Joe is back from a summer break to break down the continuing fallout from Cyclone Priska's tour of destruction throughout Latvia, calling into Gary Dickenson near Valmiera and Kris Akenfelds in Liepāja to hear how they fared the storm before covering other major stories of the week.

Theme song "Mēs esam ārzemnieki" by Aarzemnieki, used with permission

Closing theme song: Think Tank by Audionautix audionautix.com​ Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: bit.ly/_think-tank​ Music promoted by Audio Library youtu.be/mbV9t1Z0rA8

As Latvia gets ready for another weekend of summery weather, Joe talks through major stories such as the completion of a not-fully-usable new Central Station rail terminal, more financial fears for Air Baltic, the potential closure of one of Rīga's busiest bridges to personal traffic during renovations, and much more!

Theme song "Mēs esam ārzemnieki" by Aarzemnieki, used with permission

Closing theme song: Think Tank by Audionautix audionautix.com​ Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: bit.ly/_think-tank​ Music promoted by Audio Library youtu.be/mbV9t1Z0rA8

Image credit: Juris Seņņikovs via Wikimedia Commons, used with a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Van%C5%A1u_tilts_-_panoramio_%282%29.jpg

Joe is back with a full-length episode to discuss the opening of the election season with party lists submited, new polling data out, and a full month of the new coalition having gone by. Also, Gary Dickenson of Baltic Homesteaders once again calls in to update us on how his homestead has fared the massive rain that's hit Latvia over the past week.

Theme song "Mēs esam ārzemnieki" by Aarzemnieki, used with permission

Closing theme song: Think Tank by Audionautix audionautix.com​ Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: bit.ly/_think-tank​ Music promoted by Audio Library youtu.be/mbV9t1Z0rA8

Līgo Līgo! As Joe was looking for oak branches this morning, he recorded a midsummer-themed mini episode, with Gary from Baltic Homesteaders also calling in with greetings!

For this mini-episode, Joe is joined by two of his students, Divs and Marja, to give their perspectives on some of the biggest stories such as the drone incursions into Latvia and the upcoming election in October, while Gary gives an update on his Baltic Homestead.

Image credit: Pixabay

Theme song "Mēs esam ārzemnieki" by Aarzemnieki, used with permission

Closing theme song: Think Tank by Audionautix audionautix.com​ Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: bit.ly/_think-tank​ Music promoted by Audio Library youtu.be/mbV9t1Z0rA8

Joe recaps the collapse of the Siliņa government and the lightning-fast coalition formation process that has left Andris Kulbergs on the cusp of becoming the next prime minister, as well as other stories such as the arrest of high-level officials over alleged corruption in the forestry industry, continued drone incursions into Latvia, success (so far) at the international ice hockey championship, and much more!

Photo credit: Reinis Inkēns, Saeima

Used with a creatice commons license: https://www.flickr.com/photos/saeima/52916581420/

Theme song "Mēs esam ārzemnieki" by Aarzemnieki, used with permission

Closing theme song: Think Tank by Audionautix audionautix.com​ Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: bit.ly/_think-tank​ Music promoted by Audio Library youtu.be/mbV9t1Z0rA8

As the investigation over a series of drones that crossed into Latvian territory, some of which crashed into an oil storage facility, the political fallout has already begin to fall. Joe is also joined by Søren von Holmberg to discuss local controversy over traffic changes in the Grīziņkalns neighborhood of Rīga, as well as by Gary Dickensonnof Baltic Homesteaders to hear how things are going near Valmiera.

Joe discusses the results of a wind storm over the weekend as well as follow-ups to stories from the previous week, while Gary checks in from Vidzeme on the latest developments at his homestead.

Theme song "Mēs esam ārzemnieki" by Aarzemnieki, used with permission

Closing theme song: Think Tank by Audionautix audionautix.com​ Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: bit.ly/_think-tank​ Music promoted by Audio Library youtu.be/mbV9t1Z0rA8

After an unintentional break due to being "aizņemts," Joe is back to discuss major happenings especially in the world of transportation and politics, with Gary calling in with a "Voicemail from Vidzeme" to let people know how things are going at his homestead near Valmiera.

Theme song "Mēs esam ārzemnieki" by Aarzemnieki, used with permission

Closing theme song: Think Tank by Audionautix audionautix.com​ Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: bit.ly/_think-tank​ Music promoted by Audio Library youtu.be/mbV9t1Z0rA8

Following his appearance on the LTV1 show "Zemes stāsti" ("Stories of the Land"), Joe checks back in with Gary Dickenson of the popular "Baltic Homesteaders" social media pages as he gets ready for spring near Valmiera and reflects on how his content has evolved over the past few years.

You can check out Baltic Homesteaders on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/baltichomesteaders/

You can listen to our first interview in 2020 here: https://soundcloud.com/latviaweekly/lw-interviews-baltic-homesteader-gary-dickenson