Latest / 20 Percent Berlin Podcast / Podcast #006: Knife bans, AfD donors and the German election

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Podcast #006: Knife bans, AfD donors and the German election · 20 Percent Berlin Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Hello and welcome to the 20% Berlin podcast.
• 0:05
  the partner podcast the 20 percent berlin newsletter that is
• 0:10
  written twice a week
• 0:11
  by myself and maurice frank yeah i'm the other person who
• 0:16
  founded 20 percent berlin
• 0:18
  and i write the newsletter with andrew you hate it when i say
• 0:21
  co-founder you'd
• 0:22
  rather say we're writers something like that yeah i don't know
• 0:26
  i mean we're not
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: tech bros well we're founders
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Anyway, this podcast is sponsored by Berliner Berg.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: It's a really hoppy pils that is made in a microbrewery in Neukölln,
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: which has a great little beer garden in it.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: So I really recommend going there once the weather gets warm.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: How do you like Berliner Berg?
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: Good.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's hoppy, you know, but it's nice.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: This week is not as hoppy as it was last week.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: It's been sitting around in your kitchen.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_01: I probably just, I don't know.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: All right, cheers, man.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_01: For us.
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  SPEAKER_01: So today we will be talking about the knife ban zones in Berlin,
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  SPEAKER_01: the end of the Blue Man Group in Berlin,
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_01: AFD donations,
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: and we'll give some election predictions because,
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_01: of course,
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  SPEAKER_01: there is a federal election next Sunday here in Germany.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: So what about these knife ban zones?
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  last week the berlin police declared three knife ban zones and
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  where basically
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  you're not allowed to carry a knife openly or a knife that is
• 1:33
  easily accessible i
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  SPEAKER_00: mean the whole point is to crack down on knife crime and
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  Like in other big cities,
• 1:39
  there's been kind of an epidemic of knife crime.
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  SPEAKER_00: So these zones are Gerlitzer Park,
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  SPEAKER_00: Kottbusser Tor,
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  SPEAKER_00: both in Kreuzberg,
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  SPEAKER_00: and Leopoldplatz in Wedding,
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  SPEAKER_00: which has become crack cocaine central over the last couple of years.
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  SPEAKER_00: Anyway, this being Germany, the rules are a little complicated.
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  SPEAKER_00: The knife must be easily accessible to be subjected to the ban.
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  You can have a Swiss army knife in your backpack,
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  but you can't have it in your pocket.
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  SPEAKER_01: It's important to have a gray zone.
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  It's important to be opaque so that the cops have plenty of
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  interpretation so they
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  SPEAKER_01: can just make weird decisions on the spot.
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  SPEAKER_01: And it's actually, we only call these what they do.
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  SPEAKER_01: These are knife band zones for people with not white skin.
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  SPEAKER_00: Good point,
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  SPEAKER_00: because then at a press conference,
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  SPEAKER_00: Barbara Slovik-Meisel,
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  SPEAKER_00: who's the chief of police,
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  SPEAKER_00: was asked about,
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  SPEAKER_00: well,
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  SPEAKER_00: what about the mother who's peeling an apple for a picnic?
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, it's a mother, because men don't peel apples at picnics.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: She said,
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  SPEAKER_00: yeah,
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  SPEAKER_00: actually,
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  SPEAKER_00: if she did that in the knife ban zone,
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  SPEAKER_00: she would be asked to put the knife away.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: Who peels apples?
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  SPEAKER_01: German mothers.
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  SPEAKER_01: I've never peeled an apple.
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  SPEAKER_01: I mean, if I wasn't baking it, I've never peeled an apple.
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  aren't there like good nutrients and vitamins in the skin it's
• 2:57
  funny you should
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  mention that because when i was a kid i you know growing up in
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  england i i would
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  eat apples without peeling them and then my parents would send
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  us over to germany
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  to my grandparents and my grandparents would peel the apples so
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  then you've got
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  your grandmother's old woman goops on your apple because she's
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  put her hand all
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  SPEAKER_01: over your peeled apple
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  SPEAKER_00: I didn't think about that back then, but where the old woman went?
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: Goops.
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  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
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  SPEAKER_01: I think it's a German word actually.
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  SPEAKER_00: Anyway, how do you feel about the knife?
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  And the thing is I used to,
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  there's this dumb thing in America called an everyday carry knife.
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  SPEAKER_01: Like you,
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  you have a knife with you all the time for basically opening
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  Amazon packages in the end.
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  SPEAKER_01: So I had one for a long time and it was a completely, it was illegal.
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  According to Germany,
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  I could open it with one hand,
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  which is illegal in Germany.
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  SPEAKER_01: It was illegal.
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  SPEAKER_01: No cop ever.
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  SPEAKER_01: A switchblade, basically.
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  SPEAKER_01: Well, a switchblade, you would push a button, it would flip open on it.
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  SPEAKER_01: But I could just, they have, these are common knives in America.
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  SPEAKER_01: There's a little button on it, you just push it open with your knife.
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  SPEAKER_00: Right, with the blades that you can break off.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, just come open.
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  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but those are so lethal, man.
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  SPEAKER_00: You could really do a lot of damage with those.
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  SPEAKER_01: No, no, no, not a box cutter, just a regular, it's just a big knife.
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  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
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  SPEAKER_01: It's just a knife, but it was illegal.
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  SPEAKER_01: It was an illegal knife.
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  SPEAKER_01: Nobody ever, ever, ever stopped me.
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  But there's already been cases of gray zone cases where the
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  police told somebody to
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  SPEAKER_00: put away their knives,
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  SPEAKER_00: even though it was ridiculous.
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  SPEAKER_00: For example,
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  a homeless man was going around with a shopping cart and had a
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  bunch of cutlery in
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  SPEAKER_00: the cart,
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  SPEAKER_00: just lying around in a box in his shopping cart.
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  SPEAKER_00: And they said, you need to dispose of that.
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  SPEAKER_00: That's a good point, probably.
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  SPEAKER_00: You could have done that without the knife band, couldn't you have?
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  Right,
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  but like a butter knife,
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  like an Ikea butter knife that he found on the street.
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  SPEAKER_01: Dude has nothing to do all day.
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  SPEAKER_01: Like, I'm not criticizing him for it, but he has nothing to do all day.
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  SPEAKER_01: He has nothing but to walk around and find random pieces of cutlery.
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  SPEAKER_01: Right, but he's not your typical knife crime suspect.
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  I mean,
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  you shouldn't be walking around with knives,
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  even for his own good.
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  SPEAKER_00: Yeah,
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  SPEAKER_00: but the thing is with this knife ban zone is that the police,
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: when they're in those zones,
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  they are allowed to check you for knives without any good cause
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  for suspicion.
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  SPEAKER_00: So basically, if you're a young man and you're not Caucasian,
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  SPEAKER_00: You're going to get checked.
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  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
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  SPEAKER_01: It's just another way for the cops to harass people.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
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  I think,
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  sometimes I just think these things are like,
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  you're avoiding the real problem.
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  SPEAKER_01: And it's naive, like... What's the real problem?
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I don't know, but... But it's just like, it seems random, you know?
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: Like,
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  SPEAKER_01: well,
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  SPEAKER_01: the real problem at Leopold Platz is addiction,
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  SPEAKER_01: is crack cocaine addiction,
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  SPEAKER_01: probably the ease with which organized crime operates in Berlin.
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  SPEAKER_01: Maybe let's go after that.
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  Let's go after the level of corruption that allows organized
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  crime at this level in Berlin.
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  SPEAKER_01: How about that?
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  SPEAKER_01: And maybe help people with addiction.
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  Although helping people with addiction is a lot more difficult
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  than everybody knows.
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  SPEAKER_00: I mean, the police union, the GDP, they are in favor of a citywide ban.
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  SPEAKER_00: I can get behind that.
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  I mean,
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  what's the point of having just banning knives in these
• 6:09
  particular areas?
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  Like,
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  if you're going to have a knife fight,
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  you'll just go to the next street.
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  SPEAKER_00: I mean,
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  the only place I've ever really heard of somebody getting shot
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  in a fight or
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  SPEAKER_01: whatever is Gerlitzapark.
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  SPEAKER_01: I guess there was this thing in Schoenberg.
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  SPEAKER_01: There was a guy shot in Schoenberg.
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  SPEAKER_01: So it makes a little sense doing it in these areas.
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  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, it's random.
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  SPEAKER_01: It's random.
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  SPEAKER_00: We should go have a picnic over there.
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  SPEAKER_00: When the weather gets warm,
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  SPEAKER_00: we can record an episode of this podcast there,
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  SPEAKER_00: bring some sharp knives,
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  SPEAKER_00: see what happens.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: Nothing will happen.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely nothing will happen.
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  SPEAKER_01: There's nothing like two middle-aged white guys.
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  SPEAKER_01: They're going to come ask us if we...
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_01: I mean,
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_01: we might be trying to get some crack for a nice weekend.
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  SPEAKER_01: But not even that.
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  SPEAKER_01: The cops are just going to ignore us.
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  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I'm sure we try it and do it.
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  SPEAKER_00: Maybe if we buy drugs and then have a picnic next to the drug dealers?
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  SPEAKER_00: Even then.
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  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
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  SPEAKER_00: I mean, if they saw us buying the drugs.
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  SPEAKER_01: Right.
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  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
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  SPEAKER_01: How do you buy crack?
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  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
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  SPEAKER_01: Go to Leopold Platz and ask around.
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  SPEAKER_01: Has to crack?
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  SPEAKER_01: How do Germans say crack?
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_01: Crack.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_01: Crack.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_01: Crack.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_01: Next up...
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  SPEAKER_01: Speaking of drugs,
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  SPEAKER_01: the Blue Man Group will shut down after 8,500 shows,
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  SPEAKER_01: 5 million visitors,
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  SPEAKER_01: 21 years at Potsdamer Platz.
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  SPEAKER_01: The Blue Man Group.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah,
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  SPEAKER_00: a bunch of guys with blue paint on their skin,
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: banging kettle drums for like an hour and a half.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_01: It was novel in like 1993.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of our listeners weren't even alive then.
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  I actually lived in New York City briefly,
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  and I just remember going by the Blue Man Theater.
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  SPEAKER_01: What was the revolution then?
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  SPEAKER_00: And I was just like, okay, this is already lame now.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: It seemed like it was rhythmic.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_01: It sounds kind of cool.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_01: And the dudes in blue seemed weird.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: It seemed like somebody from another planet.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_01: It was interesting.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_01: But now, like, they've been at Potsdamer Platz.
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  SPEAKER_01: Number one, Potsdamer Platz.
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  It was probably the only thing that made Potsdamer Platz
• 8:04
  vaguely interesting
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  SPEAKER_01: because it was just this weird archaic thing.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_01: Who goes to Potsdamer Platz?
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_01: I shouldn't say that.
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  I was there two weeks ago,
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  and that little shopping center there is booming now,
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  surprisingly.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_01: It's the Berlinale.
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  SPEAKER_01: There's lots of people there.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_01: There's that there.
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  SPEAKER_01: But anyway, I just think of like these weird things that are successful.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_01: I can't believe 5 million people watched the Blue Man Group in Berlin.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_01: Who went?
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: I can tell you went.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: My uncle and his wife,
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  SPEAKER_00: they are,
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  SPEAKER_00: you know,
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  SPEAKER_00: I don't know,
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  SPEAKER_00: like they're Germans from the provinces.
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  SPEAKER_00: Well-to-do people.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: They come to the big city.
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  SPEAKER_00: They go catch the Blue Man Group at Potsdam and Platz.
• 8:40
  And then they go to that really,
• 8:41
  really awful club right underneath the Blue Man Group.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: Is there Adagio?
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: Adagio.
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  I don't know if it's still called that,
• 8:49
  but it's just this like really tacky nightclub.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: And you can buy like a package.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: You can buy like a package.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: Blue Man Group plus Adagio.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_01: And your whole weekend is sorted out.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: Your 55-year-old wife gets to dance like she did at your wedding.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_01: Right, yeah.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_01: Actually, what am I saying?
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_01: You get to dance like you did at your wedding.
• 9:05
  You know,
• 9:06
  they should be going to the Shaobuna or Gorky Theater or something.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: Instead, they go to the goddamn Blue Man Group.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: There's these things that I'm just disappointed in Berlin.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: The Blue Man Group, the Hofbäuhaus.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: How is that thing still in business?
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, this is like asking, how is Times Square still there?
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: The little trap there.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: It's like the same thing.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: It's just garbage for...
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: The unwashed masses from the provinces.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: I know that sounds so, so arrogant, but it's kind of true.
• 9:32
  I drive by there like almost every night coming home from
• 9:34
  comedy because I just think,
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: who are you?
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: And there's like 20 people out there waiting for their Ubers.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_01: I just think this is so disappointing.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_01: The other time I was disappointed.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_01: I don't remember when this was like 2006 or something.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_01: Madonna came to Berlin and Berlin lost its shit.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, I thought Berlin was cooler than that.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_01: I thought we didn't care about Madonna.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_01: They just went.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_01: This was before Madonna was an icon.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_01: She was just Madonna.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_01: And Berlin, do you remember that?
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_01: Berlin went nuts.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_01: I was just like, people, this is Berlin.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: We don't care.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: This is why I moved here.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: I was like,
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: I don't care about like celebrity bullshit,
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: like tabloids,
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: like,
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know,
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: just,
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: The Hofbräuhaus.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: I just wanted to go to techno clubs.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't want to look at anyone on the stage.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: I just wanted to like close my eyes and sweat.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: I wanted to go to illegal parties, not techno clubs.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: Well, whatever.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: That's what, yeah, you know what I mean?
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_01: Maria Moss Bahnhof, man.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: What club do you miss?
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_01: We've talked about this.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_01: Deli.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_01: Deli.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_01: Maria Maus Bonhoeff.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: VMF.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_01: VMF.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_01: The thing was the place in Friedrichstraße Bad Kleinen.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_01: Bad Kleinen.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: And then in the middle there was...
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: There was a bar for every day of the week.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: Like a mid-for-spa, a Montag's bar.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_01: I found, there's a new Dean's Tags bar.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_01: Let's go.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that was the best.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_01: Anyway.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_01: That's, those are, anyway.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: Not for the old-timer talk, Andrew.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_01: So I just get,
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_01: so the Blue Man,
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: so there's still,
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: but there are still Blue Man groups,
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_01: Blue Man groups.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_01: And in New York City, actually, it was founded in New York City in 1988.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_01: They quit in February.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_01: This month was their last Blue Man group in New York City.
• 11:00
  But there are still Blue Man groups in Vegas,
• 11:03
  Shanghai,
• 11:04
  Orlando,
• 11:04
  and weirdly,
• 11:05
  Boston.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_01: Although that fits with my image of Boston.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: Like the Vegas of the East Coast?
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_01: No, they're just kind of... Boston's annoying.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_01: I've never had anything again.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_01: It's like the Stuttgart of America.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, okay.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_01: It's like rich people with no other reason to exist.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_01: And a weird accent.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and a weird accent.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_01: And the whole weird Irish pride thing.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_01: I think we can agree, fuck Boston.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_01: I think we can all agree on that.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: There's probably no Bostonians listening to this.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_01: Well, there were three, but not anymore.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't even feel that strongly.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_01: I just feel like being mean.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, Blue Man Group.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: Good riddance, guys.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: Good riddance.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I don't know.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: If you guys are out of work now, that sucks.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: The Blue Man drummers.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: But really, you don't have to put blue paint on your skin every day now.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_01: 66 people apparently were full-time at that thing.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_01: Not just... No, there were not 66 Blue Men.
• 11:53
  There were six...
• 11:53
  You know,
• 11:53
  the lighting guy,
• 11:55
  the dude who shows you your seat.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: Why is it men?
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's like a little bit outdated.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't say men.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, I'm sorry.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: Why is it called... It's Blue Men.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: Why are they men?
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: Why can't they just be blue people?
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: Fair enough.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: You know, like nobody would get away with that.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_01: I did not think to Google blue women.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_01: So there must've been a blue woman, right?
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe that's the sequel.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_01: Like how there's cave man and now there's cave woman.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, these archaic theater shows that people make money for.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: What is next on the agenda?
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know why.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_01: There's certain news stories that I just thought,
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_01: Jonathan,
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_01: that I find immensely interesting,
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: and I cannot tell you why.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_01: One is,
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_01: so every year the parties have to publish where they got donations,
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_01: how they got their money.
• 12:41
  And it turns out a woman in Berlin donated $6 million,
• 12:44
  a woman named Helga Schwab.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: Helga, of course.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_01: Schwab donated $6 million to the AFD.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_01: It looks like,
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: on paper,
• 12:51
  it looks like she donated $4 million in cash and $2 million in
• 12:54
  a duplex that she
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_01: owned in Dahlem.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: Probably like a big box of diamonds.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 13:02
  And their neighbors were all just like,
• 13:03
  well,
• 13:03
  she just led a very unassuming life.
• 13:05
  It was the exact same quote that people use when they talk
• 13:07
  about the serial killer
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_01: who lived next door.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_01: We heard very little from her.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: A nice lady.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_01: Nice lady.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_01: Turned out complete Nazi.
• 13:16
  Oh.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_01: But it's just weird,
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_01: like,
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_01: because you see the AFD,
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_01: you see these politicians having,
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_01: like,
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_01: lavish meetings and flying first class.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_01: And I was wondering, where does the money come from?
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_01: It comes from Helga Schwab.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_01: It also comes from the German taxpayer.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_01: Well, they get their party financing, yeah.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_01: But you figure that's going to cover,
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_01: like,
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_01: a decent thing,
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_01: but it's not going to cover everything.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_01: What are you, six million?
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, speaking of the AFD...
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: I actually went to an AFD event on Friday night.
• 13:43
  My girlfriend is a journalist for a Danish newspaper,
• 13:47
  and she was covering the AFD.
• 13:48
  And we went to this small meeting out in Blankenborg,
• 13:52
  which is a suburb of Pankow.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: That was a bit of an eye-opener.
• 13:56
  I love these little towns on the edge of Berlin that you just
• 13:59
  see on the S-Bahn maps,
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_01: and you think,
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_01: like,
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_01: someday maybe I'll go there.
• 14:01
  Yeah,
• 14:02
  man,
• 14:02
  it was,
• 14:02
  like,
• 14:03
  there was,
• 14:04
  like,
• 14:04
  you know,
• 14:04
  the place had police protection.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: There were,
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: like,
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: the Ormer's gig and the rest were outside,
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: like,
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: the grandmothers against the right.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: You go in there, there's, like, guys with, like, Hitler haircuts.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: There's, like, guys in Lonsdale hoodies.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: There's, like...
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: kind of like 50-something New Age-y ladies.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_00: And then there was Beatrice von Storch, who's like a big wig here.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: Beatrix.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_00: Beatrix.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: Beatrix.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's important to get the dominatrix.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: Beatrix, yeah.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_00: And it's funny that you say that because she was so sadistic.
• 14:37
  Like,
• 14:38
  her whole warm-up act was like 15 minutes on,
• 14:41
  like,
• 14:41
  beating up on the woke media,
• 14:43
  right?
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_00: And how every time...
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_00: She's interviewed by the woke public broadcasters.
• 14:51
  She can see the fear in their eyes,
• 14:53
  like the prospect of her getting into power.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: She just ranted on about J.D.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: Vance's speech in Munich.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: J.D.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: Vance.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: I like that you made him French.
• 15:09
  Just saying how great Elon Musk's doge was and how we need a
• 15:15
  doge in Germany to
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: make Germany great again during the swamp.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it was wild.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I'm most ashamed of.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_00: is that I actually bought a beer there because I was really thirsty.
• 15:25
  So I got a Berliner Pilsner for,
• 15:28
  no,
• 15:28
  sorry,
• 15:28
  a Berliner Kindle for two euros.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: So I somehow like gave two euros to the AFD barkeeper.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: Who is donating money to the AFD?
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: Helga Schwab and Maurice Frank.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_00: Well, hopefully they made like one euro 20 profit on the beer.
• 15:44
  Well,
• 15:44
  I would assume they're paying the,
• 15:45
  or no,
• 15:45
  I guess maybe it's a volunteer,
• 15:46
  huh?
• 15:48
  I don't know,
• 15:48
  but I just left that place and I just left that place feeling
• 15:51
  quite downtrodden.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: But then on the other hand,
• 15:54
  I also felt like these people really are like a weird
• 15:58
  hodgepodge of freaks.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_00: Like there's like that.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: We talked to vaccine skeptics,
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: like everyone we talked to,
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: they basically joined the AFD because of the Corona restrictions.
• 16:10
  And this whole thing like before Mundung,
• 16:12
  like the state trying to tell you what to do.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: I loved Corona, man.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_01: I got to hang out with my kids all day, go for walks in an empty Berlin.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_01: It was the best.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: Anyway,
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: these guys are like,
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 16:22
  they're like over the moon right now because they have the
• 16:25
  endorsement of MAGA.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_00: But I don't really see them getting over the 20%.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: And now actually here we're back.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_00: We're actually at our next topic.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: We're not there yet.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_01: We can talk about this a little bit more.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_01: I had a comedy gig yesterday.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_01: Friday, Friday, was it Valentine's Day?
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_01: Friday, Valentine's Day in Hohenschernhausen.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_01: I thought I knew where Hohenschernhausen is.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_01: I apparently did not know where Hohenschernhausen is.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_01: It's like on the, it's like right by Bernal basically.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, it's way out there.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_01: It's close to where I was.
• 16:53
  Bro,
• 16:54
  like I was,
• 16:55
  it's 20 minutes in my car and it wasn't like,
• 16:57
  you know,
• 16:57
  stop and go traffic.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_01: It was like, you're driving 20 minutes.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_01: It was nuts.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't even know Berlin was that big.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_01: Lots of Plattenbau.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_01: It was totally,
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_01: it was this like brand new center they built probably in 2010,
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_01: like a community center surrounded by Plattenbau.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: Like you could not see anything but Plattenbau.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_01: And there's this beautiful new big center thing, 200 people, little odd.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_01: How was the audience?
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_01: They were older and weird.
• 17:20
  And I kind of mean that if like,
• 17:22
  I do a lot of comedy in small towns in Berlin,
• 17:24
  in Germany.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_01: And it was like that.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_01: It was like,
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_01: you would not have thought if you saw that audience,
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: you would not think you were in Berlin.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_00: That's the thing about Berlin.
• 17:30
  Like the city limits of Berlin encompass like all the suburbs
• 17:35
  of Berlin too.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, they're super sweet people.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_01: Like we talked to them after the show.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_01: They were very nice.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_01: They were sweet.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_01: But just like,
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_01: I just told them,
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like,
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_01: this is not,
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_01: there was not a single person in all black there.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_01: Not even the young kids were like,
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_01: you know how like my neighborhood,
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_01: you could,
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_01: you would be put,
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: you'd have to put effort in to find somebody not dressed in all black.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_01: There was nobody out there in all black.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_00: At the AFD meeting,
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_00: there were kids in all black,
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_00: but they had,
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_00: and they had these sort of like,
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_00: like Rommel,
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_00: like,
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_00: sorry,
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_00: these sort of like Himmler haircuts.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's a different color black.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_01: I don't get it.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_01: Like I can understand attaching yourself to German history,
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_01: but like being,
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_01: you're not allowed to say it in German,
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_01: being proud of being German.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_01: Like I can get that.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_01: Like all these,
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_01: all the advancements,
• 18:20
  all the innovations that actually came out of Germany back
• 18:22
  industrial Germany,
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_01: like Germany came up with a lot of stuff.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_01: I can, I can get being proud of that.
• 18:27
  What I cannot get is if you attach your identity to basically
• 18:31
  Germany's darkest period.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_01: How is, how are you celebrating that?
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_01: Basically,
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_01: the thing that destroyed all of that,
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_01: that destroyed all of the goodness,
• 18:39
  all the good that Germany made did or all the advancements that
• 18:42
  Germany did.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, there's a dark side to that, too, the colonialism, all that.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_01: But there were good things that came out of Germany.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_01: And the thing that destroyed it all is Hitler.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_01: And people are walking around celebrating.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_01: How do you celebrate that?
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's almost like a self-destructive tendency,
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: like as if Germany,
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_00: like that side of Germany has like a death wish.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: Like they want to sweep everything away.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe I'm getting,
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: it's a little extreme,
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: but I mean,
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_00: like the Nazis,
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_00: they wanted to have this like total war to like wipe all the,
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_00: like have a clean slate,
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_00: wipe all their enemies off the map.
• 19:17
  I mean,
• 19:17
  I don't want,
• 19:18
  maybe it's a bit of an exaggeration,
• 19:19
  but that is kind of the vibe of,
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_00: That I got at that meeting.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they're like, we're going to clean up.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to clean up Germany.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to get rid of all the woke people.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_00: And it was really weird.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: This one guy, Gliese, he's the candidate for Pankow.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_00: He said,
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_00: what's really interesting is that a lot of the young kids now,
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_00: even the ones with the migration background,
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: they think we're cool.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_00: That was a really weird twist.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's like,
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_00: yeah,
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_00: I picked up my son from soccer,
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: and there are his three buddies there who have migration background,
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: meaning Turkish.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: He just says migration background.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_00: He said...
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, these kids came up to me and said, hey, you were the AFD, right?
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: Super cool, man.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_00: I'm voting for you.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_00: Even though they were under 18,
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: so they couldn't technically vote,
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: but they voted for the AFD in the mock school election.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: As a joke.
• 20:16
  And then probably they came up,
• 20:17
  they're like,
• 20:18
  yeah,
• 20:18
  Ronald,
• 20:18
  we're voting for you,
• 20:19
  buddy.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_01: They're just making fun of him.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_01: Who knows?
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_01: Ronnie.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_01: I just don't know.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_01: I just don't know.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_01: There was that one gay dude who was in the EFD and then got out.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_01: He joined it.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_01: He was convinced they were right.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_01: And then all the EFD did was make fun of him and bully him for being gay.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_00: It's funny.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_00: Alice Vital, who's actually the lead candidate of the EFD, is a lesbian.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_01: She won't call herself a lesbian.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_01: She won't?
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think she called herself.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_01: She just says she married her best friend.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_01: which is apparently a thing in gay,
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_01: the gay community that you won't admit that you're gay or lesbian.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_01: You just say,
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_01: Oh,
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_01: it just so happened that the person I fell in love with those,
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_01: the same sex as me,
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_01: but I'm not actually attracted to the same sex.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_01: I'm probably alien.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_01: I'm probably like showing my cards as a cis man,
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_01: but apparently it's a thing that you just don't want to admit it.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_01: You just lie to yourself.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know what to add.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm just saying,
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_01: apparently she's,
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_01: she's like,
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_01: she's out there like not acting like she's,
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_01: she's definitely not an ally for that community.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_01: Fuck no.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_01: But I mean.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_01: Moving on to our next final topic.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_01: Digging graves as white heterosexual men.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_01: So our predictions for the German election.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_01: I've been pretty open about my prediction has been the same for months.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_00: My prediction is,
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_01: the thing about Germany,
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_01: Germans and Germany,
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_01: German culture is they hate,
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_01: they don't hate change,
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_01: they're terrified of change.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_01: They don't want change.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_01: What they want is everything to stay exactly the way it is today,
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_01: because right now we know how it is,
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_01: and it's okay.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_01: We're all alive, things are good, just keep it this way.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_01: So,
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_00: they're going to...
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_00: Despite everything happening,
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: despite the war in Ukraine,
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_00: the high energy prices,
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: this,
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_00: like,
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_00: fear of immigration...
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_00: Well,
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_01: but if it stays like it is today,
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_01: we did okay.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_01: How was your Sunday?
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_01: Was it okay?
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 22:08
  So if we could just have this Sunday again every Sunday,
• 22:10
  we know what it's going to be.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_01: We're fine with this.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: So despite all this sort of like fear and anxiety in the air,
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: those people are going to go to the polling booth and be like,
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_00: yeah,
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_00: that was just...
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, CDU.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_01: My fear is if I vote for something different,
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_01: for change,
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_01: it will change and the world will fall apart from what we have today.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_01: So I think people are going to vote for either the CDU or the SPD.
• 22:33
  People on the edges who are a little bit more willing to vote
• 22:35
  for change will vote
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_01: for other things.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_01: But in the end, we know what's going to happen.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_01: We're going to have a CDU chancellor with a grand coalition.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_01: It's called the two middle parties, CDU, the SPD.
• 22:45
  Probably,
• 22:45
  Matt,
• 22:46
  if you look at history,
• 22:47
  gets to be chancellor for 16 years.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_01: Except the problem with that is- I mean, I know, yeah, I know.
• 22:53
  This sounds,
• 22:54
  I can't believe I'm saying this,
• 22:55
  but I actually hope you're right.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_00: That's what's crazy.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_00: You know,
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_00: I would have never wished the CDU to win anything,
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_00: but it's kind of the best option that we have,
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_00: you know?
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_01: The crazy thing is, Matt's is 70.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_01: He doesn't look like it.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_01: He's 70 or 69.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_01: He's old.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_01: That would mean,
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_01: if history proves correct,
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_01: Helmut Kohl was chancellor for 16 years,
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_01: Angela Merkel was chancellor for 16 years,
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_01: he'll be 86.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_01: The thing is,
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_00: if the SPD doesn't get enough,
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_00: the Social Democrats,
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_00: the center-left party of Olaf Scholz,
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_00: if they don't get enough votes to form a coalition with him,
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_00: they will have to get the Greens or the FDP involved.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_01: FDP only has 4%, and all the polls are straight across.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you need 5% to get into parliament, but it could still happen.
• 23:45
  Because what happens is the smaller parties who don't get in
• 23:48
  get bumped down,
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_01: and so the 4% could get bumped up to 5%.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_00: But say the Greens participate in that coalition,
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_00: it could be quite an instable government because the Greens,
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_00: they are way less tough on immigration.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_00: They believe in multiculturalism.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_00: They believe in the right to asylum.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_00: Social Democrats, they're being more flexible about it.
• 24:14
  I think they're ready to go along with British maths is tough
• 24:18
  on immigration thing.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_00: But if the Greens get in, it's going to be a mess.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_01: I don't like that saying as a person who would probably vote Greens.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if it's going to be a mess.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_01: I think the Greens are more mainstream these days than,
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_01: I mean,
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_01: the two of the most,
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_01: three of the most important ministers are Greens and they're like,
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_01: doing all right.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_01: Baerbock, Habeck,
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_01: my boy, Cham.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_00: Baobock, I'll give you Baobock.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_00: Habeck, I like him as a human being.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_00: He's a great speaker and,
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know,
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_00: great writer or whatever,
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_00: but I like his sort of sense of ethics,
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_00: but he wasn't a great economy minister.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_00: Really?
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_00: What didn't he do?
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_00: The whole heating law, which went belly up.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_00: It was a bit draconian.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_00: They can't remember the economy isn't in recession.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_01: That's not entirely his fault.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_01: They couldn't, I mean, that's Schultz.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_01: They could not spend.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_01: They need to spend.
• 25:10
  They're not allowed to spend because there's constitutional
• 25:12
  limits on how much
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_01: money the government can borrow.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_01: And this is a time it's emergency.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_01: You spend, you dump a bunch of money in the economy and get it growing.
• 25:19
  Right,
• 25:19
  but the FDP,
• 25:20
  who controlled the finance ministry...
• 25:23
  Wouldn't allow it.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_00: Wouldn't allow it, right.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_00: So I think it's unfair, yeah, he is the opponent.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_01: No, but everyone's ganging up on him.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but I don't think he was as bad as everybody says.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_01: Is Baerbock's Potsdam, is that her district?
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_01: Right, she actually competes against Olaf Scholz.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, okay.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_01: I think Baerbock was good.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, just Chem Rich Demir was the agriculture minister.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_01: I'm always a Chem fan.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_01: From day one.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_01: He's an affable man.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_01: Good dude.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_01: So,
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_01: but I don't think the Greens,
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_01: I guess maybe you're right,
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_01: but I don't think it'll just be,
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_01: they will,
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_01: you have two left parties,
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_01: the SPD and the Greens,
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_01: pulling the CDU back toward the left a little bit,
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_01: which in the end is the grand coalition we had before,
• 26:00
  because you never knew if America was going to be conservative
• 26:03
  or liberal,
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_01: like the American liberal,
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_01: left wing,
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_01: on a give a day.
• 26:07
  right maurice is changing his stance his posture he's about to
• 26:11
  pontificate good
• 26:13
  heavens do you have a pipe sir i'm just saying though like i
• 26:17
  don't know i'm just
• 26:19
  saying this constellation will not make the afd smaller yeah
• 26:24
  what would make the
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_01: afd smaller i guess the afd being in government
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not saying I want that.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_01: No, but there is that argument.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_01: Because that happened to the Greens, too.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_01: It's easy to be in the opposition.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_01: It's easy to just stir shit.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_01: But when you have to govern, you have to actually deliver.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_01: And the AFD, most of those guys are just clowns.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_01: They can't deliver anything.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I listened to a commentator in the U.S.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_00: talk about Doge today.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_00: And he just said, just let them do it.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_00: And then the people who voted for Trump...
• 26:53
  in all those red states who depend more than anyone else on
• 26:57
  federal funding,
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_00: they're going to feel the pain.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_01: They aren't.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_01: Like,
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_01: I actually have,
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_01: we inherited my grandparents' farm,
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_01: and it's rented out to these guys,
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_01: like,
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_01: to hardcore Trump voters.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_01: Like, we had a meeting once, and I just sort of said the word organic,
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm lucky to have made it out of there live.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_01: And those guys,
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_01: every year when we renegotiate the rent prices,
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_01: it always depends on the federal farm program,
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_01: how much money they're going to get from the government.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_01: And these are guys who run around talking about you guys all,
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_01: you know,
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_01: handouts and welfare and they're taking welfare the whole time.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_01: And so now I'm concerned because the rent's going to fall.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 27:34
  So if the AFD actually got into power,
• 27:36
  I think they are kind of a neoliberal party.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_00: Like they're not really into...
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_00: Beefing up welfare for the poor.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_01: We're running late because you were pontificating.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_01: You had the pontificating posture there.
• 27:49
  We have to get to our favorite segment where we say two things
• 27:53
  we like about Berlin.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_01: Bear's Knee.
• 28:04
  you go first andrew yeah you know i realize i've been listening
• 28:06
  to your your recent
• 28:07
  bear's knees and maybe i need to get more specific because i
• 28:09
  was general today i
• 28:10
  went to the protest there was a anti-right protest i thought
• 28:13
  this it was a little
• 28:14
  weird i felt uncomfortable it was just cringe i didn't feel
• 28:17
  uncomfortable i just
• 28:17
  thought i thought it was cringe i don't like singing with
• 28:19
  groups of people i don't
• 28:21
  like and this stupid gedungsten frey song that the germans like
• 28:24
  it's in their jeans
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_01: or something do you sing this to yourself once a night
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_01: I have no idea what you're talking about.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_01: Is this a Christian thing?
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_01: No, it's like a song everybody's singing.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_01: It's like Goethe.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_01: Germans sing it all the time.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_01: Not really a German, I guess.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, they all sang it all.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_01: And it just cringed to me to sing with a group of people.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_01: So I went to the protest.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_01: I'm glad that Berlin's out there willing to protest things.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_01: We went back after the re-migration thing in Potsdam.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_01: We went to that protest.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_01: There were 160,000 people to protest last week.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_01: I'm glad.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_01: There was a CSD on Saturday I had no idea about.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_01: Did you know about this?
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_01: The Winter CSD.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_01: Did you know about it?
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_00: Only after the fact.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_00: Why didn't they tell us?
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_00: I think it was an unpromptu thing to demonstrate.
• 29:06
  Not that I was going to go out and dance behind a techno truck
• 29:09
  at minus one Celsius,
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_01: but I'm glad they did it.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_00: No, it's great.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_00: It's great that they're demonstrating.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_00: I guess in my last newsletter I did,
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_00: or one last week,
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_00: I expressed some skepticism about people getting alarmist about...
• 29:26
  the CDU cozying up with the AFD as they did a couple of weeks
• 29:29
  ago in parliament.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_00: And,
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_00: but no,
• 29:32
  I still think it's great that everyone's demonstrating just to
• 29:34
  show that people are
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_00: out there like that.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_00: This isn't the real Germany.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think it will change anyone's mind when it comes to voting.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_00: You're anti-protest.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_00: I've had this sense before you for a while.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just, no, I'm just jaded about it.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_00: I used to go to climate protests all the time.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think made no difference.
• 29:50
  Part of the reason you want to protest is just to show,
• 29:53
  to,
• 29:53
  to be a presence.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_01: Because I think,
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_01: like,
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_01: what happens with the letter that one of our writers sent you,
• 29:59
  what happens is when people like Trump get elected or when
• 30:02
  there's support for the AFD,
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_01: then people,
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_01: fringe people,
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_01: think,
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_01: oh,
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_01: there are a lot of people who think like me,
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_01: think like this,
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_01: and they go out and beat people up,
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_01: basically.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_01: They feel empowered to go do bad things.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think it's good to protest,
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_01: to counter people like that,
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_01: to say,
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_01: listen,
• 30:18
  you might think because Matz was on the side of the AFD that
• 30:21
  the right is gaining.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_01: The right is not gaining.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think it is gaining.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's kind of stuck at 20%, which is bad enough.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_00: But I still have faith that Germany is still aware of its history,
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_00: its special place in Europe,
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_00: and that it just can't elect these people.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_00: You can't.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_00: Can't give them any power.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_00: You can't.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_01: What's your bear's knees?
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_00: My bear's knees is in Neukölln.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_00: I was down in Neukölln to pick up my son's passport.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_00: That's a whole little bureaucratic story, which I won't go into.
• 31:00
  It was quite amusing,
• 31:00
  and it ended up me getting lectured by the head of the Bürgeramt.
• 31:05
  You might as well say you actually did not fulfill the needs to
• 31:08
  get your son's
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_01: passport for various reasons,
• 31:11
  but he gave it to you anyway because of the famous German
• 31:15
  pastime of lecturing people.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_01: If he gets to lecture you, then he's going to let you skip the line.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, one of the things was that I, the, my, what do you call it?
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_00: What's the Sorgerecht?
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_00: Declaration of proof evidence of... No, he has given custody.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_00: Do you have custody?
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_00: Parental, I have, I have, I have, we have joint custody.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_00: We're not married.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_00: I have joint custody as the father...
• 31:37
  But that document came from Denmark,
• 31:40
  but it only existed digitally in Denmark.
• 31:42
  So we printed it out on a color printer and then got it
• 31:45
  translated into German.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_00: But they're like, where's the original document?
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, oh, it's on the internet somewhere.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_00: They just couldn't handle it.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_00: On the internet?
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_00: I know.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_00: So...
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so I had a nice talk with the head of the Booker Amtnoikon.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_00: They were all very friendly,
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_00: and he told me about the rules,
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_00: and I nodded my head,
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_00: and I got my son's passport.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_00: And what was the other part?
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_01: What was the bear's knees?
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_00: Actually, I was going to make the bear's knees...
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_00: Bürger Neukölln.
• 32:23
  Everything's so smooth here because when we applied for the passport,
• 32:26
  the lady was so nice.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_00: It was so efficient.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_00: We only had to wait five minutes.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_00: Why are you in Neukölln?
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_00: You live in Prince Albert.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_00: Because that's the only appointment I could get was in Neukölln.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_00: Anyway, so I was like, screw this.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not going to give them a bear's knees.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_00: And so I went across the street looking for some lunch.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_00: And I just walked into this place called Krop Delicatessen und Feinkost.
• 32:48
  It's like,
• 32:49
  it's like going to a fish,
• 32:53
  a fish bar in Hamburg in the 1980s or something.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_00: This is like giant counter.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's like 20 kinds of herring salad.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_00: There's like guys wearing blue aprons.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_00: It's amazing.
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_01: Like I don't need,
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_01: I don't need seafood anymore because they were destroying the oceans,
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_01: but I'm going to go there anyway.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_00: I love herring.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_00: And you can hold that against me.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_01: I just love it.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_01: That's the Germany.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_01: Because I tried it again.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_01: I don't eat seafood.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_01: I had some herring the other day.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, who eats this?
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_01: What is this?
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_01: It's not like a good tasting fish.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_01: I don't even consider it a fish.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_01: It's just its own thing.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, they live like right on that shore.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and they also had jellied eels and all kinds of gross stuff.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_00: Octopus.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_00: Do not... No, no, I never eat that.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_00: I never eat octopus.
• 33:37
  I don't know how people...
• 33:38
  How can you...
• 33:39
  Like,
• 33:39
  they're great little creatures.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_00: I saw that Netflix movie about octopuses.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't like that.
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_01: I thought it was just a pile of garbage, that movie.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_00: I kind of liked it.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_00: It made me cry.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_00: Anyway, I had... I had... Matches filet.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_00: with brat kartoffeln for like eight euros.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_01: Did they like write the bill on the wax paper that the fish came in?
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_01: I actually got the pay bike on.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_01: Have you ever been to Rogaki?
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_01: I've never been there.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_01: We used to live over in Wilmersdorf.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_01: It's actually in Charlottenburg, but it's a part of the Wilmersdorf.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_01: You lived in Wilmersdorf?
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_01: We did live in Wilmersdorf.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_01: And Rogakis, they have basically every part of the animal.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_01: Whatever you want, they've got it.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_00: So Krop Delicatessen, Rogaki.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_00: Where's Krop?
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_00: Do you have the address?
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_00: Karl-Marx-Strasse, 82.
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, so it's even, that's Neukölln, Neukölln.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_00: That's totally Neukölln.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_00: Across the street from the Rathaus, Neukölln.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for coming over, Maurice.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Andrew.
• 34:37
  We're going to have a special podcast next Monday night to
• 34:40
  cover the election.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_01: And thank you, Berliner Berg.