Latest / 20 Percent Berlin Podcast / #28: Nazi memes, broken escalators, military maneuvers

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#28: Nazi memes, broken escalators, military maneuvers · 20 Percent Berlin Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Hello, and welcome to the 20% Berlin podcast.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: My name is Maurice Frank.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: I'm one of the 20% Berlin founders and writers.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: I am joined by my colleague, Andrew Boakley.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_02: You said founder.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_02: You said founder.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_02: You never say founder.
• 0:16
  Yeah,
• 0:16
  you know,
• 0:18
  I'll,
• 0:18
  I'll,
• 0:18
  I'll just,
• 0:19
  I'm,
• 0:19
  I'm,
• 0:20
  I'm,
• 0:20
  I'm,
• 0:21
  it's easy to convince me to do this.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: I'm a push-out around.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_02: How's your day been, Maurice?
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah,
• 0:26
  I spent the day with my six-year-old whose school was closed
• 0:31
  because the teachers
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: were off having seminars and meetings about how to be better teachers.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I went to the swimming pool.
• 0:39
  We used to call those,
• 0:41
  they were called in-service days when I was in school.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know why they were called in-service, but.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, they were not in service.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: They were not teaching.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: They were not doing their job.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it was weird.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_02: We just would get a day off.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_02: We were just glad to have a day off.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just a little bit annoyed by it.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: But anyway, we went to the swimming pool at Landsberg Alley.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: I had a great time.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_02: But you have two children.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: I have two, but one of them's in kindergarten, and that was open.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, okay.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_02: Take care.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_02: They're not on strike?
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: No, it's a... It's not a state-run kindergarten.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, right.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: It's private.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: We will not get into that because we don't want to dox Maurice.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 1:22
  But private doesn't mean it's expensive because the state still
• 1:25
  can be used for it.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: This is not like NYC where it's like $70,000 a year.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_02: So they don't go on strike?
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: They haven't yet.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, good.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_02: But you're almost out.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_02: How many more years of daycare do you have?
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: A year and a half.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: A year and a half.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: And that's all school.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: Potty training successfully completed two weeks ago.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_02: We're always very proud of that.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_02: We're so happy for that.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, thank you.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: Some people are clicking away.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: Let's get to the news, Andrew.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_02: No, no, no, no.
• 1:58
  I have to do what you did on the one that you forgot to record
• 2:02
  on the first take of
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_02: this podcast.
• 2:05
  I have to do what you did and say,
• 2:06
  aren't you going to ask me how my week was?
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_02: How was your week?
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_02: What in a week?
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_02: It was a weekend.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_02: I had some gigs.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_02: I was in Kassel.
• 2:13
  I had to take a 6.30 train this morning from Kassel to get back
• 2:17
  to Berlin to do some things.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_02: I'm a little tired.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_02: I had some good gigs.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_02: Some good times, yeah.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_02: Really, really good gigs in Leipzig on Saturday.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_02: That was fantastic.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 2:27
  some crazy backstage action action and you know what the young
• 2:31
  the young comedians
• 2:31
  they don't drink i'm the one i'm the one always drinking there
• 2:34
  i was talking to an
• 2:34
  older comedian about this uh yesterday it's weird we used to
• 2:38
  used to perform and
• 2:40
  you go drink and now you perform and it's like all right we're
• 2:42
  going back to the
• 2:42
  hotel but maybe they do something else back at the hotel not
• 2:45
  really yeah maybe
• 2:47
  maybe they're getting rid of they're shaking off the old people
• 2:49
  that could be yeah
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: yeah that's what we're going to the hotel yeah and yeah
• 2:56
  Congratulations on being Germany's favorite American
• 3:00
  German-speaking comedian.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not even sure I'm not, but I'm having fun.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: That's what counts.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: We have some news.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: 20% Berlin is all about the news and our little hot takes on them.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: Andrew, you have some news.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: You sounded so exciting.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_02: I'm really glad you're selling this podcast to the listeners.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_02: Jesus, man.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: Look, I'm the grumpy.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: I'm kind of the grumpy one.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: I'm the one that doesn't sleep.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: You're the one.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: You're the comedian.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: You're the funny one.
• 3:32
  You sounded just like the guy who's been smoking way too much
• 3:35
  weed before he does our podcast.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_02: So how about your first news item?
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_02: Is that what we're going to do now?
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_02: First news item?
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 3:44
  42 of 50 escalators at Hauptbahnhof as well as 10 of the 20
• 3:48
  escalators at ZootCoins
• 3:50
  were taken out of service at the end of last week after two of
• 3:53
  the escalators broke
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_02: while in service.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_02: That in-service thing again.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_02: And...
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_02: Led to one minor injury.
• 4:01
  A woman stumbled when it suddenly halted the escalator and she
• 4:04
  scraped her knee.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_02: Because of these escalators that stopped,
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_02: they also took another 130 escalators in stations throughout Germany,
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_02: also out of service.
• 4:14
  Deutsche Bahn says now that half of the escalators that they
• 4:16
  took out of service at
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_02: Hauptbahnhof are running again,
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_02: but they still don't know what the problem is.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_02: They still don't know what caused the sudden halt.
• 4:22
  my god deutsche ban like what a epic story of multiple failure
• 4:29
  and multiple fronts
• 4:30
  wow it's what do you think it was the failure rate of
• 4:33
  escalators or the the um the
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: rate of like trains
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_02: Seriously, the failure rate of escalators.
• 4:42
  Do you ever go to a train station and think,
• 4:44
  oh,
• 4:44
  these escalators are going to work?
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_02: I take three or four trains a week at different train stations.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_02: There is not a train station that has all of the escalators working.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_02: It doesn't happen.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: My local S-Bahn station,
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: which is also run by Deutsche Bahn,
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: I'd say it has an escalator failure rate of about 25%.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: 25% of the time, the escalator you need is not working.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_02: It's crazy.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_02: And to top it off,
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_02: when you have kids,
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_02: you have strollers,
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_02: and you find out how inaccessible the train stations are.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_02: The elevators at the Bahnhof, at the Hauptbahnhof, are just useless.
• 5:19
  The elevators at the Hauptbahnhof are so slow,
• 5:20
  it's like not having elevators.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: I know.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: And you can imagine how expensive they were.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: They're sort of these round, custom-built glass elevators.
• 5:30
  They look like they're from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
• 5:33
  or Fritz Lang movie.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: They're amazing to look at, but they're incredibly slow.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: You have to wait about 10 minutes for Wonder Woman.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's crazy.
• 5:43
  And then you have to fight with old women who probably didn't
• 5:46
  even need to take them.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_02: So, yeah, it's crazy that the escalators break.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I get it that they're in motion all the time.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_02: There's wear and tear, but it just seems like, I don't know.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, they can run a train.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: That train is a much more sophisticated piece of machinery.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: They can't run functioning escalators.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_02: Well,
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_02: I mean,
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_02: that's probably,
• 6:02
  they would say that it's more important to us to keep the
• 6:04
  trains running than the
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_02: escalators,
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_02: but
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, like all these train stations are built the same.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_02: Like the trains come in downstairs.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_02: You got to get upstairs somehow.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_02: Or I guess they're upstairs too.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_02: But like Zootcoid, same thing.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_02: It's not like you could even stay on one level if you wanted to.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's insane.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: You know,
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: like the UK and London,
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: has a reputation for being sort of less technically adept than Germany.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: And yet the escalators in the London tube, they never break.
• 6:30
  I've never seen a broken escalator there in the many years that
• 6:32
  I lived there.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: And they're like, and they're like 70 meters long.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: You go deep down into the earth.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: Some of them are made out of wood.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: Like they're still, they're from the like world war two.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's really, yeah.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_02: I only ever saw a wood elevator in Antwerp.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: Not elevator, escalator.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_02: Escalator, I mean.
• 6:53
  The tube is so deep,
• 6:55
  if the escalator broke,
• 6:58
  people would be really screwed.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_02: They'd just be living down there now.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: So, I don't know.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: Germany, what is up?
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: What is up with your escalators?
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: Your escalators are not up.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_02: Very nice pun, Maurice.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: It's the simplest form of humor.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's sort of my level.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe this year I'll do a stand-up comedy set at one of the nights.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: Let me know.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: Just let me know.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: A bunch of puns.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of puns.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: Should we go to do one of my stories?
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_02: Let's do one of your stories.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: This one is really bad.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: So,
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: out there in Brandenburg,
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: in leafy Brandenburg,
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: in the town of Shviet,
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: which is the site of a formerly Russian-owned oil refinery,
• 7:45
  Local AFD politician Peggy Lindemann shared an Instagram reel
• 7:52
  suggesting that Adolf
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: Hitler may have been right about anti-Semitic propaganda.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: So what she actually posted said,
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: a painter from Austria claimed in his propaganda,
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: in quotes,
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: that elite juice emoji...
• 8:07
  drank the blood of our children do you still believe today that
• 8:11
  he was the evil one
• 8:13
  juice emoji meaning means jews so yeah this is just like quite
• 8:18
  extreme blatant
• 8:20
  anti-semitism and an elected official just posted it and now
• 8:25
  she's been called out
• 8:26
  by brannenberg's anti-senitism commissioner andreas butner who
• 8:30
  has filed a criminal
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: complaint against her
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_02: As he should.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_02: I have one digression I would like to put here.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_02: I was like, what is the juice emoji?
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_02: I've never seen a juice emoji.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not familiar with a juice emoji.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_02: Do you know what the juice emoji is?
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_02: Um...
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: It's like a little juice carton, you know?
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's a juice box.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: It's a kid's juice box.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: A juice box, right.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: You know,
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: this reminds me of,
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: though,
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: I mean,
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: there was this comic about 15 years ago called Hipster Hitler,
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: and he had a t-shirt.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: It was literally like Hitler merged with a hipster.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: In one of the comics, he had a t-shirt that said, I love juice.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, this is reminiscent of that.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: Art imitating life.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, we actually ran it in the expolinary.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it was not anti-Semitic.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: It was like, I don't know what it was.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: It was like, you could actually make fun of these things.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_00: So for like a brief period of the early 2000s.
• 9:34
  i think you can still make fun i forgot i totally forgot about
• 9:36
  hipster hitler yeah
• 9:38
  but it's a juice box oh man they just the level of dumb the
• 9:44
  level of stupidity i
• 9:45
  mean the level of evil too but i mean yeah what do you think
• 9:48
  about how lindemann is
• 9:50
  she gonna lose her job no i mean the thing is i think these
• 9:53
  memes they all have
• 9:54
  their little closed whatsapp groups their little lord knows
• 9:57
  they're still on
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_02: facebook their facebook groups and
• 9:59
  and occasionally they just leak out,
• 10:01
  you know,
• 10:01
  but they probably share...
• 10:02
  She openly posted it.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: No,
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: that's not me,
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_02: but I think they...
• 10:06
  But how many of these do they look at every day and don't
• 10:08
  openly post them,
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_02: you know?
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_02: And then she thought that this was the mic drop moment.
• 10:11
  Well,
• 10:11
  because she thinks...
• 10:13
  I think not everything in the Epstein files are real.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_02: Like,
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_02: I think some people take the opportunity to,
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_02: like,
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_02: air grievances that might not be true,
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_02: and they make it into the Epstein files,
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_02: and the people,
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_02: because they're searching them,
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_02: are convinced that these things are true.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I don't really believe...
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_02: that the global elite are eating children.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_02: I don't think that's a thing.
• 10:31
  But,
• 10:32
  of course,
• 10:32
  that's in there because somebody claimed that in a discussion
• 10:34
  with an FBI agent.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_02: And so now she thought it was a mic drop moment.
• 10:38
  She thought everybody's against this Epstein,
• 10:39
  anything that's in the Epstein files.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_02: So now she can finally break through.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: Wait, wait, there was something about...
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_02: There's some crazy stories in there,
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_02: but it's kind of like these people were like,
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_02: oh,
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_02: hey,
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_02: FBI,
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_02: I heard you were looking into this.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_02: Do you know what?
• 10:53
  They kidnapped me when I was a child and then they tell these
• 10:56
  crazy stories that
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_02: are not corroborated,
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_02: but they're in there in the files.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: Nothing about drinking blood, though.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_02: I think it's all in there.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_02: There's like,
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 11:05
  there's like those weird people who jump on something and claim
• 11:08
  they were...
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: Okay,
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: but then,
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: and then she,
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: like,
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: in the part of the post was a photo of a page,
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: of a comic from Der Stürmer,
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: which is the original 1930s Nazi magazine.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, she's just straight up, I mean, the AFD are Nazis.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_02: As much as they run around saying we're not Nazis, yeah, you are Nazis.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 11:29
  And then they sort of kind of hide behind,
• 11:32
  they kind of pretend to be pro-Israel.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: The whole thing is just so unsavory.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: I mean,
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: they're really,
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: this is like once in a while,
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: well,
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: actually more often recently,
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: the AFD just rears its ugly head.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: shows its true face to the world.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: And yet somehow 25% of Germans want to vote for them.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_02: I mean,
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_02: the thing last week,
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_02: that guy,
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_02: the politician in Brandenburg,
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_02: who was bigger,
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_02: higher up on the ladder than this woman,
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_02: who had a campaign poster,
• 11:59
  and it was a man and a woman with their arms raised to form a
• 12:02
  roof over their kids,
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_02: and it was just a Hitler salute.
• 12:06
  And actually,
• 12:06
  the original graphic artist had the man raising his left arm
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_02: over the children.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_02: So it wasn't such a clear Hitler salute.
• 12:13
  But then who made the stock photo originally,
• 12:17
  the guy was on the wrong side.
• 12:18
  So the AFD politician had his graphic artist mirror it so that
• 12:22
  the man's right arm was raised.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_02: So it was just such an obvious Hitler salute.
• 12:26
  But he only had to pay 11,000 euros fine,
• 12:30
  but he said he's going to appeal it.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: Paid, you know, paid for by our text.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, he's a Bundestag politician, right?
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, he's in there.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: So he's getting, you know, then they're making like 12 grand a month.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_02: It's crazy what they make.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_02: They make their salary.
• 12:48
  Then they get like extra money to rent an apartment in Berlin
• 12:50
  while they're here in Berlin.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_02: They get money to rent an office, I think.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: Then they get like 30,000 a month just to hire people.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_00: It's crazy.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_00: And then the AFD,
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: coincidentally,
• 12:59
  they just hire their friends and their family and their parents
• 13:02
  and stuff.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: So, yeah.
• 13:04
  It's like Donald Trump drained the swamp and then he just paid
• 13:07
  his whole family to
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_02: come into the swamp.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: It's just an even smellier swamp.
• 13:11
  He fired all the hardworking people who were actually doing
• 13:14
  something good and then
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_02: gave Jared Kushner a job.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 13:21
  Like,
• 13:22
  no public television,
• 13:23
  but please let Jared Kushner do business with Saudi Arabia.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what are we going to get when the AfD takes over?
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: Like, they're going to get, I don't know.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_02: I think I'm going to get deported.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_02: That's what I think I'm going to get.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, once they read your newsletter and listen to the podcast.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_02: Then it's our newsletter.
• 13:41
  It doesn't matter how much of an Africa core haircut you have
• 13:44
  then,
• 13:44
  Maurice.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe they're going to strip me of my general passport.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: I was not on here.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_02: Do you have another passport?
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_02: Then you'd be a man without a country.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_02: You could live at the Charles de Gala airport like Tom Hanks.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: Sounds great.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_02: What's your next story, Andrew?
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_02: It's my turn.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_02: A bit of a quirky one, this one.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_02: I just liked it.
• 14:07
  The Senate this week rejected plans for a 200-meter skyscraper
• 14:12
  at the site of the
• 14:13
  Artemis brothel at Vest End that was supposed to function as a
• 14:17
  gateway to that part
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_02: of the city.
• 14:18
  It was going to be like seriously a gateway to the Vest End
• 14:20
  train station.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: Which is just a regular Espan station.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, but apparently they're already planning.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_02: The city wants to make a gateway to the Vest End.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: What the hell does it need a gateway for?
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: It is just a nothing neighborhood.
• 14:32
  I think the idea is you're coming from Potsdam and it's like,
• 14:35
  welcome to Berlin.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_02: Here's the gateway.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_02: The gateway to crappy Vest End.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_02: The skyscraper would have been taller than the nearby Fuchtoim,
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_02: the other television tower in Berlin.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_02: And that's part of why they said no.
• 14:47
  And they also said it just started keeping with what they have
• 14:49
  planned for the
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_02: area,
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_02: for this Vestend tour,
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_02: Vestend gate.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Western Berlin, home to mass sex tourism.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_02: That's my question,
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_02: because this was apparently planned by the guys who own Artemis,
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_02: who run Artemis.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_02: They apparently own the building.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_02: So then they wanted to build a skyscraper.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_02: So was the brothel still going to be in there?
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you'd think so, right?
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: Are they just pivoting to real estate?
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I don't know.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't quite get it.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't understand it either.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_02: It's like in Cologne, they have a skyscraper brothel.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_02: I can never remember what it's called.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_02: It's like 12 floors, I think.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, they need to launder that money somehow, Andrew.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_02: I guess so.
• 15:24
  Do you remember,
• 15:25
  at the Ex-Rolling,
• 15:26
  you guys had a story of a woman who worked at Artemis.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, we did.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_02: Was that true?
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: It was true.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: No, it was actually the writer, I think.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, she did.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: She worked there for her.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_02: A little bit?
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_02: My son,
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_02: because they went to school over near there,
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_02: his big disappointment,
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_02: as a kid,
• 15:44
  he saw Artemis and he thought it was like an indoor amusement
• 15:48
  park of Egypt.
• 15:50
  And he said he was so disappointed when he got older and found
• 15:52
  out it's just a brothel.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_02: He was so looking forward to going to this Egyptian amusement park.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_02: Artemis is a Greek goddess, though.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe he said Greek amusement park, and I just forgot.
• 16:02
  But also,
• 16:02
  he was a child,
• 16:03
  so I'm not sure he knew the difference between the various
• 16:06
  empires.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I don't know, man.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know how to feel about this.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_00: I think we need more skyscrapers.
• 16:14
  That's part of the reason I chose this,
• 16:16
  because I know Maurice Frank is a skyscraper lover.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: I do.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: I mean,
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: it feels like I want to feel like I'm in a real city,
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: not just some low-rise,
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_02: How are you feeling about Alexanderplatz these days?
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_02: Because there's some high-rises taking on shape.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah,
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: from Bornholmer Straße,
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_00: where I get onto the Espan,
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: I can see,
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_00: I have a great view of the construction.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_00: I think it looks fine.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it ain't no Manhattan, but
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yet.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_00: Never will be.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: We don't know that.
• 16:45
  The thing is,
• 16:46
  most of the soil underneath Berlin is too sandy or too marshy.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: So there's only a few spots you can build skyscrapers.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_00: Alexanderplatz is apparently one of them.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_02: Or not, because one of them almost caused the U-2 to collapse.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_02: I have one more news story, Andrew.
• 17:08
  Okay,
• 17:08
  you're not going to mention how you want the skyscrapers around
• 17:10
  Temple of Huffield?
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, no, no.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: You've got to pick your battles.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: I think there should be like lining onto then Linden,
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: all the way from Alexanderplatz to the Brandenburg Gate.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_00: How about that?
• 17:22
  jesus no like fifth avenue fifth avenue what it's not all right
• 17:28
  do your next news
• 17:28
  item i don't want to open a stupid new york door speaking of
• 17:34
  collapse and um
• 17:38
  whatever um yeah this is this interests me um because i'm a
• 17:41
  little bit scared of
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_00: the situation in ukraine and um
• 17:45
  you know that that war could somehow sort of like um boil over
• 17:51
  somehow affect us
• 17:52
  more um so in next next month in march and 1 000 german
• 17:57
  soldiers and 250 civilian
• 17:59
  first responders will participate in a simulated medical
• 18:04
  evacuation of casualties
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: from the quote front line in lithuania um
• 18:11
  A transport plane will fly them to Berlin Airport and then on
• 18:14
  to German hospitals.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_00: It's been called Operation Medic Quadriga 2026.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_00: Quadriga referring to the sculpture on top of the Brandenburg Gate.
• 18:26
  And it's basically an opportunity to train medics for a
• 18:30
  real-life breach of NATO Article 5,
• 18:34
  i.e.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: a Russian invasion of the Baltics.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_02: I have a couple questions.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_02: Quadriga is actually Germania, right?
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_02: It's Germania in a chariot, Germania in a chariot with two, four horses?
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it means four, quad, quadriga.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, quadriga four.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_02: Germania is being pulled in a chariot.
• 18:57
  My next question is,
• 18:58
  okay,
• 18:59
  if Lithuania then what,
• 19:01
  so Latvia falls already?
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_02: So they just march right through Latvia?
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_02: What do you mean?
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_02: Well, if the front line is in Lithuania, Latvia is between Russia and us.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_02: Like it's Latvia then Lithuania.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I mean, they'll fly them through.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: They'll fly them over.
• 19:18
  I mean,
• 19:18
  Lithuania is the most northern,
• 19:20
  no,
• 19:20
  Estonia is the most northern one way.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_02: That's what I'm saying.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_02: So like Estonia is gone.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_02: Latvia is gone.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_02: Belarus.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_02: Well, he's going to get in on it anyway.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, that's the front line.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_02: That's the front line.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 19:32
  I mean,
• 19:33
  all of these countries do border Russia,
• 19:35
  so it could be any one of them.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, but Belarus is, what's his name?
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_02: He's buddies with Putin.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_02: He's whatever that dick there.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's great.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_02: Lukashenko.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, Lukashenko, yeah.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_02: So, okay, that's why the front line is in Lithuania.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, sorry.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_02: My questions are answered.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_02: Right, right.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, like, come on, Belarus is basically Russian.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I get it now.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_02: I was just confused.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_02: I don't have a problem with this.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of Germans have this weird, intrinsic hate of all things military.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_02: I think the military just has no business being in countries.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_02: I have no problem with the military.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_02: I have no problem with the visible military.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_02: I think they're a necessary evil.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_02: I think Germany has neglected its military for far too long.
• 20:13
  and i think these exercises i think their primary reason
• 20:18
  because they had the one
• 20:19
  in the subway what two months ago three months ago yeah which
• 20:23
  looked great the
• 20:24
  visuals were fantastic and i think those were just pr stunts
• 20:26
  those were just trying
• 20:27
  to get people to sign up for the army and you know i'm sorry
• 20:31
  but like a firefight
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_00: in a subway tunnel that doesn't in real life doesn't sound that fun
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: No, it sounds horrible, but you've got to get people.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_00: You're sitting like a sitting duck,
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_00: basically,
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_00: if you're in a...
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_02: I mean,
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_02: I guess you've never played online shooter,
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_02: first-person shooters.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_02: There's plenty of shootouts in subways.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_02: But I think it's okay.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_02: And this one,
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_02: obviously,
• 20:54
  also trying to sensitize the public to what war would look like
• 20:57
  in Germany.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, like there will be casualties.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_02: So, yeah, I guess.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: And who knows?
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_00: Who knows who Russia's next target is?
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's impossible to say.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: One day I'll be like,
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: hey,
• 21:10
  they're losing a thousand people a day and they've made like
• 21:15
  six kilometers
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_00: progress in Ukraine over the last year.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: But then the next moment I'll read something like,
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: yeah,
• 21:21
  but they've tripled the size of their defense industry and just
• 21:25
  cranking out
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_00: thousands of drones every day.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_02: Well, now they're using Africans.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_02: Now they're like luring Africans to the front line.
• 21:31
  north koreans africans they have no morals or they're also
• 21:36
  running yeah they're
• 21:37
  running out of people yeah so i don't know i mean yeah i don't
• 21:41
  know i i don't put
• 21:42
  it past them like if there's a ceasefire in ukraine i it could
• 21:45
  be a chance for
• 21:46
  ukraine as for russia to rebuild its military and then attack
• 21:51
  the baltics in a
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_00: couple of years i mean
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_00: and see if NATO actually does anything.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: Who knows?
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_00: It is a huge country.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Your point being?
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's just crazy how big it is.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, let's hope not.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_02: And also they have their economies done.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's pretty done.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: So, yeah, I mean, I think it's less than 50% odds.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: That they attack us?
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_00: That they attack, yeah.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's going to be cyber attacks.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_00: It's going to be blowing up stuff in the Baltic Sea.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: Just, I don't know, whatever.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_00: Just being annoying.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, bombing some DHL planes.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 22:31
  i had rl trolls exactly yeah so um yeah i think it's good to be
• 22:37
  ready you know do
• 22:38
  you have a do you have a go bag like with a solar radio and
• 22:43
  like uh three tens of
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_00: bonzo beans nah nah
• 22:50
  so i think one of those like wind up radios i'm gonna get one
• 22:52
  wind up solo radio
• 22:54
  back when i used to back in my party days we always had a wind
• 22:56
  up radio with us
• 22:57
  because after after you'd be in a club then you'd end up in a
• 22:59
  park somewhere and
• 23:01
  you still have to have your you still have to have your music
• 23:02
  you know okay so nice
• 23:04
  do we have any more news stories enter that's it i think it's
• 23:08
  time for our favorite
• 23:09
  segment where we stop complaining about berlin and we talk
• 23:12
  about things we love
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_02: about berlin
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_02: What do you love about Berlin this week?
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_02: What's the segment called?
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_02: It is called The Bear's Knees.
• 23:18
  My pick this week,
• 23:20
  and I can't believe we haven't had it yet,
• 23:22
  is Ankerklauser.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_02: That somewhat unassuming bar on Cottbus Adam in Kreuzberg.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_02: It has not really changed in the 25 years I've been in Berlin.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_02: It's always there.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_02: I don't think I've ever once gone there intentionally.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_02: I think I've always just ended up there.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_02: And I've always just had a decent time.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_02: It gets crowded.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_02: It gets super crowded, annoyingly crowded.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_02: But it's nice to be there.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I like it too.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: You don't feel like you're in Berlin.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_00: You feel like you're near the sea.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's the anchor, maybe it's the canal.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_00: There's a sort of nautical theme to the place.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_00: You can never get a table on the back terrace, though.
• 24:01
  You're going to show up at like 2 in the afternoon if you want
• 24:04
  to get a table for the night.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_00: On the smelly Landwehr canal.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, if you get there late, then somebody does leave.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_02: That's how I've gotten the table sometimes.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_02: But then you notice nobody else wanted the table.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_02: You get the table that nobody wants.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_02: Because everybody's going home.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_02: But this is the thing I think about when I'm there.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_02: You would be there, it feels like Hamburg, really.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_02: It feels like the Reeperbahn because it's kind of gruddy.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_02: uh, kind of sweaty.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_02: And then you're looking at water,
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_02: but you know,
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_02: like back when we first moved to Berlin,
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_02: like,
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_02: yeah,
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_02: I guess you would sit on the banks of the Long Bear Canal or the Spray,
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_02: but you didn't really,
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_02: you didn't treat them like a body of water.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_02: You didn't think they were like navigable.
• 24:35
  Like I remember the first time I saw somebody had an inflatable
• 24:38
  raft on the Spray
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_02: and I was like,
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_02: you could,
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_02: you could do that.
• 24:41
  And then like the next year there were 300 people on rafts and
• 24:44
  I'd still,
• 24:44
  it just shocked me.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_00: And now people go on those stand up paddle boards and it's like, what?
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what if you fall in?
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_00: What if you touch that toxic sludge?
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I mean, I see people swimming in the spray all the time.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_00: Bad idea.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_02: I was against it.
• 24:57
  They want to build that,
• 24:58
  like a little swimming area in Mita on the spray.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_02: And I was against it in the beginning, but now I'm totally for it.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_02: I think it's a great idea.
• 25:03
  Like they would put all these plants in there that would filter
• 25:05
  the water.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah,
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_00: but you know,
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_00: as soon as it rains,
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_00: the sewers overflow and all the shit just literally just flows in there.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_00: So do not swim like for like three, four days after a rainstorm.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: Like right now.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_00: Right now, yeah.
• 25:20
  No,
• 25:20
  because it uses,
• 25:21
  the stormwater system uses the regular sewer system for when it
• 25:25
  overflows.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_02: Like it uses as excess capacity for extra capacity.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_00: Right, right.
• 25:30
  I mean,
• 25:30
  they have,
• 25:31
  this is the problem with many cities,
• 25:32
  like London has the same thing.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_02: I think every city I've ever lived in has this.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_02: That's just how they built, used to build sewers.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 25:38
  Well,
• 25:38
  because people,
• 25:39
  back then waterways were part of the industrial infrastructure.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_02: Nobody swam in the rivers.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_02: You used it to transport things.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_02: That's why they built the highways right next to rivers.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_02: Nobody went to the river.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_00: That is, yeah, that's some historical insight in our podcast, Andrew.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_02: It's weird,
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_02: like in Wuppertal,
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_02: you know,
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_02: the city of Wuppertal is famous for its suspended monorail,
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_02: like the subway that goes,
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_02: and it runs over the river.
• 26:04
  Like,
• 26:04
  it probably was a perfectly nice river until they built a
• 26:07
  monorail over it.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's just like, it's just a ditch basically to dump everything in.
• 26:13
  Yeah,
• 26:14
  and all the factories are right along it because nobody cared
• 26:16
  about water back then.
• 26:17
  And now factories are places that we can realize our dreams
• 26:22
  with art galleries and
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_00: studios and boutique hotels and clubs.
• 26:27
  yeah yeah well we can't anymore we've been priced out but
• 26:30
  somebody can't we've been
• 26:31
  priced out i don't know i love when i like i take the train
• 26:34
  through holla or uh
• 26:37
  they're fantastic still empty factories and i always dream of
• 26:40
  just moving there uh
• 26:41
  i have never dreamt of moving to holla or anywhere else in
• 26:44
  germany for that matter
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_00: all right i'm a berliner through and clear man it's here or nowhere
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 26:55
  My Bears in the East is a fantastic little restaurant in
• 27:00
  Neukölln,
• 27:01
  in Richardstrasse.
• 27:02
  It is the coziest,
• 27:04
  cutest,
• 27:05
  like most atmospheric,
• 27:07
  tiny little Italian restaurant.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_00: And it's called Boteca.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_00: Number six.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_00: And, um, it's got like seven tables and the tables are tiny.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but the food is excellent.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_00: The wine is excellent and the service is amazing.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I think it's owned by a woman, an Antipodean woman.
• 27:27
  who was the waitress for the evening,
• 27:29
  but apparently she's also the owner of the restaurant.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_00: Just a really nice person and exceptional food and atmosphere.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_00: I had a carbonara, and it was amazing.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_00: We had an antipasti plate.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_00: Went there with Ben and Sarah.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_00: They say hi, Andrew.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_00: Ben and Sarah, yeah.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_00: Who knew about it?
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_00: Sarah found it.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_00: Is it near Samehead's?
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, it's just down the road from Samehead's.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_00: You spend a little time at Samehead's?
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_00: Well, they said the best open mic ever, though.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_02: We are not commused.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_02: There were always a bunch of little restaurant spots right around there.
• 28:08
  It reminds me of being in Paris or something,
• 28:14
  where you just have tiny,
• 28:15
  tiny little restaurants.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_02: That is,
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_02: in fact,
• 28:17
  one of the ones I was thinking about when I asked if it's my
• 28:20
  same head is,
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_02: yeah,
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_02: I know those spots.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_02: Right across the street is the old burger place.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_02: There used to be a little tiny Italian place on Danzig or Strasse.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_02: It was the same thing.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_02: It was really, really good.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_02: You could never get in there.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_02: Now it's a falafel joint.
• 28:34
  yeah all right so no like not everything's getting worse a lot
• 28:37
  of things are
• 28:38
  getting worse like this is not one of the things that is not
• 28:41
  getting worse the food
• 28:42
  situation in berlin has definitely improved yeah i don't know i
• 28:45
  mean yes and no
• 28:48
  like i went to a really bad chicken place today and only
• 28:51
  ordered fries because the
• 28:52
  chicken looks so disgusting and then even the fries were like
• 28:55
  right out of the
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_02: freezer and it's just so gross yeah yeah i'm not into chicken but yeah
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_00: I bet.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_00: I bet.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, one more thing.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_00: Next Wednesday, March 3rd, I will be doing the next 20% Berlin news quiz.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_00: There are about 10 or 12 tickets left,
• 29:11
  and it's taking place at the charming little Neukölln bar Geist
• 29:14
  im Glas in
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_00: Linaustrasse.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_00: So 20% Berlin.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_00: That's like half the tickets are left, right?
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_00: No, half the tickets, something.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_00: How many people?
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_00: 50 people.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's like a week to go, you know?
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_00: That's good.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_00: I might stop by.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_00: You should do a cameo.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_00: You could do, you could present some of the questions.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_02: Let's see what I'm doing.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_00: All right, Andrew.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_00: Have a fantastic night.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_00: You too.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_00: And all you people out there, like, subscribe.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_00: Tell your friends.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_00: Rate, share.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_00: Tell your friends.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_00: Good night.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_00: Bye-bye.
• 30:06
  Bye.