. Bush School of Government and Public Service, about his new book The Triumph of Broken Promises: The End of the Cold War and the Rise of Neoliberalism. It's a fascinating account of how two processes that we agree happened roughly simultaneously—the end of political tensions between the US and the USSR and the rise of neoliberal policies like financialization and austerity—didn’t just hap...
Ted chats with the hosts of the Eurotrash podcast: Anton Jäger, Postdoctoral Researcher at KU Leuven and Dominik Leusder, Research Director of the LSE Global Economic Governance Commission. The three discuss all things EU, from the union's economic and political crises, the way these crises get talked about in the media, and how things could have gone differently. You can find Eurotrash on Twitter @eurotrashpod and listen to them wherever you find podcasts. You can find Anton on Twitter @A...
A short preview of our latest premium episode, which features part two of Ted's interview with economic sociologist Wolfgang Streeck and reflections from Ted and Michelle on the interview. To listen to the full episode, support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/spassbremse And make sure to listen to part one of the interview with Professor Streeck if you haven't already! You can find it here: https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/JMY8wAnPiub -- Co-hosted by Ted ( @ted_knudsen ) and Michelle ( ...
Ted talks with economic sociologist Wolfgang Streeck, emeritus director at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies in Cologne and one of the leading scholars and commentators on European capitalism. In this exciting conversation, they discuss Germany's foreign policy role in Europe at this moment of the so-called "Zeitenwende." On this main feed episode, we're releasing the first 45 - 50 minutes of the interview. We'll release the final bit of the interview on our Patreon some ...
A short preview of our latest premium episode, in which Ted and Michelle dive into the history of Germany's love affair with sparkling water -- or Sprudelwasser, auf Deutsch -- and sample an assortment of bubbly offerings with the most Sprudel-pilled guy out there, Nick from Corner Späti . To listen to the full episode, support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/spassbremse If you're not able to support us monetarily right now, we totally get it! We'll be back soon with another full-length episode....
We're moving on from trains to talk about what is by far the most dominant mode of transport in Germany: the car. What is it about Germany's history that paved the way for such a pervasive car culture, and what's up with the Autobahn?? Luckily, we have a great guest who recently published a book on exactly these questions. Dr. Conrad Kunze is a researcher at the Research Centre for Sustainability at FU Berlin and author of Deutschland als Autobahn: Eine Kulturgeschichte von Männlichkeit, Moderne...
We return from our Sommerpause to talk about one of the things dominating conversations in Germany over the past few months: trains! From inter-Europe rail travel to Deutsche Bahn woes to the 9-Euro-Ticket, Ted goes through it all with Jon Worth, a Berlin-based writer and communications consultant who has been documenting his experience crossing every possible internal European border by train this summer. Follow Jon on Twitter: @jonworth . To learn more about Jon’s cross-border rail experience:...
First, thanks to our listeners who have been so patient with us as we have been taking a little Sommerpause. Some of us have been travelling, some of us have have COVID, and it's been taking a little longer than usual to put a new episode out. That's why we're unlocking one of our premium episodes that was published on our Patreon back in April. The episode is part two of our series we've been doing on Patreon about Germany's border regions; on this episode we talk about the modern German-Polish...
A short preview of our latest premium episode, in which Ted and Michelle round out our Spaßbremse Grenzen series by discussing the Alsace-Lorraine region on the France-German border. To listen to the full episode, support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/spassbremse If you're not able to support us monetarily right now, we totally get it! We'll be back soon with another full-length episode....
The far-right Alternative für Deutschland could soon have its own state-funded political foundation called the Desiderius Erasmus Stiftung (DES). We speak with freelance journalist Ruairi Casey about why this matters, and ask him what the deal is with all these political Stiftungen anyway. Read Ruairi's recent article in Foreign Policy on the subject: Germany May Soon Pay Millions to Far-Right Operatives And follow Ruairi on Twitter for more from him! @Ruairi_Casey Co-hosted by Ted ...
Pride Month in North America may have just ended, but here in Germany the local Pride festivals — or "Christopher Street Days" — are just beginning. To talk about the complicated history of Germany's queer movements, we're joined on this episode by writer and historian Ben Miller, co-host of the podcast Bad Gays and co-author of the book Bad Gays: A Homosexual History , which just came out last month. To learn more about Ben's podcast and book, check out www.badgayspod.com . If you’re in B...
On our thirtieth episode on the main feed (!!) we have an interview that Ted did with historian Jan Tattenberg about the "clean Wehrmacht" myth, or the idea that members of the German Wehrmacht were not complicit in the crimes and atrocities of the Holocaust. Ted and Jan go into quite a bit of detail about why this myth doesn't hold water, so we have abut 45 minutes of their conversation on this episode, and you can listen to the rest over on our Patreon (www.patreon.com/spassbremse). For...
Ted and Michelle sit down with journalist David de Jong to talk about his new book, Nazi Billionaires: The Dark History of Germany's Wealthiest Dynasties . Longtime listeners will know that this is a recurring subject on Spaßbremse. You can listen to our three-part series about the history of some specific Nazi businesses on Patreon: Pt. 1: Nazi Pizzas , Pt. 2: Nazi Soda , Pt. 3: Nazi Washing Machines For more on this subject, you can of course read David's book, which you can order from t...
A short preview of our latest premium episode, in which we discuss the beloved German "Mittelstand" and why your favourite family-owned screw company might not be as cool and relatable as you think. To listen to the full episode, support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/spassbremse If you're not able to support us monetarily right now, we totally get it! We'll be back in a few days with another full-length episode. ...
It's Spargelzeit! For those of you lucky enough to be unfamiliar, that's the time of year when Germany's most prized vegetable — the white asparagus — is in season. On this episode, we try to get in the mind of the Germans to understand their obsession with this mediocre dish by sitting down with some Spargel and Schnitzel. We give a bit of background to the German Spargelkult before speaking with Benjamin Luig, the branch coordinator for agriculture at IG Bau's Initiative for Fair Work in Agric...
As we celebrate May Day, we’re asking: Why do things keep getting worse for so many workers around the world? For one answer to that question, we look at the neoliberalisation of formerly “left-wing” parties such as the SPD. To walk us through this history, Ted spoke with Stephanie Mudge, a professor of sociology at the University of California at Davis. In 2018, she published Leftism Reinvented: Western Parties from Socialism to Neoliberalism , which analyses the history of four parties in part...
A short preview of our latest premium episode, in which Ted and Isaac discuss the Danish-German border. This is part 3 of our ongoing series "Spaßbremse Grenzen" about the histories and legacies of Germany's borders. To listen to the full episode and all other premium episodes — including parts 1 and 2 of our Grenzen series, in which we discuss the Czech-German and Polish-German borders — support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/spassbremse If you're not able to support us monetarily right n...
They're the largest ethnic group in the United States but remain relatively invisible, despite contributions that include beer, kindergartens, and Kissinger (oops). That's right, we're talking German Americans on this episode, joined by special guest Matt Christman of Chapo Trap House. How, when, and where did Germans immigrate in such huge numbers, what makes them different from other white ethnic groups in the United States, and what are some peculiarities of German Americans today? You ...
Transport researcher Giulio Mattioli returns to talk about the ongoing debates over introducing a "Spritpreisbremse"—a limit on the price of fuel—in Germany. To hear more from Giulio, you can follow him on Twitter: @giulio_mattioli . He also has a recent book chapter out on transport poverty and car dependence . Co-hosted by Ted ( @ted_knudsen ) and Michelle ( @shhellgames ). Produced by Isaac Würmann ( @wuermann ). -- Thank so much to everyone who has already started supporting us on Patr...
We have on repeat guest Dominik Leusder, researcher at the economic policy thinktank Dezernat Zukunft and the London School of Economics, to react to the developing situation of sanctions on Russia in the wake of the country's invasion of Ukraine last week. Sources referenced on this episode include: America's Generation Gap on Ukraine by Peter Beinart and Russia's Financial Meltdown and the Global Dollar System by Adam Tooze You can also listen to our previous episode with Dominik here: Z...
A short preview of our latest premium episode, in which we try to wrap our heads around the rapid changes to Germany's foreign policy since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Featuring a short conversation with Julia Wiedemann of Die Linke's foreign policy department which was recorded prior to the invasion. To listen to the full episode, support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/spassbremse If you're not able to support us monetarily right now, we totally get it! We'll be back in a few days with part f...
This episode delves into the complexities of German foreign policy with Hans Kundnani, examining the paradox of German power, its economic influence within the EU, and its relationship with Russia and the Ukraine. The discussion covers the historical context of German foreign policy, the concept of geoeconomics, and the civilizational turn in the European Union. It also explores the internal dynamics of German politics and the potential for future shifts.
On the first episode of our (long-awaited) German foreign policy series, Ted (@ted_knudsen) sits down with Berlin journalist James Jackson (@derJamesJackson) to talk about why the British and American liberals are mad at Germany. They talk about Ukraine, of course, and end with what may be a Spaßbremse first… Read James’ piece in Jacobin here: https://jacobinmag.com/2022/02/germany-nato-russia-putin-ukraine-tensions-weapons-export-war Co-hosted by Michelle (@shhellgames) and produce...
A short preview of our latest premium episode, where we discuss the changes to East German universities in the wake of reunification. Featuring an interview with Markus Kienscherf , junior professor of sociology at the JFK Institute of North American Studies at FU Berlin. To listen to the full episode, support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/spassbremse If you're not able to support us monetarily right now, we totally get it! We'll be back in a few days with another full-length episode for the ma...
Ted, Michelle, and Isaac answer some listener questions to start off the new year! We will be having our second live show ***tomorrow (Jan. 23)*** with our friends at Corner Späti at Donau 115 in Neukölln. Join us at 7:30 p.m. as we celebrate (mourn?) the death of 2021. For more details, see the Facebook event page: https://fb.me/e/315PJyXpt Some of the sources cited in this episode: Why Germany Needs to Accelerate into the Digital Fast Lane by Guy Chazan for the Financial Times Germany: Four Ou...
While we work on putting together some great new episodes for 2022, here's a premium episode we first released on the Patreon back in November to tide you over. On this episode, producer Isaac joins Michelle and Ted to talk about the Nazi history of some notable German companies. You can listen to parts 2 and 3 of this series by subscribing to our Patreon . For some of our sources cited on this episode: Bayer From the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Victor Grossman in People's World on 22 Septemb...
