File Nord Stream 2 – gas, money, secrets
In view of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, why is it that so many German politicians are supporting the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline? Especially in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania under Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD), where the Russian gas should arrive at some point. A research team from NDR investigates this in seven episodes, each around 20 minutes long. At the same time, the journalists, whose curiosity pushes them up against walls of silence, provide an insight into their work. Well, you can understand why you’re keeping quiet: which state government would still want to boast of having exceptionally good ties to Gazprom at the time? Or with an ex-Stasi officer, managing director of Nord Stream 2, who was a regular guest at the Schwerin State Chancellery – and is close friends with Putin, as the NDR journalists have researched. And anyway: the farce about the “Climate Protection Foundation” that was supposed to save the building. A lesson on lobbying, informatively reworked. John Korsche
Troll Army – Russia’s War on the Internet
As Putin’s Russia invades Ukraine, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock says something memorable: “Today we woke up in a different world.” There is talk of a turning point. Former Chancellor Angela Merkel also said something memorable nine years ago: “The Internet is new territory for all of us.” She wasn’t entirely wrong. The turning point was already apparent on the Internet before Putin’s renewed attack on Ukraine: as a war of disinformation. “As we try to understand what’s really happening on the ground, we come across one thing that’s making that very difficult for us: a flood of disinformation spread by an army of trolls on the Internet. Their goal? All of us,” he says Journalist Dennis Kogel describes the situation in his podcast, produced by Spotify and dpa. The interesting thing: Troll Army is not a completed research. Kogel, who is supported by investigative journalist Anna Loll, reports weekly with an open outcome. The investigation revolves around troll networks, victims of troll attacks, the people behind the fake accounts and campaigns; in Russia, America, Germany. Many manipulation methods are not new, and yet new connections are constantly emerging. The atmosphere is like that of the Cold War. Only: What Kogel and Loll find out is not yet history. Tim Feldman
Invaded: Voicemails from Ukraine
More than a hundred episodes – the podcast shows you how long Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has been going on. In it, Ukrainians themselves tell their fateful stories and how everything suddenly changed for them when war broke out. Kseniya, for example, bequeathed to the UK news website team Tortoise media At the end of February 2022, she received a voicemail in which she reports how she was woken up by the muffled sound of bombs being dropped over Kyiv and finally informed by numerous messages on her smartphone about the outbreak of war. Only a few days later – she has decided to leave home with her family – she finds herself on the border with Poland and talks about feelings of guilt: “guilty for saving my life, for saving my kid’s life”. The one to five-minute voice messages are characterized above all by the fact that you meet all the people again and again. In this way, listeners learn how, among other things, Kseniya’s life, her everyday life and that of her compatriots continue despite the war. Julia Brader
Everything is different – war in Europe
This podcast started a week after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. From the very beginning, he has set himself the goal of showing the background, creating context and explaining structures. He investigates questions that go beyond daily developments. In the first episode, for example, the two hosts, Alina Braun and Alexander Moskovic, portrayed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in order to explain who this man actually is, what he stands for, and how his compatriots see him. Braun and Moskovic are both of Russian origin, their language skills and their cultural background predestine the two journalists for this podcast, which is a joint production of ARD under the leadership of WDR. Calmly and competently, they guide you through the episodes, in which they present their team’s research and talk to experts and those affected. Most recently, it was about how the Russian-speaking community in Germany experiences the war, how the pro-Russian countries Belarus and Serbia position themselves politically, to what extent the war also influences politics in South America and Africa – and how it could end. Stephen Fisher