From media freedom to human rights and climate change. The new European Greens Podcast covers the most pressing issues currently discussed in the EU. And while EU policies are not always easy to digest, the European Greens Podcast connects abstract topics with real-life stories of people who are affected by them. We talked with podcast host and EGP Committee member Sibylle Steffan about the new podcast, and what we can expect from the first episodes.
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The European Greens Podcast replaces the Green Talking Heads. What will be different in the new podcast?
Sybille Steffan: The Green Talking Heads podcast was born in June 2021. We wanted to explore whether podcasts could be a good way to address complex political questions – especially in pandemic times. We aimed at in-depth conversations with experts and green decision makers on topics that need more explanation and reflection than fit in the 280 letters of a tweet. With our lessons learned we want to relaunch it now as the European Greens Podcast. For us it’s important to show that Directives, Regulations, and Strategies actually impact the daily lives of millions of European citizens, and are not an EU Bubble topic. Therefore, we combine a very personal story with EU policy.
EU policies are oftentimes very complex and hard to understand. How can the European Greens Podcast make it easier for the listeners to understand these complex issues?
Admittedly, hundreds of pages of complicated legal texts need context to raise our interest. And we need the right medium to be able to give this background, offering not only information but also a way to connect to a story. I personally love podcasts as they manage to do exactly this: You listen, you feel and learn, while doing your laundry, while taking the bus. For our podcast team, this means finding the right balance between technical and political understanding on policies and just an enjoyable, relatable conversation that you can follow easily.
LISTEN TO THE FIRST EPISODE OF THE EUROPEAN GREENS PODCAST NOW!
There are so many podcasts out there, that are worth listening to. Why should our newsletter readers listen to the European Greens Podcast?
Simply because we make this podcast especially for you. As Greens, we share the same passion for politics; we love to discuss, to reflect, to deliberate – this is what happens within our parties and this is what we try to do in the podcasts as well. We try to choose topics that are dear to us, from the protests in Iran, the exit out of the climate killing energy charter treaty, to the freedom of the media in Europe. We try to make these topics easily digestible while offering insights into the work of institutions, bringing you closer to our Green decision makers, and experts. Therefore, we will also continue covering our own European Greens Events, as we did with the Green Ministerial Gathering at our Congress in Copenhagen. This hopefully brings you closer to what we are doing, which we believe is extremely valuable in the run up to our common campaign.
What can we expect from the next episodes?
Our next episode will talk about the European Media Freedom Act for example. What sounds like yet another piece of EU legislation turns out to be very close to the ground: We managed to interview Matthew Caruana Galiza, the son of Daphne Caruana Galizia, the investigative journalists who was killed in Malta. His testimony of the state of Maltese journalism turns a set of rules to protect media pluralism and independence into a crucial game changer that could help defend our democracy. I hope you enjoy it and spread the word!
Listen and subscribe now!
Subscribe on: Spotify - Apple Podcasts - Google Podcasts (soon) - Amazon Music
About:
Sibylle Steffan
Sybille Steffan has been a member of the Committee of the European Greens since summer 2022 when she was elected at the Riga Council. She hosted several episodes of the podcast Green Talking Heads, and is now the voice of the European Greens Podcast.
