Common Ground Berlin

You’ve decided to become an “expat” and live in Germany. But how do you navigate the bureaucracy and German culture? Can an English-speaker even make it here? What are some ways to ease the transition? 

Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson gets the answers to those key questions and more from fellow immigrants and experts Jenna Davis of Life in Germany, Sigrid Arteage of Surviving in Berlin, Bastien Allibert of Settle in Berlin and Nicolas Bouliane of All About Berlin. We also answer questions from our fans on social media!

Produced by Eden Brockman

The funny and emotional conclusion as host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson and her journalist husband Erik Nelson walk from Portugal to Spain on their first-ever Camino. Hear about the “arrow” debacle, spiders and singing nuns! And whether they actually make it to Santiago de Compostela.

Featuring Casa Alternativo “albergue” host and Camino veteran Dries Nuitten; Camino veteran, author and co-founder of the Facebook group “Senior Travelers on the Camino” Brian John Skillen,  and Camino newbies from Vancouver, Hayley Biller and Josh Klaasen.

Music:  “End of the Road” and “All for Nothing” by Anthem of Rain; “Irrational-Rain” by Koi-Discovery;  “Melancholy Serenade” by Universfield; “Walking on water” by TRG Banks; “Fixation” by Jangwa. (Source: FMA)

 Produced by Axel Scheele and Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson

Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson and her journalist husband, Erik, begin their Portuguese Camino from Porto to Santiago de Compostela, Spain and quickly learn the meaning of “The Camino provides!” Join them on their challenging, rewarding and even funny adventure, and hear from the experts: Author and “Senior Travelers on the Camino’ Facebook group co-founder Anne Pedersen; German political scientist and Camino veteran Joerg Steinert; Stingy Nomads’ Alya Akhmetgareeva and Lithuanian influencer, Eva Voveris, who we meet on the Camino with her 2-year-old daughter, Amelia!

Music by:  “Sunny walk” by Pawel Feszczuk, “El Camino del Alce” by Silva de Alegria, “Emotional Sad Atmosphere with Piano and Violin” by Universfield and “Journey” by Atch. (Source: FMA)

Produced by Axel Scheele and Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson

Have you ever done a Camino? Or wanted to do a Camino? Or wonder what a Camino even is? Learn from the experts, including authors Brian John Skillen and Anne Pedersen (pen name Lele Beutel) who started the popular Facebook group “Senior Travelers on the Camino,” political scientist and Pilgerwahnsinn.de creator Joerg Steinert; Stingy Nomads’ Alya Akhmetgareeva, and our host, Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, who plans with her husband to walk from Portugal to Spain on the adventure of a lifetime they first first learned about from a Martin Sheen movie.

Music:  “Even More Floating” by Triple5 Here, “Fixation” by Jangwa, and “Journey” by Atch. (Source: FMA)

This episode was produced by Axel Scheele and Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson

Berlin has been referred to as a “creative utopia,” where the arts and cultural scene exploded after the fall of the Berlin Wall. 

Nowadays, the city’s draw as an artist hub is fading and its spaces are being displaced, thanks to skyrocketing real estate prices and limited space, among other things.

But does this mean Berlin’s artists are leaving? And how are Berliners in creative fields coping with the changes to what then German mayor Klaus Wowereit our “poor but sexy” city? Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson and Eden Brockman talk to:

BBK Studio Commissioner Julia Brodauf

Visual Artist Ulf Saupe

The Berliner Art Editor Duncan Ballantyne-Way

Music: “The last ones” by Jahzzar and “modum” by Kai Engel  (Source: FMA)  

This episode was produced by Axel Scheele and Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson

Berlin is ranked as one of the three unhappiest states in Germany. What role does a shortage of therapy play? And is there a way to get around that shortage if you need help? Guest host Eden Brockman explores the accessibility and quality of mental health care in Berlin and across Germany with Jöran Mandik, host of Get Help Berlin, and Berlin-based psychologist Irene Joubert. Also featuring Gus Gaston, an American living in Cologne, and Diana Martsynkovska, a Ukrainian living in Berlin, who share their personal experiences navigating the mental health care system in Germany.

Music:  “Remedy for Melancholy” by Kai Engel and “Emotional Sad Atmosphere with Piano and Violin” by Universfield. (Source: FMA) 

This episode was produced by Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, Axel Scheele and Eden Brockman. 

The number of people who are out of work in Germany increased by more than expected in February 2024 to more than 2.7 million as the slowdown in Europe’s largest economy bears down on the labor market. That translates to the highest jobless rate across Germany since 2021, with Berlin being one of two German cities where it’s the worst.

But is there actually a shortage of jobs? And what can people do to find employment in these tough times? Our team speaks with Enzo Weber, head of research at the Institute for Employment Research in Nuremberg and Dieter Dohmen, founder and director of the Research Institute for the Economics of Education and Social Affairs.

Hosted and produced by Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson.

Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson and senior producer Dina Elsayed untangle the landmark reform to Germany’s citizenship law with guests:

Jan Schneider, deputy managing director of The Expert Council on Integration and Migration and head of its research unit;

Gökçe Yurdakul, Georg Simmel Professor of Diversity and Social Conflict at Humboldt University in Berlin and director of the Berlin Institute of Migration and Integration Research. 

We also hear from Aiyona Hayman, an American in Duesseldorf, about her plans under the new law. 

Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson discusses the role of overseas voting in the 2024 U.S. primaries and why you should care, even if you aren’t a U.S. citizen, with guests: 

Constance Chucholowski, chairman of the Berlin chapter of Democrats Abroad;

Jeremy Shapiro, research director of the European Council on Foreign Relations, 

Gary Schmitt, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

It’s been two years since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a war that is not going well for Kyiv at the moment. The war has killed and wounded a half million people and sent millions of Ukrainians fleeing to the West. Some 60,000 of them live here in Berlin. 

Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson and Senior Producer Dina Elsayed update you on what’s happening in Ukraine and what it means to us here in Germany and the West with guests: 

Ukrainian journalist Katerina Malofeyeva in Kyiv; 

Nico Lange, Senior Fellow of the Zeitenwende Initiative at the Munich Security Conference;

Kseniia Gatskova, a senior researcher at the Institute for Employment Research who investigates the labor market and social integration of refugees in Germany, and her colleague Silvia Schwanhäuser, a researcher at the Institute for Employment Research.