Author: radiospaetkauf

RS Live: Shared Spaces

On this month’s Radio Spätkauf: Segregation in Berlin’s public schools, an artist and curator reinvents the Berlin‘s S-Bahn‘s disused spaces. And what is the Night of Solidarity & why should we take part in it?

Courtney O’Connell has been working with children, youth, and their families in emergency shelters and temporary accommodations for people seeking asylum in Berlin since 2015. She talks to us about how Berlin‘s public school’s two-tier eduction system is proving a big stumbling block to integration.

In September, the Berlin Senate launched new guidelines for tackling the city’s increasing homelessness problem, which included plans to hold a census of the city‘s destitute. „Die Nacht der Solidarität“ will take place on 29th January 2020. Sophia Berndt, a student at Alice Salomon university and volunteer working with the homeless, told us more about it.

If you want to volunteer, register here: https://www.berlin.de/nacht-der-solidaritaet/

As Berlin’s urban fabric changes and affordable spaces for making and showing art in become ever rarer, artists are coming up with inventive solutions to the problem. One such artist (and curator) is Natalia Irina Roman, who has repurposed the buildings and spaces along Berlin’s S-Bahn lines for her project ‚Along the Lines.‘

You can find out more about Natalia‘s projects here https://m.facebook.com/SiteSpecificIdeas/

This episode was presented by Daniel Stern, Trevor Silverstein and Maisie Hitchcock.

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RS Live: Benches, Bees & Berlin Pinball

Have you ever wished you could rest your rear on a comfy spot, but there isn’t a seat anywhere in sight? Or do you sometimes want to perch on a bench in a picturesque location, but the overflowing dustbin next to it is a bit off putting? Well now help is at hand. We speak to two creatives who are behind a pretty unusual Guerilla urbanism project: Benching Berlin. The two anonymous founders build public benches out of waste wood, then place them around town (chained up, so the authorities don’t take them away). https://www.instagram.com/benchingberlin/?hl=en

On our last episode we gave you an update on the proposed rent freeze – the idea of a five year rent cap in Berlin, that was first floated in June this year. Now finally the coalition parties of Berlin’s government have come to an agreement! We tell you what they’ve decided.

Bees are an essential part of our ecosystem. And they’re threatened by extinction. We speak to Christian Vogel of the Neukölln Beekeeper Association to help us help the bees and to give everyone a head start for the next bee season. http://www.berliner-imkerverein-neukoelln.de

What do you know about pinball? Not a lot? We don’t either. But it turns out there’s a scene for it in Berlin – and a big rivalry too! Ryan Rosell is telling us about it.

This episode was presented by Maisie Hitchcock, Jöran Mandik, Joel Dullroy and Daniel Stern.

Want a Radio Spaetkauf mug? Become a subscriber! We’ll be giving them to listeners who donate monthly. Go here: steadyhq.com/de/radiospaetkauf

RS Live: Two Wheels Good, One Wheel Bad

Bicycle riders working for Deliveroo have gone from being precariously employed to unemployed. We meet some former Deliveroo riders who have started their own food delivery company. Christoph and Stefano founded Kolyma2, and are ready to take your order: www.kolyma2.de

The rent freeze is coming. More details keep leaking out from the city government office that is preparing this radical policy. Rents are to be capped at prices ranging from around €4m2 to €9m2, depending on the building age. New rental contracts can’t be above those rates, and some tenants can apply to have their rent lowered. Read more about this revolutionary concept at http://lolamag.de/feature/current-affairs/berlins-five-year-rent-freeze-explained/

Some Berlin bicycle riders behave as if the road rules don’t apply to them. Others don’t know the road rules at all. For our new Berlin Basics segment, we talk to Nikolas Linck from the Allgemeiner Deutscher Fahrrad Club, the German Bicycle Club. Your flashing bike light is both illegal and dangerous, he tells Joel. Join up to the ADFC here (you also get free insurance): https://www.adfc.de/

Berlin was flooded by over 9000 stand-up electric scooters this summer as the German government legalized their use. But there are other types of small mobility devices that remain banned, such as electric skateboards and monowheels, both which don’t have a handle. We meet Lars and Frank, founders of the Electric Empire Association for Small Electric Vehicles. They’re planning a demo for the forgotten non-scooter-scooter riders on September 21. Are you one of them? Head along here:https://electricempire.de/elektrokleinstfahrzeug-demo-am-21-09-2019-trailer/

This episode was presented by Maisie Hitchcock, Jöran Mandik, Joel Dullroy and Daniel Stern.

Want a Radio Spaetkauf mug? Become a subscriber! We’ll be giving them to listeners who donate monthly. Go here: steadyhq.com/de/radiospaetkauf

Article: Berlin’s Five-Year Rent Freeze Explained

RentFreeze Illustration by John Rooney

“It’s an exciting time to be a Berliner, with the city about to embark on the most radical experiment in housing policy in the world. Residential rent prices are to be frozen at their current level for five years, and may even be reduced. Landlords could face fines of up to €500,000 if they are caught overcharging. The free market for rented property could be over. The revolution has arrived in Berlin, at least temporarily. Here’s what you need to know about Berlin’s five-year rent freeze, and some predictions about how it could play out….”

Radio Spaetkauf’s Joel Dullroy turned his monologue from a recent episode into an article for Berlin’s Lola Magazine. Read it in full here.

RS Live at Lakeside Film Festival 2019

We’re out in the woods for Mobile Kino’s annual camping trip. The Lakeside Film Festival is in its sixth year, and this was the biggest so far. We interview founders Joshua and Fernando about their recent scare with Facebook’s business-killing algorithm.

How will Berlin’s five-year rent cap affect you? If you got a rent increase notice before June 18, you may have to pay it. But the rental experts at Wenigermiete.de say at least 50% of rent increase notices have technical errors that make them invalid. Check with them first before you sign anything – it could save you cash for years to come.

What could happen to Berlin under a strict rent cap? Investors may flee – or be incentivised to build new flats, which are exempt from the rent cap. Landlords may stop maintaining their buildings – but renters can undertake the maintenance themselves and deduct the costs from their rent. Joel says the biggest thing to fear under a rent cap is ourselves. Tenants will be tempted to sublease at higher rates. Berlin’s renters will need to stick together and resist overcharging our housemates.

There’s a state election on in Brandenburg. The Alternative für Deutschland, or AfD, is leading in the polls at 21%, and also have the most posters up on the countryside roads. We discuss their empty slogans, which appeal to the grievances of East Germans who feel left behind the rest of the country, without offering any real policies to boost the local economy.

Caroline Clifford guest hosts, and tells us about how much she loves camping. Caroline is the host of We Are Not Gemused, an open mic night at Sameheads.

Want a Radio Spaetkauf mug? Become a subscriber! We’ll be giving them to listeners who donate monthly. Go here: steadyhq.com/de/radiospaetkauf