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 picturesque location, but the overflowing dustbin next to it is a bit off putting? Well now help is at hand. We speak to two creatives who are behind a pretty unusual Guerilla urbanism project: Benching Berlin. The two anonymous founders build public benches out of waste wood, then place them around town (chained up, so the authorities don't take them away). https://www.instagram.com/benchingberlin/?hl=en

On our last episode we gave you an update on the proposed rent freeze - the idea of a five year rent cap in Berlin, that was first floated in June this year. Now finally the coalition parties of Berlin's government have come to an agreement! We tell you what they've decided.

Bees are an essential part of our ecosystem. And they're threatened by extinction. We speak to Christian Vogel of the Neukölln Beekeeper Association to help us help the bees and to give everyone a head start for the next bee season. http://www.berliner-imkerverein-neukoelln.de

What do you know about pinball? Not a lot? We don't either. But it turns out there's a scene for it in Berlin - and a big rivalry too! Ryan Rosell is telling us about it.

This episode was presented by Maisie Hitchcock, Jöran Mandik, Joel Dullroy and Daniel Stern.

Want a Radio Spaetkauf mug? Become a subscriber! We’ll be giving them to listeners who donate monthly. Go here: steadyhq.com/de/radiospaetkauf

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. Christoph and Stefano founded Kolyma2, and are ready to take your order: www.kolyma2.de

The rent freeze is coming. More details keep leaking out from the city government office that is preparing this radical policy. Rents are to be capped at prices ranging from around €4m2 to €9m2, depending on the building age. New rental contracts can't be above those rates, and some tenants can apply to have their rent lowered. Read more about this revolutionary concept at http://lolamag.de/feature/current-affairs/berlins-five-year-rent-freeze-explained/

Some Berlin bicycle riders behave as if the road rules don’t apply to them. Others don’t know the road rules at all. For our new Berlin Basics segment, we talk to Nikolas Linck from the Allgemeiner Deutscher Fahrrad Club, the German Bicycle Club. Your flashing bike light is both illegal and dangerous, he tells Joel. Join up to the ADFC here (you also get free insurance): https://www.adfc.de/

Berlin was flooded by over 9000 stand-up electric scooters this summer as the German government legalized their use. But there are other types of small mobility devices that remain banned, such as electric skateboards and monowheels, both which don't have a handle. We meet Lars and Frank, founders of the Electric Empire Association for Small Electric Vehicles. They're planning a demo for the forgotten non-scooter-scooter riders on September 21. Are you one of them? Head along here: https://electricempire.de/elektrokleinstfahrzeug-demo-am-21-09-2019-trailer/

This episode was presented by Maisie Hitchcock, Jöran Mandik, Joel Dullroy and Daniel Stern.

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 their recent scare with Facebook's business-killing algorithm.

How will Berlin's five-year rent cap affect you? If you got a rent increase notice before June 18, you may have to pay it. But the rental experts at Wenigermiete.de say at least 50% of rent increase notices have technical errors that make them invalid. Check with them first before you sign anything - it could save you cash for years to come.

What could happen to Berlin under a strict rent cap? Investors may flee - or be incentivised to build new flats, which are exempt from the rent cap. Landlords may stop maintaining their buildings - but renters can undertake the maintenance themselves and deduct the costs from their rent. Joel says the biggest thing to fear under a rent cap is ourselves. Tenants will be tempted to sublease at higher rates. Berlin's renters will need to stick together and resist overcharging our housemates.

There's a state election on in Brandenburg. The Alternative für Deutschland, or AfD, is leading in the polls at 21%, and also have the most posters up on the countryside roads. We discuss their empty slogans, which appeal to the grievances of East Germans who feel left behind the rest of the country, without offering any real policies to boost the local economy.

Caroline Clifford guest hosts, and tells us about how much she loves camping. Caroline is the host of We Are Not Gemused, an open mic night at Sameheads.

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. Strangely, the Finanzamt defines a millionaire as someone with over €500,000 in income and assets - a hang-over from the Deutschmark days, as DMs are worth half as much as Euros.

The former German royal family wants its castles back. The remaining Hohenzollerns are relatives of the Nazi-supporting Kaiser Wilhelm II, who abdicated in 1918. His descendants are trying to claim compensation from the states of Berlin and Brandenburg, including artworks from museums, and Schloss Cecilienhof in Potsdam, where they want to live rent-free.

Berlin has introduced a rent freeze. All rents will be capped at their current level for five years, backdated to mid June. Landlords who breach the cap face huge fines. The city is now also talking about introducing rent controls for commercial properties to protect shopkeepers. 

Electric scooters have been here only a few weeks, and  already we’ve had at least 20 registered accidents. One man lost a few teeth in a crash. A woman was stopped in a park in Prenzlauer Berg rolling along with her dog on a lead. Several have been caught extremely drunk. Drivers are not allowed on the sidewalk, can't take passengers, and can't leave the scooter blocking a footpath. The public transport network says you'll need a bicycle ticket if you bring an e-scooter on a bus or train. They've been banned from Tempelhofer Feld.

Join us for our next live recording! It takes place on stage at the Lakeside Film Festival, a weekend of outdoor movies and music by a lake in the woods. Find out more at www.lakesidefilmfestival.com

This episode was presented by Joel Dullroy and Daniel Stern, and brought to you by RadioEins.

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 helped rebuild the stadium in Köpenick with their own hands. Maybe they could help finish BER?

Enjoying the heat? Spare a thought for horses pulling tourist carriages in the city center. New rules now apply - carriage operators have to stop if air temperature in the shade reaches 30 degrees Celsius.

There’s been another attempt to crack down on the food sellers in Thai Park. Police and Ordnungsamt officers raided the park on a recent Saturday. But a district official revealed it was all for show. Arne Herz from the CDU said: “We don’t want to ruin the market, we just want to show the residents that we’re doing something.”

Get ready for a rent increase letter. Berlin’s landlords association has advised its members to try to increase rents by as much as possible before June 17. That’s because the city government is working on a new law that would freeze everybody’s rent for the next five years. Landlords are terrified, and are racing to squeeze out one last rent rise first. Residents are being advised not to agree to any rent increase without consulting a renter’s association first.

Want to hear our full-length hour-long live recordings? Then subscribe to our other podcast channel, which you can find here: https://apple.co/2vd5hdy

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 problem. The solution for old mattresses? Talk to your neighbours and book a bulk collection for €50. Here's where you do it: https://www.bsr.de/sperrmuellabfuhr-20237.php

Should we drive cars out of the city - and make sure they never return? Kreuzberg-Friedrichshain Green politician Florian Schmidt has proposed banning private vehicles inside the Ringbahn. Cars are being squeezed out of certain streets with 'parklets' - public seats occupying parking spots. Joel says "driving is violence" and "a bicycle is always right." Agree? The local initiative Autofrei Wrangelkiez will blockade Oberbaumbrücke on June 15. More info here: http://autofreierwrangelkiez.de/termine/

Shared transport keeps expanding. The city will get 2000 more shared cars, Uber has launched its red electric Jump bikes which go quite fast, and stand-up electric scooters will soon be on the streets. Those who want a bike to treat as their own can rent one from Swapfiets or Vanmoof from as little as €17.50 a month, repairs included. Who needs a car anyway?

The Deutsche Wohnen & Co Enteignung campaign has passed its first signature collection hurdle, and has centrist parties very worried. The FDP wants to change the constitution to prevent it from succeeding. The CDU wants to pay subsidies to cover rent increases - basically rewarding greedy landlords with taxpayer money. The SPD wants to tinker with laws to make existing rent caps actually work. The lesson here? You have to demand an extreme change to get a moderate one.

This episode was presented by Maisie Hitchcock, Jöran Mandik, Joel Dullroy and Daniel Stern. Production help from Joshua of Mobile Kino.

Want a Radio Spaetkauf mug? Become a subscriber! We'll be giving them to listeners who donate monthly. Go here: steadyhq.com/de/radiospaetkauf

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-scratching men win more votes. Konrad Werner joins us. Listen to his podcast Meghan's Megacan: https://apple.co/2AtuB27

We speak with Joanna Bronowicka from Democracy in Europe (Diem25), who want to reform Brussels and create a 'green new deal' for Europe: https://bit.ly/2PzNx5y

Why are people lying down on Berlin’s streets and blocking traffic? Extinction Rebellion's Robbie Morrison tells us about the movement of people willing to get arrested to force climate change action: https://extinctionrebellion.de

Berlin has over 300 football clubs playing in ten leagues. We talk to Ben Ferry, Andy West and Andy Sager of Bloody Hell Magazine. They follow local games, which are far more exciting than major league matches: more red cards, pitch invasions, streakers and decent food. Want to join other Radio Spaetkauf listeners at a local match? Come along to SV Lichtenberg 47 club, 13:30 on 04.05.2019: https://bit.ly/2vrbin1

Head along to Mobile Kino on May 9 for Blaues Licht, a doco about Rocco and His Brothers, who carry out art stunts in U-Bahn tunnels: https://bit.ly/2DEUHRd

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 stories. Unfortunately this podcast series did not make it past the pilot stage. But we thought the story of Lukas and his struggle with the church, state and his mother was too good to waste. Well Actually was produced by Elizabeth Schumacher, Mara Bierbach, Cristina Burack and Joel Dullroy at DW in Bonn.

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. The BVG says it sends security guards there regularly, but we've rarely seen them. What's to be done?

Forget Brexit, things are getting interesting in Berlin! The conflict between renters and landlords is getting serious. A campaign to seize corporate-owned apartments starts on April 6. Signatures will be collected for the Deutsche Wohnen & Co Enteignung campaign. Supporters say it would cost €18 billion, and could be funded by rental payments alone. Opponents say would cost double. The mayor Michael Müller is against it, saying it would be a "fatal signal to businesses" - which, of course, is the whole point of the campaign. Find out more at https://www.dwenteignen.de

Lawyer Daniel Hamler from Wenigermiete joins us to talk about how he's helping Berliners cut their rent by hundreds of euros a month. His website helps you check if your rent is above the legally allowed amount, and helps you challenge it to claim a reduction. In one case, a student WG had their rent cut by €700 a month. Check it out at www.wenigermiete.de.

What's wrong with Harz IV, Germany's welfare system? It spends more money trying to punish job-seekers than it collects in fines. Helena Steinhaus from Sanktionsfrei tells us about a citizen-run experiment to compensate people who have their welfare payments cut. It seeks to replicate the effect of a minimum basic income. Sakntionsfrei needs more crowdfunding to help cover their costs. Chip in at www.sanktionsfrei.de

The European Parliament elections are coming up on May 23. To participate you need to be an EU citizen and register to vote in Berlin. Download this form: https://bit.ly/2R65Y59 And post it to one of these addresses: https://bit.ly/2RW1orl

Mobile Kino tonight presents Odorama a cult cinema classic from legendary culture master John Waters. Guests will get a scratch-and-sniff to smell along with the movie. Get along to Grießmühle tonight! https://bit.ly/2WBYwh9

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 on the previous year.

The famous open-air karaoke sessions in Mauerpark can go ahead again after the Pankow authorities reversed their plan to close the event down. Authorities were refusing to issue the regular permits due to nearby construction work. After a public outcry, the authorities backed down. Apparently it wasn’t so hard to move a few fences around after all. Expect the singing to resume sometime around Easter.

The BVG says more than 41,000 square meters of its U-Bahn carriage walls were graffitied last year - 20% more than the previous year. They plan to stick yellow heart stickers on top of graffiti to annoy the vandals.

Our next live show is Sunday October 31 at Comedy Cafe Berlin in Neukölln. Come along! More info here: https://bit.ly/2HKPN83

This episode was presented by Jöran Mandik and Daniel Stern, and brought to you by RadioEins.