Europe Matters

Europe Matters first season just finished, but don't worry we will soon be starting to publish our next season.If you missed any of our episodes of our first season don't worry! We got you covered! In this recap episode you will hear some snippets from each guests' episode, so that you can get an idea of what we talked about. Here you can find the timestamps and the links to each episode: 00:31 Introduction01:10 How to conquer colonialism - Gilberto Morishaw02:51 How to check-in to Grand Hotel Europa - Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer05:11 How to build a European Political Party - Volt Europe07:05 How to recharge civil rights in Europe - Márta Pardavi09:05 How to make a European laugh - Dragos Comedy 10:18 How to Feel the Pulse of Europe - Nini Tsiklauri13:00 Noam Chomsky on the pandemic, Ukraine Crisis and Climate Change15:15 How to Walk for Europe - Valerie Thatcher17:00 How to shape the future of Europe - Alberto Alemanno20:25 How This is Gendered - Alina Karlsen & Tess De Rooij23:53 How Space Law Works - Anass Hanafi26:11 Announcement Season 2Thank you for listening to our show! If you enjoy what we do, leave us a review (Apple or Spotify) and share the episodes so more people may find out that Europe matters. Help us keep the show going by supporting us on Patreon or by making a one-time donation.

Space exploration used to be a race between national space agencies like NASA and Roscosmos (Russia), but the private sector dominates the field today. How can we establish regulations in outer space that apply to both governments and private companies? Can Elon Musk create his own country on Mars? In this cosmic interview with Anass Hanafi Dali, we discuss space law, Martian tax havens and how Russia shooting down their own satellites could lead to WWIII. Anass specializes in Space Law, he is a member of the Global Shaper community of the World Economic Forum, a fellow at the German Marshall Fund and most importantly a member of the Space Law and Policy group of the Space Generation Advisory Council. To find out more about Anass' work you can follow him on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Linkedin. Thank you for listening to our show! If you enjoy what we do, leave us a review (Apple or Spotify) and share the episodes so more people may find out that Europe matters. Help us grow the show by supporting us on Patreon or by making a one-time donation.

Sinks, Google Maps and public spaces. Could they be made more accessible and inclusive if approached with a gendered view? Inspired by the thought that “everything is political”, Alina Karlsen and Tess de Rooij claim that “everything is gendered”. To prove this claim, in the summer of 2020, they started working on the first feminist encyclopedia – THIS IS GENDERED. We explore how gender and feminism affect our daily lives, what “gendered” means to them, and the role of gender in politics. To find out more about Tess and Alina's work, check out THIS IS GENDERED website, where you can browse and discover many insightful entries. You can follow THIS IS GENDERED on Facebook, Instagram and Linkedin. Thank you for listening to our show! If you enjoy what we do, leave us a review (Apple or Spotify) and share the episodes so more people may find out that Europe matters. Help us grow the show by supporting us on Patreon or by making a one-time donation.

The Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE) has just ended, leaving us to wonder whether European citizens will be listened to or if it is just a “cosmetic” exercise to make everyone feel better about European democracy. Our guest is Alberto Alemanno, author, founder of the Good Lobby and professor of EU law at HEC Paris. We discuss how the EU would look like if citizens had the opportunity to engage with decision-makers, if there is a need to reinvent democracy, and what citizens should do to ensure their voices are heard. To find out more about Alberto's work, check out his website and The Good Lobby. In this interview we also mention the European Citizen’s Initiative, Committee on Petitions (PETI) and Alberto's article "Unboxing the Conference on the Future of Europe".You can follow Alberto on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Linkedin.  Thank you for listening to our show! If you enjoy what we do, leave us a review (Apple or Spotify) and share the episodes so more people may find out that Europe matters. Help us grow the show by supporting us on Patreon or by making a one-time donation.

In this interview, we talk to Valerie Thatcher, an activist, author, and initiator of the Walk for Europe, about the life-changing experience of travelling through Europe by foot to encourage a conversation about the EU. In 2019, motivated by the indifference towards Europe and the lack of interest in the upcoming European election, Valerie set out on a journey to promote voting, walking more than 750km from Lyon to Brussels. In 2021 she took up the challenge once again, crossing 12 Central and Eastern European countries and walking more than 1400km. To find out more about Valerie's work, check out her book "A Walk for Europe" and follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and Linkedin.  Thank you for listening to our show! If you enjoy what we do, leave us a review (Apple or Spotify) and share the episodes so more people may find out that Europe matters. Help us grow the show by supporting us on Patreon or by making a one-time donation.

2021 was a year of many promises, from a return to pre-covid life to new ways of defeating climate change. Was it all a lie? In this winter special, Paolo Destilo and Gilberto Morishaw recap the year by discussing the effects of vaccine hoarding, distrust towards Big Pharma and the phenomenon of the great resignation. Finally, they discuss the broken promises of COP 26 (Climate Change Conference) and that there is still hope for 2022. In this episode, we also mention Gilberto's first interview at Europe Matters, How to conquer colonialism, in which he talks about this troubling and provocative topic.  To find out more about Gilberto's work, check out how he redesigns the foundation on which local economies and communities are built through Kolektivo as well as the network of Global Shapers. You can also follow Gilberto on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Linkedin. 

The dissatisfaction with the European Union is ever-growing. What can we do as a civil society to make a difference? Why should we hold on to the idea of a United States of Europe and European values? A Georgian artist, actress, author and activist, Nini Tsiklauri, discusses the Russo-Georgian war, how meeting Angela Merkel inspired her to become an activist and board member of Pulse of Europe, and the difficulties of spreading awareness about European topics. To find out more about Nini's work, check out her website and the Pulse of Europe movement. In this interview we also mention two of her books: "Let's fight for Europe" and "Who, if not us?", the latter co-written with the Young European Collective. You can also follow Nini on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Linkedin.  Thank you for listening to our show! If you enjoy what we do, leave us a review (Apple or Android) and share the episodes so more people may find out that Europe matters. Help us grow the show by supporting us on Patreon or by making a one-time donation.Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Linkedin or check out our Youtube channel.

Laughter is said to be the best medicine. Could it also be a means of bringing Europeans together? Our guest is Dragos Giugula, a Romanian stand-up comedian who started his career in Singapore and currently lives in Berlin. Like Dragos’s comedy, this talk is "dark but cute". We talk about why a European media platform is needed, how humour has helped many people cope with death during Covid and much more.