Happy Europe Day! In this Substack Live, Dave Keating from Gulf Stream Blues and Julien Hoez from The French Dispatch break down this week’s momentous events.
Previous posts mentioned in this episode:
Live from Rome: as global order crumbles, what difference can a new pope make?
The media, particularly in the United States, has a tendency to exaggerate the political importance of the papal conclaves. The three that have happened in my lifetime are a media fascination because of their rarity, intrigue and pomp. Nevertheless, at this critical flashpoint in human history, who is chosen as the next pope in the next days, weeks or m…
Eurovision turns its back on English
As much as the European Broadcasting Union claims that it isn’t, we all know that the Eurovision Song Contest held each year since 1956 is very political - and no year was that more evident than in 2024. The EBU’s ban on Russia’s participation after its invasion of Ukraine in 2022 crossed a Rubicon of mainstreaming politics in the contest. It later expo…
Live from Strasbourg: EU reacts with dismay, anxiety to Merz 1st round rejection
I’m at the European Parliament plenary today, and I’ve been speaking with MEPs about the shock news on Tuesday out of Berlin - when incoming chancellor Friedrich Merz was rejected in the first round of the Bundestag vote to appoint him. It is the first time in German history that has happened, and it means that 18 MPs in his own governing coalition voted against him. But because it was a secret ballot, we don’t know whether the dissenters came from the left wing in the SPD or the right wing in the CDU/CSU. In either case, MEPs here in Strasbourg are interpreting this as a signal that Merz will be too distracted with managing his slim-majority coalition at home to become the leader Europe needs right now to defend the continent from Donald Trump.
Share this post