The Real Reasons Populism Is Taking Over
2 April 2026
375. Germany’s Fight Against the Far Right
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Podcast
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26 February 2025
Has Trump already become a strategic adversary to Europe? Will Starmer’s White House visit be his ‘Love, Actually’ moment? How can Europe actually become independent from the US?
Join Rory and Alastair as they answer all these questions and more.
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Alistair
Ich hoffe, es geht dir gut. Highly appreciate your interest and insights on German politics. As a German, I have to say that I got a tiny bit upset when you discussed the biggest challenges of Friedrich Merz ahead, and Rory mentioned that Germany is seeing unprecedented numbers of migrants. What is often overlooked in this debate, especially fuelled by the Axel Springer media conglomerate (similar to the Murdoch empire) which is run by Elon-affiliate and the owner of the largest private collection of paintings of female genitalia Matthias Döpfner – is that one of the largest migrant groups in Germany are Ukrainian refugees who receive full benefits faster in Germany compared to eg France. Of course the right wing media focusses on brown Muslim migrants, meaning this is hardly covered. At the same time, it is incredibly hard for people with a refugee status to work, which is of course a huge loss considering the turning demographic pyramid, which is also the basis for the (super fucked) German pension system. I personally blame Merz (and the Greens and the SPD aren’t any better) for not putting the topics at the heart of the political debate that actually really negatively impact our daily lives and our future: the growing wealth inequality, the failing pension system, the climate crisis and severely underfunded infrastructure (from trains to schools).
What do you think would be the best way for Merz to tackle those problems? Btw he is hugely unpopular in Germany even in his own party, he is seen as representing corporate interests instead of the commonwealth.
Love the podcast. Shoutout to my favourite German politics podcast “Lage der Nation” which gives a comprehensive weekly view on the state of German and global affairs, which I can 1000% recommend. Viel Erfolg weiterhin und beste Grüße aus Berlin ?
Danke sehr. Ich werde Rory Ihre Botschaft schicken