Spaßbremse

Hosts Michelle (@shhellgames) and Ted (@ted_knudsen) are joined by Spaßbremse producer Isaac (@wuermann) to go over the final polls and debates before tomorrow's election. 

Join us tomorrow to watch the results! We'll be hanging out with our friends from the Corner Späti podcast at Donau115 in Neukölln from 17:30. Apparently there will be prizes! For more info, check out the Facebook event page.

Follow Spaßbremse on Twitter (@spassbremse_pod). Music by Lee Rosevere. Art by Franziska Schneider.

Ted (@ted_knudsen) and Michelle (@shhellgames) sit down with Nick (@sternburgpapi) and Ciarán (@ciarandold) from Corner Späti (@cornerspaeti) to break down the major parties in the lead-up to the September 26 elections. Tangents include Armin Laschet's Instagram influencer son and the FDP's bisexual lighting. 

Produced by Isaac Würmann (@wuermann).

On election night we'll be hanging out again with the Corner Späti crew, this time for our first live show! Join us at Donau115 in Neukölln from 17:30 as we make fun of politicians and collectively groan as the results roll in. For more info, check out the Facebook event page.

Follow Spaßbremse on Twitter (@spassbremse_pod). Music by Lee Rosevere. Art by Franziska Schneider.

If you live in Berlin or have visited the city in the past few months, you've undoubtedly seen the purple and yellow posters of the Deutsche Wohnen & Co. enteignen referendum campaign lining the streets of every Kiez. With the referendum vote coming up in less than two weeks (!!), Spaßbremse co-host Michelle (@shhellgames) sits down with campaign organizer Thomas McGath (@tamcgath) to discuss what expropriating private landlords could mean for Berlin. Ahead of the interview, Ted (@ted_knudsen) joins Michelle to give a bit of context about housing politics in Berlin. 

Produced by Isaac Würmann (@wuermann). 

To learn more about the campaign, check out this piece that Spaßbremse producer Isaac wrote for Slate back in May. This episode also references a report called "Who owns the city?" published by the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung earlier this year. Thomas himself also wrote an op-ed about housing politics in Berliner Zeitung.

On election night (September 26th), we'll also be doing our first live show with fellow podcasters Corner Späti! Join us at Donau115 in Neukölln. We'll be there from 17:30 making fun of politicians and collectively groaning as the results roll in. For more info, check out the Facebook event page.

Follow Spaßbremse on Twitter (@spassbremse_pod). Music by Lee Rosevere. Art by Franziska Schneider.

What's with the Schuldenbremse and the Schwarze Null? Ted interviews Philippa Sigl-Glöckner (@PhilippaSigl), director of the economic policy think-tank Dezernat Zukunft, about German politicians' aversion to running deficits and how that affects people's lives in Germany and beyond. Following the interview, Ted (@ted_knudsen) and Michelle (@shhellgames) read a piece by Wolfgang Schäuble published earlier this year in the Financial Times so you don't have to. Produced by Isaac Würmann (@wuermann).

To learn more about Philippa and Dezernat Zukunft, check out their website (www.dezernatzukunft.org) or follow them on Twitter (@DezernatZ). 

In a few weeks, we'll also be doing our first live show with fellow podcasters Corner Späti! Join us at Donau115 in Neukölln on September 26th for election night. We'll be there from 17:30 making fun of politicians and collectively groaning as the results roll in. For more info, check out the Facebook event page. 

Follow Spaßbremse on Twitter (@spassbremse_pod). Music by Lee Rosevere. Art by Franziska Schneider.

On this episode of Spaßbremse, Michelle (@shhellgames) and Ted (@ted_knudsen) dive into the myth of Angela Merkel, the so-called "leader of the free world." As we enter into the final month before the Sept. 26 election that will choose her successor, let's talk about how Merkel became such a beloved figure around the world, while at the same time forcing through an austerity agenda, dropping the ball on climate policy, and creating a more unequal Germany. Produced by Isaac Würmann (@wuermann).

To read up on some of the finer details discussed in this episode, check out these links:

- Has Angela Merkel Lived Up to Her 'Climate Chancellor' Aspirations? published by Deutsche Welle 

- Kanzlerin Merkel, Klimaschutz und Katastrophen published by Deutsche Welle 

- Sechs Mythen über Merkel published by taz

- Die frühen Jahre der Angela Merkel by Richard Herzinger for Welt 

- A Problem with Democracy, an extract from Wolfgang Streeck's book How Will Capitalism End? published by Verso 

- Overrated—Now Fading by Wolfgang Münchau in EuroIntelligence 

- The Merkel Effect, an interview with Oliver Nachtwey in Jacobin

Follow Spaßbremse on Twitter (@spassbremse_pod). Music by Lee Rosevere. Art by Franziska Schneider.

In the third installment of this series, Michelle (@shhellgames) and Ted (@ted_knudsen) interview American journalist Victor Grossman about his experience defecting to East German in the early 1950s and living through German reunification. Produced by Isaac Würmann (@wuermann) with help this week from Tom Wills (@tomwills). 

To learn more about Victor, check out his two books: 

And check out Victor's Berlin Bulletin on theleftberlin.com. 

Music by Lee Rosevere. Art by Franziska Schneider.

In this second instalment of a three-part series, Michelle (@shhellgames) and Ted (@ted_knudsen) discuss the economic impacts of Treuhand and the mass privatization of East German enterprises, and challenge the "Aufbau Ost" narrative that positions reunification as the saviour of the East German economy. Stay tuned for the final part of this series, where we'll hear from someone who experienced this moment in history firsthand. Produced by Isaac Würmann (@wuermann).

Music by Lee Rosevere. Art by Franziska Schneider.

Ted (@ted_knudsen) interviews Alex Brentler (@full_enjoyment) of @jacobinmag_de on the recent flooding, the history of climate politics in Germany, the contradictions of the German Greens, and the prospects for a break from the coal-reliant German energy system. Then, Ted and Michelle (@shhellgames) embark on Spaßbreme's first reading series, dissecting a bizarre take on on why emergency warnings are useless. Produced by Isaac Würmann (@wuermann). Part 2 of our reunification series will air next Friday.  To read up on the topics discussed in this episode, check out these links: - Alex's piece in Jacobin Germany: "Neoliberalism Won’t Take Real Action to Stop Climate Change" -Our reading series piece in Deutsche Welle: "Germany's know-it-all attitude after the floods helps no one" -Adam Tooze on the legacy of the Yellow Vest movement in France and the political prospects for climate action in Europe: "Chartbook Newsletter #27 Gilets Jaunes"

In this first installment of a three-part series, Michelle (@shhellgames) and Ted (@ted_knudsen) guide us through the messy months in 1989 and 1990 that resulted in the unified Germany that we know today, and pose the question: Was it really a unification, or rather an annexation? Stay tuned for part two of this series, where we'll hear from someone who experienced this moment in history firsthand. Produced by Isaac Würmann (@wuermann). 

Music by Lee Rosevere. Art by Franziska Schneider. 

To read up on some of the finer details discussed in this episode, check out these links: 

- East Germany's Shock Therapy: An interview with Christa Luft by Max Trecker in Jacobin 

- The Economic Anschluss of the GDR by Rachel Knaebel and Pierre Rimbert in Le Monde Diplomatique