Podcasts

Europe Talks Back shines a light on the stories that matter from across Europe. A new Europe Talks Back episode drops every two weeks, showcasing storytelling podcasts, based on real stories The second and ongoing season of Europe Talks Back is produced in partnership with Sphera Network, the first network of independent media in Europe to reinvent the media space and paint a new picture of the continent through impactful, unbiased, raw and authentic stories.

Europe Talks Back shines a light on the stories that matter from across Europe. A new Europe Talks Back episode drops every two weeks, showcasing storytelling podcasts, based on real stories The second and ongoing season of Europe Talks Back is produced in partnership with Sphera Network, the first network of independent media in Europe to reinvent the media space and paint a new picture of the continent through impactful, unbiased, raw and authentic stories.

Freedom in Hungary is a narrative interview podcast series co-produced by Bulle Media (Brussels) and Betone Studio (Budapest). The podcast series deals with the value of freedom as seen by 6 different persons from Hungary. From a Holocaust survivor to a teacher, from an entrepreneur to a student activist, from a AI expert to a professor: what does freedom mean to people in Hungary? How did the value of freedom shape their lives? And, most importantly, what role does freedom play in today's society? Freedom in Hungary is a podcast series part of the Europod network and was produced in the context of the Sphera Network. Freedom in Hungary is also available in Hungarian language under "Éljen a magyar szabadság".

Thirty-eight places worse than in 2021 and last in the ranking of EU countries, press freedom in Greece is undoubtedly in free fall. According to the annual report of Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF), in a total of 180 countries, the country referred to internationally as the matrix of democracy has plummeted in just one year from 70th to 108th place in 2022. In the following six episodes, Greek journalists Konstantinos Poulis and Jenny Tsiropoulou will take us inside newsrooms to see the working conditions in the media, investigate the unsolved murder of a journalist at the door of his house, talk to journalists-victims of SLAPPS and journalists-victims of phone tapping, and they will talk to us about a completely opaque process of public funding to find out what the 108th place means in practice and to ask who benefits from journalism that is feared and silenced. We would like you to know that the present government has systematically failed to respond to requests from journalists from unfriendly media. In such cases, we report on it in our editorials. #108 is a co-production between the Greek independent media The Press Project and the podcast production agency Bulle Media. The podcast series is part of the Europod podcast network and was produced under the Sphera project. The original language of this podcast is Greek. There is also available an English version. The producer of 108 is Antoine Lheureux. Executive producers are Konstantinos Poulis and Alexander Damiano Ricci. Scriptwriting is by Jenny Tsiropoulou. Interviews by Jenny Tsiropoulou and Konstantinos Poulis. Editorial work by María Dios and Alexander Damiano Ricci. Sound design by Thomas Kusberg. Editing and mixing by Thomas Kusberg and Jeremy Bocquet.

Dream destination Santorini is now a victim of its own success. Hypertourismos is a podcast that hands the mic to the locals, exploring how over-tourism on the island is threatening its sustainability. How is the triangle “planet, profit, people” affected by the sunset-loving crowds? A creation by Maëlle Julou, who takes a step back to rethink the way we travel.

I never asked why my grandmother Mercedes speaks Russian, German, French and Spanish perfectly. Perhaps because I sensed that this why was marked by a delicate history… A history of childhoods without parents. A story of farewells, of reunions, of escapes and persecutions. A story marked by the history of 20th century Europe: the Spanish Civil War, the Second World War, and the Cold War. I never asked why. But now… I need to break that wall. I need to understand which parts of those wars, of those untold stories, still live in me. Join me on this journey through the past to understand where we came from, who we are, and where we are heading.

Do you know what the state, corporations and the internet know about you? Together with experts and Gen Z representatives, we will explore surveillance today. From social media to business, politics to counter-terrorism: we will try to understand surveillance better, piece by piece.

Substances (Un)Controlled is a podcast exploring drug policy and its impact on the world around us. In 6 episodes you will hear about the history of drug criminalisation, its discriminatory nature and why there is increasing talk of legalisation. In particular, we will look at countries where laws passed in the name of protecting public health have had effects far removed from their stated goals. You will also learn a bit about the Taliban's narco-state, treating depression with psychedelics or ordering cocaine over the internet.

I never asked why my grandmother Mercedes speaks Russian, German, French and Spanish perfectly. Perhaps because I sensed that this why was marked by a delicate history... A history of childhoods without parents. A story of farewells, of reunions, of escapes and persecutions. A story marked by the history of 20th century Europe: the Spanish Civil War, the Second World War, and the Cold War. I never asked why. But now... I need to break that wall. I need to understand which parts of those wars, of those untold stories, still live in me. Join me on this journey through the past to understand where we came from, who we are, and where we are heading.

Artificial intelligence is all around us. It has technological applications that save lives, but it can also affect them in ways we all too often ignore. It has created jobs that did not exist, but it also raises fears for the future of employment. Today, artificial intelligence can be used to make anything: a start-up, a cyberwar and even a work of art. This podcast is all about the A.I. revolution, amidst market bubbles, problems that the European Union is trying to correct, potential and dystopian scenarios, because algorithms replicate the distortions of the society that conceived them.

Dream destination Santorini is now a victim of its own success. Hypertourismos is a podcast that hands the mic to the locals, exploring how over-tourism on the island is threatening its sustainability. How is the triangle “planet, profit, people'' affected by the sunset-loving crowds? A creation by Maëlle Julou, who takes a step back to rethink the way we travel.

Have you ever heard of autonomous communities, groups of people who develop new models of society, either on the fringes of cities or in the heart of them? In EUtopia, we take you on a journey to discover 6 autonomous communities in 6 different European countries. Self-sufficiency in terms of housing, food, energy, economic, cultural and political systems - we will show you all the issues at stake in these alternative lifestyles. EUTopia is the podcast that will enable you to find out if self-sufficient living is a utopia or not.

"Sueños de agua y sal" is a podcast series inspired by five real stories of women who have had to emigrate to Spain for different reasons. Combining real testimonies with sound fiction, we discover a little piece of their lives and the difficulties they face. A production of the podcast contest Sphera, hosted by Marta Villarte and Aurora Martinez.

Vaccines have become a bone of contention. People on both sides of the barricade do not know how to talk to each other. Over the past months, I have been getting to know anti-systemicists, alternative medicalists and anti-vaccine campaigners, observing their protests and festivals. I've talked to leaders of these movements and academics who analyse social change. I am trying to understand this powerful new current.

In Europe, more than half of all migrants are in fact women. Faced with this observation, Romane Frachon went to the French-Italian border. She met with women and gender minorities in migration, to report on the realities of this part of the population that is often invisible. It was also an opportunity to question the relationship of our European societies to gender and migration.

The Water Series is a podcast on various dimensions of water. Although it deeply considers issues of water scarcity, it goes beyond that, addressing more innovative perspectives, e.g. water as a human right, water as a weapon of war, water as a resource, etc. Additionally, the series seeks to explore existing and future solutions to the present water-related challenges. The Water Series is co-hosted by human rights lawyers Sonja Agata Bišćan and Zeyneb Kasmi and features expert interviews.

Fermata Nanterre is the story of a town in the Parisian suburbs and its inhabitants. The town of Nanterre was built on the rubble of the bidonvilles built after the war where workers of Algerian origin and their families lived. Tracing the history of those who lived in a shack just a few meters from the Tour Eiffel, the podcast tells generation after generation about the origins of social and urban segregation that led to the stigmatisation of the suburbs. In this commune where "everyone comes from elsewhere but everyone is from Nanterre", as one inhabitant says, there are those who try to safeguard and enhance the memory of an era so that it is not forgotten.

33 million euros. This is how much development aid the EU is giving to Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire to help set up national biometric databases there. In this series we ask ourselves: With what aim? And to whom does the money actually go?

The Europeans is an award-winning podcast looking at politics and culture around the continent. It is produced and presented by Katy Lee, a journalist based in Paris, and Dominic Kraemer, an opera singer based in Amsterdam. Katy and Dominic delve into the stories that don't get enough attention in the national media and interview fascinating people across Europe, from writers to activists, scientists to chefs.