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.

Rent Freeze #3: Don't Spend It

Nov 22nd, 2020 41m

This month residents of Berlin should experience the biggest collective rent reduction in history. About 340,000 residents - one in six - may be eligible for a rent cut under the Mietendeckel, Berlin’s radical new housing policy. But landlords

Episode 5: Crash Take-Off

Oct 29th, 2020 1h 6m

Every Berliner knows the new airport is about to open. But few know about the disasters that could happen next. We're here to explain. Masie, Joel and Jöran take part in a test of the new terminal and find it functional, if a bit dull. We meet

Rent Freeze #2: Magic Words

Mar 5th, 2020 26m 51s

How To F#€k Up An Airport team presents: Rent Freeze, a podcast about Berlin's rental revolution. Berlin's rent freeze has begun, but nobody seems to know what's going on. Landlords and tenants alike are confused about what to do next. Rents ar

Rent Freeze #1: The Experiment

Jan 29th, 2020 18m 31s

Radio Spaetkauf presents our new series - Rent Freeze. What happens when an entire city of 3.5 million residents stops paying rent increases for the next five years? Welcome to Rent Freeze, a podcast about Berlin’s rental revolution. Berlin is

Never Finished (live!)

Apr 30th, 2018 1h 3m

A special live recording of the fourth and (maybe) last episode. Take a tour of all four of Berlin’s under-construction, out-of-use, falling-apart and over-capacity airports. Each has had a part to play in the story of how Berlin f#cked up an a

Money for Nothing

Mar 2nd, 2018 51m 46s

BER has been built twice - the first time incorrectly, the second time incompletely. We hear from Marco, an engineer who worked on site. Employees were busy stealing copper instead of fixing the fire system. Some managers got rich taking bribes

Double The Recipe

Feb 25th, 2018 42m 30s

Days away from the planned 2012 opening party, nothing seemed wrong at BER. What was really going on? On this episode, we look at how the airport managers and politicians were messing with the plans, even as construction was underway. They dema

Without A Plan

Feb 18th, 2018 40m 36s

BER is the international airport code for Berlin Brandenburg Airport, nickname Willy Brandt. It has also become a signifier of failure, incompetence, corruption and Berlin’s general inability to get its act together. If you’ve flown to Berlin S

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