RS #04 2013: Escape to the DDR: Interview with a defector

Radio Spätkauf is the Berlin podcast, a half-hour discussion about news, politics and culture from the perspective of the city's international residents. Tonight hosts Maisie and Joel talk about the main topic of the past two weeks; the re-fall of the Berlin wall. Who requested the building of a footbridge, which was the ostensible reason for the wall's partial removal? We play interviews from the main events as they unfolded. Berlin's troubled airport has been lit up like a Christmas tree for months now; the reason? They can't work out how to turn off the lights. U-Bahn tickets are going up again to €2.60 this summer; compare that to the Pirate party's plan for free public transport, which would require €800M funding, or €131 from every Berliner per year. Maisie presents her interview with Victor Grossman, an American soldier who defected to the DDR because he agreed with their political views. Now retired and living on Karl Marx Allee, he told Maisie he didn't regret his decision to move east. The Berlin government is offering a prize if you can come up with an interesting new souvenir for the city. Got any ideas? Send them here: http://www.sei.berlin.de/designwettbewerb We play music from Ideal, as well as Moritz Reichelt from Der Plan. More information about the show at http://www.radiospaetkauf.com