RS Live at Floating University

We record live at Floating University, a temporary structure built over a hidden reservoir near Hasenheide. Dan describes it as “Burning Man meets Waterworld.”

Gang war breaks out on the streets of Berlin. A crime boss has been shot dead at Tempelhof Park on a Sunday afternoon. Have police stirred up a hornet’s nest as they crack down on criminal clans?

Have you tried the new BVG weekend shuttle service Berlkönig? The public taxi vans will pick you up and drop you off almost anywhere for as little as €4.

Berlin’s garden colonies are under threat as investors try to replace flowers with flats. We interview garden owner Trevor Sears from the campaign Da Wächst Was (Something’s Growing Here). He tells us why Kleingarten are important for the city, and how you can get one.

What should you do if an architect visits your apartment building asking to take photos? It’s usually the first sign your owner wants to sell or renovate. Green Party representative Georg Kössler tells us five things you can do to halt a rent increase. The Greens have launched a campaign Rette Deinen Kiez (Save Your Neighbourhood).

Joel presents some ideas of his own about how to stop runaway property prices. Berlin could increase the property sales tax from 6%, tax second homes and rental profits vigorously, ban companies from buying residential property, restrict foreign investors.

This episode was recorded on Thursday September 13, 2018. Hosts Jöran Mandik, Joel Dullroy and Daniel Stern.

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Join us live at Floating University

Radio Spaetkauf will recording a live episode at the Floating University, a temporary structure built on top of a hidden water basin between Tempelhofer Feld and Hasenheide. This “inner city offshore” project has a full calendar of talks about architecture, urban planning and the environment. Including us! Join us on Thursday 13.09.18 from 6pm. Floating University is located on Lilienthalstraße in Berlin Kreuzberg.

More info here.

Free Haircuts for Tall Men


TV series Babylon Berlin is searching for 3000 extras, but bearded men need not apply. You must be over 1.86 meters tall and be prepared to get a 1920s haircut. Maisie is thrilled about the mass make-over of Berlin blokes. Sign up at Agentur Filmgesichter.

The Berlin Wall is being rebuilt to create a totalitarian theme park in Mitte. The art project Dau will submit visitors to mild oppression and screen lengthy films. It will run from from October 12 til November 9, when the “Wall” will be demolished. Couldn’t they use it to patch up the East Side Gallery?

Algae is blooming in Berlin lakes post-heatwave. But don’t worry, it’s still safe to swim. The Berlin health authorities have tested the water and found no deadly blue-green algae. Meanwhile, Alternativ für Deutschland leader Alexander Gauland is now pushing a new and rather bleak right-wing position, acknowledging the reality of climate change but saying humans can’t do anything about it. Is this the start of ‘climate change realism’ – to borrow from Mark Fisher’s capitalist realism?

Wondering why Berlin doesn’t have any electric scooters yet? The stand-up scooters are appearing in cities worldwide as investors rush to find the next trend after shared bikes. But in Germany motorized scooters are classified as road vehicles, restricting their use.

This episode was presented by Maisie Hitchcock and Joel Dullroy, and brought to you by RadioEins.

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RS Live: Mobile Kino Lakeside Film Festival 2018


Our annual outdoor recording at the Mobile Kino Lakeside Film Festival at Klingemühle in Brandenburg. Now in its fifth year, the event many improvements – a new name, a new stage, more guests and more fun all round.

Like playing card games while camping? Our guest Julia Weiss tells us what it’s like to work for a card game company. Julia is the lead writer for Cards Against Humanity, as well as a cast member on the podcast The Improvised Star Trek. “If our goal is to live in a post-capitalist space future, watch Star Trek,” Julia says. Caroline’s review of Star Trek: “A lot of ambient music and three-dimensional board games.”

Berlins’s garden plots are being targeted by property speculators. Investors are snapping up Kleingarten hoping the city will allow them to build apartments. One such investor is an alleged crime gang from Neukölln. Police recently seized 77 of their properties worth €9.2M, including garden plots. It’s alleged the real estate was bought with the proceeds of a spectacular bank robbery.

Temperatures hit 38.5°C in Berlin on August 9, just short of the record. BSR, the city’s street cleaning service, plans to spray the roads with water to cool things down – though some think it might make the city more humid and uncomfortable.

hich side should cyclists pass a right-turning vehicle? Our guest asked the question after being stopped by police for passing a car on the right-hand side. Was she in the right? We get the answers.

Hosted by Joel Dullroy, Jöran Mandik and Caroline Clifford.

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Squealing Trains, Smelly Drains

Berlin’s scorching summer is breaking records. Earlier this week the city experienced its hottest night ever, with a minimum of 25°C. The city’s trees are suffering, and residents are being asked to go out and water them. U-Bahns are getting noisier, as there’s no moisture to lubricate between the metal wheels and tracks. The drains are stinking, so the water authority is putting “drain deodorant” down the pipes. The pools are all at capacity. But Berlin has only 48 public drinking fountains to help citizens rehydrate.

A Berlin man who tried to become a police officer had his application rejected because he failed a drug test. A blood sample showed he had THC in his system. Undeterred, he took the matter to court, unsurprisingly rejected his case.

The S-Bahn is trialling automatic doors to improve punctuality. All doors will pop open at stations between Ostkreuz and Hauptbahnhof from 6am to 8am. Instead of 24 people pushing 24 buttons, one person pushes one button. Why haven’t they ever done this before?

This month the new home sharing regulations come into effect in Berlin. You’re now allowed to rent out up to 49% of your flat online, but first you have to get a registration number from the Bürgeramt and display it on the various rental portals.

Just a week to go until the Mobile Kino Summer Camp – the Lakeside Film Festival in the woods. It’s three nights of movies and music under the stars out in Brandenburg. We’ll be there recording a live episode of Radio Spaetkauf.

This episode was presented by Joel Dullroy and Konrad Werner, and brought to you by RadioEins.

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