Radio Spaetkauf Berlin

Berlin has welcomed 30,000 new residents as Ukrainian refugees fill the city. We meet Mimi, a volunteer from Wir Packens An. They send boxes to refugees - not just from Ukraine, but those forgotten in other parts of Europe too. You can help by volunteering to fill boxes for a day: www.wir-packens-an.info How is the war affecting Berlin, a city that runs mostly on Russian fossil fuels? Our energy bills are going up, we're getting cheaper public transport, and may soon live under an iron dome missile shield. As coronavirus rules disappear, are Berliners ready to give up their masks? So far many are opting to keep covered up in shops. Right to the City for All, the English speaking arm of the DW Enteignen campaign for an update on what has happened since the referendum. www.dwenteignen.de Email: right2thecity@dwenteignen.de We meet Paul Hanford, who has written a book on the clubbing culture in Berlin since the 90s. We ask what it means when one of the world's richest men is now hanging out in Berlin's b

The BVG has reinvented the concept of time. Ticket checkers emerge from undercover. Tempelhof art show boycott explained. A huge art exhibition inside Tempelhof airport has gained millions in public funding. But Berlin artists say it’s suspicious. The so-called Kunsthalle Berlin is sponsored by big property investors, won public money without an open process, and doesn’t include Berlin artists. We talk to Zoe Claire Miller about the controversy behind the exhibition. Dog owners in Berlin are terrified of a possible poisoner after at least one dog died in suspicious circumstances. Jöran is among the worried. There’s not one but two apps for people to report possible poisonings - Dogorama and GiftkoderRadar. A climate change protest group called Letzte Generation has been causing traffic chaos in recent weeks by occupying autobahns. Some glued their hands to the asphalt. Angry drivers and BSR rubbish collectors attacked the protesters, then police arrived and charged them with crimes. They’re campaigning for fo

Would premium class service encourage more rich people to take public transport? Housing activists score a temporary victory trying to squat an empty building. Why do the moving sidewalks at BER airport not move? New Year’s Eve is effectively cancelled with limits of 200 people for indoor events and a ban on dancing in clubs. Much like last year, fireworks have been restricted but not banned outright. Sales are highly restricted and around 50 areas have been declared fireworks free. Jöran would prefer an outright ban as he now has a dog who will be terrified by the noise. Berlin’s new double-decker buses have gone into service. They have wifi and USB ports, which the BVG says helps reduce vandalism because "The youth are so busy with their phones, that they hardly get any other ideas." Unfortunately the new buses are diesel powered, an anachronistic choice. A recent study published by the World Economic Forum, the Boston Consulting Group and Switzerland’s University of St Gallen suggests the implementation of

Confusion in the club queues as new 2G+ rules start. Does the plus mean mask, test or both? The short answer is always check ahead. We're back to the bad old days of finding vaccine appointments by word of mouth. The website wirhelfenberlin.de can help you find an available vaccination center. Christmas markets are open for now. Izzy recommends the Nollendorfplatz Christmas Avenue LGBTIQ* Weihnachtsmarkt, with performances at 19:30 each night. We meet Berlin's most prolific Twitter curator, James Jackson. He explains his annoyance at Germany's obsession with homeopathy and plant-based medicine. Follow him here: https://twitter.com/derJamesJackson How do you steal an entire apartment block in Berlin? You can fake paperwork, like a group of fraudsters did, or you can use the courts to kill off the government’s Vorkaufsrecht, or right of first purchase, as some greedy investors have just done. Both cases show how Germany's property market is thoroughly corrupted. Berlin's new Red-Green-Red coalition has presente

BER turned to chaos over the October holidays, with huge queues and many missed flights. Airlines advised travellers to come four hours early. The airport is only handling half the pre-pandemic passenger numbers. Who saw this coming? Should we use Gorillas or boycott? We meet three members of the Gorillas Riders Collective, who are suing the 10-minute-delivery company, and being sued, as they fight for on-time pay, non-faulty bikes, lighter loads and real contracts. They say users should think before ordering butter in bad weather, and at least give a tip. Gorillas is supposedly worth almost €3 billion, but they aren’t spending that money on maintaining bikes. Swapping is the new shopping. Hundreds of Berliners have joined a movement to trade their clothes instead of buying unsustainably produced fashion. They get together for meet-ups to exchange their items. Founder of Berlin Clothing swap Jenna Stein joins us. How does it feel to win the battle, but maybe lose the war? Wouter from Deutsche Wohnen und Co En

Berliner voters want more left-green politics and a radical state take-over of property - but the new mayor may ignore those demands. At Sunday's city-state elections, a majority (54.3%) voted for the R2G parties, showing the citizens want the current coalition to continue. Another majority (56.7%) voted 'yes' in the Deutsche Wohnung & Co. Enteignen referendum, instructing the city to forcibly buy houses from big corporate property investors. However it will be up to the SPD to decide if those things happen. The SPD won the most votes (21.4%) and can pick who to team up with - and they don't like Die Linke, and have clashed with the Greens. The referendum result is non-binding, and the SPD's lead candidate (and likely mayor) Franziska Giffey is opposed to it (although many members support it). Will Giffey's SPD really ignore the wishes of a majority of Berliners? Join us for this quick take on Berlin's 2021 election results. With Izzy Choksey, Joel Dullroy, Jöran Mandik and Daniel Stern.

The Berlin election results could deliver a shock result: instead of the current green-left coalition, we could end up with conservatives who want to build on Tempelhof, expand highways and stop rental reforms. We’ll terrify you with the worst-case scenario. Instead of finishing the A100 autobahn, let's turn it into a giant urban farm. That's the latest mad idea from Paper Planes e.V., the dream team behind the Radbahn project. We talk to Perttu Ratilainen about how we could grow veggies on the highway. More at: https://www.morgenfarm.berlin Not vaccinated yet? Now you can't eat at many restaurants or go to events. The 3G rule has been tightened to 2G - only immunized people can enter many places. Tests are fast becoming obsolete. The Humboldt Forum is about to open a new exhibition of artefacts stolen by German explorers and colonialists. We meet Virgil Taylor from the Coalition of Cultural Workers Against the Humboldt Forum (CCWAH). He explains what's wrong with the reconstructed city palace, outside and in

Berlin is weeks away from its state election and a referendum on housing. We analyse the campaign posters with Konrad Werner, columnist for Exberliner, and host of the weekly German news show Megan’s Megacan: https://anchor.fm/megans-megacan The AFD has moved from anti-migrant to anti-Green issues, declaring "Your car would vote for us". The CDU are trying to convince Berliners they'd do a better job than the R2G coalition. The SPD is sticking with mayoral candidate Franziska Giffey, despite more plagiarism problems. She's also effectively ruled out a new coalition with Die Linke and possibly the Greens, meaning a return to a conservative coalition in Berlin. And there's lots of small parties with interesting ideas and terrible graphic design. Izzy's volunteering to campaign for Klimaliste, who have a detailed plan on how to mitigate climate change, and say the Greens aren't doing enough. What happens if you paint the city streets with DIY safety markings and bike lanes? We meet a group who are being prosecut

What does Deutschrap have to do with the boom in bling-decorated iced tea? Maisie Hitchcock delves into her considerable knowledge of the genre to explain. Want a hot investment tip? Get into chili farming. Berlin's chili expert Neil Numb tells us how the city's hot sauce boom needs more suppliers. Start growing on your balcony. Visit this weekend's Berlin Chilli Fest at the new Reviere Südost: http://www.berlinchilifest.com Gorillas riders are holding rolling strikes at depots around the city. They're protesting the summary firing of a worker who came late to a shift. Riders have formed a workers' council, but say management are pressuring staff not to join. The billion-euro startup boss says "Gorillas are about cycling, not politics." Seems he's wrong about that. Should you shop from them? Dan says riders are just the most visible part of exploitation in your supply chain. Tiny igloo-shaped cars are the latest shared mobility object to appear in Berlin. The Swiss company Enuu says their electric cars

Everything is reopening. We’re shooting up on vaccines, and shoving sticks up our noses in strange places - and loving it. And best of all - Maisie is back! Coronavirus testing centers are popping up faster than bubble tea shops. There are more than 1000 stations in the strangest locations - converted restaurants, bikes, basements. Is this creative capitalism, or a state-funded stimulus? The government is paying €12 per test. Some of that money is going amiss. Joel witnessed some test centers sending results without actually performing the tests, and others using incorrect personal data. Our guest Nik Kaestner, a spokesman for Volksentscheid Berlin Autofrei presents their goal of removing cars from within Berlin’s S-bahn Ring. This would create the world’s largest car-free zone. The idea has gained a great deal of support from cyclists and pedestrians. Nik says even the 1.3 million car owners will be happy when they see the improvement. The initiative’s website’s English language version is here: http://volks

The Berlin Mietendeckel experiment is finished. The city’s revolutionary attempt to freeze rental prices for five years, and reduce overpriced leases, has been killed off by Germany’s highest court. The decision has unleashed a political storm. Everyone is angry - but who will voters punish? The R2G parties who tried to regulate rents? Or their opponents, the CDU and FDP who successfully derailed the project? We make the case for why each side is to blame. There’s a big bill to pay, as hundreds of thousands of Berliners now face back-payments, higher rents and permanent shadow contracts. We’ll run the numbers on the potential local economic crisis that could follow. What hope is there left for affordable housing? And what can the rest of the world learn from Berlin’s short-lived rental revolution? The experiment is over. Now it’s time to analyze the results The Challengers The CDU and FDP took the Mietendeckel law to the constitutional court, where it was struck down. They perpetuated a false narrative - "bui

Berlin's revolutionary rent freeze law has been declared invalid by Germany's highest court. Reduced rents will have to be repaid. Joel, Dan and Jöran give an instant take. Who will voters blame - the CDU/FDP for killing it, or the SPD/Linke/Greens for trying it? Is a federal rent cap likely?

Berlin finally has an overnight curfew - but not really: we can go out alone from 9pm to 5am. We need a negative test to go shopping - but not really: grocery and household shopping is exempt. We ask - what's the point of making rules with so many holes? Matilde says Germany's leaders are like bad parents scared of disciplining their children. Berlin vaccine centers are throwing away unused doses. People are being turned away due to paperwork. Hotlines are failing. Staff can be fired for being flexible. Joel asks - isn't it better to vaccinate the wrong people than nobody? Matilde found a doctor giving left-over vaccines to anyone who shows up. Why can't the rest of Germany be so practical and sensible? A terrifying concrete building with a horrible history is threatened with destruction: the Mäuserbunker in Lichterfelde. Two architects want to save it. Turns out it's a fantastic example of form and functionality. Berlin has several amazing examples of Brutalism. Felix Torkar and Gunnar Klack tell us why we s

There’s a lot of bad news around about Germany’s slow vaccination rate, and Berlin’s system in particular. The vaccination centers are processing far fewer people than they potentially could and Berlin has doses sitting around that are going unused. One solution may be in sight: Doctors may be allowed to administer vaccinations in their clinics. State and federal leaders have agreed to extend the current lockdown until March 28th, with a very complicated multi-step plan for reopening. Each step has two weeks in between, and if things don’t improve we don’t move on. The second step arrives on Monday March 8th - flower shops, garden supply stores will be allowed to open. And German residents will be entitled to one free rapid coronavirus test per week - also Aldi wills tart selling them. Berlin streets are full of yellow and purple posters in multiple languages demanding a real estate revolution. The campaign Deutsche Wohnen und Co Enteignen has entered the next phase of its attempt to trigger a referendum, and

Who stole the snow from a Berlin park? A local newspaper has been investigating one of the winter's cruelest possible crimes. Parents at Parkaue think a disgruntled local might have cleared a popular toboggan hill of snow. We read the Berliner Zeitung's in-depth investigation. Should we have gone walking on the ice? After ten days of minus temperatures, half of the city went out onto the canals. But no Berlin authority is willing to say if the ice is safe. The police spent days flying helicopters over frozen lakes telling people to move on. Several people fell through the ice. One man died trying to swim under the ice layer. Hairdressers will reopen on March 1 under the latest pandemic lockdown measures. Schools will start returning from February 22, starting with youngest students. Schools are planning to give students self-administered virus tests. There's no word yet on when small shops, gyms, bars or restaurants might open. Mayor Michael Müller says he hopes normalcy might return after Easter (April 4). B

Jöran sits down with Eli Wenzel-Fisher, a caretaker at a Berlin retirement home to talk about vaccinations arriving at the residence and getting vaccinated himself. Getting vaxxed - how does it work? What is it like? And what is the atmosphere like at the home? We get Eli’s detailed report. Thanks to our recent sponsors! We’re using your donations to buy new audio equipment for our future live shows. You can become a supporter here. http://www.radiospaetkauf.com/donate/

With the new medical mask rule in force, will the Querdenkers now start wearing banned fabric masks? What about people who can't afford the expensive masks? Should prices be regulated to stop profiteering? Already some bars, cafes, restaurants and other cultural spaces have closed down during the pandemic. Our friends at Lola Mag are starting to document these closed culture spaces. Know of a shuttered spot? Send details to hello@lolamag.de Stoners beware. A Vice documentary says a lot of Berlin weed is laced with addictive and dangerous synthetic cannabinoids. Where's our organic weed already? Watch the video here.  BER workers are suffering from electric shocks from baggage scanning machines. More than 60 cases have been recorded. The workers' union wants the new terminal closed until the problem is fixed. What's it like to be a teacher in a Berlin school these days? We meet Ryan Plocher, a US emigrant who teaches in Neukölln, and is active in the GEW trade union. He says teachers think schools should be cl

Jöran ushered in the new year with jelly donuts, Joel an ice cold swim and Dan watched the ZDF livestream. All were pleased with their experiences. Hospital on the water Urban Krankenhaus gets positive reviews from the team, though recent expansions ignore the buildings aesthetic and surroundings. How was Berlin's NYE with fireworks sales banned? : 862 fire crew call-outs, 43 in 'verbotszonen', and 211 fires; 10 victims in ER, 2 hands partially amputated, one Brandenburg man killed by self-made rocket; one Neukölln supermarket destroyed by stored fireworks. Those numbers are about half of last year's. How many fewer fireworks were fired? The Frankfurter Allee air quality station measured one third as much particle pollution. The rubbish collection company BSR said 130 meters of fireworks trash was collected, also about one third the volume of last year. If it was like this every year, we'd have nothing to complain about.  Christmas is long gone, but the trees are yet to be picked up. 350.000 of them per year

Why can't Germany finally ban fireworks? The failure to prohibit the use of rockets on NYE shows the pandemic response still isn't being led by science, we say. Many shops are closed, and alcohol outdoors is banned. Berlin is preparing for vaccinations, but unless you're over 80 you probably won't get one for quite a while. We're joined by guest co-host Gilda Sahebi, a journalist and doctor. Gilda is part of Neue Deutsche Medienmacher, a network that promotes greater diversity in Germany's very white media industry. Follow Gilda's here: https://twitter.com/gildasahebi Gilda's network helped write a handbook for Berlin's city government that discourages the use of racist and exclusionary language. For example, city officials have been told to not use the term "Ausländer", but rather "Einwohnende ohne deutsche Staatsbürgerschaft". Dan says making such phrases cumbersome should encourage us to question whether we even need to say them at all. The BVG has a new voice. An actor with a gender neutral tone will read

We're joined by guest co-host Carmen Chraim. Listen to her podcast People of Carmen. Joel shares his experience of having coronavirus: it's hard to get tested, and contact tracing is no forensic investigation. Luckily more private testing clinics have opened, including at BER and Kitkat Club. With Christmas markets cancelled, the whole city has become a distributed glühwein markt. Joel and Jöran went on a tour of Neukölln's weihnachts windows. Can we expand the variety of hot drinks on offer please? But glühwein is unlikey to save the hospitality sector. A survey by Bars of Berlin found 75% of their members expect to go out of business by 2021. Restaurants are operating on about 40% of their usual trade. The U5 extension is finished, connecting Hauptbahnhof to Alexanderplatz. It was only 20% over budget and 3 years late. But Friedrichstraße U6 station has closed - Berlin has a ghost station once again. Do we need an U-Bahn extension to BER? And at BER... Schönefeld airport is closing. The building now called