Millennial History

Host Andrea Voets speaks with Mick ter Reehorst from Are We Europe about the making of the show.

How did Voets and composer Luke Deane create these episodes, with hundreds of layers of words & music? Why did she want to turn the hidden perspectives of the underdogs of history into musical journalism? How was she changed by the stories of the millennials?

And most importantly: why should we care?

Inga, Winnie, Burkhard and Henning take us to the 90s: a decade of Change and Unification of East and West into the Germany we know today. They recall how a new, capitalistic system was implemented into the hearts and minds of the former citizens of the GDR: with great force and speed.

Free-floating years full of unknown dangers, in which these Children of the Change learnt to hide and adapt. In a deep analysis of what it means to create history, they reclaim their voices: word by word. In the process, they offer us mindfulness-lessons for modern life & show us how dealing with sudden shifts in ideology & power can support every millennial in the changes that lie ahead. 

Part 2 of 2.

Inga, Winnie, Henning & Burkhard were born in East-Germany, in the former GDR. They paint the picture of their youths in a country that no longer exists, the social principles of that society, the massive protests in the Autumn of 1989 and the complex feelings towards the fall of the Berlin wall. Did this day really mark the end of German history? With a special role for: bananas.

Part 1 of 2

Agnes, Michael & Chris make us feel what it means to live in a country, divided by identity politics in every aspect of daily life. In response, they show us how to move forward from a place of trouble. With courage & guided by strong principles, but always: with lots of care for the people around you.

Part 2 of 2.

Chris, Agnes and Michael grew up during the final years of the Troubles: the long and messy conflict between Catholics and Protestants in Northern-Ireland. They help us understand the basics of colonialism -back then and now- and make us part of the sense of danger that colored their early years. In return, we are rewarded with a warm sense of community & a real intensity that comes to life, when everything is at stake.

Part 1 of 2.

Catinca & Joanna dive into sensitive topics of crucial importance. What does it mean to be a good parent? How can you start to trust others, the world, and yourself, when the basis of your existence has been rocked so many times? Feeling unwanted in life itself is a heavy burden to carry. Yet, they show us many ways out: through lots of sensitivity, practical daily ethics & the drive to fight for each other.

Part 3 of 3.

Catinca and Joanna talk us through the Romanian revolution -which was indeed televised- & the Wild West of the 90s. They reconstruct the way people adapted to massive changes in society and in their relationships: coming from a culture of fear & scarcity. They offer us a new, unapologetic view on cultural concepts of entitlement & adoption and a practical guide to the development of your own moral compass.

Part 2 of 3

Joanna and Catinca were born in Romania, during the final years of the dictatorship of Nicolai Ceausescu. Catinca always lived in Romania, Joanna was adopted into America when she was 4.

They introduce us to their grim blueprints: a regime that combines elements of the Hunger Games, the Handmaid's tale and North Korea. Complete with the cult of the Great Leader, forced pregnancies, full state control & a lack of everything, including human touch & contact.

Aki grew up on Sicily. On the 23rd of May 1992, the mafia blew up the highway behind his grandmother’s house, killing judge Giovani Falcone. A Millennial History on organised crime, undermining in all corners of society, dangerous myth-making and the powerful Sicilian mantra that rose from this fight.

In Millennial History, we relive recent history through the eyes of millennials, who were there when it happened.

Eight episodes will take us from the murder of anti-mafia judge Falcone in Sicily, to the unwanted ‘Children of the Decree’ of Ceausescu in Romania, to the Troubles in Northern Ireland and change and unification in East Germany.