We are extremely lucky this week to host Ben Judah, Director of the Atlantic Council's Transform Europe Initiative, but most importantly for our purposes, the author of the recently published This is Europe (2023), a travelogue of sorts that compiles short stories from all around the continent in an attempt to capture the spirit of being European. It’s a special episode for many reasons. Firstly, because Uncommon Decency is a podcast that focuses a lot on the big politics of our continent and the great moments in European history. In contrast, this book is a supremely personal approach to what Europe is today, with interviews of extraordinary characters from across the continent which shed light on all the joys and hardships of life in Europe. So this is not your typical Uncommon Decency podcast. Secondly, because when we imagined what this podcast would look like in June 2020 we listed some names we would love to have on. We are happy to report that we’ve crossed many of these names, including Benjamin Haddad, Luuk van Middelaar and the historian Christopher Clark, for example. The last of the Mohicans on that list was Ben Judah, whose thinking about Europe is both one of the most creative but also one of the best informed. So we are proud to say that, 92 episodes later, Ben finally is with us for a conversation on what is Europe, Macron, immigration and technology. Enjoy!

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