This week, a not-so-classic 'girl meets boy' story. Başak Layic, storyteller extraordinaire, reflects on what the European Dream looks like from the outside. 
 
This story was recorded live at SPUI25 in Amsterdam as part of 'Europe Up For Grabs?', an event organised for Europe Day 2025 by <a href='https://dutchculture.nl/en'>DutchCulture</a> and the <a href='https://culturalfoundation.eu/'>European Cultural Foundation</a>. You can watch a livestream of the whole event <a href='https://www.spui25.nl/programma/europe-up-for-grabs'>here</a>.
 
You can find out more about Başak's work <a href='https://www.basaklayic.com/'>on her website</a> and follow her on Instagram <a href='https://www.instagram.com/basak.layic/'>here</a>.
 
Thanks for listening. If you enjoy our podcasts, we'd love it if you'd consider supporting our work. You can chip in to help us cover the weekly research and production of The Europeans at <a href='https://www.patreon.com/europeanspodcast'>⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/europeanspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠</a> (many currencies are available), or <a href='https://www.patreon.com/europeanspodcast/gift'>gift a donation to a super fan here</a>. We'd also love it if you could tell two friends about this podcast!
 
This podcast was brought to you in cooperation with <a href='https://euranetplus-inside.eu/'>Euranet Plus</a>, the leading radio network for EU news.
   
Producers: Morgan Childs and Katy Lee
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne 
 
 

<a href='https://www.youtube.com/@europeanspodcast'>YouTube</a> | <a href='https://bsky.app/profile/europeanspod.bsky.social'>Bluesky</a> | <a href='https://www.instagram.com/europeanspodcast/'>Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠</a> | <a href='https://mastodon.social/@europeanspodcast'>Mastodon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠</a> | <a href='mailto:hello@europeanspodcast.com'>hello@europeanspodcast.com</a>

This week, a not-so-classic 'girl meets boy' story. Başak Layic, storyteller extraordinaire, reflects on what the European Dream looks like from the outside. This story was recorded live at SPUI25 in Amsterdam as part of 'Europe Up For Grabs?', an event organised for Europe Day 2025 by DutchCulture and the European Cultural Foundation. You can watch a livestream of the whole event here. You can find out more about Başak's work on her website and follow her on Instagram here. Thanks for listening. If you enjoy our podcasts, we'd love it if you'd consider supporting our work. You can chip in to help us cover the weekly research and production of The Europeans at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/europeanspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (many currencies are available), or gift a donation to a super fan here. We'd also love it if you could tell two friends about this podcast! This podcast was brought to you in cooperation with Euranet Plus, the leading radio network for EU news. Producers: Morgan Childs and Katy Lee Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak Music: Jim Barne YouTube | Bluesky | Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | Mastodon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | hello@europeanspodcast.com

This week, a not-so-classic 'girl meets boy' story. Başak Layic, storyteller extraordinaire, reflects on what the European Dream looks like from the outside.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
This story was recorded live at SPUI25 in Amsterdam as part of 'Europe Up For Grabs?', an event organised for Europe Day 2025 by&nbsp;<a href="https://dutchculture.nl/en" rel="noopener noreferrer">DutchCulture</a>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<a href="https://culturalfoundation.eu/" rel="noopener noreferrer">European Cultural Foundation</a>. You can watch a livestream of the whole event&nbsp;<a href="https://www.spui25.nl/programma/europe-up-for-grabs" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a>.
&nbsp;
You can find out more about Başak's work&nbsp;<a href="https://www.basaklayic.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer">on her website</a>&nbsp;and follow her on Instagram&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/basak.layic/" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a>.
&nbsp;
Thanks for listening. If you enjoy our podcasts, we'd love it if you'd consider supporting our work. You can chip in to help us cover the weekly research and production of The Europeans at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.patreon.com/europeanspodcast" rel="noopener noreferrer">⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/europeanspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠</a>&nbsp;(many currencies are available), or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.patreon.com/europeanspodcast/gift" rel="noopener noreferrer">gift a donation to a super fan here</a>. We'd also love it if you could tell two friends about this podcast!
&nbsp;
This podcast was brought to you in cooperation with&nbsp;<a href="https://euranetplus-inside.eu/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Euranet Plus</a>, the leading radio network for EU news.
&nbsp;&nbsp; 
Producers: Morgan Childs and Katy Lee
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne&nbsp;
&nbsp;
&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@europeanspodcast" rel="noopener noreferrer">YouTube</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://bsky.app/profile/europeanspod.bsky.social" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bluesky</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/europeanspodcast/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://mastodon.social/@europeanspodcast" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mastodon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="mailto:hello@europeanspodcast.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">hello@europeanspodcast.com</a>

Europe, an unfinished love story

The Europeans is a fresh and entertaining weekly podcast about European politics and culture, recorded each week between Paris and Amsterdam with fascinating guests joining from across Europe. This multiple award-winning podcast fills you in on the major European politics stories and other European news of the week, as well as fun and quirky nuggets that have been missed by most media outlets. 

Hosted by Katy Lee, a journalist based in Paris, and Dominic Kraemer, an opera singer in Amsterdam, The Europeans covers everything from elections and climate policy to the best new European films and TV shows. We also produce investigative podcasts about everything from the European farming lobby to oat milk. Yes, oat milk. 

Katy and Dominic are old friends, and the warmth and intimacy of their conversations will soon make you feel like you’ve known them a long time too. They approach topics with a light and humorous tone that makes The Europeans stand out from other European news podcasts, while remaining journalistically rigorous and meticulously fact-checked. The Europeans has been recommended by The New York Times, The Guardian, Buzzfeed, The Financial Times, and many other outlets. 

Katy Lee, a British-French reporter, has written for major outlets including The Guardian, Politico Europe, Agence France-Presse (AFP), Foreign Policy and The New Statesman for more than a decade, covering French and European politics and more recently, climate change. Dominic Kraemer, a British-German opera singer, performs across Europe when he is not co-hosting The Europeans, with roles recently at the Staatsoper in Berlin, the Dutch National Opera and the Münchener Biennale. The Europeans’ team is completed by producers Katz Laszlo in Amsterdam and Wojciech Oleksiak in Warsaw. You’ll hear them joining Katy and Dominic from time to time, particularly during investigative episodes like ‘The Oatly Chronicles’ and ‘The Big-Agri Bully Boys’. 

The Europeans’ breezy, informal approach to covering European news has won awards such as a Covering Climate Now award for an episode about the Swiss women who sued their government at the European Court of Human Rights demanding more climate action; Germany’s prestigious CIVIS Media Prize for ‘Mohamed’, an episode that explores the everyday life of a young undocumented man in Amsterdam; and best LGBTQIA+ short at the MiraBan UK Film Awards for ‘Josh and Franco’, the coming-of-age story of a father and son, both gay. 

Our guests have included everyone from major figures in European politics such as Alexander Stubb, now the President of Finland, and Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament, to star chefs Asma Khan and Christian Puglisi, celebrated illustrator Christoph Niemann, and environmentalist George Monbiot. Since launching in 2017, we’ve talked about everything from elections in France, Italy and many more countries besides, to the politics of halloumi cheese in Cyprus, to why Donald Trump is so hard for TV interpreters to translate. 
 
We pride ourselves on covering European politics, European news and European culture from a pan-European perspective. You’ll often hear stories on The Europeans from parts of the continent that don’t usually receive enough attention from major international media outlets, especially Central, Eastern and Southern Europe. 

You might enjoy The Europeans if you also enjoy one of these other podcasts: The News Agents, On the Media, Today in Focus, Inside Europe, The Journal, EU Confidential, The Daily, The Globalist, Reasons to be Cheerful, The Media Show, Power Play, and The New Statesman. Whether you’re already a European news nerd, or simply someone who’d like to be better informed about what’s happening across Europe, The Europeans is the podcast for you.

Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/europeanspodcast

Society & Culture

News

The Europeans is a fresh and entertaining weekly podcast about European politics and culture, recorded each week between Paris and Amsterdam with fascinating guests joining from across Europe. This multiple award-winning podcast fills you in on the major European politics stories and other European news of the week, as well as fun and quirky nuggets that have been missed by most media outlets. Hosted by Katy Lee, a journalist based in Paris, and Dominic Kraemer, an opera singer in Amsterdam, The Europeans covers everything from elections and climate policy to the best new European films and TV shows. We also produce investigative podcasts about everything from the European farming lobby to oat milk. Yes, oat milk. Katy and Dominic are old friends, and the warmth and intimacy of their conversations will soon make you feel like you’ve known them a long time too. They approach topics with a light and humorous tone that makes The Europeans stand out from other European news podcasts, while remaining journalistically rigorous and meticulously fact-checked. The Europeans has been recommended by The New York Times, The Guardian, Buzzfeed, The Financial Times, and many other outlets. Katy Lee, a British-French reporter, has written for major outlets including The Guardian, Politico Europe, Agence France-Presse (AFP), Foreign Policy and The New Statesman for more than a decade, covering French and European politics and more recently, climate change. Dominic Kraemer, a British-German opera singer, performs across Europe when he is not co-hosting The Europeans, with roles recently at the Staatsoper in Berlin, the Dutch National Opera and the Münchener Biennale. The Europeans’ team is completed by producers Katz Laszlo in Amsterdam and Wojciech Oleksiak in Warsaw. You’ll hear them joining Katy and Dominic from time to time, particularly during investigative episodes like ‘The Oatly Chronicles’ and ‘The Big-Agri Bully Boys’. The Europeans’ breezy, informal approach to covering European news has won awards such as a Covering Climate Now award for an episode about the Swiss women who sued their government at the European Court of Human Rights demanding more climate action; Germany’s prestigious CIVIS Media Prize for ‘Mohamed’, an episode that explores the everyday life of a young undocumented man in Amsterdam; and best LGBTQIA+ short at the MiraBan UK Film Awards for ‘Josh and Franco’, the coming-of-age story of a father and son, both gay. Our guests have included everyone from major figures in European politics such as Alexander Stubb, now the President of Finland, and Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament, to star chefs Asma Khan and Christian Puglisi, celebrated illustrator Christoph Niemann, and environmentalist George Monbiot. Since launching in 2017, we’ve talked about everything from elections in France, Italy and many more countries besides, to the politics of halloumi cheese in Cyprus, to why Donald Trump is so hard for TV interpreters to translate. We pride ourselves on covering European politics, European news and European culture from a pan-European perspective. You’ll often hear stories on The Europeans from parts of the continent that don’t usually receive enough attention from major international media outlets, especially Central, Eastern and Southern Europe. You might enjoy The Europeans if you also enjoy one of these other podcasts: The News Agents, On the Media, Today in Focus, Inside Europe, The Journal, EU Confidential, The Daily, The Globalist, Reasons to be Cheerful, The Media Show, Power Play, and The New Statesman. Whether you’re already a European news nerd, or simply someone who’d like to be better informed about what’s happening across Europe, The Europeans is the podcast for you. Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/europeanspodcast

Share Europe, an unfinished love story

Sign up to save your podcasts

Europe, an unfinished love story

Europe, an unfinished love story

More shows like The Europeans | European news, politics and culture

The LRB Podcast

Mark Leonard's World in 30 Minutes

Political Fix

Politics Weekly UK

The Audio Long Read

Inside Europe

EU Confidential

Today in Focus

Bad Gays

The Rachman Review

Ones and Tooze

Ukrainecast

The Rest Is Politics

Empire

Past Present Future