Studio Berlin

Do children in Germany deserve more of a say? Should the voting age here be dropped to 14? These ideas are being discussed in Germany as criticism mounts over the way society treats its younger members.

A recent survey by the children’s charity, Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk, or the German Children’s Fund, found a majority believe that children’s interests have been neglected during the coronavirus pandemic. Host Sylvia Cunningham unpacks these findings with Nina Ohlmeier from the German Children's Fund; 16-year-old Mathilda Gross who is a member of the Children's and Youth Council at the charity, and Dr. Stephan Gerbig, a researcher and policy adviser for the German Institute for Human Rights.

Produced by Monika Müller-Kroll

This week we revisit our discussion on universal basic income. The debate over UBI is not a new one, but it has gotten more attention in the wake of the COVID-19 health crisis. A new long-term study on how society would change if people were to receive an unconditional basic income is underway in Germany. The pilot project will involve 120 participants who receive a basic income over the course of three years and hundreds more in a control group who do not.

Host Sylvia Cunningham talks with Michael Bohmeyer, co-founder of the Berlin nonprofit “Mein Grundeinkommen” that is behind the pilot project and Marcel Fratzscher, president of the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) in Berlin. We also hear from Sabine Heißner, who received a basic income from “Mein Grundeinkommen” in 2019; Alan Posener, a Berlin-based journalist and staunch critic of unconditional basic income; and Antti Jauhiainen, chairman of the economic think tank Parecon Finland.

This show was produced by Monika Müller-Kroll and Sylvia Cunningham.

Studio Berlin, broadcast Sept. 23, 2020: Can Europe reform its asylum and migration policies?

Two weeks after a fire destroyed the overcrowded refugee camp Moria on the Greek island of Lesbos, asylum policy is high on the EU Commission's agenda.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's governing coalition agreed to take in 1,500 additional refugees from Greece - mostly families with children - a decision hotly debated by the opposition in the German Bundestag, as well as civil society. Some critics say the number's not nearly enough, while others say it's time for other EU member states to step up.

Host Sylvia Cunningham discusses the current situation on the Greek island of Lesbos and the German aid efforts with NPR correspondent Joanna Kakissis, and Florian Gathmann from the German magazine, Der Spiegel. We also hear the perspective from politicians from three of Germany's opposition parties: Gregor Gysi, foreign policy speaker for die Linke (Germany's Left Party); Luise Amtsberg, deputy member of the Commission on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid from the Green Party; and Nicolaus Fest, a member of the European Parliament from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. And we talk with Miriam Tödter from the Brandenburg-based nonprofit "Wir packen's an."

This show was produced by Monika Müller-Kroll and Sylvia Cunningham. Voiceover by Caleb Larson.

On Oct. 3, 1990, less than a year after the fall of the Berlin Wall, East and West Germany were reunited. Late Chancellor Helmut Kohl called it a "dream come true" after more than 40 years of division. For East Germans in particular, reunification meant access to new opportunity and freedoms, but the process of growing together brought trials and tribulations that sowed animosity between East and West Germans. Thirty years later, what does German unity look like?

Host Sumi Somaskanda discusses the ups and downs of Germany's transformation with Anke Domscheit-Berg, parliamentarian for die Linke (the Left Party), and historian Ned Richardson-Little from the University of Erfurt. We also hear from Ekkard Bäuerle, who moved from West to East Germany in the late '90s, and Valerie Schönian who was born after the fall of the Berlin Wall and is the author of the book, "Ostbewusstsein." 

This show was produced by Monika Müller-Kroll and Sumi Somaskanda. Voiceovers by Sylvia Cunningham and Caleb Larson.

Cases of COVID-19 are rising and despite warnings from Berlin to remain alert, a growing number of Germans are pushing back against hygiene and social distancing rules even as their neighbors — the French — embrace those measures to try and avoid another lockdown. 

But France also announced a plan to cut COVID-19 quarantines to only one week. 

Host Sumi Somaskanda explores how the two European neighbors are dealing with the health crisis with her guests, MP Andrew Ullmann of the Free Democratic Party (FDP), who is on the Bundestag health committee; Eleanor Beardsley, NPR international correspondent in Paris, and Andreas Kluth, columnist at Bloomberg Opinion.

This show was produced by Monika Müller-Kroll and Sumi Somaskanda. Voiceovers by Caleb Larson.

The debate over unconditional basic income is not a new one, but it has gotten more attention in the wake of the COVID-19 health crisis. A new long-term study on how society would change if people were to receive a basic income is underway in Germany. The pilot project will involve 120 participants who receive a basic income over the course of three years and hundreds more in a control group who do not.

Host Sylvia Cunningham talks with Michael Bohmeyer, co-founder of the Berlin nonprofit "Mein Grundeinkommen” that is behind the pilot project and Marcel Fratzscher, president of the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) in Berlin. We also hear from Sabine Heißner, who received a basic income from "Mein Grundeinkommen" in 2019; Alan Posener, a Berlin-based journalist and staunch critic of unconditional basic income; and Antti Jauhiainen, chairman of the economic think tank Parecon Finland.

This show was produced by Monika Müller-Kroll and Sylvia Cunningham.

This show originally aired on July 15.

This week we revisit a controversial discussion that started earlier in the summer. Amid nationwide and international protests against racism, Germany's Green Party proposed to change Article 3 of the nation's Basic Law by removing "Rasse" - in English, "race" - from the text. Proponents of removing the word say it’s linked to Nazi ideology and this change is long overdue. Others say this move is too hasty and would actually harm people of color.

Studio Berlin, host Sylvia Cunningham discusses this complex issue with Werner Graf, the chairman of the Greens in Berlin; Martin Fischer, an evolutionary biologist and professor at the University of Jena; Natasha Kelly, a sociologist who focuses on colonialism and feminism; and Anatol Stefanowitsch, a linguist and professor at the Freie Universität Berlin (Free University).

This show was produced by Monika Müller-Kroll and Sylvia Cunningham.

This show originally aired on June 17, 2020.

Back in June, Berlin passed a hotly debated anti-discrimination law. It is the first of its kind in Germany and allows victims to pursue legal remedies against state officials — including police — for discrimination related to race, gender, disability, sexual orientation and more. But is the new law the panacea its proponents claim or is it villainizing the police as the law's critics contend?

Host Sumi Somaskanda talks with Armaghan Naghipour, who worked on the new legislation and is the political adviser to Berlin Justice Senator Dirk Behrendt; Niklas Hofmann from the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency and Joseph Hutchinson, an African-American lawyer and co-publisher of DADDY magazine. We also hear from two of the law’s critics: Berlin Police Union Spokesman Benjamin Jendro and Burkard Dregger, CDU parliamentary leader in the Berlin House of Representatives.

This show was produced by Monika Müller-Kroll with voiceover by Benjamin Restle. 

Berlin schools reopened this week amid fears of a second COVID-19 wave, with about 370,000 students returning to the classroom.

What measures are in place to minimize the risk of coronavirus outbreaks, and how are students, teachers and parents adapting to the "new normal"?

Host Sylvia Cunningham discusses these questions with Professor Olaf Köller, education expert for the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina; Berlin mom Anda Corrie and her 12-year-old daughter Sidonie, and teachers Micah Brashear and Ryan Plocher.

This show was produced by Monika Müller-Kroll and Sylvia Cunningham. 

With the COVID-19 health crisis still at the top of Germany's agenda, have climate change policies fallen to the wayside? Or has the pandemic provided a test run in crisis management?

Host Sylvia Cunningham discusses these questions with Clara Mayer, a press speaker for Fridays for Future in Berlin; Jakob Schlandt from the Energy & Climate briefing of the Berlin newspaper, Der Tagesspiegel; and Dr. Kira Vinke, who is a scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.

This show was produced by Monika Müller-Kroll and Sylvia Cunningham.