Putin's African antics, the death of Skype, and a Eurovision c-bomb

Thousands of kilometres from the devastating war it's been waging in Ukraine, Russia has involved itself in a swathe of other conflicts that attract much less attention: in Africa. Why? This week we speak to Beverly Ochieng, a self-described Wagner Group stalker, about what Russia is playing at. We're also talking about a foul-mouthed (?) Eurovision controversy, and why none of the world's big bad tech giants come from Europe.    Beverly is a senior analyst for francophone Africa at Control Risks and a senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. You can follow her here on Bluesky and here on Mastodon. Check out our full conversation with Beverly on our YouTube channel.   Thanks so much for listening. If you enjoy our podcasts, we'd love it if you'd consider supporting our work. You can chip in to help us cover the weekly research and production of The Europeans at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/europeanspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (many currencies are available), or gift a donation to a super fan here. We'd also love it if you could tell two friends about this podcast!      This podcast was brought to you in cooperation with Euranet Plus, the leading radio network for EU news.   This week's Inspiration Station recommendations: Codenames and The Economist's Glass Ceiling Index.    Other resources for this week's episode   European Alternatives - euro-companies making all kinds of digital products: https://european-alternatives.eu/   Jitsi, the great Zoom alternative created by a swing-dancing Erasmus student: https://jitsi.org/   'The Brussels Effect: How the European Union Rules the World' by Anu Bradford: https://academic.oup.com/book/36491   Fact-check: Does the EU really buy 80% of its weapons from overseas? (No, no it doesn't.) Bluesky thread by The Economist's Stanley Pignal, March 9, 2025: https://bsky.app/profile/spignal.bsky.social/post/3ljxd4r4cos25   Miriana Conte - Kant (‘Singing’); National Final Performance, Eurovision Song Contest 2025: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qNK1tt6L5k   00:33  Smellovision and feminist babies 03:32  Bad Week: Skype 25:19  Good Week: Language prudes 37:39  Interview: Beverly Ochieng on Russia's African antics 53:40  The Inspiration Station: Codenames and The Economist's Glass Ceiling Index 56:44  Happy Ending: Easier breathing for Londoners   Producers: Morgan Childs and Wojciech Oleksiak Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina   YouTube | Bluesky | Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | Mastodon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | [email protected]