After a week off, Dili returns to the pod and just in time for some very important admin. With us approaching episode 150, it means that Dili has been co-hosting for nearly a year, which means only one thing: it’s annual review time!! Despite Nic’s best attempts to keep things professional, Dili & Producer Simon are determined to derail his efforts.

With the beleaguered German government hoping to regain the initiative after months of disappointing polls and local elections, we look at the change in direction occurring in Berlin. The first step in this new approach seems to be tightening immigration laws and stricter regulation of refugees. We discuss the logic of this new strategy and whether it will actually have the impact coalition government are hoping for.

A lovely listener email concerning the quality of German radio sparks a discussion between your hosts over whether German radio is really so terrible, and why it often feels like every radio station sounds exactly the same.

For those of you looking to support Ukraine or the many refugees currently fleeing the conflict, please take a look at these different charities and consider donating if you can.

Ukraine Crisis Media Centre - A list of different donation pages to help the Ukrainian military response.

Disaster Emergency Committee - Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal

Save the Children

Ärzte ohne Grenzen

Theme tune courtesy of Kloß mit Soß