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On the May 1, in the Westfalenpark in Dortmund there was a demonstration/festival organized to call for better work conditions. Listen to Jutta Reiter the chair leader of DGB (Der Deutsche Gewerkschaftsbund) the umbrella organization of the trade unions in Germany, talk about why she's at the festival but also some of the problems with working people in Germany. Also, listen to young socialists who had information stands at the festival, such as the the young socialist group part of the Social Democratic Party and the youth organization of the Left Party in Germany.

In this episode I traveled to Cologne, Germany to March for Science. There I interviewd Dr. Tanja Gabriele Baudson, psychology professor at the University of Luxembourg, who was one of the 12 organizers. Listen to what she has to say on why she's Marching for Science, including some of the problems with science today, trust in science, and more.

Data from 87 million Facebook users had been collected through a personality quiz app and sold to Cambridge Analytica by Aleksandr Kogan psychologist at University of Cambridge. Illegally transmitted to a third party the data was used in targeting campaigns such as Donald Trump's presidential election campaign. The data breach also raised serious privacy concerns for average Facebook users. In response, 44 congressmen invited the Facebook owner Mark Zuckerberg to testify before the senate at the Capitol Hill.

I’m talking to Dr. Steve Milder, assistant professor at the University of Groningen. In his new book, Greening Democracy, Steve writes about the 1970s anti nuclear protests up the Rhine river at the border between Western Germany, France, and Switzerland. These grassroots movements played a critical role in expanding democracy in the 70s. One example is the emergence of green parties.

Relying on the media is not enough to understand how Groningers perceive risks, their emotions, and whether they are satisfied with how the government deals with their damages. In this episode we're featuring the interview with Goda Perlaviciute, assistant professor of environmental psychology at the University of Groningen. She co-authored a paper where 1230 people in the earthquake area were surveyed.

In this episode we’re getting away from experts. Instead, we’re talking to two women who live in Loppersum. The village is at the heart of the Groningen gas field, and evidently in the earthquake area. Listen to their stories.

Gas extraction in Groningen, Europe's biggest gas field, has recently led to earthquakes in the Dutch province. These damaged people's homes, decreased house values, and ruins the the image of the otherwise beautiful countryside. In response to the Dutch government lack of responsibility, but reliance on Shell and ExxonMobil to take care of the damage, people in Groningen went into the streets to protest. This episode features the interview with Evert Hassink from Milieudefensie, an NGO that has been helping to bring people of Groningen together against gas extraction.