Corso was supposed to close for renovation, then reopen as a cinema. Then the City changed its mind. After nearly eighty years, the landmark cinema at Bellevue would give way to a flexible event venue.

The backlash began with a petition. Then came a legal challenge and an unlikely alliance of political rivals, all trying to change the City’s plan.

Host Jeanne du Sartel speaks with NZZ journalist Michael von Ledebur about how a renovation sparked a fight over the future of Corso, and a question that reaches far beyond one cinema: who gets to decide which cultural places Zurich keeps?

Join us live at the Zurich Film Festival. On Tuesday, 29 September, The Beat brings this story to the stage at the NZZ Lounge, followed by a conversation with the audience. Reserve your place.

Read Michael’s original NZZ article.

Listen to Radio 1’s *Doppelpunkt* interview with Raphael Golta and Përparim Avdili, hosted by Roger Schawinski on February 22, 2026.

Discover more stories and events from The Beat.

More than 100 years ago, right here in Zurich, a Swiss welfare administrator coined a word for the fear of "too many foreigners." That word shaped a political movement in the 1970s and this year, more than 50 years later, Switzerland voted on capping its population at 10 million.

Host Katarina Hagstedt speaks with Philipp Loser, journalist at Tages-Anzeiger and co-author of Heute Abstimmung, about the the century-old roots of Switzerland's immigration debates, and why growth, housing, and belonging keep getting tangled into the same argument.

Read Philipp's original article here: https://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/10-millionen-initiative-warum-die-schweiz-so-oft-ueber-einwanderung-abstimmt-213007561941

His book "Heute Abstimmung" : https://www.limmatverlag.ch/programm/titel/heute-abstimmung.html

Watch SRF's documentary about the Schwarzenbach era here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AUtkxUq9M0

Sign up for the next The Beat event here: https://www.thebeatzurich.ch/

The music in this episode came from Blue Dot Sessions.

A few beers at Idaplatz in Zurich turned into a year-long investigation, and a lawsuit from one of the world's most powerful tech companies.

A group of Zurich reporters spent more than a year investigating why Palantir, the controversial US data analytics firm, had failed to win contracts with the Swiss government. After publishing their findings, the company sued.

Host Katarina Hagstedt speaks with Marguerite Meyer, one of the journalists behind the investigation, about freedom of information requests, legal pressure, and why investigative journalism matters for everyone living in Zurich.

Read the investigation in English here: https://www.republik.ch/2026/02/18/how-tenaciously-palantir-courted-switzerland

Watch the SRF documentary here: https://www.srf.ch/play/tv/reporter/video/palantir-und-die-schweiz---zwischen-daten-und-macht?urn=urn:srf:video:feb9338c-8f81-4a78-a7cf-ac99b44fdab3

Learn more about the WAV Research Collective: https://wav.info/

Do you have a tip for one of the journalists of this episode? Get in touch via Linkedin:

Adrienne Fichter: ​​https://www.linkedin.com/in/adriennefichter/

Marguerite Meyer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marguerite-meyer-a828539/

Balz Oertl: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johannesoertli/

Audio from Republik: Alisa Fäh.

The music in this episode came from Blue Dot Sessions.

When a small independent bookstore and ten families on Bertastrasse receive eviction notices, it reveals a much bigger story about how ownership in Zurich is changing—and what that means for the people who call the city home.

Host Katarina Hagstedt speaks with Dominik Fischer, reporter at Tsüri.ch, about one building in Kreis 3 that opens a window onto Zurich's housing crisis.

Here is a link to Dominik's original article: https://tsri.ch/a/leerkuendigung-im-kreis-3-buchladen-faellt-der-spekulation-zum-opfer

The music in this episode came from Blue Dot Sessions.

Zurich's mayor, Corine Mauch, led the city for sixteen years. During that time, Zurich became wealthier, more international, and increasingly difficult to afford. Looking back at her time in office turns out to be a surprisingly good way to understand the city we live in today.

Host Katarina Hagstedt speaks with Isabelle Heusser, a local politics reporter at NZZ, about how Zurich changed, what "a city for everyone" really meant, and the biggest challenges facing the city's next chapter.

Read Isabelle's exit interview with Corine Mauch here: https://www.nzz.ch/zuerich/zuerich-stadtpraesidentin-corine-mauch-ueber-banken-schauspielhaus-und-steuern-ld.1875317

The music in this episode came from Blue Dot Sessions.

In this short introduction, Katarina and Jeanne share the story behind The Beat: why they started it, the conversations that inspired it, and why they believe understanding a city takes more than headlines.

After speaking to dozens of people across Zurich, they realised many people shared the same experience: they could follow the news, but often missed the context that makes it meaningful. The Beat grew out of that simple idea, to bring listeners the story behind the story through conversations with the journalists reporting on the issues shaping Zurich.

Welcome to The Beat.

The Beat is a monthly podcast that helps you understand the news stories shaping Zurich.

Each episode takes one topic people in Zurich want to understand and explores it with the local journalist who knows it best. Together, we go beyond the headlines to uncover the context, perspectives and conversations behind what's really happening in the city.

Think of it as grabbing a beer with the journalist behind the story.

Because understanding a city takes more than headlines. It takes context, curiosity and conversation.