Category: 2024

Loud at the Library

Recorded live at the Amerika Gedenkbibliothek with hosts Dan, Izzy and Matilde, covering Berlin news for the month of March. NESCO recognizing the techno scene, controversy over stone statues at the Humboldt Forum, and the renaming of the “O2 Arena”. Weed is legal as of April 1st – but where and when can and can’t it be consumed? An update, or non-update on the proposed fence around Görlitzer Park, and a new court ruling that might have an effect on the housing market.
Juliana Pranke, ZLB’s Head of Public Services, joins Radio Spaetkauf to discuss the Pop-Up library extension of the Amerika Gedenkbibliothek and a petition looking to make use of the empty Kaufhauses Galeries Lafayette for a new central library. Sign it here:https://www.zlb.de/unterschreiben/.

Former co-host Joeran shares a captivating narrative of seeking a sacred tree in Berlin, a journey that takes him from one end of the city to the other and back again.

Izzy analyzes and critiques the policies of Berlin’s current ruling coalition. political landscape, and critiques including the CDU and SPD’s positions on housing and transportation. We delve into the three duos vying for leadership of Berlin’s SPD party.

The final guest of the show Philipp Kreicarek is the creator of the app KnowDrugs: https://knowdrugs.app/ tells us about his project which aims to help people who using psychoactive substances by providing information, promoting harm reduction and encouraging user education. The app provides access to testing results for club drugs collected in Berlin and across Europe.

And we wrap up with Dan’s recommendation of the upcoming Arab Film Festival Berlin: https://alfilm.berlin/ as well as his show at the Wall Comedy Club April 5th: Info + Tickets, Matilde’s show dates can be found via her insta: Matilde’s insta: @matikeizer
Show Written, produced, edited by Daniel Stern and Izzy Choksey With support from PodFestBerlin
Please support the show: https://www.radiospaetkauf.com/donate/

Berlin Heat: Gas, Grass or Pansy’s…

This episode of Radio Spätkauf was recorded live February 25th, 2024 at Noisy Rooms with hosts Mathilde, Dan and Izzy plus new guest host, the fantastic Pip Roper.
The BVG’s brand new CEO Henrik Falk’s announced a €700,000 scheme to clean UBahn stations along the U8 between Jannowitzbrucke and Hermannstraße. Berlin’s annual film festival Berlinale got off to a contentious start by extending invitations to members of the far right AFD party. The festival ended with a win for “Dahomey” by French Senegalese director Mati Diop, the first woman of color to receive a golden bear, which was presented to her by Lupita Nyong’o, herself the first black person and African to Chair a Berlinale jury. Tegel is now welcoming school students to its halls. The refugee welcome center in the former airport has now been tasked with teaching up to 300 students in need of education. Tesla faced a setback when the people of Grunheide voted against the company’s plans to expand operations. More public transportation strikes are on the way… A leaked government housing report shows that Berlin has space to create 249,000 apartments without having to intrude on Tempelhofer Feld, undermining CDU and SPD calls for another referendum on opening up the former airport to developers.

Radio Spaetkauf is joined once again by Michael Efler from Bürgerbergheren Klimaschutz  to explain the importance of Berlin’s deal to buy back its district heating system and what it could mean for other public goods in the city. He also points to more sustainable resources for heat, such as drawing warmth from the ciy’s waters.


Germany is moving to a legalization of marijuana. Hanf Museum co-director and cannabis advocate Steffen Geyer helps us understand the new legislation. We find out the details of how much you can carry, grow, and where you can (and can’t) consume cannabis. 


Our third interview of the evening: drag artist, event organiser, and returning guest Pansy told us about “Chez Pansy”, a new Queer Cabaret and supper club currently in the midst of a crowdfunding campaign. The venue, with a dance floor and restaurant is set to provide a new home  for drag and queer culture in Berlin. Learn more and support Pansy’s project at tinyurl.com/chezpansy

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One time donations may be made via our website: Support Radio Spaetkauf
Writing production and hosting by: Izzy Choksey, Daniel Stern (www.sterndaniel.com/) and Matilde Keizer
With support from Sebastian Filip and Radio Spaetkauf Host Emeritus Joel Dullroy
This Episode Edited by Alex Griffiths www.instagram.com/alexgriffiths_music/

Technical Support: www.podfestberlin.com
Theme Music by Ducks! https://linktr.ee/ducksmakemusic

Find more Radio Spaetkauf and contact us at www.radiospaetkauf.com

Extreme Right vs Meteorite – Jan 28 LIVE

28th January 2024 recorded live at Zimmer48, with Izzy and Dan plus two guest hosts: Maria Debinska, a research fellow at the Institute for Cultural Inquiry in Berlin and Megan Whittington of German news in English podcast Megan’s Megacan.

Support Radio Spaetkauf: https://www.radiospaetkauf.com/donate/

A bahn-strike started last Wednesday, running six days until the morning of January 29th included the S-Bahn. The rail worker’s union, the GDL, is advocating for a shorter 35-hour work week with full pay,  a wage increase of €555 per month immediately as well as a €3,000 one off inflation compensation. Deutsche Bahn has offered only a 4.8% raise for 2024, 5% in 2025 and 2.7% in 2026. 

Berlin’s mayor Kai Wegner and education secretary Katharina Günther-Wünsch revealed they were in a romantic relationship. An anti-semitism clause proposed by CDU politician Joe Chialo was deemed a violation of artists’ constitutional rights. Agricultural sector protestors brought the city centre of Berlin to a standstill. Emergency vehicles were blocked and streets took hours to clear. The protests were organised in opposition to the proposed end of tax exemptions for diesel used in agricultural vehicles.

A meteorite listed as 2024 BX1 crashed near Berlin last Sunday night and has not yet been found. According to Thomas Becker of Westhavelland Star Park, it may have crashed in an area east of Nennhausen. If you come across a suspicious looking rock, don’t touch it.

Members of the AfD and some CDU were present at a secret meeting last November in a villa outside Potsdam along with extreme right activists including Martin Sellner of the Identitarian Movement. Plans to ‘re-migrate’ both foreigners and Germans from a foreign country were discussed. In response over a million people across Germany took to the streets, demonstrating against right wing extremism.

Berlin politicians left in protest when AfD state Chair Kristin Brinker rose to speak at a recent Assembly session. Green party leader Bettina Jarasch commented that it would be wrong to ‘listen to AfD denials’, and Berlin CDU parliamentary group leader Dirk Strettner said “I don’t listen to right wing radical relativising and lying.”

January 27th was Holocaust Remembrance Day, and commemorations were held across the city, including in Reinickendorf where the BVV has five AfD members who were automatically invited to the ceremony, so a local alliance against the far right organised an alternative vigil on another memorial site.

Jonny Tiernan of Ex Berliner Magazine joins us to discuss changes in the print edition and invite us to take part in their research into the sex lives of Berliners. Survey LINK: https://form.typeform.com/to/WwKxHa02

Thanks to Yvonne at Zimmer48 and to Sebastian for the pic and Joel on his travels.
Next Live Show: Feb 25th

Thanks to Yvonne at Zimmer48 and to Sebastian for the pic and Joel on his travels.
Next Live Show: Feb 25th