Our co-host Jöran Mandik is running for council! How hard is it to sign up as a candidate for the Berlin election? Easier than registering your address, he explains. Thanks to videographer Victoria Linchong for this clip.
RS#06 2016: The BVG and the U8 font
Berlin typographer Anton Koovit spent over a year creating his font called U8, based on the letters on U-Bahn station signs. Recently the BVG began using Koovit’s font to print new signs, but without paying directly for a license to do so. We talk to Anton about his font. UPDATE: The BVG has responded to our story. They say their own museum developed the font.
Bicycle riders working for the food delivery company Deliveroo recently launched a protest action at having their weekend bonuses cut without warning. They turned the logos on the delivery bags upside down to get the startup’s managers to address their concerns. We interview one bicycle courier about the action, which he says was taken to prevent conditions getting any worse.
Berlin’s population boom means we might have to give up a bit of green space. Now the city’s open air swimming pools are being targeted as potential development zones. The Berliner Bäderbetrieb, which runs the pools, has been asked if it will give up some land to allow a city-owned housing company to develop flats. Churches are also being asked to hand over old cemeteries for refugee shelters.
And co-host Jöran Mandik continues his campaign to get elected to the Berlin Abgeordnetenhaus. He has registered as an independent candidate, and now requires 45 supporting signatures to get on the ballot. Will you sign up? Drop us an e-mail at hallo@radiospaetkauf.com.
Ruins of Berlin – which will be renovated?
Some of Berlin’s best-loved abandoned buildings will soon be renovated, including Tacheles, Haus der Statistik, Spreepark and the Möbel Wulff building on Hermannplatz.
Video highlights from the April 2016 recording of Radio Spaetkauf. Listen to the full episode here: https://soundcloud.com/radio-spaetkauf/rs-04-2016-lonely-locks
No more crazy columns on U-Bahn windows
After years of aggravating Berlin artists with its twisted perspective, the BVG has finally started fixing the design of its window stickers.
Last year the BVG promised to do something about the wonky sketch of the Brandenburg Gate printed on the protective sheeting on U-Bahn windows. Finally a new sticker design is being rolled out. The feet of the crazy columns have been slightly adjusted to make more spatial sense, and the lines have been slimmed down.
This comes in response to years of complaints about the design. But annoyed graphic designers will have to wait a while longer before the old image disappears, as the BVG is only rolling it out on a replacement basis.
For now, the improved Brandenburg Gate sketch can only be seen on the doors of some of the H-model U-Bahn carriages – those are the newish long interconnected trains – not the old F-model carriages.
Want to hear more about Berlin public transport and other local topics? Listen to the Radio Spaetkauf news show here.
– By Joel Dullroy, Radio Spaetkauf
RS#05 2016: We Take Berlin
What would we do if we ran the city? Radio Spaetkauf is exploring Berlin‘s political system by trying to get our own host Jöran Mandik elected to the state Abgeordnetenhaus. We get tips from former Pirate Party leader Martin Delius about how local politics really works.
And we‘re calling for ideas from listeners about what policies Jöran should add to his manifesto. Sunday trading for spaetkaufs? Online Bürgeramt registration?
On this episode we‘re joined by a new co-host, stand-up comedian and computer programmer Caroline Clifford.
Recorded on Monday May 23 2016 at the very empty Comedy Cafe Berlin.