Germany's elections: should we freak out or not?


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Feb 26 2025 45 mins   170 2 0
Germany just staged one of Europe's most crucial elections this year. The results are simultaneously shocking and not-shocking: shocking because the far-right made huge gains; not shocking because they are likely to deliver a coalition between the country's two legacy mainstream parties. So, to what extent should we be freaking out right now? In this election special, we ring up Germanysplainer extraordinaire Tarik Abou-Chadi to unpack that question. Plus, we speak to the writer and activist Emilia Roig about what it feels like to be a long-term immigrant in Germany right now — and how to think about the fightback.

Tarik is a professor of European politics at the University of Oxford. You can follow him on Bluesky here.

You can find out more about Emilia's work here and follow her on Instagram here.

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Producers: Morgan Childs and Wojciech Oleksiak
Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak
Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina

03:50 Tarik Abou-Chadi untangles the German election results for us

27:34 Emilia Roig on how to think about the fight against the far-right

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