Childcare policy affects all of us at some point in our lives. And depending on where you live, your country’s parental leave and early-education policies can determine everything from what you do for a living to how you divide household labor to how you plan for your future. Reporters Maja Stepančič and Uršula Zaletelj took a whirlwind trip across Europe to find out which country does childcare policy best. And even if you don’t have kids of your own, we’re pretty sure you’ll enjoy taking the journey with them.

Maja and Uršula are the hosts of the Slovenian-language parenting podcast Šala za starše, or ‘A Joke for Parents’. You can find their show here.

This series was fully funded by you, our listeners. Our generous crowdfunders hit our goal within two months, making it possible for us to do extensive reporting fully independently. We couldn’t be more grateful. If you’re feeling inspired to support The Europeans’ ongoing work, please go to patreon.com/europeanspodcast.

Want to support us in another way? Please share this episode with one or two friends who you think might find it interesting. It’s the most effective way for us to reach people!

Additional resources for this episode:

• The Day Iceland Stood Still
• UNICEF report on parental leave and family-friendly policies
• Zoe Williams’ Guardian piece “‘These are not numbers – they are people’: what ex-communist Slovenia can teach the world about child poverty”

00:00:43 Introducing Uršula Zaletelj and Maja Stepančič

00:05:52 How childcare made this episode about childcare possible

00:13:55 How Icelandic women went on strike and brought the entire country to a halt

00:17:25 A Swedish toddler trouble

00:21:52 Is it best to raise your child in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower?

00:28:26 The longest parental leave in Europe

00:34:54 Italy: La Famiglia Mulino Bianco

00:42:39 No place like home!

Written, reported and produced by: Uršula Zaletelj and Maja Stepančič

Additional production: Katz Laszlo

Editors: Jasmin Baoumy, Katz Laszlo

Editorial support: Dominic Kraemer, Katy Lee, Morgan Childs

Sound design: Jesse Lou Lawson

Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak

Music and SFX: Jim Barne, Epidemic, FreeSound.org

Artwork: RTiiiKA

With thanks to everyone that talked to us for this episode: Mathieu Lefèvre, Ana Marija Sikirić Simčic, Martina Pezer, Petra Klasić, Ivona Ivić Lovrenović, Mojca Dominikovič, Katarina Hovfing, Katy Lee, Stephanie Scherer, Dana Thompson, Richard Thompson, Madalina Ion, Corina Parvu, Alenka Švab, Katarina Bogataj, Carlotta Giordano, Giulia Milan, Letizia Mencarini, Maria Rosaria Gualano and Anne Wiebke Peters.

And a final, heartfelt thanks to the wonderful professionals who looked after Uršula and Maja’s children so they could work on this episode ❤️

YouTube | Bluesky | Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | Mastodon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | hello@europeanspodcast.com

Katz goes back to the drawing board. If the housing crisis is really about wealth inequality, doesn’t the policy we need to fix it… need to address wealth inequality? We go in deep, and what Katz finds makes us wonder: are we even having the right conversation when it comes to the housing crisis?

If you're curious about where you stand on your country's wealth ladder, you can find the World Bank’s calculator here, which adjusts for things like home ownership.

The intergenerational wealth audit that Molly co-authored, you can find here.

You can find one of the OECD’s reports on housing tax in Europe here.

You can find Cody’s book on housing shame here.

Interested in hearing more radio that looks at how politics gets into our intimate lives? Journalist Anna Sale’s book and podcast “about the things we think about a lot and need to talk about more” have been a huge inspiration.

If you want to know your renters' rights, many countries have renters' unions that give (legal) advice. Here's the Dutch one: Woonbond.

And most importantly, this series was fully funded by you - our listeners! Our generous crowdfunders hit our goal within two months, and made it possible for us to do extensive reporting fully independently. We couldn’t be more grateful. If you’re feeling inspired to support our ongoing work, please go to patreon.com/europeanspodcast. You can donate as little as 3 euros, less than an overpriced cappuccino! But you can also donate plenty more ;)

Want to support us in another way? Please consider telling one or two friends specifically about this episode, and sharing it with them. It is the most effective way for us to reach people!

Written, reported and produced by: Katz Laszlo

Editors: Jasmin Baoumy, Katy Lee

Editorial support: Dominic Kraemer, Morgan Childs, Uršula Zaletelj, Maja Stepančič

Sound design: Jesse Lou Lawson

Mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak

Music and SFX: Jim Barne, Epidemic, FreeSound.org

Artwork: RTiiiKA

Special thanks to: Vera Vrijmoeth, Georgia Walker, Cody Hochstenbach, Molly Broome, Juha Kahila, Ton Heijdra, Marie-Jeanne Dumont, Museum Het Schip, Woonbond, and the many more friends and strangers who talked to us about housing and money.

YouTube | Bluesky | Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | Mastodon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | hello@europeanspodcast.com

Why is your rent so high? What are the policies that created this housing crisis, and what policies can get us out of it? This week we launch the first two parts of our new series, ‘Who Does It Best?’. At a time when many people feel like their governments are not taking care of them, we wondered: how do policies actually shape our daily lives? And are there places getting it right?

In Housing Part 1, Katz takes us on a journey through Vienna, Finland, and Paris, looking for Europe’s most ambitious housing policies and what we can learn from them (and maybe even copy?!). But first, Katz and Dominic sit down to face the elephant in the room: money, housing, and inheritance.

If you’re curious about where you stand on your country’s wealth ladder, you can find the World Bank’s wealth calculator here.

If you want to know your renters’ rights, many countries have renters’ unions that give (legal) advice. Here is the Dutch one: Woonbond.

Interested in hearing more radio that looks at how politics gets into our intimate lives? Journalist Anna Sale’s book and podcast “about the things we think about a lot and need to talk about more” have been a huge inspiration for this podcast.

And most importantly, this series was fully funded by you - our listeners! Our generous crowdfunders hit our goal within two months, and made it possible for us to do extensive reporting fully independently. We couldn’t be more grateful. If you’re feeling inspired to support our ongoing work, please go to patreon.com/europeanspodcast. You can donate as little as 3 euros, less than an overpriced cappuccino! But you can also donate plenty more ;)

Want to support us in another way? Please consider telling one or two friends specifically about this episode, and sharing it with them. It is the most effective way for us to reach people!

Written, reported and produced by: Katz Laszlo

Editors: Jasmin Baoumy, Katy Lee

Editorial support: Dominic Kraemer, Morgan Childs, Uršula Zaletelj, Maja Stepančič

Sound design: Jesse Lou Lawson

Mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak

Music and SFX: Epidemic & FreeSound.Org, including pneumatic drill by acclivity

Artwork: RTiiiKA

Special thanks to: Vera Vrijmoeth, Georgia Walker, Cody Hochstenbach, Molly Broome, Juha Kahila, Ton Heijdra, Marie-Jeanne Dumont, Museum Het Schip, Woonbond, and the many more friends and strangers who talked to us about housing and money.

YouTube | Bluesky | Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | Mastodon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | hello@europeanspodcast.com

It’s been a busy week for European politics, European protests, and European wallabies. In the midst of the madness, we caught up with Kateřina Šafaříková of Czech news outlet Seznam Zprávy, who filled us in on the Czech Republic’s recent parliamentary elections. Is the probable next Prime Minister, Andrej Babiš, likely to be an Orbán-esque thorn in the EU’s side, or does he just kinda wanna text with Macron? Kateřina shares her thoughts. We also catch up on the protests that Georgia’s democratic opposition has been staging against the country’s government in Tbilisi and a grassroots victory in Lithuania.

If you’re moved to learn more about what’s going on in Georgia, check out our interview with Anna Gvarishvili in the episode “Is this the end of Georgia’s European dream?” You can also follow some of the initiatives and journalists Wojciech recommends:

• Project 64 https://x.com/64project_
• George Melashivili https://x.com/geomel_ge
• Marika Mikiashvili https://x.com/Mikiashvili_M
• Anna Gvarishvili https://x.com/AnnaGvarishvili

You can discover more of Kateřina Šafaříková’s work over here or follow her on Instagram here.

This week's Inspiration Station recommendations are the documentary Pianoforte and the book Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie, courtesy of Patreon member Pia.

Brace yourselves if you decide you do indeed want to hear the now former Lithuanian minister for culture singing on an episode of the Voice.

This podcast was brought to you in cooperation with Euranet Plus, the leading radio network for EU news. But it’s contributions from listeners that truly make it all possible—we could not continue to make the show without you! If you like what we do, you can chip in to help us cover our production costs at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/europeanspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (in many different currencies), or you can gift a donation to a superfan. We'd also love it if you could tell two friends about this podcast. We think two feels like a reasonable number.

00:00:47 Bentornato! 00:04:08 Good Week: Lithuania’s cultural sector 00:15:15 Bad Week: Georgian democratic opposition 00:28:11 Interview: Journalist Kateřina Šafaříková on last week’s Czech elections 00:47:34 The Inspiration Station: The documentary Pianoforte and the book Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie 00:52:40 Happy Ending: Massive Der Spiegel wallaby scoop! Producers: Morgan Childs and Wojciech Oleksiak Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak

Can we talk about Trump’s culture war, Putin’s war on inclusivity, and just about everyone’s unwillingness to pay teachers fair wages—and giggle throughout? You better believe it. Nina Lamparski is back in the hosting chair, and strap in, listeners, because this week’s show is a *ride.*

Our guest this week is the delightful and incisive political analyst Paweł Zerka of the European Council on Foreign Relations. Paweł returns to the podcast to tell us why Europe is living in a Truman-Show-style universe directed by Donald Trump and his international team. We pick Paweł’s terrific brain about what our leaders can do to build upon the growing pro-European sentiment (really!) and engage with the US as its peer, not its lackey. Plus: Nina raises a glass of crémant to Luxembourgish teachers, who had what seems to us like a very swanky Good Week. And Dominic awards Bad Week to Eurovision, which seems to be crumbling whilst Russia’s Intervision is back and creepier than ever.

Mentioned in this episode:

• The European Sentiment Compass 2025 from ECF and ECFR, “Reality show: Why Europe must not cave in Trump’s culture war”

  culture war”
• Europeans jingles composer Jim Barne’s Broadway(!) musical, Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)
• This live blog from Czech Radio’s Zlín service that tracked the movements of Emil the Elk all summer

This week's Inspiration Station recommendations are Twelve Months of Monastery Soups, a cookbook by Brother Victor-Antoine d’Avila-Latourrette, and Rejected: Designs for the European Flag by Jonas von Lenthe.

This podcast was brought to you in cooperation with Euranet Plus, the leading radio network for EU news. But it’s contributions from listeners that truly make it all possible—we could not continue to make the show without you! If you like what we do, you can chip in to help us cover our production costs at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/europeanspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (in many different currencies), or you can gift a donation to a superfan. We'd also love it if you could tell two friends about this podcast. We think two feels like a reasonable number.

00:00:47 This podcast is co-hosted by a bionic woman 00:04:45 Good Week: Luxembourgish teachers 00:12:18 Bad Week: Eurovision 00:29:09 Interview: Paweł Zerka of the European Council on Foreign Relations 00:43:50 The Inspiration Station: The books Twelve Months of Monastery Soups and Rejected: Designs for the European Flag 00:50:14 Happy Ending: Central Europe adopts elk mascot Producers: Morgan Childs and Wojciech Oleksiak Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina YouTube | Bluesky | Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | Mastodon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | hello@europeanspodcast.com

There’s no denying it’s been a pretty dark week, but we’ve got a couple of bright spots for you. What could be a better job than dreaming up ways that Europe could be improved? That’s what this week’s guest, Johanna Fabrin, does each day at the Copenhagen think tank 21st Europe. Ahead of our miniseries Who Does It Best, Dominic sat down with Johanna to talk about the group’s “blueprints” for the continent, the importance of optimism, and who, exactly, is going to pay for a fantasy train system that links all of Europe together like a massive metro line.

And not to be too negative, but…we decided it was a pretty Bad Week for basically all of the western world, thanks to the Russian drone incursion into Poland and Romania. But! It was a Good Week (er, a marginally, “meekly” better week) for the European Union, which is finally—finally—taking some overdue action regarding the war in Gaza. Did Ursula von der Leyen tune into our episode from a couple of weeks ago? We suspect yes.

You can learn more about what 21st Europe is up to on their website and on Instagram. Also mentioned in this episode: Simply Shada, the new Substack created by the brilliant former Europeans guest Shada Islam and the interview with Finland's President Alexander Stubb.

This week's Inspiration Station recommendations are visiting countries in transition/The Wojciech Oleksiak Dua Lipa Tour of Pristina* and the David Szalay novel Flesh. *Restrictions apply, see Wojciech for details

This podcast was brought to you in cooperation with Euranet Plus, the leading radio network for EU news. But it’s contributions from listeners that truly make it all possible—we could not continue to make the show without you! If you like what we do, you can chip in to help us cover our production costs at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/europeanspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (in many different currencies), or you can gift a donation to a superfan. We'd also love it if you could tell two friends about this podcast. We think two feels like a reasonable number.

Timestamps

00:00:47 Intro: Is it just us or are we all feeling like half-deflated balloons? 00:03:17 Bad Week: Russian drone incursion 00:18:05 Good Week: The EU steps up in Gaza war 00:32:21 Interview: Johanna Fabrin of 21st Europe 00:44:11 The Inspiration Station: Wojciech’s tour of Kosovo and David Szalay’s novel Flesh 00:47:41 Happy Ending: Austrian nun convent break-in

Producers: Morgan Childs and Wojciech Oleksiak Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina YouTube | Bluesky | Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | Mastodon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | hello@europeanspodcast.com

The music industry is reeling due to what’s being called the 'largest intellectual property theft in history' — we’ll dig into the fight between Big Tech and the people who make the music. Meanwhile, Sweden’s new cultural canon has people fuming — not least because it leaves out ABBA.

We’ll also hear from Der Spiegel’s Gunter Latsch about his chilling investigation into the shadowy world of organ trafficking. And we’ll finish, as always, with something a little lighter: archaeologists in Denmark have been uncovering a kind of Stone Age Atlantis beneath the sea and they’ve been using a funky underwater vacuum to do so.

This week's Inspiration Station recommendations: Addison Rae - 'Headphones On' | Behind the Song and Love in Five Acts by Daniela Krien (translated by Jamie Bulloch)

This podcast was brought to you in cooperation with Euranet Plus, the leading radio network for EU news. But it’s contributions from listeners that truly make it all possible—we could not continue to make the show without you! If you like what we do, you can chip in to help us cover our production costs at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/europeanspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (in many different currencies), or you can gift a donation to a superfan. We'd also love it if you could tell two friends about this podcast. We think two feels like a reasonable number.

Other resources for this week's episode:

No Abba, no meatballs? Sweden’s new cultural canon is a listicle that will soon be forgotten:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/sep/04/sweden-cultural-canon-abba-ikea-meatballs

Since we recorded this episode, a US federal judge has postponed approval of the $1.5 billion Anthropic copyright deal: https://news.bloomberglaw.com/ip-law/anthropic-judge-blasts-copyright-pact-as-nowhere-close-to-done

Taskforce recommends prosecution of Mishra for alleged organ trafficking:

https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/health-science/article/2001525127/taskforce-recommends-prosecution-of-mishra-for-alleged-organ-trafficking

00:00:47 Introduction: Emoji fuelled marital strife

00:04:26 Good Week: Sweden’s controversial ’cultural canon’

00:13:31 Bad Week: The fight between AI and musicians

00:27:05 Interview: Gunther Latch on Germans going abroad for kidneys

00:40:51 Inspiration Station: ’Headphones On’ and ’Love in Five Acts’

00:46:01 Happy Ending: Denmark’s Stone Age Atlantis

Producers: Katz Laszlo, Morgan Childs and Wojciech Oleksiak

Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak

Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina

Hosts: Nina Lamparski and Dominic Kraemer

YouTube | Bluesky | Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | Mastodon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | hello@europeanspodcast.com

This week, we’re dedicating the entire episode to Gaza. We have a lot of questions about the EU’s role in what’s happening there: Why is the EU not suspending trade with, or at the very least banning weapon sales to, Israel? Why is Israel being treated differently than the way Russia has been? And what will inaction mean for the credibility of the EU?

We put those questions to two esteemed guests: Sven Kühn von Burgsdorff, who served as the EU’s representative to Palestine from 2020 until July 2023, and Shada Islam, Lahore-born, Brussels-based commentator who has recently written some incredibly moving and thought-provoking pieces about the EU’s complicity in the war in Gaza. And we round out the episode with a brief Inspiration Station recommendation: the book Enter Ghost by British-Palestinian author Isabella Hammad.

This podcast was brought to you in cooperation with Euranet Plus, the leading radio network for EU news. But it’s contributions from listeners that truly make it all possible—we could not continue to make the show without you! If you like what we do, you can chip in to help us cover our production costs at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/europeanspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (in many different currencies), or you can gift a donation to a superfan. We'd also love it if you could tell two friends about this podcast. We think two feels like a reasonable number.

00:00:46 Introduction: The cucumber season is over 00:02:53 What’s been happening in Gaza for the past two years 00:06:45 Interview: Sven Kühn von Burgsdorff 00:29:00 Interview: Shada Islam 00:46: 16 The Inspiration Station: the book Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad

Producers: Morgan Childs and Wojciech Oleksiak Editorial support: Katz Laszlo Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak Music: Jim Barne, Mariska Martina and Morrisella by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue). YouTube | Bluesky | Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | Mastodon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | hello@europeanspodcast.com