Compared to most other political movements, Greens have a track record of inclusive politics, and have long welcomed refugees and Muslims into their ranks. But without a comprehensive approach to the issue of Islamophobia, Green parties sometim

Health vs. Wealth? Political Choices in the European Health Union

Feb 28th, 2024 13m 35s

This week, we turn to health. More specifically, the new European Health Union. Though a step in the right direction, public health advocates expect more from the EU’s newly established trans-national means to prevent and respond to health risk

A Recipe for Survival

Jan 31st, 2024 26m 6s

Veganism, the ethical choice, was once born of necessity. Today’s regular omnivore diet was previously a luxury for the wealthy, ill afforded by peasants. Preserving food was a means of subsistence. Can pickling and jamming traditions, now maki

The Women of Ventotene

Dec 28th, 2023 25m 2s

This week's piece is from our new edition, Aligning Stars: Routes to a Different Europe. The Ventotene Manifesto, named after the Italian islet where its authors were imprisoned when they wrote it, is regarded as one of the foundational texts o

“Enemies of Society”: How the Media Portray Climate Activists

Nov 29th, 2023 13m 30s

From dangerous extremists to silly children, how the media portrays climate activists such as Last Generation and Just Stop Oil is the topic of today’s episode. While those taking direct action are accused of alienating policymakers and public

Green Housing Threatens Affordability. But It Doesn’t Have To

Oct 25th, 2023 17m 36s

Housing is the focus in this episode - something we all need but which is increasingly expensive and in short supply, due in large part to the financialisation of the housing market. Meanwhile some renovations to make housing greener end up mak

Slovak elections: Who Is to Blame for Robert Fico’s Return?

Sep 22nd, 2023 23m 28s

Slovak voters head to the polls on the 30th September for early parliamentary elections. One of the winners looks set to be former Prime Minister Robert Fico - forced out after the 2018 murder of an investigative journalist - and now helped alo

Young Activism, Old Politics: Italy’s Divided Climate Movement

Aug 29th, 2023 18m 38s

10 months on from the start of Italy's new far-right government under Prime Giorgia Meloni from the Brothers of Italy, this episode looks at climate politics in Italy. Direct action environmental protestors and Italy's tumultuous Green parties

Serbia’s Lithium: Sacrifice Zones or Opportunity for Europe’s Peripheries?

Jul 26th, 2023 16m 44s

Welcome to the podcast and to another piece from our latest edition! The green transition relies on the use of numerous rare minerals. Lithium especially is crucial and Serbia’s reserves of this lightest of metals are coveted. But with a propos

The Cities Feeling the Heat

Jun 25th, 2023 19m 58s

Our latest edition is out! And if you've been sweltering in a city this summer, don't miss this episode. Celia Fernández explains how rising temperatures are making European cities increasingly unliveable in the summer months and why where you

Alcarràs and As Bestas: Spain’s Renewable Energy Divides Play Out in Cinemas

May 25th, 2023 14m 57s

In Spain, the installation of large renewable energy plants is generating divides - with local populations concerned at the transformation of their homelands on the one hand and a climate that cannot wait on the other. Two new films - Alcarras

Why the IPCC Can’t Escape Climate Politics

Apr 27th, 2023 16m

With each report from the UN’s intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC), the message is more alarming and the call more strident. Yet somehow, the findings struggle to move governments to action. From ‘climategate’ to the need to cater

Tackling the UK’s Insecurity Crisis

Apr 10th, 2023 15m 43s

The idea of 'economic insecurity' is vital to understanding how people actually feel about their past, present and future. Put simply, it is the experience or anticipation of economic hardship. Hannah Webster and Toby Murray explore what they c

The Untold Story of the Food Crisis

Mar 27th, 2023 25m 38s

Russia’s war on Ukraine pushed the world into a food crisis - or that’s how it felt. But this was only the latest tipping point for a global food system already on the edge. Jennifer Kwao explains how the conflict in Ukraine affected people's a

What African Green Feminist Power Has to Offer

Mar 8th, 2023 19m 26s

On this International Women's Day, we turn to Africa, where women have a long, rich, and active history of seeing their own liberation and the protection of nature as inseparable and forging ground-breaking campaigns at their intersection. From

Is Degrowth the Future?

Feb 27th, 2023 15m 10s

That infinite economic growth is simply not possible on a finite planet seems a truth that is increasingly hard to escape - in some circles. Yet governments continue to organise their countries around the idea that economic growth is good, nece

Powering Up Energy Communities in Central and Eastern Europe

Feb 13th, 2023 15m 26s

Renewable energy cooperatives and/or communities are the focus of our attention this week, and specifically their spread - albeit slow - in Central and Eastern Europe. Tackling three urgent crises in one - climate change, rising energy prices,

Why the Transport Visions of Tech Billionaires are a Dead End

Jan 30th, 2023 17m 43s

We’ve got a book review for you this week. Konrad Bleyer-Simon unpacks Road to Nowhere. Silicon Valley and the Future of Mobility by Paris Marx which sets out how the egoistic projects of tech billionaires such as Elon Musk have shaped our car-

Why Were Italians Swayed to the Right by the Brothers of Italy?

Jan 16th, 2023 12m 51s

In this episode, we zoom in on Italy again. Join us to unpack the September 2022 elections which led to Italy's most right-wing government since Mussolini. What underlies the rise in support for the party now leading the country: Brothers of It

A Climate of Disruption

Jan 2nd, 2023 21m 15s

In this episode, we tackle one of the most important questions of the decade. With global disruption and crises set to become the norm, how should Green parties navigate this new age of shocks? How can these tensions, rather than destabilising

Cost of Living: No Country for Young People

Dec 20th, 2022 17m 25s

Welcome back! In this episode, we focus on one of the most important issues facing many of us: the cost of living crisis. It's time to question how we got here, look into the social and political effects of the crisis, and explore alternative w

No Country for Young People

Dec 6th, 2022 16m 49s

This piece is from our latest edition: Priced Out: The Cost of Living in A Disrupted World, which helps us to understand the political trends and choices across Europe that got us into the cost of living crisis and to explore alternative ways o

The Environmental Cost of the War in Ukraine

Nov 22nd, 2022 15m 30s

It's almost nine months since the start of Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Rarely mentioned in coverage or analysis of the war is the ecological impact of it and how this is playing out today in Ukraine, one of the most heavily industrialised and

COP27: Barred from the Climate conversation

Nov 8th, 2022 14m 6s

COP27 has just kicked off! Despite having official invitations to international climate summits, many young Global South organisers find their visa applications to European countries rejected, sometimes multiples times in a row. This episode lo

After Modernity: Citizenship Beyond the Nation State?

Oct 27th, 2022 21m 59s

Welcome back! In this episode, we explore the concepts of citizenship and of nation states - two norms which are rarely questioned in Europe today - and how they are evolving in today's world. What do these shifts mean for the millions of peopl