Podcasts by Radio Spaetkauf Berlin

Sticking Point: Too Radical or Right On? – Part 3 from 2023-11-24T13:38

“I don’t think fear is the right word. I am afraid of the future,” Tim Wechselmann-Cassim of Le...

Podfest Live (Lost&Found Recording) from 2023-11-06T10:00

The previously lost audio has been found - we apologize for the delay! Listen to our live show at Podfest Berlin, recorded on October 15th at Noisy Rooms. We cover invading hornets, sex scams wh...

Sticking Point: Onto The Streets - Part 2 from 2023-08-29T13:49

“He saw the remains of his father dug up again.” That was the traumatic experience of one man in a village which was forcibly relocated due to coal mining. It was told to us by Listen

Live at Lakeside Film Festival 2023 | Guest: Ben Knight from 2023-08-09T13:53

Will Berliners survive the apocalypse? Should we even try? Ben Knight filmed his quest to deal with climate crisis angst. His film "We're All Going To Die" screened at Lakeside Film Festival. Be...

Sticking Point: Voices from Germany’s Climate Movement - Part 1 from 2023-07-03T09:23

In this miniseries, Izzy Choksey and Anne-Marie Harrison take a journey through the main waves of Germany's climate movement. We meet the people behind the headlines...

The War on Bikes Begins | Guests Wouter Bernhardt (DW&Co Enteignen)&Yonatan Miller (Berlin Tech Workers Coalition) from 2023-05-29T12:07

Cyclists, get ready to ring your bells. The new city government wants to shrink bike lanes, and is turning car-free zones into roads. We hear about the new war on bi...

Was Berlin's Election Stolen? from 2023-05-02T14:43

Berlin is about to get conservative. The Christian Democrats have taken control of our once lefty, greeny, progressive and mismanaged city. The new CDU mayor is Kai ...

Get Help Berlin: Part 2 - The Magic Word from 2023-04-14T12:28

Jöran and Matilde outline the underground market which is making it difficult for psychotherapists to treat patients under public health insurance. But, there’s a work-around to gettin...

Middle Aged Guys | Guests Jonny Tiernan&Drew Portnoy from 2023-03-29T10:09

Listen

Under A Mirrored Ceiling | Live at Babylon Berlin from 2023-01-26T22:46

Recorded Live at the Babylon Berlin Cinema in Mitte on Sunday, Januar...

Something's Fishy | with GEW Union and Zossener48 from 2022-12-20T12:40

In our second installment of the Brews and News winter tour we recorded at the Vagabund Brewery in Wedding from Kesselhaus. 1,500 fish died after the giant fish t...

Support Your Local Bar, Not Qatar | Konrad Werner&Lea Beckmann from 2022-11-20T19:09

Its official! Berliners will have to return to the voting booths. Berlin’s constitutional court ruled on Wednesday, that the Senate and Bezirks elections will hav...

All the F**ks | DW&Co Enteignen, BürgerBegehren Klimaschutz&Turnt Up from 2022-10-09T15:51

One year ago Berliners voted overwhelmingly in support of the Deutsche Wohnen & Co Enteignen referendum to buy back corporate-owned apartments and communalize the...

Smurf Patrol | Guests: 9EuroFonds&Klimaneustart from 2022-09-13T02:30:15

Maisie Hitchcock returns as special co-host for an outdoor episode recorded at Floating Berlin.

The €9 public transport ticket is dead, but what if Berliners make their own cheap ticket s...

Live at Lakeside Film Festival 2022 from 2022-08-11T11:44:11

Synopsis: A weekend of escapism turns into a confrontation with reality for a group of Berliners, who leave the city to find the countryside is a scary place.

Location: A camp ground in t...

Gummi Suit Summer｜Guests: Pansy, Letzte Generation, Ryan Plocher from 2022-07-18T19:35:44

It’s pride month in Berlin but a virus outbreak is highlighting how policy makers keep failing the LGBTQi community and shows we learnt nothing from the last pand...

Get Help Berlin: Part 1 - The Saddest City from 2022-07-08T09:15:53

Jöran has just started looking for a therapist and can’t believe how impossible it seems. Matilde is in therapy and still gets anxiety recalling her search.

On this episode they swap stor...

More time for sex&grandma from 2022-06-07T09:00:56

This episode was recorded in the dying summer light of the floating university Listen

Cheap Trains and Cold Pools | Guest: Nathaniel Flakin from 2022-05-02T03:43:22

What’s left of revolutionary Berlin? On our outdoor May Day special, we ask author Nathaniel Flakin whether there's still enough activists to keep Berlin interesting...

Billionaire in the Basement from 2022-04-04T15:53:51

Berlin has welcomed 30,000 new residents as Ukrainian refugees fill the city. We meet Mimi, a volunteer from Wir Packens An. They send boxes to refugees - not just from Ukraine, but those forgot...

Kunsthalle Catastrophe | Guest: Zoe Claire Miller from 2022-02-15T13:48:46

The BVG has reinvented the concept of time. Ticket checkers emerge from undercover. Tempelhof art show boycott explained.

A huge art exhibition inside Tempelhof airport has gained millions in pu...

First Class U-Bahns from 2021-12-29T21:43:51

Would premium class service encourage more rich people to take public transport? Housing activists score a temporary victory trying to squat an empty building. Why do the moving sidewalks at BER...

Two Ways to Steal A House | Guest: James Jackson from 2021-11-29T16:10:35

Confusion in the club queues as new 2G+ rules start. Does the plus mean mask, test or both? The short answer is always check ahead. We're back to the bad old days...

RS Podfest: Destroy This Company from 2021-10-25T20:37:11

BER turned to chaos over the October holidays, with huge queues and many missed flights. Airlines advised travellers to come four hours early. The airport is only...

RS Election Special: Yes But No from 2021-09-28T13:49:10

Berliner voters want more left-green politics and a radical state take-over of property - but the new mayor may ignore those demands.

At Sunday's city-state elections, a majority (54.3%) ...

RS Live: 2G or Not To Be from 2021-09-20T11:42:13

The Berlin election results could deliver a shock result: instead of the current green-left coalition, we could end up with conservatives who want to build on Tempelhof, expand highways and stop...

RS Live: Cars Can't Vote from 2021-08-23T16:44:39

Berlin is weeks away from its state election and a referendum on housing. We analyse the campaign posters with Konrad Werner, columnist for Exberliner, and host of the weekly German news show Me...

RS Live: Deutschrap Iced Tea from 2021-06-17T23:04:36

What does Deutschrap have to do with the boom in bling-decorated iced tea? Maisie Hitchcock delves into her considerable knowledge of the genre to explain.

Listen

RS Open Air: Ban Cars&Racist Chocolates from 2021-05-26T09:31:29

Everything is reopening. We’re shooting up on vaccines, and shoving sticks up our noses in strange places - and loving it. And best of all - Maisie is back!

Coronavirus testing centers ar...

Rent Freeze #4: How To F#€k Up A Mietendeckel from 2021-05-06T20:26:18

The Berlin Mietendeckel experiment is finished. The city’s revolutionary attempt to freeze rental prices for five years, and reduce overpriced leases, has been killed off by Germany’s highest co...

Rent Freeze Update: Dead, Not Buried from 2021-04-15T09:47:18

Berlin's revolutionary rent freeze law has been declared invalid by Germany's highest court. Reduced rents will have to be repaid. Joel, Dan and Jöran give an instant take. Who will voters blame...

RS Livestream: Not A Curfew from 2021-04-02T11:16:15

Berlin finally has an overnight curfew - but not really: we can go out alone from 9pm to 5am. We need a negative test to go shopping - but not really: grocery and household shopping is exempt. W...

RS Live: A Board Game With No Winners from 2021-03-05T16:27:25

There’s a lot of bad news around about Germany’s slow vaccination rate, and Berlin’s system in particular. The vaccination centers are processing far fewer people tha...

RS Lockdown: Snow Crimes from 2021-02-16T13:10:26

Who stole the snow from a Berlin park? A local newspaper has been investigating one of the winter's cruelest possible crimes. Parents at Parkaue think a disgruntled local might have cleared a po...

RS Mini: Getting Vaxxed from 2021-02-08T08:08:08

Jöran sits down with Eli Wenzel-Fisher, a caretaker at a Berlin retirement home to talk about vaccinations arriving at the residence and getting vaccinated himself.

Getting vaxxed - how d...

Thanks Berlin! 5th Anniversary Special from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

While the rest of the world votes for crazy leaders and dumb ideas, Berlin's new coalition has just announced an amazing social program that makes this city even better. On this special 5th anniver...

Berlin's New Tram Lines from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Welcome to our new series of short news updates produced for RadioEins, Berlin's public broadcaster! On this show we talk about how Berlin's new "red-red-green" coalition between the SPD, Die Grüne...

No One's In Charge from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Berlin still has no official governing coalition, as the SPD, Die Linke and Die Grünen drag on their negotiations. Public transport ticket prices for 2017 have been announced, and they're going up ...

Berlin Election Results from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

The Berlin election results are in. And it looks like the SPD's Michael Müller will remain mayor, if he can build a coalition with two other parties - most likely Die Grüne and Die Linke. This elec...

Berlin Election Special from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

We're decoding the Berlin election with a full run down on what each party is promising, with some graphic design critique thrown in. Who's going to run Berlin after the September 18 vote? Probably...

Live at Mobile Kino Weekend... er? from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

At our annual outdoor recording in the woods, we interview three Syrian refugees - Ghaith, Omar and Munzer - who have created an app to help deal with German paperwork. It's called Bureaucrazy. Som...

Henkel's Leftist Orgy of Violence from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

On this quick update, we talk about the secretive British investment company behind all the problems between punks and police on Rigaer Straße. Daniel thinks the whole scenario could be turned into...

RS#06 2016: Did the BVG steal a font? from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Berlin typographer Anton Koovit spent over a year creating his font called U8, based on the letters on U-Bahn station signs. Recently the BVG began using Koovit's font to print new signs. But they ...

RS Update June 13 from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Radio Spaetkauf live recording outdoors, in front of the big screen at Mobile Kino! Come watch the full RS team reading the news (starting at 20.00), followed by a movie (starting at 21.45). Topics...

RS#05 2016: We Take Berlin from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

What would we do if we ran the city? Radio Spaetkauf is exploring Berlin's political system by trying to get our own host Jöran Mandik elected to the state Abgeordnetenhaus. We get tips from former...

RS#04 2016: Lonely Locks, Strange Streets, and Floorball from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

Which landmark abandoned locations are going to be renovated - and do we want them to be? Several huge Berlin ruins are about to be developed, while Spreepark Planterwald is set to re-open this sum...

RS Update - We Lost from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393

A quick update on football and festivals. And come along to our live show on April 24 at 6pm! Comedy Cafe Berlin: https://www.facebook.com/events/626246324195152/

RS Lockdown: Fireproof Nazi Curtains from 2021-01-26T17:29:18

With the new medical mask rule in force, will the Querdenkers now start wearing banned fabric masks? What about people who can't afford the expensive masks? Should prices be regulated to stop pr...

RS Lockdown: We Read The News Today, Oh Boy from 2021-01-03T22:45:32

Jöran ushered in the new year with jelly donuts, Joel an ice cold swim and Dan watched the ZDF livestream. All were pleased with their experiences. Hospital on th...

RS Lockdown: Twenty 20 II from 2020-12-18T13:35:16

Why can't Germany finally ban fireworks? The failure to prohibit the use of rockets on NYE shows the pandemic response still isn't being led by science, we say. Many shops are closed, and alcoho...

RS Lockdown: Weihnachts Windows from 2020-12-06T06:02:25

We're joined by guest co-host Carmen Chraim. Listen to her podcast People of Carmen.

Joel shares his exper...

Rent Freeze #3: Don't Spend It from 2020-11-20T12:53:41

Rent Freeze #3: Don't Spend It

This month residents of Berlin should experience the biggest collective rent reduction in history. About 340,000 residents - one in six - may be eligible fo...

RS Lockdown: Tasteless Recipes from 2020-11-09T17:43:26

First some difficult news: Maisie is in hospital being treated for a rare type of cancer. She is trying to stay positive and says: "Hello to everyone. I'm working on coming back ASAP!" You can s...

How To F#€k Up An Airport #5: Crash Take-Off from 2020-10-29T16:06:55

Every Berliner knows the new airport is about to open. But few know about the disasters that could happen next. We’re here to explain. Masie, Joel and Jöran take part in a test of the new termin...

RS Live: Million Euro Logo from 2020-10-23T14:43:53

A right-wing campaign of neighbourhood terror has been carrying on for years on the streets of Neukölln. For a long time, the police just seemed incompetent. Now ...

RS Live: Bike Lane Battles from 2020-09-18T11:19:52

The AfD has won a court battle to remove pop-up bike lanes. How can cyclists fight back? We meet Dirk von Schneidemesser from Changing Cities who says we can convince drivers to give up cars if ...

RS Lockdown: Countering Covidiots from 2020-09-03T06:46:52

Maisie mingles mit medical misbelievers and miscellaneous misinformed masses. Brace yourself - winter markets may be cancelled. Plus Berlin’s building and housing...

RS Lockdown: Good Cop, Bad Ordnungsamt from 2020-08-04T09:37:44

Are you faking your details on restaurant sign-in sheets? Now the police are requisitioning venue contact lists for non-health-related investigations.

About 20,000 corona deniers marched ...

RS Live: Statistically Speaking from 2020-07-06T15:04:59

Why does the German media still use racist cliches, and focus on race in stories about coronavirus outbreaks? We meet Gilda Sahebi, journalist for Taz and Neue Deutsche Medienmacher*innen. She t...

RS Mini: Unlock Life from 2020-06-29T18:20:40

This mini episode features Daniel Stern interviewing artist Aram Barthall about his recent installation “Unlock Life” which utilizes remnants of the recent bike share boom.
Find out more a...

RS Lockdown: Crowded Canals from 2020-06-08T10:50:56

Almost everything is open again, but the crisis isn't over. 30% of Berlin workers are now jobless or on Kurzarbeit suspension. Many cafes, shops and big businesses have closed. Maisie tells us a...

RS Lockdown: Excuse for Everything from 2020-05-24T07:11:16

Berlin starts counting the cost of the shutdown. Business tax revenues have plummeted by 90%. Who’s going to pay the bill? Are we going back to the dark days of “saving till it squeals”?

...

RS Lockdown: Involuntary Rehab from 2020-05-10T10:43:18

Berlin is days away from the great restart.Restaurants, pools, hotels and kitas will soon open again under new rules. But there’s no return in sight for the things some people liked about Berlin...

RS Lockdown: Masked Vigilantes from 2020-04-25T15:18:18

Berlin is emerging from its lockdown hibernation. Shops are open again, but some of us have lost the will to consume. Restaurants are still closed. They're bearin...

RS Lockdown: Stop Snitching from 2020-04-12T10:16:21

Berlin police ask snitches not to block the emergency hotline 110 with coronavirus kontaktverbot reports. They'd prefer to use drones to control people. New fines are in place: it could cost you...

RS Lockdown: Park Police from 2020-03-28T08:49:34

Put that picnic blanket away, and don’t dare drink a beer in the park. Berlin's signature freedoms are being restricted. How far is too far? Should you cancel your gym membership, or keep paying...

RS Mini: Time Capsule from 2020-03-26T07:39:37

This mini episode of Radio Spaetkauf features an interview with Chad Matheny aka Emperor X of Neukölln music venue Donau115.
A few Berlin news updates with Daniel Stern: Berlin is quiet as...

RS Lockdown: Streaming Fomo from 2020-03-23T19:28:58

How are we going to survive this month of Sundays? Berlin freelancers are being promised €5000 cash, but who can get it and how? Rent payments could be delayed so we can stay in our flats and ke...

RS Lockdown: Clean Your Windows from 2020-03-16T07:11:57

"The time for partying is over," Berlin's health senator Dilek Kalayci said, announcing the shut down of the city. Berlin's government has enacted the widest restriction of liberties since the w...

Rent Freeze #2: Magic Words from 2020-03-02T22:59:58

Berlin's rent freeze has begun, but nobody seems to know what's going on. Landlords and tenants alike are confused about what to do next. Rents are now capped at the rate paid in June 2019 - all...

RS Live: Library Darkroom Secrets from 2020-02-24T23:25:36

Berlin’s favourite free coworking space also has books. We meet Juliana Pranke from the ZLB, Berlin's central library. She tells us the secrets of the Bibliothek: You can borrow art to hang on y...

Rent Freeze #1: The Experiment from 2020-01-28T01:05:17

What happens when an entire city of 3.5 million residents stops paying rent increases for the next five years? Welcome to Rent Freeze, a podcast about Berlin’s rental revolution.

Berlin i...

RS Live: Everything Is Closing from 2020-01-27T10:50:22

Some of Berlin's most infamous nightclubs are closing as investors cash in on their properties. Grießmühle is almost gone, and KitKatClub may be forced out by the summer. What's different about ...

RS Xmas Market Special from 2019-12-18T16:47:58

Maisie, Dan and Joel meet at Gendarmenmarkt Christmas market to catch up on the news.
Berlin's advertising boards are full of complaints by companies against the city government. Airbnb is...

RS Live: Shared Spaces from 2019-11-22T07:39

On this month’s Radio Spätkauf: Segregation in Berlin’s public schools, an artist and curator reinvents the Berlin‘s S-Bahn‘s disused spaces. And what is the Night of...

RS Live: Benches, Bees&Berlin Pinball from 2019-10-22T18:14:55

Have you ever wished you could rest your rear on a comfy spot, but there isn’t a seat anywhere in sight? Or do you sometimes want to perch on a bench in a picture...

RS Live: Two Wheels Good, One Wheel Bad from 2019-09-10T02:52:05

Bicycle riders working for Deliveroo have gone from being precariously employed to unemployed. We meet some of the former Deliveroo riders who have started their own food delivery company. Chris...

RS Live at Lakeside Film Festival 2019 from 2019-08-12T22:07:13

We're out in the woods for Mobile Kino's annual camping trip. The Lakeside Film Festival is in its sixth year, and this was the biggest so far. We interview founders Joshua and Fernando about th...

Claim of Thrones from 2019-07-27T13:09:07

Berlin now has 750 millionaire residents - twice as many as in 2016, according to the Finanzamt. The majority live in the city's west. More live in Kreuzberg than Prenzlauer Berg. Stra...

Seize that Pad Thai from 2019-06-17T10:23:39

Berlin now has two top level football teams after FC Union jumped up to the Bundesliga by winning a play-off match. FC Union started back in the DDR. Their die-hard fans actually helpe...

RS Live: Driving is Violence from 2019-05-28T16:29:08

Are you recycling, or ‘wish-cycling’? We talk to Thomas Klöckner, spokesman for BSR, Berlin’s waste processing company. It turns out we're all doing a pretty good job. But bulky waste is a probl...

RS Live: Who Wins the EU Poster Contest? from 2019-04-29T11:31:50

Are you one of four million EU citizens living in Germany? Now's your chance to vote in the European Parliament elections. We decipher the street posters. Maisie explains why photos of chin-scra...

RS Presents: Well, Actually from 2019-04-12T20:20:17

RS presents a pilot of a podcast series created by Joel Dullroy and his colleagues at DW. Well, Actually questions common assumptions and reveals surprising perspectives through exceptional stor...

RS Live: Clean Up Schönleinstraße from 2019-04-01T12:05:16

Why does the BVG allow its U-Bahn stations to be used as heroin hotspots? Several stations seem to have been abandoned to drug dealers and addicts. Schönleinstraße is the centre of the problem. ...

BVG Hearts Graffiti from 2019-03-22T09:51:18

Berlin is a noisy city, and it's getting louder. Stats show police cars activated their lights and sirens 158,000 times last year - or more than 400 times a day. That's a 5% increase o...

RS Live: Data and Mythos of Berlin from 2019-02-26T07:43:44

What do Berlin’s criminal gangs have to do with the German hip-hop industry? One high profile rapper is living in fear of retribution from a Berlin mafia boss. Our guest Konrad Werner tells us a...

RS Live: Finally a Fireworks Ban? from 2019-01-08T10:30:22

Are you one of the 34% of Berliners who enjoy the fireworks free-for-all on New Years Eve? Or one of the 62% who are sick of it? Local Green party politician Georg Kössler says it's time Berlin ...

RS Live: Revolution by Referendum from 2018-12-18T15:54:44

Coliving is booming in Berlin. There are 15 buildings renting serviced rooms with 'community, flexibility and diversity.' But are they just overpriced dormitories? Maisie Hitchcock went to find ...

Keep Berlin Colourful from 2018-12-01T07:32:15

Billboards have gone up encouraging people to voluntarily leave Germany. The Interior Ministry - run by the CSU's Horst Seehofer - is offering to pay up to twelve months living expenses back whe...

RS Live: The Ampelmann Strikes Back from 2018-10-30T16:40:14

Pedestrians in Berlin have had enough of being overrun by both cars and bikes. They're campaigning for better sidewalks and street crossings. We talk to a pedestrian activist who is hopping mad ...

RS Live at Floating University from 2018-09-14T22:58:19

We record live at Floating University, a temporary structure built over a hidden resevior near Hasenheide. Dan describes it as "Burning Man m...

Free Haircuts for Tall Men from 2018-08-24T07:45:53

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...

RS Live: Mobile Kino Lakeside Film Festival 2018 from 2018-08-14T19:23:47

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 an...

Squealing Trains, Smelly Drains from 2018-08-03T16:13:35

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 bein...

Ring Bahn Station Roulette from 2018-07-14T11:45:58

A Berlin man who has been in a coma for four months has been identified because someone recognized a photograph of his house keys. The 74-year was found unconscious in a Wilmersdorf park after a...

RS Live: Measure Your Flat, Sue Your Landlord from 2018-07-04T09:49:23

Are you paying too much rent? Probably: 70% of Berlin landlords are illegally overcharging, says lawyer Daniel Halmer of WenigerMiete.de. He’s offering a no...

Don't Delete That Video from 2018-06-01T00:00

A video of black people being kicked out of KFC at Alexanderplatz raises question. Is it illegal to call police racist? Can police delete videos from your phone? We've got the answers. Support grou...

RS Live: Turning Trash Into Beer from 2018-05-28T00:00

What will it take to get Berliners to pickup trash - the offer of a free beer, perhaps? The Big Görlitzer Clean Up happens on July 7. Organizer Lubomila Jordanova from the group Plan A tells us how...

Return of the Toxic Caterpillars from 2018-05-18T00:00

Sick of cars parking in bike lanes? Write own parking tickets during Falschparker Aktionswoche, which starts on May 28. Illegal parkers are fined just €20 in Berlin if caught, while the EU average ...

How To F#€k Up An Airport #4: Never Finished (live!) from 2018-04-30T00:00

A special live recording of the fourth and (maybe) last episode. Take a tour of all four of Berlin’s under-construction, out-of-use, falling-apart and over-capacity airports. Each has had a part to...

U-Bahn Flood Alert from 2018-04-20T00:00

Chris Dercon has resigned from the Volksbuehne Theater, just six months into the job, and following a lot of fuss over his appointment. It seems he had failed to secure enough sponsorship money to ...

Hasenheide Goat Killers from 2018-04-06T00:00

Two men who killed a goat in the Hasenheide petting zoo have been sentenced to 10 months in jail. Their lawyer said they were hungry, and argued for leniency as they only took one leg. Also, all me...

RS Live: Renting Out Your Room from 2018-03-26T00:00

How much do Berlin’s bottle collectors earn? Our guest Wouter Bernhardt has done the math - it's a measly €150 a month. He thinks it amounts to a form of socially accepted poverty. Wouter is host o...

Cherry Tree Massacre from 2018-03-09T00:00

Bike thefts are down 11% in Berlin. Just over 30,000 bikes were reported stolen in the past year, 4000 less than the year before. Has the flood of shared bikes helped? There’s been a cherry tree ma...

RS Live: Inside Tempelhof from 2018-02-26T00:00

Film director Karim Ainouz tells us what life was really like for refugees living in Tempelhof airport. His documentary "Zentralflughafen THF" was filmed in the camp, which recently closed. Could p...

How To F#€k Up An Airport #3: Money for Nothing from 2018-02-16T00:00

BER has been built twice - the first time incorrectly, the second time incompletely. We hear from Marco, an engineer who worked on site. Employees were busy stealing copper instead of fixing the fi...

How To F#€k Up An Airport #2: Double The Recipe from 2018-01-28T00:00

Days away from the planned 2012 opening party, nothing seemed amiss at BER. What was really going on? On this episode, we look at how the airport managers and politicians were messing with the plan...

How To F#€k Up An Airport #1: Without A Plan from 2017-12-18T00:00

Every Berliner knows the new airport is late. Few know exactly why. We're here to explain. BER is the international airport code for Berlin Brandenburg Airport, nickname Willy Brandt. It has also b...

RS Live: A Supermarket for Trash from 2017-11-27T00:00

Germans throw out one truck's worth of good food each minute. SirPlus is a supermarket that sells groceries that are past their best-before date but are still edible. Founder Raphael Fellmer joins ...

Watery Grave for Shared Bikes from 2017-11-24T00:00

The number of public bikes in Berlin increased to 6200 this week when Chinese company Mobike placed 700 of their orange and silver bicycles on the streets. They’re not to be confused with O-Bike, a...

Put Up Rent, Cheat Tax: How Berlin Landlords Stay Rich from 2017-11-10T00:00

Dodgy Berlin real estate deals have been discovered in the Paradise Papers. According to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung, a company called Phoenix Spree based on the Isle of Jersey has been buying Berlin ...

Paint Your Own Bike Lane from 2017-10-27T00:00

Almost 200 cyclists blocked traffic on Oranienstraße in a protest after a cyclist was doored and seriously injured. O-Straße is the third most dangerous street for cyclists in Berlin. What would ha...

Xavier and the Flamingos from 2017-10-13T00:00

Storm Xavier lashed Berlin with winds of 120 kilometres an hour on October 5. Public transport and flights were cancelled for most of the day, and regional train lines were cut for several days. Fi...

RS Live: The Escalator Traffic Report from 2017-10-02T00:00

Comedian and journalist Drew Portnoy tells us about his return to Berlin after several years away. The city has grown by the equivalent of two Bonns in that time and is feeling much fuller. Berlin-...

Tegel Saved, Now for Thai Park from 2017-09-29T00:00

Tegel Airport fans won a referendum on whether the hexagonal Flughafen should stay open post-BER. The "yes" vote was 56.1%. But it doesn't mean Tegel won't close, as the federal and Brandenburg gov...

A plague of rats, crabs and Irish airlines from 2017-09-14T00:00

Berlin is a city with over 2.4 million rats. Lately they've been sighted more frequently as heavy rain has flushed them out of the drains. Several playgrounds in the north of the city have been clo...

RS Live: Confessions of a Food Deliverer from 2017-09-04T00:00

Comedian Caroline Clifford signed up as a bicycle food courier to earn extra cash. But she found the income depends on cycle speed and can be €5 an hour or less, especially as customers don't tip. ...

Let's play linguistic chicken from 2017-08-24T00:00

This summer's bad weather is affecting local fruit supply. Yields of regional apples, pears, cherries and plums are down by about 50%, pushing prices up by 15%. In other apple news, there's controv...

Live at Mobile Kino Summer Camp 2017 from 2017-08-14T00:00

Meet Diana Arce, host of Politaoke, a cross between karaoke and political speeches. She hosts events where people read topical political rants while the audience boos and cheers. Diana is also part...

The Berlin Squirrel Virus from 2017-08-09T00:00

Meet our guest host Caroline Clifford, who will also join us at this weekend’s Mobile Kino Summer Camp live recording! Over 210,000 posters are going up on the lampposts for the federal election, h...

Sperm donor equality now! from 2017-07-27T00:00

This Berlin summer continues to be a wash-out, causing floods and public transport delays. Despite the rain, the Weissensee lake in north Berlin is drying up. The operator of Strandbad Weissensee i...

Singing in the Rain from 2017-07-14T00:00

Police raid Neukölln houses in search of the missing 100kg gold coin! The case of the spectacular robbery of the Big Maple Leaf coin from the Bode Museum is close to being cracked. Four men have be...

Party Police Pissed Off from 2017-06-29T00:00

More than 200 Berlin police officers have been sent home from the G20 summit in Hamburg early after some were caught partying in their quarters. They were observed drinking and dancing on tables wi...

RS Live: Riding under the U1 from 2017-06-21T00:00

New York has its Highline Park. Should Berlin have a lowline bike path under the U1 tracks? We interview a team member behind the idea for the U1 Radbahn. There’s controversy over plans to rename s...

Dogs, danger and doubt from 2017-06-15T00:00

There's been a spate of mysterious dog deaths around the Tegeler See. The cause is unclear - either a dog hater leaving poisoned food, or a bloom of dangerous blue algae in the water. Swimmers are ...

Bus Inspectors Coming Soon from 2017-06-02T00:00

Only 26% of Berliners get around by car, a survey found. The rest walk, ride or use public transport. Those who take buses should be aware - the BVG has announced that it is looking for a security ...

RS Live: Gangs of Neukölln from 2017-05-22T00:00

The new TV series 4 Blocks depicts Arabic criminal networks in Neukölln. But fiction isn't far off fact. We interview 4 Blocks writer Hanno Hackford about the real stories behind the show. You can ...

Berlin's North Korean Hostel from 2017-05-19T00:00

The official Mietspiegel rent index has been released. Average prices grew by 9.6% in the last two years, twice as much as during the previous review. The Mietspiegel determines how much landlords ...

Two Stars for May Day from 2017-05-05T00:00

This year's May Day party/protest attracted 200,000 people to Kreuzberg 36, including 10,000 demonstrators and 5,000 police. But there were hardly any public toilets outside the official Myfest are...

RS Live: City Saves Kotti From Investors from 2017-04-23T00:00

The landmark Neues Kreuzberger Zentrum at Kottbusser Tor will be purchased by the Berlin city government, snatching it from the hands of private investors. The NKZ - the giant 70s construction that...

Burglary at the Bürgeramt from 2017-04-20T00:00

S-Bahn or U-Bahn? Take the U-Bahn if you like free Wi-Fi and fare evading. Figures from the Berlin Senat show the S-Bahn prosecuted over 35,000 repeat ticket cheaters in 2016, three times as many a...

Tegel Gets A Referendum from 2017-04-07T00:00

Berliners will get to vote on whether to keep Tegel open after the campaign to save the airport collected enough signatures to trigger a referendum. But even if Berlin votes yes in September, it do...

RS Live: The Ugly Side of Anti-Gentrification from 2017-03-19T00:00

Restauranteur Clare D'Orsay is a victim of anti-gentrification violence. She has been unfairly targeted by protesters angry about the potential eviction of Cafe Filou in Kreuzberg. Her restaurant V...

Child of the Poster Child from 2017-03-16T00:00

Hang on to your wallet on the U6 and U8. Crime stats show they’re the hottest U-Bahn lines for pickpockets. While wallet theft is up, crime rates in Berlin have remained stable - not bad, since the...

Citizen's Arrest? Not on the U8 from 2017-03-03T00:00

Ever wanted to make a citizen's arrest? Don't try it in Berlin. A local politician attempted to rally an U-Bahn carriage to help detain an alleged pickpocket, but was ignored by his fellow U8 passe...

RS Live: Taskforce Acceleration from 2017-02-20T00:00

How to make Berlin's buses run faster? The city has set up a taskforce to come up with ideas. One of them is to allow passengers to board on the rear doors to save time. The BVG doesn't like the pl...

Eggs Up, Cookies Down from 2017-02-15T00:00

Berlin workers go on strike! Airport staff shut down Tegel and Schönefeld terminals on Feb 8 demanding a pay rise from €11 to €12 hour. Kindergarten staff went on strike on Feb 15, causing every se...

Ticket Checkers Get Checked from 2017-02-03T00:00

German federal police carried out an undercover sting targeting ticket inspectors on the Berlin S-Bahn. Five inspectors were busted fining tourists and pocketing the cash. If you're caught, ask for...

RS Live: Berlin's Weed Economy from 2017-01-22T00:00

How big is Berlin's marijuana market? We interview podcaster Diane Arapovich who investigated the weed economy and found Berlin is the greenhouse of northern Europe, supplying even Amsterdam. Liste...

Stasi Need Not Apply from 2017-01-20T00:00

Berlin’s R2G coalition is in crisis after the mayor Michael Müller (SPD) forced the resignation of Andrej Holm, who had been picked by Die Linke as the city’s housing secretary. The sociologist was...

Bring Out Your Dead Trees from 2017-01-06T00:00

The new year started in Berlin with 16 people hospitalized from fireworks injuries. The number of emergency calls was down by 12%. If you think Berlin was chaotic, in Paris more than 650 cars were ...

Keep Calm and Drink Gluhwein from 2016-12-23T01:00

Following the terrible Christmas market truck incident at Breitscheidplatz, all other markets were told to keep their music down. Does staying quiet actually achieve anything? We're going to carry ...

Catching the U-Bahn Kicker from 2016-12-19T01:00

Should a man who once trained with the Stasi be allowed to run Berlin’s housing department? Professor Andrej Holm has been named city secretary for housing. He's been the most vocal critic of the c...

Berlin's Industrial Snowstorm from 2016-12-09T01:00

Berlin still has an estimated 3000 unexploded WWII bombs under the surface. One was discovered this week between Neukölln and Treptow, causing the evacuation of 2600 residents. The city also has a ...

Don't Eat The Swans from 2016-11-25T01:00

Berlin's bird flu outbreak keeps getting worse. Now residents near the central waterways are being told to keep their pets inside - even cats. The petition to keep Tegel Airport airport has progres...