Latest / 20 Percent Berlin Podcast / #35: Björn Höcke is a West German and Görli is open around-the-clock

Transcript

#35: Björn Höcke is a West German and Görli is open around-the-clock · 20 Percent Berlin Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_02: Hello and welcome to the 20% Berlin Podcast,
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_02: the companion podcast of the 20% Berlin Newsletter.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_02: I am writer and co-founder Andrew Bulkeley.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm joined this week as I am every, well, every other week.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: By your co-founder, co-writer, co-whatever, Maurice Frank.
• 0:24
  I just wanted to point out that we've 500 issues of the 20%
• 0:30
  newsletter have gone out.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: That's crazy.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: That's nuts, man.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: That's like half of a thousand.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: How long has it been?
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: Four years?
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: Five years almost.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_01: Is it?
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: 21?
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_01: I can't really remember.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, when we got fired.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_01: We were young.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_01: We were free.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_02: Wow, 500 newsletters.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_02: Kind of cool.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_01: How's your summer going?
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_02: I thought we would be further than that.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: It's going well.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: I was in Amsterdam this weekend visiting my brother.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_02: It's nice.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_02: Amsterdam's a nice place.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like it's Berlin but in cute.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 1:00
  It's like a Berlin vibe without all the grubbiness,
• 1:04
  the edge,
• 1:05
  and a lot of water.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: Without the crackheads, the graffiti.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_02: And a lot more drunk British people.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 1:11
  You always know around some corner there's going to be two
• 1:14
  drunk British people.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_02: And they sleep on the street apparently.
• 1:18
  I think they get so drunk they don't make it back to the hotels
• 1:21
  They just do drugs
• 1:22
  all night My spring is going pretty well The other day I got
• 1:27
  into two fights with
• 1:29
  fellow cyclists on one trip Basically these were guys who were
• 1:34
  overtaking on my
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: right but then still got angry that I was too far right
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: You're not allowed to overtake on the right.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: And then another guy just squeezed past me on the left.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: And then I also wanted to go left, but I didn't signal.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: And then he just shouted like, SIGNAL!
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, well, maybe you could slow down.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of people here.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: There's pedestrians.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: He said, NINE!
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: No,
• 1:57
  I'm not going to snow It's like this German mentality If you
• 2:00
  follow the rules by
• 2:01
  the book You can go any speed No matter if there's like dozens
• 2:04
  of pedestrians In
• 2:05
  this really tiny path Which is meant for pedestrians and
• 2:08
  cyclists So you're like a
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_02: classic Kampfradler No,
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: I was going slowly on my Well,
• 2:13
  because you're riding a cargo bike I was riding a cargo bike
• 2:15
  with kids And then
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: these Kampfradler were surrounding me Anyway,
• 2:18
  yeah So I'm enjoying my summer so far I have some other news I
• 2:22
  should have brought
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_02: up earlier On Thursday I will be German
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah, is there like a swearing in ceremony?
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_02: I've been invited to a swearing in ceremony Thursday.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: Do you have to eat like a Bockwurst?
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not sure what I have to do.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_02: I have to wait to make sure I don't cross on red before I get there.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_02: No, they just sent me a thing of like, here, come on in, you got it.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_01: Steve Bannon Hackart
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah,
• 3:12
  I think what's confusing you is that I've got this little Steve
• 3:14
  Bannon beard going
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_02: and then it doesn't matter what you do with the hair,
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_02: then I look Steve Bannon-ish.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_02: I wish I had his money.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: That was just revenge for all your Nazi comments about my haircut.
• 3:25
  I like how you thought a lot about this and you were very proud
• 3:27
  of bringing it up.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: Well,
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 3:29
  I'm not a professional comedian so I need to think about the
• 3:32
  funny things they say.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_02: You seem like an autistic kid telling a joke.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: Isn't that discriminatory or something?
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think so.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: Anyway, the listeners are here.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: They're not here for this.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: They're here for the Berlin News Explained by two middle-aged men.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_02: Two of experts.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_02: Today we're going to talk.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_02: We decided we made a decision.
• 3:56
  Also,
• 3:57
  I don't know if it's because the cameras are on or because we
• 3:59
  had a chat.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_02: You're much more professional.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_02: You're sitting in front of the mic.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_02: You're sitting up straight.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_01: I went for a run today.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_01: I did a couple of push-ups.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_01: You're present.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_02: You're present today.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_02: Usually you're wondering where the snacks are.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: Where are the snacks?
• 4:13
  So,
• 4:13
  and part of what we talked about,
• 4:15
  we want to start talking about some national news.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_02: We thought we would bring in national news.
• 4:18
  So as our first national news item,
• 4:19
  we're going to talk about Bernd Herke.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_02: He was in an interview this week, said some stupid things.
• 4:23
  We're going to talk about the Beifelgay and ads for right-wing
• 4:26
  news outlet News,
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_02: or Betseungswiese,
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_02: the fact that there will be no more ads.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_02: The second staircase at Hermannplatz that's been closed for six years.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_02: Berlin Court saying Gerlitzer Park has to stay open,
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_02: that the opening hours on Gerlitzer Park are illegal.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_02: And finally, we'll discuss the Miet Spiegel.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, the rental.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: I saw it translated somewhere as the rent mirror.
• 4:49
  So we'll start off with Bernd Hurke who is officially head of
• 4:58
  the AFD in the
• 4:59
  Thuringia Parliament but is also a de facto mouthpiece for the
• 5:02
  right wing party.
• 5:03
  He went on a Swiss podcast and said Germans from the former
• 5:06
  East Germany are the
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_02: only true Germans.
• 5:09
  West Germans he said had been usurped by American culture and
• 5:12
  violently annexed by the country.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: But like so many things, AFD, there is a catch.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_02: Höcke himself is West German.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: You know what he also said?
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: He said, West Germans are Americans who speak German.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: But he himself is West German.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: He's from Lüne.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's Lüne.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but he saw the light and moved to the real Germany.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_01: He was teaching in Hessen,
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: which is former West Germany,
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_02: in 2014 when he joined the AFD and went to Thuringia.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: He definitely gets Germany's Douchebag of the Decade Award.
• 5:45
  There's something clever about it though because he's gonna
• 5:47
  there's some little
• 5:48
  part of every German in the West who wants to be a real German
• 5:51
  maybe just a little
• 5:52
  bit so maybe he's you know he's kind of tapping into those I
• 5:56
  don't know a little
• 5:57
  bit of nationalist sentiment over there you know I think he's
• 5:59
  gonna he's gonna get
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: a few acolytes through this
• 6:04
  It feels like the thing where like you're playing football or
• 6:06
  whatever with your
• 6:07
  buddies in the neighborhood and then you commit a huge foul and
• 6:09
  everyone's like
• 6:10
  dude what are you doing like what are you doing and then he
• 6:12
  just like then to just
• 6:13
  like I meant to do that and you guys don't know how to play and
• 6:16
  then just insults
• 6:17
  everybody as he leaves the pitch you know as he's going home I
• 6:20
  mean okay so West
• 6:22
  Germany was occupied by the United States France and Britain
• 6:26
  which that's what he
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: meant like by they're all American or somehow Western to Western
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: Who are the East Germans occupied by Andrew?
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, Russia.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_02: Well, to be for the Soviet Union.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: Right, right.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: That included Ukrainians and Kazakhs and stuff.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: So are they real Germans or are they just like Soviets?
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: I guess they're Soviets.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_02: What a stupid thing to say.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_02: And it's weird.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_02: There's like three or two people.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_02: It's him and Kupala are on like every other talk show.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, this is a right-wing talk show from Switzerland.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, do you even need to say right-wing in Switzerland?
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: It's not all like that.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: It's not all.
• 6:58
  Weltwoche has become this like very conservative newspaper
• 7:02
  there and they've
• 7:03
  latched on to the AFDA cause and there's like their whole thing
• 7:08
  is taking pot shots
• 7:09
  at Germany you know but Hercut does look like he's got like
• 7:12
  this steel grey hair
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_02: these steel blue eyes and just he's like cosplaying Nazi
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: Prussian Stalinists
• 7:44
  To all those East Germans out there That don't vote after you I
• 7:49
  know it's like
• 7:50
  50-60% of you Just take that with a grain of salt I have a
• 7:53
  weird fable for East
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_02: Germany I like East Germany,
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_02: I like East Germans They're nice A lot of them are nice
• 8:00
  that are voting for AFD and even those ones might be nice if
• 8:04
  they met you with your
• 8:05
  Steve Bannock and Hecker you know like hey Steve's here no
• 8:08
  there's a funny thing
• 8:09
  about right wing people that like they hate immigrants but not
• 8:12
  the immigrants they
• 8:12
  know you know yeah they're always like no Abdel Abdel who works
• 8:16
  with us he's a
• 8:17
  great dude man he can stay it's all these faceless immigrants
• 8:21
  that they hate
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I used to have an aunt.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah, she's still alive.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: She would vote.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: She was a West German.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: She voted for the Republicana,
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: which was like this far-right party focused in,
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: based in West Germany somewhere.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember back in like 2000,
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: we were in a restaurant and there were some,
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: like some Japanese businessmen at the next table.
• 8:44
  And then she comes,
• 8:44
  she leans over to me and whispers,
• 8:47
  they really work really hard,
• 8:48
  those guys.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: They're really good.
• 8:50
  of the Japanese cliche oh my god yeah I like yeah she is
• 8:59
  unfortunately in a
• 9:00
  wheelchair with dementia now oh I thought it's unfortunately I
• 9:04
  think you were going
• 9:04
  to say unfortunately she's still alive well I don't wish the
• 9:08
  death on anyone no
• 9:09
  well I wouldn't go that far watch out there's a good half dozen
• 9:15
  people the world
• 9:16
  does not need and there's another half dozen people I don't
• 9:18
  need in my life three
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_02: people probably
• 9:20
  Like,
• 9:21
  okay,
• 9:21
  he could just retire,
• 9:22
  you know,
• 9:23
  just go fishing or something.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: Move to Russia.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: That's what he needs to do.
• 9:26
  But how do you come out and save West Germans when you're West
• 9:29
  German yourself?
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, of course, he's like, I converted.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it actually says a lot about who he is.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: He's got like an identity crisis.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: He's, I don't know, like...
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_01: He's just a messed up individual.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_01: He was a history teacher, for Christ's sake.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_01: Didn't learn much.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's like Weidel lives in Switzerland.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: She's not even really German, the head of the party.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_01: Don't call her Weidel.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_01: Weidel.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_01: How do you say it?
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_01: Alles Weidel.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_01: Weidel.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: Should we move on?
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: Have we said enough about Herke?
• 9:54
  Yeah,
• 9:54
  I mean,
• 9:54
  I feel like it's a little bit like the upcoming story as well.
• 9:59
  They just throw this shit out and they know everyone's going to
• 10:01
  talk about it.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: So, like, all news is good news.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: Like, bad news is also good news.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: We are talking about it.
• 10:09
  Not that I don't think our listeners are going to vote AFD if
• 10:12
  they hit vote.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_01: I think there's probably a few.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_01: I'll bet you there's one or two people.
• 10:16
  If you're hearing this and you're going to vote for AFD,
• 10:21
  just don't do it,
• 10:21
  guys.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_02: Look, dude, I get to vote in the Bundestag Wahl this year, man.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: No, you don't.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: You do?
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's not this year.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_02: The Berlin Wahl.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: There needs to be a three-month.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_01: Apparently not.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: Really?
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_01: I think you need to be a citizen for three months.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: I googled it.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_01: I'll be a citizen for three months.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_01: I'll become a citizen.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: Ah, no, no.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: You need an anmeldung for three months.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: That's what it is.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but I'm already on.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: Great.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: So you could vote in the local election.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: Great.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_01: In September.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 10:48
  um next up speaking of total far right like basically disturbed
• 10:54
  far right males
• 10:57
  this guy I mean okay we gotta see what's happening let me just
• 11:00
  okay can I yeah
• 11:01
  let's explain so there's this website called I mean you
• 11:04
  pronounce it news but it's
• 11:06
  it's this ridiculous German spelling which is N-I-U-S I mean in
• 11:10
  English we'd call
• 11:10
  it Nius or Nius yeah Nius if you say it quickly enough it
• 11:14
  sounds like Germans
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: trying to speak English Nius
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: Anyway,
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: the news,
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: like I guess it was a week or two ago,
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: they started posting,
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: like doing ads inside the U-Bahn and on the side of buses and stuff.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: Befogge.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: Befogge in Berlin.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: And there was a petition against it.
• 11:34
  A lot of people were up in arms about it,
• 11:35
  like hundreds of thousands signed this petition.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: And finally,
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: Befalge is like,
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: well,
• 11:42
  we don't actually get to choose the ads that go into our
• 11:45
  screens and in our
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: advertising.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: There's like different companies do that.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: As long as there's nothing illegal.
• 11:50
  We don't accept any illegal content in the ads on the U-Bahn
• 11:53
  and in the bus.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_02: And even then, we'll consider it.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: Really?
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: No, I don't know.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's Berlin.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I don't know.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: But anyway, so what happened was...
• 12:03
  They finally found a reason to kick news out of the advertising
• 12:08
  in the U-Bahn
• 12:09
  because somebody discovered a social media post by news's
• 12:13
  editor-in-chief,
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: Julian Reichel,
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: we'll get to him in a minute,
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: where he posted things and said,
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: we're getting,
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: and this sounds snappier in German,
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: we're getting more and more popular by all of the,
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: by both genders,
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: by both sexes.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_02: All of the two genders.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: All of the two genders, right?
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: And so the whole point is like,
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: yeah,
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: it's a play,
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: like,
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_00: you can't,
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_00: kind of a joke,
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: yeah,
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: there's two genders and you're not allowed to say that.
• 12:43
  And it turns out you're not supposed to say that because BFLK
• 12:48
  actually took down
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: all the advertising based on that social media post.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: Saying it was basically,
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know,
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: disrespectful,
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: discriminatory to people who are not in those two genders.
• 13:01
  So Julian Reichelt is the former editor of Build and it came
• 13:04
  out that he was
• 13:04
  basically just doing tons of coke in the Axel Springer
• 13:08
  headquarters down in
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_02: Kleitzberg and trying to sleep with any and every female in the building
• 13:14
  And the crazy thing is that it took a New York Times article to
• 13:20
  break this story.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_00: And for some reason, the German press would not touch it.
• 13:23
  Because they're all afraid of Springer because they're a huge
• 13:25
  publishing house.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_02: So then he got fired.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_02: So then he went and started this new news thing.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_02: And dude, who...
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_02: I saw it online,
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_02: there was all this outrage in Compact,
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_02: this left-wing newspaper,
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_02: they have a really good social media manager,
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_02: he used to work at the World Wildlife Fund,
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_02: so he did a bunch of things about it,
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_02: like how ridiculous,
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_02: like who cares,
• 13:44
  to begin with apparently news is burning like millions a day or
• 13:47
  something,
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_02: they're not earning any money.
• 13:50
  It's funded by a millionaire or billionaire who makes his money
• 13:55
  off of doctor's software.
• 13:58
  so they're burning through all this money I mean you know I
• 14:00
  have like kind of the
• 14:01
  American understanding of freedom of speech which I don't think
• 14:04
  is necessarily the
• 14:05
  right understanding but it's like you know they're advertising
• 14:08
  it's not illegal
• 14:09
  you've got to let them and even more so it's a public company
• 14:12
  it's tax money so
• 14:14
  we're getting we're benefiting from this private we're getting
• 14:16
  money from the
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_02: private sector into the public sector like
• 14:19
  I totally agree with you actually as much as I hate news and I
• 14:25
  know there's such a
• 14:26
  sad troop of people but they're spreading some pretty dangerous
• 14:29
  stuff and they're I
• 14:31
  mean somebody described it as basically like tabloid a tabloid
• 14:36
  site for the AFD
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_01: it's Fox News yeah it's basically Fox News and you wouldn't
• 14:41
  like keep Fox News from advertising just advertise it and if
• 14:44
  they hadn't said
• 14:44
  anything I mean it's the Barbra Streisand effect at this point
• 14:47
  like they've gotten
• 14:48
  more bang for their buck from this advertising by being banned
• 14:51
  yeah the whole
• 14:52
  debate around it all these people getting angry and there's
• 14:55
  nothing that those like
• 14:56
  far right people love than seeing left wing people get their
• 14:59
  knickers in a twist
• 15:00
  yeah I love that and it would have been an advertising campaign
• 15:04
  it would have been
• 15:04
  gone everyone's on their phone in the U-Bahn anyway they're not
• 15:07
  looking up that's
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_00: like it's ridiculous
• 15:10
  I don't know yeah I mean um I'm sure we have some different I
• 15:13
  don't know this it's
• 15:14
  this whole idea that you need to just the thing is if you chop
• 15:17
  off the head of the
• 15:18
  Hydra in one place it'll just pop up somewhere else you know
• 15:21
  well I'm not I'm 50 50
• 15:23
  on where you're talking about banning the AFD or whatever
• 15:25
  getting or no but they're
• 15:26
  just trying to like I don't think like preventing them from
• 15:30
  speaking or somewhere I
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: don't think it's going to do it
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I think allowing them to advertise, maybe bump up the price 25%.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_02: If you don't really want them, then make them charge them more.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_02: And if they're going...
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_01: They could sue for that because that's... Is it?
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_01: That's not fair.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: Why can't you set your own prices?
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I mean?
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_02: Like charge them 5% more.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_02: It's easy to come up with a reason to charge them more.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_02: Just take more money from them.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_02: But I'm against like, as long as it's not some...
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_00: The thing is, the whole thing is just going to backfire anyway because...
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_02: Well, now you've got a legal case.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_02: Now they're going to sue you.
• 16:02
  So now you're going to be spending money when you could have
• 16:04
  just been putting
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_02: their money in your pocket.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: And they're just going to get a lot of attention out of the whole affair.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_02: So it's pretty sad.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so we hate Yulian Reichelt.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_00: I think we've made that clear.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: No, he's like the lowest of the low, really.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: It's like Springer was basically too moderate for him.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I think he was probably sort of moderate.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_02: And then when you get fired from something like that,
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_02: and it was so public,
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_02: like he was just basically a public like tar and feathering,
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_02: then you've got to go off the deep end.
• 16:55
  I mean,
• 16:55
  there is some kind of market for that sort of ranting,
• 16:58
  sort of far right ranting.
• 17:00
  I mean,
• 17:00
  he has like,
• 17:01
  they have like 400,000 YouTube subscribers,
• 17:03
  which isn't that much.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: If you have like a millionaire plowing in.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_01: How many of those are just fake?
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I don't know.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_01: So, screw you news.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_02: Speaking of disasters,
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_02: the Beifauge says the stairs,
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_02: oh,
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_02: we're also talking about the Beifauge,
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_02: look at that,
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_02: Beifauge disasters.
• 17:20
  The Beifauge says the stairs at the north end of Hamonplatz
• 17:23
  down to the U8,
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_02: it's a direct staircase to the U8,
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_02: may open in the fourth quarter of this year.
• 17:28
  They were closed in 2020 for renovations and were supposed to
• 17:31
  open within like one to two years.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_02: I like that too.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_02: Well, it was one or two years.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_02: You can never be sure with construction.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_02: But they haven't.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_02: They have still not opened.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_02: Six years.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_02: They were then finally supposed to open this month, but they're not.
• 17:42
  The Befauge spokesman chews their words very carefully with the
• 17:45
  Tagesspriegel.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_02: It was kind of a funny article,
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_02: the Tagesspriegel talking about it,
• 17:48
  because the spokesman said that the renovation could be
• 17:51
  complete in September.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_02: Kann sein, dass wir in September schaffen?
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_02: They say construction has been more difficult and historic preservation
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_02: requirements were more comprehensive.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_02: Historic?
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_01: What do you mean?
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_01: For like a two-story store case.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_01: Why is this a problem?
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: Like just, I don't know, put some cement on the steps?
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_00: Have you been down?
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_02: So now it's a nightmare.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_02: You have to go to the ones on the southern end, I guess.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_02: These are on the north end.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_02: You know what's funny?
• 18:17
  When I look at a map of Coit's Bag,
• 18:19
  I always get my cardinal directions mixed up.
• 18:22
  I don't know why I guess because I'm always looking down on the
• 18:24
  Koitsberg and then
• 18:25
  I think I think like Tempelhof is at the north end of Koitsberg
• 18:29
  and like the
• 18:30
  Landberg Canal is at the southern end sorry Tempelhof is at the
• 18:34
  southern end no
• 18:35
  northern end and the Landberg Canal is on the east that's wrong
• 18:38
  yeah I don't know
• 18:39
  why my brain does that I don't know I have missed appointments
• 18:42
  because of this it's
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_02: the weirdest thing
• 18:45
  I think it's because I think when I'm going to Kreuzberg I'm
• 18:47
  going north like my
• 18:47
  brain thinks we're moving north I never think that whenever
• 18:51
  we're going south yeah
• 18:52
  it's weird you know I just avoid Hermannplatz altogether I mean
• 18:56
  when I go to
• 18:57
  Neukölln I get out at Schönleinstrasse or I get out at like
• 19:01
  what's that one over by
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: the Schillerkeits what's that stop
• 19:06
  Flughafenstrasse now the U-Bahn stuff yeah what is that thing
• 19:10
  boy I used to have a
• 19:10
  bit about that in fact oh yeah well because there's a comedy
• 19:13
  there's a venue right
• 19:14
  around the corner where I did a lot of comedy in that
• 19:16
  neighborhood actually there's
• 19:17
  Villeneu Köln is right there yeah Villeneu Köln nice place yeah
• 19:20
  that's that's where
• 19:21
  I went on my first date with my current partner wow 10 years
• 19:25
  ago 10 years ago
• 19:27
  almost to the day my daughter was born at the birthing house in
• 19:30
  the Villeneu Köln
• 19:31
  no by Zirnleinstrasse so we were always getting out there to go
• 19:34
  see our midwife
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_00: Wait, your daughter was born where?
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_02: In a birthing house Oh,
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_02: no kidding Dude,
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_02: I'm married to a German,
• 19:41
  that woman Doesn't believe in hospitals and painkillers That
• 19:45
  woman could push out a
• 19:46
  baby a day if she needed to No problem No epidural She's good
• 19:52
  at it She's really
• 19:54
  good at it I don't know why this construction Why is
• 19:59
  construction such a problem?
• 20:01
  Maybe we should just start a construction company and show them
• 20:03
  how it's done.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_02: I do actually think it's...
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_02: I think there's a lot of organized crime in Berlin.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_02: It's basically...
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's the crime families.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_02: We all know who they are.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_02: And I think the white crime,
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_02: like seriously,
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_02: the bio-deutsch,
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_02: ethnisch-deutsch crime,
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_02: I think it's these construction companies.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_00: Sketchy... Yeah, yeah.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: Like they're hiring illegal workers and not paying.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_00: They're paying under the table.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_00: They're creaming off the top, especially these public works contracts.
• 20:28
  Dude,
• 20:29
  we have these water construction sites all around us in this
• 20:32
  neighborhood.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_01: Nobody's doing anything.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_01: They block off like four blocks.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_01: There's maybe three guys who work two days a week there.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_01: Well, there's also labor shortage, apparently.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_01: Get out there, man.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_01: Give them a hand.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_01: Dude, nobody's out there doing anything.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_01: They're doing nothing.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_02: Anyway, I think the grift is construction sites.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_02: So we don't know when.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_02: And the funny thing is every time they talk about the rat,
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_02: there's apparently a rat problem in Neukon.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_02: Like there's too many rats, especially the Hermon plots.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_02: They always show the construction site.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_02: Like basically the rats are going into this construction site.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_02: Probably because everybody throws their trash at the construction site.
• 21:01
  There's like a plywood fence around the construction site and
• 21:04
  it's basically just a trash heap.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_00: Speaking of...
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_00: Neukölln Well,
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_00: yeah,
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: not really Neukölln,
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: but let's say dysfunctional neighbourhood south of the river.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, north in my mind.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, Gerlitzer Park is open again.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_02: Around the clock, it was always open.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_00: Well, yeah, sorry, yeah, after dark, right.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_00: So as we all know,
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_00: they built a fence,
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_00: they put in some gates,
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: and it was supposed to be locked at 10 or 11 at night,
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_00: depending on the time of the year.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's 11 now.
• 21:40
  And the Berlin Administrative Court ruled on June 1st in an
• 21:47
  emergency proceeding.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, they say emergency, it's an injunction, emergency injunction.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_00: Injunction, I don't know what that means.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_02: Injunction, what's your function?
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know the legal terms.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: Basically, it was on a technicality.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_00: The Senat,
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_00: like the central city government,
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_00: which is confusingly called the Senate,
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_00: but it's not a Senate.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: It's just like a city council, basically.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: The cabinet.
• 22:13
  The court ruled that they did not have the authority to
• 22:15
  actually close the park.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_01: So now it has to stay open.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: Because the parks and recreation are a local matter,
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_00: which belong to the district administration.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_02: But that was the point in the beginning was the Berlin government said,
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_02: you're not doing enough about Gurley,
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_02: so we're going to take over,
• 22:30
  we're going to usurp the responsibility and take over and build
• 22:33
  the fence whether
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_02: you want it or not.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: But this is just a, what do you call it?
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: Injunction?
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_02: Injunction.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_00: What does that mean actually, Andrew?
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_02: It means that there has to be action taken.
• 22:43
  There could be irreparable damage before the court can make a
• 22:47
  final decision.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_02: So we're going to stop doing everything.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_02: Have you got a law school or what?
• 22:51
  No,
• 22:51
  there was,
• 22:51
  you know,
• 22:52
  my long list of things I thought I could be for a while.
• 22:54
  And I also,
• 22:54
  I was a court,
• 22:55
  I did cover courts for a while for the Douglas County News
• 22:58
  Press.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_00: No kidding.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_00: But the funny thing about this case, it only involved five people.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_00: Five people were suing.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, that was true.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_00: So the court said, you have to keep the park open for these five people.
• 23:10
  But then everyone agreed,
• 23:11
  oh,
• 23:11
  it would be impractical to just keep it open for the five
• 23:13
  people.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: So we're just going to keep it open for everyone.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_00: You could have just get them keys.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_00: You could have gotten them keys.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_00: That would be amazing.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_00: That would be so cool.
• 23:20
  So there's going to be like the main part of the trial is going
• 23:25
  to continue at some
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_00: point and then they'll actually be decided
• 23:30
  so the right winger like everybody has a little bit of a right
• 23:33
  wing in them I don't
• 23:34
  think they're doing it here we go I think they would do I wish
• 23:36
  they would do more
• 23:37
  about Gurley my solution is they should start ticketing and
• 23:41
  prosecuting people
• 23:42
  buying drugs in Gurley okay Steve Bannon yeah I know they're
• 23:46
  not going to do that
• 23:47
  and German law would it wouldn't matter anyway they would
• 23:49
  there's no you know at
• 23:51
  most you would maybe get a fine they can't bust somebody for
• 23:54
  like dropping a
• 23:54
  cigarette on the ground yeah so they're not going to bust
• 23:57
  people carrying coke so
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_00: well how do you prove they're carrying coke
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_02: Because you found it in their pocket.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_02: You can watch somebody doing a drug deal and just bust them.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_02: Doing a drug deal.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_00: Do they ever do that?
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_02: Occasionally.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_02: Because I always read all the police news.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_00: Why don't they just put like three cops there for like a month?
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_00: It would take nothing.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_00: It would take no effort.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_00: Well, then they go to the other to just go down the street.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_02: Bust a couple of white kids.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_02: That would be the end of the problem.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_02: But anecdotally, a friend of mine lives at the park.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_02: She regrets buying an apartment there.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_02: She's looking for a new apartment.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_02: She said since they did this closing thing, it's actually gotten better.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_00: Like the neighborhood.
• 24:29
  yeah like right like like her street she doesn't live on the
• 24:33
  street parallel she's
• 24:34
  on the streets that are perking north or south Andrew yeah I
• 24:37
  don't even know
• 24:37
  towards actually towards the spray whichever is towards the
• 24:40
  spray and uh and she's
• 24:42
  like right on like her building is a corner building that you
• 24:44
  go across the street
• 24:45
  in the park and they have problems of like people trying to
• 24:48
  break in their building
• 24:48
  to do drugs homeless people trying to come in to sleep she said
• 24:51
  it got better since
• 24:52
  she said it actually got better now it's opening up and now
• 24:54
  it's opening up so I
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_02: think she's disappointed she's trying to move okay where's she from
• 24:58
  she is German okay she actually is responsible she's the one it
• 25:02
  was her party where
• 25:02
  I met my wife is she a real German like a West German she's a
• 25:06
  West German so she's
• 25:07
  she's an American American German yeah I think we learned that
• 25:10
  today all right we
• 25:11
  have one final item this is a kind of a long podcast but that's
• 25:13
  all right I'm not
• 25:14
  gonna be so annoyed about our podcast being long anymore we
• 25:17
  have one final item
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so they put out the, they published the Miet Spiegel.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_00: Rent Index.
• 25:22
  The Rent Index,
• 25:23
  which is kind of an index of average rents in different
• 25:29
  neighborhoods of Berlin.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's put out by the Senate for Housing and Urban Development.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_00: Every two years.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_00: And according to this, the median rent in Berlin is now €7.71 cold.
• 25:43
  Old means like without utilities but every time you hear 771
• 25:47
  you get a woody you're
• 25:48
  like oh my god I want that rent this is the average rent for
• 25:52
  every flat in Berlin
• 25:53
  there's like a million flats the median rent median right sorry
• 25:56
  median yeah median
• 25:57
  for every flat yeah not new not new contracts new contracts is
• 26:01
  like we're looking
• 26:02
  at like 19 or something now I get even more excited because
• 26:04
  that means there's ones
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_01: cheaper
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you're not a renter anyway.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_01: So why are you excited?
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_01: Well,
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_02: it's like I don't really like certain sports teams,
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_02: but I can still root for them.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_02: That's actually not true if I don't like the sports team I run for.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
• 26:20
  I mean,
• 26:21
  it's supposed to be like a guideline for how much landlords can
• 26:25
  raise their rent by.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_02: Actually, wait a second.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_02: That's not true.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_02: I was glad that Paris Saint-Germain won the Champions League,
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_02: even though I don't care about them.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_02: I'm glad that some stupid British or Spanish club finally did not win.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_00: Ooh,
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_00: there's a lot of Arsenal fans out there you may have pissed off Yeah,
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_02: but it's like Bayern,
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_02: why do you always have to win?
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_00: Why are you digressing?
• 26:41
  Because I made a point and I wanted to back it up Weren't you
• 26:46
  surprised that Paris
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_01: Saint-Germain won?
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_00: Paris Saint-Germain?
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_01: It was by penalties,
• 26:52
  so I don't know I meant to watch that because some people said
• 26:54
  the penalty Anyway,
• 26:54
  because people said it was controversial One of my best friends
• 26:58
  is a big Arsenal
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_00: fan,
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_00: so you know All right
• 27:00
  and my ex-wife is French so I don't know I had to look up who
• 27:03
  PSG was I was like
• 27:05
  who was this team yeah I've never heard of them I mean I knew
• 27:08
  who Paris I'm not
• 27:09
  owned by Saudi Arabia Paris Saint-Germain I knew who that was
• 27:11
  but I didn't know
• 27:12
  what PSG meant what do you mean who it was it's not a person
• 27:17
  Saint-Germain it's the
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_02: left bank man yeah hello Gertrude Stein anyway
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_00: The Mietzpiegel, the median rent of 771, it's up 2% in two years.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, 7% in two years.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_00: 7% in two years.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_00: That's insane.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_00: Doesn't seem like that much.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_02: The problem with the Mietzpiegel is that it looks at the actual rents.
• 27:39
  And so if a rent has been raised illegally,
• 27:41
  that doesn't take that into account.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_02: It just looks at the rent.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_01: But where do they get the data from?
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_01: I have no idea.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_01: And truly prepared podcasters would know that answer.
• 27:51
  I just know that it takes all the rents into account,
• 27:54
  including illegal rents.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_02: So the illegal rents artificially inflate the Meech Beagle.
• 27:58
  And the important thing about the rent index is that the laws
• 28:01
  that control rent
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_02: hikes and things are based on this figure.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_00: Right, right.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_02: So now it's basically,
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_02: let's say,
• 28:09
  two percentage points of that were because of illegal rents
• 28:11
  that shouldn't be in
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_02: there.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_02: They're in there now.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_00: Mm-hmm.
• 28:14
  I think it's I think there's a whole like like they're like
• 28:18
  thousands and I'd say
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_00: hundreds of thousands of like shadow contracts that are way too high
• 28:23
  yeah well people are desperate you're gonna just live right I
• 28:26
  mean they can just
• 28:27
  sue their landlord though like two of the apartments there's
• 28:30
  like what three
• 28:31
  apartments in this part of my building four apartments two of
• 28:33
  them are crazy
• 28:35
  short-term rentals the dude on the ground floor kicked we had a
• 28:38
  great they were
• 28:38
  great renters they were great people kicked them out just so he
• 28:41
  could put a bunch
• 28:42
  of ikea furniture in there and charge too much uh yeah so
• 28:45
  that's the big deal about
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_02: the rent index is that it's used to
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_00: I mean,
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_00: the interesting thing is that,
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_00: just a couple of months ago,
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_00: we had a story that in the first quarter of 2026,
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_00: average asking rents went down by a few percent.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_00: Remember that?
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, maybe the tide has turned a little bit.
• 29:05
  I mean you figure like Kitas there used to be a time when you
• 29:08
  could not get a
• 29:08
  daycare spot and now you can like daycares are closing because
• 29:12
  there's no more
• 29:13
  space for retail shops that are going to fail and the shine is
• 29:17
  a bit off of what do
• 29:18
  you what no there's too much free retail space in Berlin you
• 29:22
  know there's always
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_02: empty storefronts I was like my wife has a retail store
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_00: Right,
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_00: but a lot of them,
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_00: they're just like,
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_00: okay,
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_00: let's open up another bakery slash spitty slash bookie slash whatever.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of low-quality retail in this town.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_02: Commercial rents have to start coming down, yeah.
• 29:44
  Build Skyscrapers on Templehof I was in Amsterdam this weekend
• 29:47
  and inflation has
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_02: gotten to a point in
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_02: You know,
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_02: a couple,
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_02: like two years ago at my dad's funeral,
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_02: we went into Whole Foods once and we bought like four items.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_02: We were just getting four.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_02: And they weren't, these were not like exotic things.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_02: It was probably like a beer,
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_02: two cookies,
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_02: and a loaf of bread or,
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_02: you know,
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_02: like whatever we would buy.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_02: 48 bucks?
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it was like six.
• 30:27
  It was so expensive that you just let,
• 30:29
  you're like,
• 30:30
  this is not real money.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_02: And we're like, of course, go ahead, take it.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_02: It doesn't matter.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_02: This is not real money.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_02: It's airport money, you know?
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_02: And we were in Amsterdam this weekend.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_02: It's the same thing.
• 30:38
  I was like,
• 30:38
  you can't look at the,
• 30:39
  these are not related to my bank account.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_02: They're so, the numbers are so ridiculous.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_02: Mm-hmm.
• 30:43
  you're just like you know back in Berlin even here it feels
• 30:47
  slightly cheaper like
• 30:49
  we go to a little bit but even our like pseudo expensive
• 30:52
  Italian places Italian
• 30:53
  it's like it's not great Italian it's a little bit expensive
• 30:56
  because they might
• 30:56
  have some exotic things even now it's like it used to be where
• 30:59
  something was 14
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_02: euros it's 20 euros now
• 31:01
  Monte Carlo in Neukölln I heard about this Yeah 5 euros for a
• 31:05
  plate of spaghetti A
• 31:06
  pizza with no seasoning on it probably Hey speaking of which
• 31:10
  Isn't it time for our
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_01: favourite segment What's that Andrew?
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_02: Bear's Knees Two things we like about Berlin It's the Bear's Knees y'all
• 31:17
  you want to start or should I start you go you start you know
• 31:20
  what I was thinking
• 31:20
  about this one I think you probably spend an inordinate amount
• 31:24
  of time thinking
• 31:24
  about bears knees too because it's not as easy as it sounds
• 31:27
  you've got like four
• 31:28
  things and once you've said those four things you've really got
• 31:30
  to find things and
• 31:32
  what I realized coming back from Amsterdam and I realized I'm
• 31:35
  here a lot I'm there
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_02: a lot so I know it like the back of my hand
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_01: I do kind of like the Berlin train station.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_02: It has its problems.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_02: It has its problems.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_02: The design is not great.
• 31:43
  There's the open spaces that are supposed to be so you have
• 31:48
  some airy feel in there.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_02: Make the platforms way too small.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_02: At rush hour, it's just a nightmare.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_02: Then throw in a couple of broken escalators and you're going nowhere.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_02: That's not good on the upper thing.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_02: The basement is actually really nice.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_02: The ground floor platforms are great.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_02: They go to Munich and Hamburg.
• 32:05
  okay but so what you just go there and hang out there no it's
• 32:09
  not to hang out like
• 32:09
  what I like is the fact that uh because there's so many things
• 32:13
  wrong with it like
• 32:13
  when is the construction game beginning to be done with it I
• 32:15
  like the fact that
• 32:16
  there's not too many shops they're like the Leipzig train
• 32:19
  station is gorgeous it's
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_02: beautiful but it's just a mall it's just a mall and if you're there at
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_02: Uh-huh
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_02: Mm-hmm
• 33:03
  the idea is good the executions like everything's separated so
• 33:06
  then you can walk
• 33:07
  over to the tram but it's kind of a pain in the ass because you
• 33:10
  used to have to
• 33:10
  walk through the taxis but it's just kind of a nice like it's a
• 33:13
  main train station
• 33:14
  but at the same time it feels regional it's like Bay Area of
• 33:17
  train stations but
• 33:18
  it's a good thing okay I you know I for my I was gonna do a
• 33:24
  lake out in Brennenberg
• 33:25
  but now I kind of don't want people to go there because it's
• 33:27
  kind of a secret beach
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I have my two lakes that I go to.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_02: I could probably tell you where they are.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_02: You still wouldn't go there.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you need a car to get there.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's like an hour to get there.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_00: It's called Lange Zee.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_00: But that's not my bear's knees.
• 33:39
  And another thing that's not my bear's knees is whenever we go
• 33:41
  on these trips on
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_00: the weekend,
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_00: we stop at
• 33:43
  At these gigantic Greek restaurants Out in the Speckgürtel Out
• 33:48
  in the suburbs And
• 33:49
  they're amazing They have these massive patios And they're
• 33:54
  super kid friendly And
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_00: you can get these giant plates Of gyros and fries
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_00: and the kids are happy.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_00: There's usually a playground.
• 34:01
  You get a free shot of Uzzah in the beginning and you get a
• 34:03
  free shot of Uzzah at the end.
• 34:05
  That's so funny because we were at our barn one weekend and we
• 34:08
  stopped in Sveit.
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_02: You go through Sveit.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_02: We don't have to.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_02: You can go through Sveit.
• 34:12
  And we're like hungry and the only place that was still open
• 34:14
  was the Greek restaurant.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_00: There was called like Olympia or
• 34:17
  Acropolis yeah yeah yeah they're amazing and it was great
• 34:19
  friendly the dude would
• 34:21
  walk around about every 10 minutes with a tray full of just
• 34:23
  alcohol yeah and he was
• 34:25
  it was like you did get the feeling like this is my restaurant
• 34:28
  it's gonna be a
• 34:29
  party tonight and like yeah there was the family over here like
• 34:31
  everyone's just
• 34:32
  doing shots it was like I've never been had that much fun with
• 34:35
  AFD voters in my
• 34:36
  life no no and they kind of chill they kind of like put you
• 34:39
  know they chill out a
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_02: little bit the AFD guys out there yeah yeah it was amazing
• 34:43
  I mean,
• 34:44
  it's sort of like the well-to-do people of the Brandenburg
• 34:48
  suburbs.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know if these...
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_02: I mean,
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_02: Schweiz is no longer the suburbs,
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_02: so...
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah,
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_00: anyway,
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_00: so any Greek restaurant in Brandenburg,
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_00: they're like a safe space for families,
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_00: and people are generally nice there.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_00: Brandenburg is...
• 35:01
  I mean,
• 35:02
  if they would just not be so right-winged,
• 35:04
  Brandenburg is amazing.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and you...
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_00: I was going to say, there's probably 50...
• 35:15
  Real Bears Knees is actually Jazz Radio Berlin which is used to
• 35:19
  be it's this
• 35:20
  independent radio station that's been around forever and it
• 35:24
  used to be a little bit
• 35:25
  like easy listening like music kind of jazz but the other day I
• 35:28
  turned it on I got
• 35:29
  a Miles and I turned it on and they were playing like
• 35:32
  incredible stuff tell me
• 35:34
  you're over the age of 50 without telling me I've always liked
• 35:37
  jazz I've liked jazz
• 35:38
  since I was 14 okay they're playing like Thelonious Monk at 9
• 35:42
  in the morning
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_01: there's some FTP in you man there really is some FTP in you
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_00: Let's say green, I'm a green FTP
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, but it's definitely FTP.
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_01: What does that have to do with you?
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_01: Boat shoes, man.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_01: Boat shoes.
• 35:55
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, see?
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_02: Boat shoes to pick this.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_02: My dream was always a coalition of the FTP and the Greens.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_02: I think I've told this story.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_02: Preach.
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_02: We're more similar than you think.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_02: I thought that was the answer.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_00: We just lost about 50% of our viewers.
• 36:07
  SPEAKER_02: No, I think if you explain it, I thought they would exploit each other.
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_02: I thought the Greens would be like,
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_02: we want environmental technology and the FTP would be like,
• 36:15
  SPEAKER_02: that's fine as long as it's government money that's funding it.
• 36:17
  how do we get here from jazz radio to because that's how FTP
• 36:21
  you are so wait I like
• 36:23
  improvised music featuring horns and drums that makes me in
• 36:30
  favor of the free
• 36:31
  market economy yes okay 100% at 14 at 14 that's important are
• 36:37
  there any events
• 36:37
  coming up Andrew on the 18th we have the 100% funny comedy
• 36:42
  night at downstairs
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_02: comedy club the best comedy club in Berlin
• 36:46
  SPEAKER_00: 20th of June is my birthday, but I can't invite everyone.
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_00: 24th of June is the final, this time really final, Berlin News Quiz.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_00: Electric, social, and Mitter.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_00: 24th of June.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_02: Beautiful.
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_02: Hey, Maurice, thanks for coming over.
• 37:02
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks, Andrew.