Are we all trapped in a transatlantic Truman Show?

25 Sept

Can we talk about Trump’s culture war, Putin’s war on inclusivity, and just about everyone’s unwillingness to pay teachers fair wages—and giggle throughout? You better believe it. Nina Lamparski is back in the hosting chair, and strap in, listeners, because this week’s show is a *ride.*

Our guest this week is the delightful and incisive political analyst Paweł Zerka of the European Council on Foreign Relations. Paweł returns to the podcast to tell us why Europe is living in a Truman-Show-style universe directed by Donald Trump and his international team. We pick Paweł’s terrific brain about what our leaders can do to build upon the growing pro-European sentiment (really!) and engage with the US as its peer, not its lackey. Plus: Nina raises a glass of crémant to Luxembourgish teachers, who had what seems to us like a very swanky Good Week. And Dominic awards Bad Week to Eurovision, which seems to be crumbling whilst Russia’s Intervision is back and creepier than ever.

Inspiration Station recommendations:

Twelve Months of Monastery Soups, a cookbook by Brother Victor-Antoine d’Avila-Latourrette
Rejected: Designs for the European Flag by Jonas von Lenthe

Other resources for this episode:

The European Sentiment Compass 2025 from ECF and ECFR, “Reality show: Why Europe must not cave in Trump’s culture war”
Europeans jingle composer Jim Barne’s Broadway(!) musical, Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)
This live blog from Czech Radio’s Zlín service that tracked the movements of Emil the Elk all summer

Producers

Morgan Childs and Wojciech Oleksiak

Mixing and mastering

Wojciech Oleksiak

Music

Jim Barne and Mariska Martina