“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 communities. Host Daniel Stern is joined by a fantastic panel exploring the support and protection culture in all its forms, ensuring it remains accessible and vibrant for everyone.
Notes: Recorded live at CCB Studios. Thank you to Manuel, Carolin, Lucas and the rest if the team at EAB. Edited and mastered by Kaleb Wentzel-Fisher Support – Trevor Silverstein Engineering: PodFest Berlin Co-Produced by Europäische Akademie Berlin’s Europe Behind The Headlines series, with kind support of the Federal Foreign Office and EU (CERV): Link
The “Görli bleibt offen” campaign is intensifying as construction of the controversial fence around Görlitzer Park moves forward. The Berlin Senate has begun installing the fence, which will close the park nightly; between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. in summer, and 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. in winter, as part of a broader €30 million “security package”. The police have pledged to “neutrally accompany” these protests as long as they remain non-violent. Meanwhile, local initiatives like “Görli zaunfrei” LINK are proposing alternative safety concepts that don’t involve fencing off public space.
Progress is being made to curb Berlin’s sky-high rents. Neukölln, which is fast becoming the city’s unlikely housing policy hero, has banned the temporary rental of furnished apartments in its Milieuschutzgebiete; neighborhoods protected from gentrification. The legal foundation for the ban comes from a 2023 court ruling that deemed such conversions unlawful in protected areas. Neukölln is now enforcing that decision, even ordering landlords to reverse co-living setups and restore original apartment layouts. The city-state’s Senate and other districts are watching closely, with some already exploring similar measures.
Berlin’s most explosive New Year’s tradition has fizzled—not with a bang, but with a budget cut. The iconic Silvester-Party at the Brandenburg Gate, a staple since reunification, has been cancelled for 2025. The event’s organizer, Berlin feiert Silvester GmbH, announced it won’t go forward without a confirmed subsidy from the city, typically between 500,000 and one million euros from public tourism agencies like Visit Berlin and Berlin Partner. The state of Brandenburg, like Berlin, is in the middle of a budget slashorama. Money is being cut from everything. But one thing that is staying free is access to Park Sanssoci, the beautiful collection of palaces in Potsdam sometimes called the Versaille of Germany. Dan shares his thoughts on this choice.
We have an update on the case of the three EU citizens and one American threatened with deportation from Germany. The four activists, Shane O’Brien and Roberta Murray (Ireland), Kasia Wlaszczyk (Poland), and Cooper Longbottom (USA), were initially targeted for deportation following their participation in a pro-Palestinian sit-in protest at Berlin’s Free University in late 2024. The Berlin Administrative Court ruled in favor of the activists, halting their deportations. The court found the legal grounds for expulsion insufficient and emphasized the importance of protecting political expression.
Valentina Zalevska, a film curator, distributor, and researcher based in Berlin joined us to talk about Founding the Ukrainian Film Festival Berlin and the state of the Ukrainian film industry during a time of invasion. We also chat with her about the amazing film U Are The Universe which screened at the Lakeside Film Festival and will be on screen in Berlin in September. The 2025 Ukrainian Film Festival Berlin runs October 22nd to the 26th. https://www.uffberlin.de/
Izzy isn’t just a podcaster, she’s also a tour guide. She tells us about her upcoming tour on July 20th, tickets can be found at this link: The Berliner on Eventbrite
Izzy’s not just a podcaster/tour guide, by day she is also an environmental policy wonk and concludes the episode with updates on how Berlin is doing in meeting its ambitious climate targets. The city aims to become climate-neutral by 2045, with key milestones along the way: a 70% reduction in CO₂ emissions by 2030 and at least 90% by 2040, compared to 1990 levels. But as of today, Berlin is not yet on track to meet its 2030 target. Meanwhile Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) has halted plans to build wind turbines in the Grunewald forest, and argued that “Berlin should be a solar engine, not a wind site,” and has called on the federal government to reconsider mandates requiring city-states to allocate land for wind energy. Izzy points out that a grid is most resilient when both solar and wind are deployed, and also that wind delivers a higher energy capacity figure meaning that it is a better resource for industrial off-takers. Listeners will recall that Berlin managed to buy back its district heating system from Vattenfall last year. Unfortunately, due to financial difficulties and a lack of political pressure, there is little being done to push for decarbonisation efforts of the district heating. Dan chimes in with his own inimitably uniformed solutions as well before we end the show with plugs and a fond farewell to our lovely weekend of outdoor cinema, lake swimming and camaraderie.
Recorded March 6, 2025 live at Another Country Bookstore with hosts Izzy and Dan, plus guest co-hosts Pip Roper of the “History Flakes” podcast, and comedian Toby Arsalan. We chat tchat spring weather in Berlin and its impact on relationships, Germany’s new electronic health records, Berlin labor strikes, local Football and various tree removals. Plus the annoucement of a Kickstarter campaign for a vinyl release of our mini-series “How to F#€K Up an Airport,” Berlin’s housing crisis, and more.
Interviews with Fabian Flues, a member of the Burger*innenInitiative A100, and Joanna Kusiak, a sociologist at Cambridge University and author of “Radically Legal: Berlin Constitutes the Future.”
Additional thanks to podfestberlin.com for technical support. To Joel for editing and to our home for the recording, Another Country Bookstore http://www.anothercountry.de/ and of course to our listeners, if you would like to make a donation or support us through a steady membership: www.radiospaetkauf.com/donate
Recorded live at Podigee on November 12, 2024 with hosts Joel, Izzy, and Dan. They discuss proposed funding cuts to Berlin’s cultural institutions, jaywalking, shopping Sundays and the closing of Berlin clubs. The show features two guests: first is co-author of “Beer Hiking Berlin”Dan Cole, followed by Moritz Ahlert of the project “Kiosk of Solidarity“.
This episode of Radio Spaetkauf explores the impact of a proposed 10% funding cut to cultural institutions, as well as a reflection on the 35th anniversary of the Berlin Wall’s fall. Plus chats on the city’s evolving beer scene, the sustainability of nightclubs, the transformation of public spaces, and the importance of inclusive design in fostering community engagement.
In this episode of Radio Spaetkauf, 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 of the future topped by green rooftop communities. From there we discuss visions for the future: inclusive, polycentric urban design, mobility hubs, and discarding anthropocentricism to leave space for nature. The exploration of “The City of Tommorow” brings us to innovations (both real and imagined), micro-utopias, and proposals for infrastructure which is reusable, queer and adaptable.
Recorded Oct 17, 2024 at Podigee‘s Offices in Berlin
