Common Ground Berlin

Jen Palacios of Simple Germany in Dusseldorf and Matthias Roth of Asphalt-Profis in Berlin join host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson in an informative and humorous conversation about the woes of getting a dri…

Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson explores whether people who move to Germany actually need to learn German with Steffen Sottung, managing director of international affairs at the Federal Employment Agency…

Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson talks with Berlin Chapter President Constance Chucholowski of Democrats Abroad and Research Director Jeremy Shapiro of the European Council on Foreign relations about the …

Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson talks with Senior Fellow Rachel Tausendfreund of the German Council on Foreign Relations and Berlin Chapter President Constance Chucholowski of Democrats Abroad about the …

Since World War II, Germans have struggled with how best to deal with their history. But even with a formal government policy of “Never Again,” anti-Semitism is on the rise in Germany and other atroc…

Berlin was recently declared by the Mercer Cost of Living Survey to be the most expensive city to live in Germany. Berlin also has a chronic housing shortage. So how are young people starting out nav…

Germany became one country again in 1990. But just how unified is it really? And who is fanning the lingering divisions between eastern and western Germans? Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson talks again wi…

Germany’s new Chancenkarte, or Opportunity Card, is supposed to make it easier for skilled foreign workers to find a foothold in the German job market. But how does it work and are there pitfalls? Ho…

Guest hosts Eden Brockman and Nour Trabelsi talk about Germany’s not-so-easy shift to veganism with Lia Carlucci from Food Campus Berlin and Jens Tuider from ProVeg. Join us to find out what’s cookin…

Is it time for immigrants to leave Germany? Or should they instead go out for a non-alcoholic beer? Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson joins The Local Germany’s Rachel Loxton, Comedian Josh Telson, and POLI…

The heartbeat of the German capital city’s nightlife and a symbol of its post-reunification identity after a decade-long campaign is now officially recognized by the German National Registry of Intan…

Women’s and girls’ freedoms and opportunities have eroded at an alarming rate in Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power there three years ago. But there is little agreement internationally or eve…

Will Germany’s federal budget end up in court? Can Germany deliver on its global military commitments? And what's happening with German beer? It may be summer, but the news is hopping with Common Gro…

Eighty years after the sexual liberation movement began, many people are still uncomfortable talking about sexually transmitted diseases and infections. But in our explicit and provocative episode co…

It’s Pride Month in Germany and we are discussing the new Self-Determination Act, or “Selbstbestimmungsgesetz,” which will soon make it easier for transgender, intersex and non-binary teens and adult…

You’ve decided to become an “expat” and live in Germany. But how do you navigate the bureaucracy and German culture? Can an English-speaker even make it here? What are some ways to ease the transitio…

The funny and emotional conclusion as host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson and her journalist husband Erik Nelson walk from Portugal to Spain on their first-ever Camino. Hear about the “arrow” debacle, spider…

Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson and her journalist husband, Erik, begin their Portuguese Camino from Porto to Santiago de Compostela, Spain and quickly learn the meaning of “The Camino provides!” Join th…