Imagine what would happen if our political, cultural, and economic leaders began to reconsider what it means to create “value” in Europe. What if we were supported to rest, to look after our families, and to enjoy ourselves and our communities as much as we’re encouraged to generate capital? What would it look like for Europe to translate its wealth into greater wellbeing?

 These are some of the big questions raised by Emma Holten, two-time Europeans guest and author of the book Deficit: How Feminist Economics Can Change Our World, now being translated into a dizzying number of languages. This week, we’ve devoted the entire show to our conversation with Emma about what “feminist economics” means and how it could change things for the better – not just for women, but for everyone.

If you’ve ever wondered where all the affordable night trains are, or struggled to book tickets for an international journey, or spent hours of your one wild and precious life petitioning for compensation for a significantly delayed trip (*takes deep breath, collects self*)... let us introduce you to Jon Worth. This prolific train watcher and commentator is behind a new European Rail Passengers’ Union that is pushing for easier cross-border transit and may even help to resolve some people’s personal cross-border nightmares. Jon thinks Europe’s train travellers deserve better, and we tend to agree.

A very special bienvenue to this very special episode of The Europeans! This week, the entire team gathered in person in a swanky studio in Paris to answer some of your burning questions, from “How do you stay sane when you’re immersed in the news?” to “Is there a favourite bird?” (i.e. the simple to the deeply complex). Plus: Wojciech’s dream of being a “failed sportsman”, the unvarnished truth about the team’s vegan/teetotaling façade, and… The Europeans Matchmaking Agency?!

The world is in flux. What's Europe's place in it, exactly? This week, we're bringing you something different: a big, sprawling conversation with leading European historian Timothy Garton Ash. Can anything good come from Trumpism for this continent? What can be done to stop autocrats like Viktor Orbán from undermining the EU from the inside? And does it matter if we talk about different things when we talk about Europe? 

We're taking the Schadenfreude approach to the chaos that Trump's tariffs have unleashed upon Europe (and the rest of the world). This week, our favourite Luxembourger Nina Lamparski joins Dominic to explain why sales of Elon Musk's Tesla cars have already plunged in Europe and could now fare even worse thanks to his best bud's trade policies. We're also joined by Turkish political scientist Ezgi Başaran to discuss why President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is feeling liberated in a time that's been dubbed 'springtime for autocrats' — and whether the huge protests against him could change that. Plus, is Spain's clever new food waste law as good as it sounds? 

Georgia's pro-Russian ruling party claims to have won last weekend's election — a fraudulent election, according to a mounting pile of evidence. A country that was once on the path to EU membership is now veering much closer to the Kremlin. Is there any hope left? We ring Anna Gvarishvili, Tbilisi-based journalist and head of the Investigative Media Lab, to unpack what just happened and what might happen next. We're also discussing two suitably scary topics in this Halloween episode: France's money problems, and the noxious substances spewing out of your gas cooker. 

We're back from our summer break! Rym Momtaz, the new editor-in-chief of the Strategic Europe blog, is here to catch us up on the main political developments we missed over the summer, from Ukraine to France. We're also talking about Sweden's suggestions for cutting kids' screen time, and a possible crackdown on outrageous concert ticket prices.