Category: 2019

Maisie, Dan and Joel meet at Gendarmenmarkt Christmas market to catch up on the news.

Berlin’s advertising boards are full of complaints by companies against the city government. Airbnb is demanding that bureaucracy more efficiently approve its hosts’ applications. Do they expect citizens to care?

The revolutionary rent freeze law has been passed, meaning our rents can’t be increased for the next five years. Investors continue to buy up property. The SPD’s new leftish national leadership wants to copy Berlin’s law in other German cities.

Pedestrian deaths are up a lot this year: 23 people have died so far after being hit by cars – a 60% increase. The local Green party has made it one of its policies to phase cars out of the inner city. Friedrichstrasse will go car-free for three months next summer.

Berlin is finally starting to control the fireworks madness on New Year’s Eve. Want some peace and quiet this Silvester? Go to Alexanderplatz, which is one of only two places where fireworks have been officially banned.

Want a Christmas tree but don’t want to kill a living entity? You can rent a living tree for €20, and get €10 back if you return it in good condition.

See you next year for our live recording on January 26 at the Comedy Cafe Berlin!

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

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

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