Is the Party Over? How COVID-19 has changed Berlin’s iconic nightlife

Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson and senior producer Dina Elsayed untangle the landmark reform to Germany’s citizenship law with guests:

Jan Schneider, deputy managing director of The Expert Council on Integration and Migration and head of its research unit;

Gökçe Yurdakul, Georg Simmel Professor of Diversity and Social Conflict at Humboldt University in Berlin and director of the Berlin Institute of Migration and Integration Research. 

We also hear from Aiyona Hayman, an American in Duesseldorf, about her plans under the new law. 

Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson discusses the role of overseas voting in the 2024 U.S. primaries and why you should care, even if you aren’t a U.S. citizen, with guests: 

Constance Chucholowski, chairman of the Berlin chapter of Democrats Abroad;

Jeremy Shapiro, research director of the European Council on Foreign Relations, 

Gary Schmitt, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

It’s been two years since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a war that is not going well for Kyiv at the moment. The war has killed and wounded a half million people and sent millions of Ukrainians fleeing to the West. Some 60,000 of them live here in Berlin. 

Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson and Senior Producer Dina Elsayed update you on what’s happening in Ukraine and what it means to us here in Germany and the West with guests: 

Ukrainian journalist Katerina Malofeyeva in Kyiv; 

Nico Lange, Senior Fellow of the Zeitenwende Initiative at the Munich Security Conference;

Kseniia Gatskova, a senior researcher at the Institute for Employment Research who investigates the labor market and social integration of refugees in Germany, and her colleague Silvia Schwanhäuser, a researcher at the Institute for Employment Research. 

Everyone has an opinion of BER, and many of them aren't kind: Passengers recently ranked it 19th of 20 airports in Germany, which suggests it still isn’t the airport of our dreams. In this episode, host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson spoke on Feb. 6, 2024 with urban planner Dieter Faulenbach da Costa, who first helped plan BER and later often criticized it. We also hear about the latest improvements in the works from BER spokesman Jan-Peter Haack, plus comments from passengers and our new segment – Geil or not so Geil!

Produced by Dina Elsayed.

When we think of Franz Kafka, it’s usually about his books and short stories. But Kafka Band founder and Czech author Jaroslav Rudiš  and world renowned Irish composer Gerald Barry say the noise-averse author influences today’s music, too. 

Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson and Senior Producer Dina Elsayed bring you their interviews that are part of the “Zeitgeister on Air” project, our joint collaboration with Goethe Institut.

Produced by Dina Elsayed and Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson.

Join host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson and senior producer Dina Elsayed who interview TV personality and Kafka sleuth Kathi Diamant, in San Diego; National Library of Israel archivist Stefan Litt in Jerusalem, and figurative abstract artist Marianne Kolb in Sacramento on how Franz Kafka changed their lives and why the iconic author who died 100 years ago is still so relevant today. The interviews are part of the “Zeitgeister on Air” project, our joint collaboration with Goethe Institut.

Produced by Dina Elsayed and Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson

Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson and Senior Producer Dina Elsayed share key moments, personal insights and a look ahead as Common Ground Berlin kicks off its 2024 season. Featuring German Comedian Christian Schulte-Loh; Iranian-American Comedian and Actor Maz Jobrani; Renae Watchman, who is an indigenous studies professor and co-author of “Indianthusiam,” and the late US Ambassador to Germany John Kornblum, among others.

Music: “A Thought” and “Gentle Chase” by Podington Bear. 

“Rodolfo’s Death” by Livio Amato.

“Latin” by Crowander

“Lemoncholy” by Tea K Pea

"Nine Count" by Blue Dot Studios.

Produced by Axel Scheele

What Gen-Zers think of the United States is definitely not how their parents and grandparents view Germany’s important ally. So can student exchange programs help improve transatlantic relations?    

Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson and Senior Producer Dina Elsayed talk with the German Marshall Fund’s Gesine Weber and Niklas Ebert, as well as Knut Moeller of AJA, a Berlin-based, umbrella organization for long-term youth exchange programs in Germany, and with Christian Andersch of YFU – Germany.

This episode is brought to you by Checkpoint Charlie Foundation and was produced by Axel Scheele.

Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson interviews NPR icon and All Things Considered co-host Mary Louise Kelly as well as Kamal Nasir Hamyar, an Afghan journalist who was part of an on-air project the Germans helped create to ease Afghan mistrust of the West after the Taliban were ousted from power in Afghanistan in 2001.

Produced by Dina Elsayed