It’s the first podcast of 2024, and we’re still recovering from an action packed festive couple of weeks. Producer Simon enjoyed himself a little too much, Nic fought off a variety of flus & colds, and Dili is still traumatised by an unexpected meeting with her nemesis.
As 2023 begins to make itself scarce, we look back on a year of the weird and wonderful, not only in Germany, but among your podcast hosts. We go through some of favourite stories and general highlights from the pod this year. We also chat about the things we enjoyed in our own lives own lives through the year, and try to avoid making any bold, and inevitably inaccurate predictions for 2024.
It’s almost Christmas which means we throw off the shackles of podcast structure and unleash the festive chaos, although some of us may be more chaotic than others. It falls to your erstwhile Geordie co-host to enforce some much needed organisation, and what better way to do that than with a festive game! We also discuss Christmas plans, colonial cakes, sexy firefighters, and why competence is the most attractive trait in any partner.
This week, we discuss the best tea to cure a cold, liver & onions at the Weihnachtsmarkt, and we look at the results from the recent PISA study on education and ask if Germany is overly reliant on a flawed report to evaluate its education system.
Dragging himself from his sickbed, Nic debuts his new smoky radio voice, which frankly isn’t worth the suffering. Sick or not, this doesn’t stop him bringing up Euro 2024, much to Dili’s disappointment. We discuss the questionable social media use of a certain Bavarian politician, the politics of clearing snow, and why more booze isn’t always the right approach to cake baking.
After being inspired by talk of Christmas markets last week, Dili headed over to sample the delights her own town’s festive offering. While she ponders the right amount of condiments on a bratwurst, Nic is trying to work out how much porridge he can eat in 24 days. We discuss Thomas Gottschalk, the longtime host of “Wetten das…?”, and we wonder why speed limits are so controversial in Germany.
This week we look forward to the opening of Christmas markets, Dili is preoccupied with roasted chestnuts, Nic explains why there's a €60 billion gap in the government's budget, and Producer Simon discusses public bookshelves on the streets of Germany.
We learn how Nic’s history of drunken shenanigans actually makes him pretty useful in very specific parenting situations, and chat about the beginning of Fasching, St Martin’s Day festivities, and Dili’s hidden Birthday. We’re also delighted to welcome Radio Spaetkauf hosts Izzy Choksey & Anne-Marie Harrison to discuss their fantastic new podcast Sticking Point: Voices of Germany’s Climate Movement.
The adventures of parenthood continue as Nic deals with a sick child for most of the week, which Dili can sympathise with given she spends her days avoiding the Petri dish of small children in her classroom. To keep our minds off our germaphobia, we look a story about Bundeswehr food cuts, Simon takes us through a very German problem in New Zealand, and Dili goes hunting for a new shop.
Your trio of hosts are back together again and just in time for Halloween. With all those ghouls and ghosts knocking about, safety in numbers makes sense, you never know who might knock on the door at this time of year. We discuss posh pumpkins, dining alone, and a manifesto from Germany's most divisive tabloid.
With Dili away, Producer Simon wants to talk about the Rugby World Cup, while Nic would rather talk about something else, anything else in fact. Language is our main theme this week as your hosts discuss their less than straightforward paths towards improving their German, from the Volkshochschule to the various apps that have sometimes helped but also hindered their progress.
After a week off, Dili returns to the pod and just in time for some very important admin. With us approaching episode 150, it means that Dili has been co-hosting for nearly a year, which means only one thing: it’s annual review time!! We also discuss new immigration laws proposed by the German government, and a listener email asks why German radio seems so terrible.
Despite Dili being out sick this week we have the fortune of being able to welcome the wonderful Kate Mueser to the show to talk about her debut novel The Girl with Twenty Fingers, as well as a variety of other topics! We discuss the results of the state election in Bavaria, life in Las Vegas, and the catharsis of writing about experiences of living in Germany.
Always willing to make sacrifices for the podcast, Nic takes the gallant decision to miss his beloved Newcastle United’s first home Champions League game for 20 years in order to sit down with Dili for this week’s record. Of course, he blames Dili for everything. We also discuss Halloween plans, the best restaurant in Bavaria, and Tag der Deutschen Einheit.
After months of fruit based chat, Nic finally takes Dili to task on her fruit obsession. Perhaps talking about kiwi and peaches makes sense, it does prevent Nic from worrying about bald men driving Porsches. Dili explains how to punish unruly schoolchildren, a surprise confrontation with a controversial Bavarian politician, the benefits of Lederhosen, and a record-breaking castle.
After being out sick last week, Dili is back among the podcast microphones to share her adventures in German healthcare. We also learn how to start a pigeon wellness hotel. We discuss being imprisoned in Kindergarten, the arrival of Oktoberfest, and more troubling developments in Thuringia.
Sadly Dili is out sick this week, so we once again call upon the sonorous tones of Producer Simon to step up to the mic and join Nic for a discussion on apocalyptic weather. Nic explains why the best cheese is found at the top of mountains, World Cup success for one Germany team, and why success & failure are basically the same in Germany.
It’s a race against time to record the podcast this week as Nic’s access to the internet could be shut-off at any moment by the owners of a Bavarian guest house he’s staying in. No matter, Dili has important updates on her adopted pigeon family, Nic tells us about battles in Wales, we discuss the anti-Semitism scandal in the Bavarian government, and we ask if we need more pirates in the Bundestag.
Nic is away this week, leaving Dili to host the show solo, and she’s chosen to have a conversation with the podcast’s mystery man, Producer Simon. They discuss their journeys to Germany and Dili’s area of postgraduate study. Unsurprisingly Dili exploits Nic’s absence with an extended “Dili’s Fruit Corner” and questions Producer Simon about moving from the Southern to the Northern Hemisphere.
Nic details his involvement in another battle reenactment, while Dili wonders how he’ll get his pike through airport security. We look ahead to cannabis reform, a new Self-ID Law and Dual Nationality Law all being voted on by the German government. Trigger Warnings are coming to German TV, and it’s that time of the year again as we consider the candidates for the German Youth Word of the Year.
