DutchNews Podcast

It was a week when a small European country finally got tough on foreigners who stir up trouble and harass its citizens. But most of the Netherlands was horrified by the expulsion of Joost Klein from the Eurovision Song Contest and rang out church bells in solidarity. Meanwhile in The Hague, a coalition of right-wing[...]

As the coalition talks stall, Geert Wilders delivers on his promise to put the Dutch first by slinking off to Budapest to give a speech in English about African migrants. Security is stepped up for the Remembrance Day ceremony, with numbers limited for the first time, amid fears it could be disrupted by protesters. Mark[...]

The coalition talks are in limbo as Geert Wilders turns up the Timmermans Threat level to 11 and the parties try to turn an refugee drama into a crisis. Global warming isn't putting off Dutch holidaymakers, but the cost of travel is making their eyes water. Measles cases are on the rise as the vaccination[...]

In the week that Hugo de Jonge revealed that the Binnenhof renovation will cost €2bn and last until 2028, we ask if there is any chance of a government being in place by then. The king thanks his Spanish counterpart for putting up Princess Amalia in Madrid after she was threatened by gangsters, while Prinsjesdag[...]

Crisis club Ajax plumb new depths of hubris as their ramshackle defending on the pitch is eclipsed by a flurry of own goals in the boardroom. Down the road in The Hague, the manure hits the fan in the coalition talks as the negotiators try to put together the puzzle pieces. A group of pensioners[...]

Groningen is up in arms over the senate's decision to pause the great gas switch-off, in a week when several government plans perish in the upper house. Czech claims that Russia has infiltrated the Dutch parliament leave MPs with an intriguing missed Thierry to solve. Ajax's new chief executive scores a devastating own goal as[...]

After agreeing on a form of government that keeps Pieter Omtzigt on board and Geert Wilders muzzled, the four right-wing parties finally get down to business. Two new negotiators are given the task of producing a programme for government within eight weeks, but the only thing the leaders agree on is that the discussions will[...]

A breakthrough of sorts in the coalition talks as the four parties agree to form a "programme cabinet", which sounds like a piece of charity shop furniture. Protests against the visit of Israel's president sparks cast a shadow over the long-awaited opening of Amsterdam's Holocaust Museum. The SGP starts a crusade after learning that the[...]

More than 100 days after the election, there are cautious signs that the four parties who have been bickering since December might be ready to start talking about forming a government. Meanwhile, the outgoing government is battling to keep international employers like ASML and Boskalis in the country. Venlo is hiring Croatians who don't speak[...]

Kim Putters begins his efforts to complete a coalition puzzle that looks increasingly like a charity shop jigsaw with two pieces missing. The mindbending 3D maze that is the Marengo trial ends with life sentences for ruthless gangland boss Ridouan Taghi and two of his henchmen. The PVV gets itself in a tangle over support[...]

Kim Putters begins his quest to form a new cabinet by wargaming the 501 permutations put forward by Pieter Omtzigt. The mayor of The Hague asks if the city "missed signals" about the riots that engulfed an Eritrean community event at the weekend. Scientists in Delft make a breakthrough in battery technology that shouldn't be[...]

The talks to form a right-wing coalition fall apart like a Babboe cargo bike after Pieter Omtzigt makes a smart getaway in lead negotiator Ronald Plasterk's car. After a debate that sets new standards for passive aggression, Geert Wilders asks another Labour-leaning chauffeur to try to get the show back on the road. Mark Rutte[...]

We ask where the talks to form a coalition government go next after Pieter Omtzigt pulls out of the negotiations, sending the other three party leaders into a state of synchronised shock. Meanwhile, the farmers' protests heat up again, sending thick black clouds of asbestos-filled smoke billowing across motorways and adding to the pressure on[...]

The coalition negotiations show signs of grinding to a halt as Geert Wilders's cold storage freezer fills up and relations between the parties become increasingly frosty. The economic picture isn't helping, as inflation remains stubbornly high and housebuilders are unable to keep up with demand. Russia's invasion of Ukraine dominates proceedings at the International Criminal[...]

Geert Wilders went viral with a serieus probleem this week, and he wasn't alone. Dilan Yesilgöz saw her party cleft in two by the refugee crisis, Amsterdam's lights went out two days in a row and Schiphol airport delayed its plan to make flights less frequent for a third time. PSV Eindhoven's winning streak came[...]

While a toilet paper discount caused stampedes in Utrecht, Geert Wilders broke the coalition talks' radio silence for the first time this week. Not to say how happy he is that tart from his home province is now officially on an EU heritage list, but to say that the four parties have "a major problem"[...]

The coalition talks resume with a teambuilding week at a country estate in Hilversum, where the four party leaders try to keep the media and the winter chill from the door. After months of rain, the sub-zero temperatures are welcomed by skaters, but the government's decision to pump extra gas from Groningen gets a frosty[...]

It's time again for our annual look back at the microscandals and minor squabbles that enjoyed 15 minutes or less of notoriety on social media. Do you remember the Roman sewage row, the Pokémon stampede, the Anne Frank Borrelplank or the penile solar panels? Almost certainly not, so let us clutter your memory once more.[...]

The country can and must be governed, coalition scout Ronald Plasterk said after handing in his homework, but who wants to govern the country like this? Pieter Omtzigt still has serious doubts about the PVV's relationship with the constitution, Dilan Yesilgöz doesn't want the VVD to join a coalition and Caroline van der Plas is[...]

As the coalition talks hobble towards the start line, a new parliament of fresh faces is sworn in. But only after the old gang gets together for one last job: solving the mystery of some missing votes in Tilburg. The Brabant city is also the scene of some surreal footballing scenes as the orange Lionesses[...]

The process of forming a new government gets off to an inauspicious start when Geert Wilders's candidate to canvas the 15 parties turns out to have some undisclosed dodgy dealings. Geert can't find a partner, Pieter is bickering about the prenups, Dilan just wants to be friends and Caroline is urging them to give it[...]

After the earthquake of Geert Wilders's election win, we pick our way through the rubble. Can the PVV form a coalition and where will Wilders find his team of ministers from? Or will it be a centrist cabinet with Frans Timmermans's PvdA-GL alliance? How many glasses of Prosecco will Vera Bergkamp need after meeting all[...]

The podcast team reacts to what looks set to be the most dramatic election in the Netherlands for a generation. The NOS exit poll gives Geert Wilders's far-right PVV party 23% of the vote and a clear lead over its rivals. The VVD drops to third place behind the left-wing block of PvdA-GroenLinks and Pieter[...]

The three front runners are deadlocked as the election campaign enters its final days, all hoping a surge in support, a tactical shift or a last-minute gaffe will tip the balance their way. Mark Rutte takes time out from his busy schedule handing out flyers in Almere to measure up the curtains at Nato HQ.[...]

The gloves come off in the election campaign as Pieter Omtzigt is taken to task for his lack of detail, while kickboxing champion Rico Verhoeven takes a sideswipe at Dilan Yesilgöz. Meanwhile, Frans Timmermans drops a key manifesto pledge before dashing off to eye up German chancellor Olaf Scholz's pretzel collection. Mark Rutte has an[...]

Storm Ciaran arrived this week and proved so fierce that even the organisers of the headwind cycling championships were forced to to back-pedal. In the election campaign there was a sense of calm before the storm as Frans Timmermans and Pieter Omtzigt engaged in a bit of light sparring while Dilan Yesilgöz gave an interview[...]

As the Netherlands cricket team prepares to face Afghanistan in a win-or-bust showdown at the ICC Cricket World Cup in India, DutchNews speaks to all-rounder Logan van Beek about the team's progress so far. A dramatic tournament has included a historic win against South Africa, a record defeat by Australia and some eye-catching individual performances[...]

The election campaign moves into top gear with the first TV debate, Pieter Omtzigt's manifesto launch and the first candidate to resign in disgrace for abusive tweeting. Mark Rutte meets Israeli and Palestinian leaders to discuss the conflict in Gaza, while safety concerns prompt the cancellation of a speech on genocide and a march commemorating[...]

The conflict in the Gaza strip dominates this week’s news in the Netherlands. Prime minister Mark Rutte repeated the Dutch government’s support for Israel and stressed it must stay within the boundaries of international laws and proportionality, but a similar statement by Frans Timmermans caused the first friction between the two party alliance he’s leading[...]

The runners and riders are declared for the election and it's looking like a three-horse race with six weeks to run. There's a row about flags as councils deliberate over how to commemorate the victims of the violence in Israel and Gaza. Max Verstappen completes his procession towards the F1 title in infernal conditions in[...]

The loudest skeleton in the Dutch royal closet fell out this week with the discovery of Prince Bernhard's Nazi party membership card. As one resistance hero fell from grace, another had his honour restored as Tula was formally rehabilitated 228 years after being put to death for demanding freedom from slavery in Curacao. And Ajax[...]

Rotterdam was in shock this week after three people were shot dead in an apparent revenge attack by a medical student who had been taken to court for mistreating animals. In the election campaign, Pieter Omtzigt unveiled his list of candidates for his Nieuw Sociaal Contract party, while Esther Ouwehand stepped aside as PvdD leader[...]

Prinsjesdag, the ceremonial presentation of the annual accounts, went down with a whimper rather than a bang, as well as plenty of bells and whistles for the royal household. Sigrid Kaag delivered a caretaker budget of minor tweaks ahead of a debate that failed to ignite the election campaign but covered plenty of ground, from[...]

The animal rights party PvdD completed its metamorphosis into a fully fledged Dutch political party this week with a bloody, bare-knuckled power struggle. Esther Ouwehand emerged as top dog in her battle with the party's management board, but will it knock the PvdD off their electoral perch? We discuss that, as well as the squabbles[...]

This week the main political parties set out their stalls as the campaign for the first Rutte-free election in 20 years gathers momentum. Asylum minister Eric van der Burg loses yet another court case, this time on third-country nationals fleeing Ukraine. Denzel Dumfries dispatches Greece in Eindhoven while Max Verstappen sets yet another record in[...]

As is tradition in September, the cabinet’s plans for the coming year will strategically leak in the weeks before the budget is officially presented by king Willem-Alexander on Prinsjesdag. This week, it was revealed that the caretaker cabinet is planning to allocate 2 billion euros to combat the cost of living crisis, following the news[...]

The podcast returns to chew over the latest developments in the election campaign. Pieter Omtzigt steps into the fray, Dilan Yesilgöz steps into Mark Rutte's shoes, Wopke Hoekstra shuffles off to Brussels and Caroline van der Plas says she won't be standing anywhere in high heels. Nobody seems alarmed that the economy is in recession,[...]

A special edition of the DutchNews podcast focuses the collapse of the cabinet, the end of the Rutte era and the upcoming election. Will immigration dominate the campaign, will Vincent Karremans get back on his high horse and will Pieter Omtzigt team up with the farmers? And what about the game of Tweede Kamer musical[...]

As we recorded this week's podcast, it was unclear if Mark Rutte was going to a step further than Vladimir Putin and stage a mutiny against his own government. The king apologised for the Dutch slave trading past and said the law could never be used to justify crimes against humanity. Dutch museums begin the[...]

Justice minister Dilan Yesilgöz lends the far right a veil of respectability by backing a PVV proposal to ban police from wearing headscarves. Farmers Defence Force are roundly condemned for circulating MPs' phone numbers ahead of a debate on the stalled talks on agriculture reform. RIchard de Mos is at the centre of more chaos[...]

In an explosive week for education, schools minister Dennis Wiersma's short fuse detonated for the last time and universities erupted in protest against Robbert Dijkgraaf's "Dutch first" plan for bachelor degrees. The farmers' lobby pulled out of talks on funding a transition to sustainable agriculture, leaving the government's nitrogen strategy in the mire. More details[...]

The king announces he'll be taking regular train services after the decision to retire the royal carriage. He'll be able to travel to with NS, QBuzz or Arriva, but not Eurostar, who are furious about being shunted into a siding by the Dutch government. Also stuck in a rut are D66, who have been frozen[...]

It's a bad week for European connections as the eurozone slips into recession and Eurostar trains to Amsterdam face being suspended for seven months. Prime minister Mark Rutte faces a barrage of criticism over the thorny issues of migration and the Groningen gas field earthquakes. The ICJ in The Hague is deluged with terrible Russian[...]

The new Senate is sworn in after the coalition parties emerge as the winners of the three-dimensional game of horse trading for the final seats. But not before the outgoing chamber rubber-stamps the outcome of 16 years of talks to reform the pension system. Councillors in The Hague swiftly remove signs proclaiming glory to Ukraine[...]

Amsterdam bans smoking joints in public in the latest stage of the capital's 12-step plan to kick its drug tourism dependency. The political agenda is dominated by the long-running pension talks and fears of another asylum system meltdown this summer. Wopke Hoekstra flies to Beijing to reassure the Chinese that little things like war, genocide[...]

Brabant is the unlikely setting this week for a tale of industrial espionage running from Greece to Moscow via Paris. The national audit office takes time out from infiltrating army bases to deliver a damning verdict on the government's handling of the economy. GDP unexpectedly nosedives after it emerges that bamischijven are disappearing from Friday[...]

Rotterdam's runaway vulture is bound for a Mediterranean island retreat after startling the owner of a house in Leipzig by turning up beside his pond. Closer to home, GroenLinks and BBB have mixed results as they try to form provincial administrations. Interpol launches an appeal to try to identify 22 women murdered across three countries[...]

On the day when the Dutch commemorate their war dead, the president of Ukraine jetted in to give a sobering reminder that wars are not just for the history books. Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the ICC, the Senate, the Catshuis and a royal palace in a whirlwind tour that covered more ground than the Russian army[...]

Prime Minister Mark Rutte once again apologised to the people of Groningen for how they have been treated by the government in the past decades and pledged 22.5 billion of investments in the province’s infrastructure, public facilities and healthcare to compensate for the physical and mental damages caused by gas extraction induced earthquakes. Climate minister[...]

The government's woes keep piling up as squatting badgers throw a spanner into the works of their efforts to house refugees. Talks with farmers' groups on nitrogen reduction are on the verge of breaking down while the government grapples with conflicting demands from opposition parties. Travellers are warned to face another summer of misery at[...]

French president Emmanuel Macron was confronted by protests and tough questions on his relations with China on his state visit to The Hague, but the Dutch language turned out to be his biggest adversary. Farmers' party BBB looks set to shut out D66 from provincial government as tensions grow in the coalition on its nitrogen[...]

A carousel of rubbish this week as Amsterdam imports 900 tonnes of waste from Rome while launching a campaign to keep out trashed British tourists. Mark Rutte promises to listen better to voters as he tries to save his government from the scrapheap, while Wopke Hoekstra tries to salvage his credibility by finding common ground[...]

The polder system is being hollowed out and threatens to go off the rails at any moment. Yes, those pesky badgers have been building their setts under railway lines and forced NS to cancel some trains. Meanwhile, the Christian Democrats lick their wounds at a corporate hotel near Utrecht as the coalition parties continue to[...]

We digest the results of a bombshell election that turned the Senate, the provincial houses and the water boards upside down and the flags the right way up. Are the nitrogen reduction plans in disarray? Who will the BoerBurgerBeweging team up with in the provinces? And can Mark Rutte live to fight another round on[...]

This week we do our best to explain how next week's elections work (shout out to the water boards!), why the TV debates are between politicians who aren't standing in them and why Mark Rutte is shadow boxing with a 'leftist cloud'. Justice minister Dilan Yesilgöz is under pressure over failures in the crown witness[...]

The systematic failure to protect Groningen residents from earthquakes and witnesses in gangland trials from being murdered in broad daylight were laid bare in two damning reports this week. We unearth the village scandal behind a portrait painted by Vincent van Gogh shortly before he left his native Brabant. Inflation rises again as the official[...]

Unfortunately there is no regular episode this week because in a freakish coincidence the entire DutchNews podcast team is away and we promise this has nothing to do with the ten Russian spies who were expelled from the Netherlands on Tuesday. As a compensation, we release last summer's special episode for Patreon supporters in which[...]

After relying on the Netherlands to help them beat the taxman, U2 appropriately hire a Dutchman to beat the drums for them in Las Vegas. There's more smashing news on the tennis court, where two home-based players reach the quarter-finals of the ABN AMRO tournament. The VVD wins the race to become the first party[...]

Dutch rescue workers join the international team searching the rubble of this week's earthquake in Turkey and Syria for survivors. Back home, Mark Rutte surveys the wreckage of his asylum policy as the Council of State throws out a rule delaying family reunions. The team investigating the MH17 disaster say the chain of command went[...]

The distant goal of putting Russia on trial for invading Ukraine moves a step closer as a dedicated prosecutor's office is set up in The Hague. Mark Rutte avoids a diplomatic incident as he takes French president Emmanuel Macron out to an Indonesian restaurant. The Dutch and German armies look set to integrate further, though[...]

A feast of ophef this week as the widow of singer André Hazes sues a juice channel presenter who called her a 'gecremeerd kroket' while Belgium's prime minister gets his flags in a twist. Richard de Mos rolls up in a garish stretch limousine for the start of his trial, where he's accused of running[...]

Mark Rutte went to Washington this week and said the Netherlands would definitely send some weapons to Ukraine at an unspecified time in the near future. Mayors in three cities suggested digital banning orders to curb gang violence, even though they don't know what they are, how they'd work or whether they're even legal. Good[...]

2023 gets off to a shaky start with Gert-Jan Segers stepping down as leader of the ChristenUnie party. The cabinet's plans to control immigration come unstuck in court, forcing asylum minister Eric van der Burg to kick the latest measures into the long grass. The looming recession has puts a dampener on the housing market[...]

It's that time of year when we look back over those fleeting flare-ups of outrage and opprobrium that feature in the Ophef of the Week slot. Relive obscure controversies such as the celebrity who took her own mob to the supermarket. Recall the overpriced phone booths in the ministry of horrors. Do you remember which[...]

Sigrid Kaag is dispatched to Paramaribo as the cabinet's efforts to apologise for the Dutch slave trade fly into a whirlwind of recriminations. Back home, Wopke Hoekstra is shocked – shocked! – by a report exposing institutional racism at the foreign affairs ministry. Dutch Moroccan footballers, meanwhile, have no regrets as they eclipse Louis van Gaal's[...]

The cabinet makes a sorry spectacle of itself this week as its attempts to apologise for slavery come apart at the seams. Rabobank, a co-operative bank set up to lend to farmers, is suspected of getting its hands dirty with money laundering, financing terrorism and rigging bond deals. As the economy cools, Dutch households turn[...]

A week totally devoid of plot twists includes another farmers' protest, a pre-nuptial agreement between GroenLinks and PvdA, and a warning from the AIVD that Russia and China might be spying on us. There's a double dose of ophef as sports minister Conny Helder leaves parliament early to fly to Qatar, then says 'never mind'[...]

Inflation is a growing problem, and not just for the Oranje fan who was kicked out of a Qatari stadium this week for accessorising his rainbow armband with a pair of false breasts. Brussels tells finance minister Sigrid Kaag to redo her budget arithmetic as fears of a recession deepen. The Dutch government makes farmers[...]

Eight years after the shooting down of flight MH17 over Ukraine, three men are given life sentences for the murder of the 298 passengers and crew. The reality of the ongoing war was brought home for Wopke Hoekstra, who had to take shelter from Russian missiles on a visit to Kyiv. The war is also[...]

Mark Rutte took a flight out of Egypt this week to fend off a mutiny in his party on asylum. It's not just the wolves that are feasting in Gelderland as a restaurant in Nijmegen is named the best place in the world for plant-based cuisine. The government still can't decide on a new pension[...]

Early November is traditionally a fruitful time for conspiracy theorists, as Guy Fawkes, David Icke and Rian van Rijbroek will testify. The RIVM admits it mixed up its numbers on nitrogen pollution just as the Council of State tells the government to redo its homework on building permits. Dutch railway operator NS cuts services and[...]

This week, we look at two instances of climate activism in the Netherlands and ask why the superglue does not seem to work. Asylum minister Eric van der Burg's troubles continue as local councils give him yet another ultimatum about sorting out the mess of where refugees should sleep. House prices are falling and interest[...]

Wopke Hoekstra says Netherlands needs a 'constructive' relationship with gas-rich Qatar as he rejects parliament's calls to boycott the upcoming World Cup. Let's hope the relationship is constructed more carefully than the stadiums for the tournament, which cost the lives of thousands of migrant workers. Asylum minister Erik van der Burg is caught between a[...]

Inflation will stay high until next year, house prices are cooling and there's a wave of bankruptcies on the way. 2023 looks like a good year to hide under the bedsheets, which might have inspired one prisoner this week to execute a traditional-style escape. The Groningen gas inquiry continues, but not even the collective force[...]

Johan Remkes, the government's polder tsar, works his magic again as Dutch farmers cautiously welcome his plan to buy out up to 600 of the biggest nitrogen polluters - essentially the same plan that sparked two years of furious protest. There seems little hope of reconciliation between Khadija Arib and her successor as chair of[...]

A bleak autumn looms as inflation surges to a new high, hospital beds start filling up with coronavirus patients and a battle royale breaks out between the Tweede Kamer's past and present chairwomen. Wages are also rising, though not as fast as inflation, and healthcare workers suffering from Long Covid could be in line for[...]

The inverted flags weren't the only sign of distress as the king opened Parliament for what looks set to be a gruelling year. The speech was rewritten at the last minute to include the goverment's hastily agreed energy price cap, one of several measures designed to bring down the soaring inflation rate. The cabinet walked[...]

As a winter of bankruptcies and financial lockdown draws nearer, the government dips into its pockets to help households struggling with their energy bills. The train drivers' strike is settled with a 9.25% pay rise, but Schiphol's boss, Dick Benschop, pays the price for a summer of airport chaos. Another big earner, Sywert van Lienden,[...]

The entire podcast team abandoned Paul by fleeing abroad, so no hour long episode as usual but only a brief overview of this week’s headlines. Agriculture minister Henk Staghouwer resigned after concluding he wasn’t the man for the job, Dutch leaders offered their condolences to the British Royal Family following the death of Queen Elizabeth[...]

Exactly 350 years after the disaster year of 1672, the government faces an energy crisis, a refugee accommodation crisis and a nitrogen pollution crisis all at once. Wopke Hoekstra experiences an identity crisis as he oscillates between supporting the government's nitrogen policy as a cabinet minister and attacking it as leader of the Christian Democrat[...]

Farmers this week stepped up their protests against the government's nitrogen policy by blocking deliveries of food to supermarkets. That was especially bad news for the government's new team of tax inspectors who have the Herculean task of classifying fruit and vegetables. While the farmers came under fire for ploughing up a nature reserve, police[...]

Farmers stepped up their protests this week, bringing two cows to The Hague to illustrate the effect of the government's nitrogen reduction plans. One cow would go to the slaughterhouse today, the other would go back to the farm to be slaughtered later. Police described the hardliners' approach as a threat to democracy as CDA[...]

After a two-year ceasefire during the pandemic, farmers warn their tractors are not for turning as a new wave of protests begins against the government's plans to cut nitrogen emissions. Coronavirus infections are rising but health minister Ernst Kuipers sees no cause for alarm, as long as everyone follows his lead and washes their hands.[...]

It was the week the Dutch government discovered the truth of what a famous Scotsman once said about the best laid plans of mice and men. Schiphol airport announced thousands of flights will be cancelled this summer because it can't recruit enough staff. Agriculture minister Christianne van der Wal was doorstepped by angry farmers and[...]

The Netherlands needs to ramp up its efforts to cut nitrogen pollution, including measures to reduce the agriculture sector, nature minister Christianne van der Wal warned this week. Also in line for a shake-up is the police force, where racist officers will face stronger sanctions and senior officers take on the macho culture. Rotterdam city[...]

In a week dominated by queues and logjams, Schiphol airport struck a deal with ground staff to try to avoid a summer of misery for air passengers. Dutch motorists began queueing for petrol in Germany as Russia put the squeeze on fuel prices. A housing bottleneck left people sleeping on chairs at Ter Apel refugee[...]

It turns out Mark Rutte doesn't have the most unreliable memory in the Netherlands: that accolade goes to his trusty old Nokia 301. We digest the fall-out from Nokiagate and ask what happened to Rutte's promises of a more open style of government. Collective paralysis also seems to have afflicted the coronavirus response, with health[...]

The shiny new administrative culture was put back in its box this week as Mark Rutte and Sigrid Kaag roamed the parliamentary corridors drumming up support for their spring budget package. In the debating chamber, parents who were targeted in the childcare benefits scandal walked out as a coalition MP refused to take questions during[...]

The women take over this week as we remember the dead of World War II and celebrate freedom, while three peregrine falcon chicks escape their eggs on a ledge high above the Rijksmuseum. We ask can Hugo de Jonge solve the housing crisis, as he did coronavirus, or would he perhaps be better off trying[...]

More evidence this week that the Netherlands is recovering from the coronavirus pandemic as people try to offload the jigsaw puzzles and DVDs they bought during lockdown on the King's Day street markets. The government has a clear-out of its munitions depots to support Ukraine's war effort, as Ukrainian refugees boost net migration in the[...]

This week the PvdA had to find a new leader after Lilianne Ploumen decided she was unsuited to the job and quit as an MP. But the real crisis was at D66, where Sigrid Kaag was undermined by the party's woefully misjudged handling of a sexual harassment inquiry. Germany angered the islanders of Schiermonnikoog by[...]

Former health minister Hugo de Jonge tried to extricate himself from the face mask scandal this week by defending a deal that he officially had nothing to do with. Another former minister, Stef Blok, is deployed to speed up the confiscation of Russian assets as the number of Ukrainian refugees reaches 22,000. Soaring fuel prices[...]

*Apology: unfortunately this week's recording was disturbed by occasional drilling noises. We have passed the workman's details on to Maurice de Hond.* Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy was the toast of Brielle this week as he commemorated the 450th anniversary of the town's liberation from Spain. In his address to the Tweede Kamer he also called[...]

Disgrace and disappointment dominate a week in which Hugo de Jonge again dodged questions about his part in a deal to buy substandard face masks that made three enterprising young lobbyists €20 million richer. His successor as health minister, Ernst Kuipers, warned that the pandemic isn't over but we're going to remove all the restrictions[...]

We do our best to help you digest the alphabet soup that is the local election results, including the sad news that Jesus will not be setting Rotterdam's municipal tax rates for the next four years. The flu season kicks off just as the last coronavirus restrictions are lifted and Ernst Kuipers puts his faith[...]

As war continues to rage in Ukraine, we focus this week on a campaign closer to home: the municipal elections on March 16. There's rage in The Hague too as foreign affairs minister Sigrid Kaag goes AWOL in faraway Maastricht. The government brings in measures to relieve the effect of the war on living costs,[...]

A massive upheaval of the European postwar order and the invasion of a sovereign state puts a damper on the Netherlands' coronavirus "freedom day". Politicians roundly condemn Vladimir Putin's incursion in Ukraine, but only after Mark Rutte makes time to chat about his car on a TV talk show. Three storms caused record amounts of[...]

Freedom Day is almost here, and what finer way to celebrate than by reviving the biggest superspreading events of the last two years: Carnaval in Brabant and reopening nightclubs? Confusion abounds at political party Volt as one of its MPs is suspended over allegations of inappropriate behaviour shortly after being the target of online abuse.[...]

Following the cancellation of TV talent show The Voice, football club Ajax and the Dutch parliament are the latest institutions to face accusations of sexual harassment. The Dutch government brings forward plans to relax the pandemic measures and sketched out its strategy for 'living with the virus'. Energy prices drive inflation up to its highest[...]

We sift through the wreckage of a week when Storm Corrie battered the coastline, a German cargo ship smashed up a wind farm and the cold case team investigating the betrayal of Anne Frank ran into strong headwinds. The government trashed its plans for a 2G coronavirus pass just as half a million vaccine certificates[...]

The Netherlands went into Schrödinger's Lockdown this week, as venues everywhere opened up until 10pm while their owners fumed about staying closed. A shadowy transaction at the Binnenhof caught the eye of Twitter observers, while in the debating chamber Ernst Kuipers raised eyebrows with his claims about 3G passes. Dubious claims also put paid to[...]

Any hopes of a fresh start to 2022 are well and truly cancelled. RTL pulls the plug on its most successful TV show, the Voice of Holland, as allegations emerge of widespread sexual abuse. The first parliamentary debate of the new cabinet term begins with angry exchanges as MPs round on Geert Wilders for his[...]

A year after Mark Rutte's four-party coalition resigned in disgrace, a new cabinet of four parties, led by Mark Rutte, promises a fresh start and a "new elan". Within days two ministers have tested positive for coronavirus and the justice minister is under fire for not bothering to enforce the rules. Departing economic affairs minister[...]

Special guest and celebrity roof gardener Molly Quell joins us for the traditional celebration of online outrage, political chicanery and flash-in-the-pan fame that is the DutchNews ophef awards. We have 11 instantly forgettable scandals for you to choose from, but in true Dutch fashion only four of them actually count. Look back in astonishment at[...]

Rejoice this Yuletide, for a cabinet is born! Or is it four more years of being led by the same donkeys? In a special edition of the DutchNews podcast, we pick over Rutte IV's frugality-busting coalition deal. Can the government regain people's trust in the wake of the childcare benefits scandal and the Groningen earthquakes?[...]

Eleven months, eight resignations and more than 8,000 coronavirus deaths since the Dutch government resigned, a new cabinet looks set to take office just in time for the Christmas recess. Schools will not be finishing early for the holidays, however, despite the threat of the Omicron variant and the advice of the Outbreak Management Team.[...]

Coronavirus cases are flying high but the big news this week was about two quarantining tourists who were barred from flying home and forced to spend the night in a stinking toilet in Groningen. Hugo de Jonge promises to give everyone over 60 a booster jab by Christmas as the cabinet comes under fire again[...]

While shoppers hunt for a Black Friday bargain, the Dutch government faces a Code Black scenario in hospitals as coronavirus infections continue to spread. Unrest boils again in Dutch cities as bars are forced to shut early and stricter rules are mooted for unvaccinated people. The cabinet comes in for criticism for its mixed messages,[...]

2G or not 2G? That is the question vexing Dutch politicians as coronavirus cases keep soaring and the calls for tighter restrictions grow louder. The coalition talks are still on track despite a careless party leader leaving confidential documents on a train. Sparks fly in parliament as far-right party FVD is accused of threatening behaviour.[...]

With Code Black looming in hospitals, the Dutch government brings in a 'lockdown lite' in the hope of bringing infections down by Sinterklaas. But at least there'll be less black on the faces of the saint's entourage, as research show 'sooty Piets' have become the dominant strain. December 5 is also the date when Mark[...]

With coronavirus cases on the rise again, experts call for firm, decisive action to bring infections down. Politicians, however, prefer to tinker with work from home rules, rely on a patchy QR code system and put the hard decisions off for another week. Elsewhere this week the Netherlands clocked up a record number of billionaires,[...]

New climate change forecasts this week were the stuff of Dutch nightmares: if the Netherlands doesn't step up its efforts to cut emissions, it risks becoming a Mediterranean country. Even more urgently, the rising tide of coronavirus infections has raised the prospect of restrictions being imposed again. And there's still the question of when we'll[...]

Sinterklaas ophef comes round earlier every year, but there's a twist this time around: it's not about Zwarte Piet. A critical review of the government's coronavirus strategy comes out just as cases soar again and ministers promise to repeat the same mistakes as last year. Infections are certainly moving much faster than efforts to compensate[...]

This week the coalition talks moved into an exciting new phase as the four parties from the last government finally agreed to make up the numbers. Also making up numbers was junior justice minister Ankie Broekers-Knol, who was rounded on by all sides after she suggested 100,000 Afghans could be on their way to the[...]

Six months after the election, the coalition merry-go-round comes full circle as the four parties from the last coalition agree to form the next one. A vegan restaurant in Utrecht becomes a cause célèbre for protesters against the coronavirus check pass. Mark Rutte gets some unwanted attention from the criminal underworld and a former councillor[...]

The pandemic put paid to the usual Budget Day pageantry again, but the economic revival gave parties plenty of scope to embellish the balance sheet with extra cash for teachers, healthcare staff and new houses. The abolition of the 1.5 metre rule failed to bring a rapprochement with the hospitality sector over the compulsory corona[...]

D66 leader Sigrid Kaag will be spending more time with Johan Remkes after she resigned over the chaotic operation to evacuate Kabul. Remkes's task of forming a new coalition became more complicated as the ChristenUnie and Labour played significant parts in Kaag's downfall. The cabinet abolished the 1.5 metre society and set up the Corona[...]

There are three levels of crisis in the Netherlands: moderate, severe and 'call Johan Remkes'. The self-styled Plumber of Groningen has given himself a month to unclog the blockage in the coalition negotiations, which has grown fatter this week following Sigrid Kaag's gossamer-veiled attack on Mark Rutte. Despite warnings from viral experts that coronavirus infections[...]

Scientists were stunned this week when a stingray at Harderwijk's Dolfinarium gave birth seven years after its last sexual encounter, but it will take an even bigger miracle to form a new Dutch government by Christmas. With the coalition talks deadlocked, Mark Rutte and Sigrid Kaag have bowed to the inevitable and called in 'Mister[...]

It's the last podcast before the summer holiday, but there's little respite in prospect for thousands of people in Limburg hit by unprecedented flooding in the Maas valley. The chances of anyone going abroad are diminishing fast as the surge in coronavirus cases turn the Netherlands red on the EU's travel map. The country is[...]

Alarming news dominates this week's podcast as journalist Peter R de Vries is shot in the street and coronavirus infections spread like wildfire through the country's nightspots. Was De Vries targeted for his investigations into the Netherlands' drug gangs? And what measures will the government bring back to save everyone from long Cov- sorry, from[...]

After Oranje checked out early from Euro 2020, the state broadcaster brought further shame on the nation by posting the wrong lyrics to the German national anthem. Fans looking to drown their sorrows had to move fast to beat the ban on cut-price alcohol promotions from July 1. Elsewhere it was a week of success[...]

Coronavirus infections are receding, Janssen vaccines are being snapped up like hot cakes and football fans are looking forward to watching Oranje on the big screen again. But will the Delta variant spoil everyone's party this summer? As the coalition talks get stuck in the mud, Mark Rutte gets stuck into Victor Orbán over Hungary's[...]

Face masks are on the way out and tourists are on the way back as the end of the pandemic looms into view. But after 50 years of milking British stag parties, Amsterdam is looking to lure a different class of post-corona visitor. In other bad taste news, streets around the country are turning orange[...]

The government is looking to speed up the end of lockdown as coronavirus infection rates hurtle downwards, but at the Binnnehof everything's grinding to a halt. Wopke and Mark can't manage to split up Jesse and Lilianne, Sigrid doesn't want to share with Gert-Jan and Pieter has served up a giant can of worms. Elsewhere,[...]

Mark Rutte and Hugo de Jonge joined the 10 million people to be vaccinated this week, just as museums, restaurants and the Droomvlucht ride at the Efteling reopened for business. The Janss— pardon, Johnson & Johnson vaccine was taken out of circulation over concerns about blood clots, while controversy raged about the face mask deal[...]

A mass coronavirus experiment, outrage over drugs tourists and pariah status for Belarus: this year's Eurovision Song Contest really had it all. Museums, bars and restaurants are set to open sooner now that coronavirus is on the wane, even in Rotterdam. In a landmark judgment, global super-polluter Shell is told it has an obligation under[...]

At long last coronavirus infections have started to fall, but not soon enough to make this year's Eurovision Song Contest an even more tasteless experience than usual. Also falling rapidly is Forum voor Democratie's seat count as three MPs defect in the wake of the latest row and the Brabant coalition collapses. A village north[...]

The podcast team look forward to the mouthwatering prospect of bitterballen for breakfast as step two of lifting the coronavirus restrictions looms into view. One thing falling even faster than the infection numbers is Forum voor Democratie's seat count as the party splits faster than a uranium atom on steroids. Riots break out in Doetinchem[...]

For the second year in a row the May 4 and May 5 ceremonies took place without an audience. Actor André van Duin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel marked the event with moving speeches about rebuilding after the war, while conspiracy theorists marked it with a tasteless poster about coronavirus rules. The Netherlands' largest online[...]

Sighs of relief alternated with sharp intakes of breath this week as the coronavirus rules were relaxed just as the number of patients in hospital reached a four-month high. Minutes of cabinet meetings confirmed that ministers tried to stonewall MPs' efforts to expose the child benefits scandal. Another critical report shed a light on the[...]

Three months after introducing a curfew to drive coronavirus infections down, Mark Rutte said it was 'responsible' to lift restrictions now that cases are 25% higher and hospitals have started cancelling heart surgery. There's another setback in the efforts to form the next government as it emerges ministers pre-cooked the evidence they gave to parliament[...]

As infections rose again this week, the government agreed to organise a series of mass events for people who are sick of lockdown, so they can get sick with coronavirus instead. We also explain why a D66 MP gave up his seat after just 15 days while Geert Wilders was uncharacteristically silent on the subject.[...]

In an Easter week of remarkable comebacks, none was so spectacular as Mark Rutte's career diving and resurfacing like a Dutch submarine catching a glimpse of barbecue sunshine. Forum voor Democratie's prodigal pensioner Theo Hiddema returned as a senator and veteran negotiator Herman Tjeenk Willink came out of retirement to head the coalition formation talks.[...]

While Dutch salvage experts worked to free a 200,000 tonne cargo ship blocking the Suez canal, back home everything ground to a halt this week. The coalition talks were stalled by Kajsa Ollongren's positive coronavirus test and then torpedoed by her documentary faux pas. Hugo de Jonge struggled once again to convince MPS he was[...]

The podcast team asks all the important questions in the wake of the election results. Who will be the fourth wheel on Mark Rutte's fourth cabinet? Where did the vote for the traditional left-wing parties go? Why did Sigrid Kaag's footwork succeed while Wopke Hoekstra stumbled? Will anyone ever wear a turtleneck to a television[...]

We react to a dramatic exit poll that the election campaign scarcely deserved, with big wins for D66, disappointment for PVV and CDA and devastation for GroenLinks and the SP. Can the coalition 'motorblok' go it alone or will they try to bring a fourth partner on board? And we look at the four new[...]

In a week dominated by elections, infections and corrections, Mark Rutte engaged some elaborate verbal trickery to justify extending the coronavirus curfew that he's been promising for weeks to abolish. Less than a week before election day, we ask why Rutte's VVD seem unassailable in the polls and what their rivals are doing to bridge[...]

A mixed week for boutique entrepreneurs as hairdressers and beauticians went back to work while cafe owners and sex workers protested against the lockdown. The first leaders' debate featured a painful confrontation for Mark Rutte, a pointed exchange between Sigrid Kaag and Geert Wilders, and an own goal by Jesse Klaver. We explain why cut-out[...]

The third wave of coronavirus rolls in just as deliveries of the vaccine grind to a halt and Amsterdam becomes the superspreading capital. Shipments of heroin and cocaine are also disrupted by police, while one of Germany's most wanted men is tracked down to Amsterdam. Finance minister Wopke Hoekstra slips up in Friesland, where ice[...]

Alarm bells rang in The Hague this week as a judge struck out the coronavirus curfew, prompting a mad scramble to get a new version through parliament. There was also a mad scramble across the country to find old skates as the coldest temperatures for eight years turned the Netherlands into a winter wonderland. Scientists[...]

Coronavirus plays second fiddle to skating fever this week as temperatures plunge and politicians call for the Elfstedentocht to go ahead, whether Friesland is ready for it or not. While the snowstorm rages outside, Thierry Baudet is caught up in a fresh racism storm as the FVD's WhatsApp chats leak out. Amsterdam eclipses London as[...]

The Netherlands is bracing itself for its biggest freeze in a decade, but it still won't be as cold as the relationship between health minister Hugo de Jonge and hospital bosses after last week's row over vaccination numbers. Also in a frosty mood is Ajax coach Erik ten Hag over the omission of €22.5 million[...]

First the government collapses, then law and order breaks down on the streets of Zwolle. January 2021 is shaping up to be quite a month. The podcast team looks back on a turbulent week of rioting, vaccine gridlock and a massive data leak in the coronavirus testing system. Yet despite imposing the first curfew since[...]

The government caved to pressure this week to bring in a 9pm curfew, after five hours of furious debate about what time it should begin. All fingers were pointing at Mark Rutte in the aftermath of the child benefits scandal as his practice of holding meetings in secret came under scrutiny. The entire world of[...]

A special edition of the podcast following the collective resignation of Mark Rutte's cabinet on Friday. We ask what this means for the families involved and how it will affect the government's pandemic response. We examine Lodewijk Asscher's role in triggering Rutte's downfall, how the question of racism was marginalised during the inquiry and what[...]

This week's podcast was recorded while the cabinet was deciding whether to resign over the child benefits scandal, so we're unable to respond to the possible collapse of he government. But we can bring you up to speed on the coronavirus lockdown, the vaccination schedule and what sandwiches you can bring with you from the[...]

2021 begins with a muted bang and the prospect of a long, cold winter lockdown. Health minister Hugo de Jonge showed his disdain for 'symbolic' gestures as the Netherlands' vaccination programme was finally launched at a televised press conference. The mayor of The Hague, Jan van Zanen, came under fire for a New Year protest[...]

Let's face it, most reviews of 2020 are going to be about as appealing as eating a burned kaassoufflé at an André Hazes concert in Zoetermeer. So why not escape the pandemic and binfire of democracy, pour yourself a glass of droplikeur and enjoy our Ophef of the Year Awards. From king Willem-Alexander being framed[...]

Let's face it, most reviews of 2020 are going to be about as appealing as eating a burned kaassoufflé at an André Hazes concert in Zoetermeer. So why not escape the pandemic and binfire of democracy, pour yourself a glass of droplikeur and enjoy our Ophef of the Year Awards. From king Willem-Alexander being framed[...]

Our special Ask Me Anything was recorded in the summer in the innocent, carefree days before the second wave. We tackled your questions on why the Dutch were being so mean to the Italians, the price of Trouby's dog food and Belgian architecture. We also try to rank flavours of drop and Dutch ice-cream flavours,[...]

We've got a Christmas games and puzzles edition of the podcast to wrap up the year. Hugo de Jonge leaves the rest of the CDA playing Exploding Kittens for a new leader following his unexpected departure. The government continues to play whack-a-mole with the coronavirus pandemic as infections increase. The ChristenUnie tries a new opening[...]

We throw the spotlight on the bureaucratic vices of incompetence and intransigence in this week's podcast. We take an in-depth look at the parliamentary inquiry into the child benefits system, which left thousands of families financially and emotionally ruined when they were wrongly tagged as fraudsters. There's a whole lot of voting going on as[...]

It began in the spring, died away during the summer and came back with a roar in the autumn. No, not coronavirus, but the disintegration of right-wing populist party Forum voor Democratie, which burst apart this week in a shower of resignations, poison-pen letters and video tirades, with a backing track of 80s disco. We[...]

Sinterklaas is working from home, the New Year fireworks have gone out with a whimper and the Elfstedentocht has been abandoned even earlier than usual as coronavirus kills off Dutch seasonal joy. On the positive side, there's a vaccine and the League Against Swearing have published a handy guide to which children's books to buy[...]

A good news week as coronavirus infections start coming down across the kingdom – except in Curaçao, where Dutch tourists are touching down with their fake test certificates and piling into the beach bars. An awkward week for education minister Arie Slob, who is forced to switch sides over anti-gay school charters in the Bible[...]

Disaster was averted this week in 'city of bridges' Spijkenisse when a metro train came to rest atop a sculpture. The government imposed a two-week 'hard lockdown' to try to stop the coronavirus second wave turning into a healthcare disaster. And a disastrous performance by a Rotterdam academic on Thierry Baudet's TV channel went viral.[...]

In a week of fake news and dodgy data, the Dutch government adopts the Niksen approach to disease control. As Covid-19 spreads through the Binnenhof and two ministers go into quarantine, the friendly folk at Farmers Defence Force turn up on Rob Jetten's doorstep with a box of meat products and a camera. Coronavirus also[...]

It's been a week of blaming and shaming as the king and queen flew into a storm of outrage over their pandemic-busting trip to Greece. A Dutch hacker hijacked Donald Trump's Twitter, AZ snatched an unlikely win in Naples and the egg-pilfering gay penguins were up to their usual tricks. Further lockdown measures loom larger[...]

Mark Rutte was in no mood to celebrate his 10th anniversary as prime minister this week, but there was a party outside Parliament as drinkers packed the bars for a last round before lockdown. We ask if the new restrictions will be enough, why Germany is bailing out the Dutch ICUs again and whether circle[...]

After months of delays, the coronavirus tracker app gets the green light just as the country's infection map turns a deep shade of red. The disease even manages to get sucked into the black hole of ophef that is the renovation of the Binnenhof. In another long-running saga, Willem-Alexander is thwarted again in his quest[...]

They can cover our faces, but they can't mask the awkwardness of performing a full U-turn in a matter of days. Mark Rutte grudgingly agreed this week to mask up at the grocery store and advised everyone else to cover their faces wherever the sun doesn't shine. That prompted an even more startling U-turn from[...]

Autumn is a season of missed opportunities and mellow fruitlessness for the Dutch government as its coronavirus strategy unravels. Rising infections, waiting lists for corona testing and no trace of a tracker app - we ask what's gone wrong. Also going nuclear are the VVD, who want to build more power stations if they remain[...]

A low-key Budget Day brings sober news on the economic front, unless you happen to be a princess approaching her 18th birthday. New coronavirus restrictions are imminent as a surge in infections puts even more strain on the testing system. The tension also took its toll on Rotterdam's Erasmusbrug and the prosecutor handling a high-profile[...]

Despite a new surge in coronavirus infections, there were signs of normal life returning this week. The government's budget plans were leaked ahead of Prinsjesdag, the football season geared up for a restart and there was a bitter row in parliament about refugees. While D66 decided not to pick a self-confessed forger as its leader,[...]

The podcast returns from the summer break to find the Dutch border has advanced further than the coronavirus tracker app. We explain why Ferd Grapperhaus's wedding turned into a political horror show and why Hugo de Jonge still can't celebrate his CDA leadership win. Plus we weigh up Tom Dumoulin's chances of winning the Tour[...]

In this summer special, the podcast team answers your questions. The Dutch in EU negotiations. What are the best flavors of drop? (Hint: None) Are Dutch BBQs a hate crime? We've posted an excerpt of the full episode publicly, but if you want the answers to all of these questions, help keep the podcast going[...]

It's the last podcast before we head off for our holidays in sunny Spijkenisse. We tell you who won the Christian Democrat leadership election, how many people joined the unemployment queue in June and why neighbours saw red over a green house. In sport, calls grow louder to overturn a ban on singing in football[...]

There's a lot of outrage on this week's podcast. At the beheading of André Hazes. At lockdown measures. At a change to ID cards. But most of the podcast's outrage is directed at the inadequate compensation for nazi snitches. And while the CDA leadership election wasn't rigged, we do try to influence another election by[...]

The lockdown has eased to the point where we can focus on less distressing subjects than a global pandemic. So we've put together a podcast packed with news of slavery, institutional racism and Brexit. One of Groningen's favourite sons comes home to revive the city's footballing fortunes. New laws come into force on paternity leave,[...]

As the threat of coronavirus fades and the temperature rises, the podcast team ponders the new normal. Will packed train carriages lead to a second wave? Will any of the political leadership contests this summer descend into civil war? Are Amsterdam's canals less culturally significant than 'that Oranje feeling'? How will football fans be stopped[...]

In a week of cancellations, we bring you possibly the most distressing story ever to feature on the podcast. Wopke Hoekstra cancels himself as the next prime minister, the cup final is finally abandoned and Thierry Baudet causes ophef with his itinerant boreal bouquet. In better news, circle parties are saved from oblivion as Hema[...]

The podcast team looks back at a week dominated by bread and circuses, as the fairground wagons circled on the Malieveld and the first batch of new herring went to a good cause. The government is told to beef up its nitrogen reduction plans and warned of dire economic times ahead. Coronavirus testing is rolled[...]

It has been a week of protests. Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema touched the hot button issue of slavery opposition while an unsocially-distant crowd gathered on the Dam to protest racism. Those demonstrations spread to other cities without incident but an anti-lockdown protest over the weekend saw multiple arrests. A skating rink protested the decision by[...]

On the eve of the first big relaxation of lockdown rules, the podcast team asks if it's safe to take a seat on the train or in the bar. Police close an abattoir in Gelderland following a coronavirus outbreak, shining a spotlight on conditions for migrant workers. The Netherlands continues to aggravate its EU partners[...]

The nation took its first tentative steps into the 1.5-metre society this week. Children started going back to school, hairdressers started hacking though their waiting lists and the American ambassador resumed his love affair with fake news. In parliament, defence minister Ank Bijleveld narrowly survived her second motion of no confidence over the deaths of[...]

As the nation prepares to emerge from lockdown, hand stitched face masks at the ready, we examine the government's plans in detail. Libraries, acupuncturists, sex clubs and campsite toilets all featured in Mark Rutte's schedule as Dutch society slowly returns to normal. Coronavirus also gave this year's ceremonies to commemorate the end of the war[...]

The podcast team overcomes 'coronamoeheid' and the horror of 'coronakapsels' to bring you the latest news on the lockdown as well as a few of the 700 new Dutch words that the epidemic has generated. Ministers come under more pressure over face masks, the economic outlook goes from terrible to abysmal and researchers warn of[...]

As the schools prepare to reopen in May, we examine the government's strategy to release the lockdown. What's the impact on regular healthcare? Is it all over for the football season? How did KLM manage to stir up outrage about executive bonuses twice in a week? And most importantly of all, when can we stop[...]

In this week's coronavirus news, demand on intensive care beds appears to be easing off but there is growing concern about the spike in deaths in nursing homes. There's also news of research into what proportion of people may have developed immunity, a rash of scams involving face masks and why idiots are burning down[...]

Our socially distancing podcast team updates you on the state of the lockdown as the first signs emerge of the outbreak being brought under control. What do privacy campaigners have to say about the government's plan to use tracker apps? Why is Wopke Hoekstra persona non grata in Italy? And will the football season end[...]

We bring you up to date with the latest news on how the Dutch are dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. Find out how the government is planning to ramp up the number of intensive care beds, how an ambulance got held up for 20 minutes in Belgium and why finance minister Wopke Hoekstra had to[...]

Our latest quarantined podcast brings you news of the latest coronavirus figures, the government's strict new social distancing rules and the efforts to step up testing. The KNVB still hopes to finish the football season and the MH17 trial is postponed to June for non-corona reasons. The virus is separating not just friends and families,[...]

In the first virtual edition of the DutchNews podcast this week brings you all the latest news on the shutdown, with some audio issues as we get used to our new working conditions. How are families managing home schooling? What help is the government giving to people and businesses? Can you still go outside? And[...]

As the coronavirus rate among the podcast team hits 25%, we take stock of how the Netherlands is responding to the pandemic. Will isolated Brabanders produce a miracle drug? Is anyone checking on Dick Advocaat? And is cancelling Soldaat van Oranje the sign we really have reached the end of days? In non-corona news, the[...]

This week's podcast looks ahead to the start of the MH17 trial with an interview with Asymmetrical Haircuts, a two-woman team of reporters who specialise in international justice. We also do our best to keep up with the rapid spread of coronavirus, the even faster decline of Ajax and the extensive Dutch preparations for Eurovision.[...]

This week's podcast was recorded before news broke of the first case of coronavirus in the Netherlands. We examine how the country has been preparing as the disease spreads through Europe and ask the key questions, such as: is Brexit muppet safe? Elsewhere, there's a withering exposé of tax avoidance in the flower trade, Dutch[...]

As Dutch citizens are declared free from coronavirus, it seems the spirit of Brexit has infected the IND as it blunders not once, but twice on UK citizens' privacy. Dutch skaters dominate the world championships, but all the talk is of what was inside Kjeld Nuis's speedsuit. The debate on how to keep tourists and[...]

Ciara blew into the Netherlands this week and left a trail of fallen trees, insurance claims and cancelled bicycle races. Police stepped up their search for a blackmailer who sent four letter bombs to Dutch companies and Chinese migrants spoke out against a surge in racist behaviour linked to the coronavirus. In politics, the Ceta[...]

It's been a turbulent week of naming, blaming and shaming. KLM suspended all flights to China because of fears about the coronavirus, the government cracked down on New Year firework sales and the football authorities announced plans to tackle racist behaviour. Health minister Bruno Bruins condemned people who ostracised Asian tourists on public transport, while[...]

As January stumbles, coughing and spluttering, into its last hours, we look back on a week bursting with apologies. Mark Rutte said sorry for the Dutch government's involvement in the Holocaust, while Arie Slob said 'sorry, there's no more money' to striking teachers. Two ministers were appointed to shake up the tax office, which is[...]

Originally this episode was intended as the bonus episode during the Christmas break but we failed to release it, mostlybecause we have the organizational skills of the Belgian railroads. Anyway, here is it and enjoy listening to Paul who tortures Molly and Gordon with Dutch popular culture, history and politics and with random facts about[...]

This week, there are too many tourists, too many sports injuries and too many pandas puns. We bring you the latest investigation into a 2009 plane crash that doesn't leave the Dutch Safety Board looking very safe and tell you why everyone you know with a PhD always looks very tired. In our discussion, we[...]

At last we can reveal the results of the most undemocratic vote since the Brexit referendum: our very own Ophef of the Year Awards. Mister Stikstof puts a spanner in the works of Schiphol's expansion plans and joins the chorus of VVD mayors calling for a fireworks ban. Lego is urged to take the Dutch[...]

An even more explosive New Year's Eve than usual has forced politicians to talk seriously about banning neighbourhood fireworks. We discuss whether 2019 will prove to be the tipping point in the annual debate about a tradition that leaves hundreds of people injured each year. The Netherlands pulls its troops out of Iraq, Hudson's Bay[...]

It's the final podcast of the year and that can only mean one thing: the nominations for Ophef of the Year are in. We update you on the situation in Duindorp, the tax office benefits scandal and Ajax's exit from the Champions League. There's a tall story about US basketball players bingeing on a Dutch[...]

Hot gossip, dodgy deals and bureaucratic minefields dominate this week's news. Finance minister Menno Snel comes under fire over the tax office's blunderbuss approach to suspected benefit fraud and tempers flare as The Hague cracks down on New Year beach bonfires. The detention of a teenager who was unaware he was an illegal immigrant sparks[...]

Several long-running sagas come to a head in this week's podcast. Prime minister Mark Rutte and defence minister Ank Bijleveld face more tough questions over the deaths of 70 civilians in a bombing raid in Iraq. The tax office's sledgehammer approach to families suspected of defrauding the child support system also comes in for heavy[...]

We're a man down this week, with Gordon disappearing under mysterious circumstances. Molly and Paul hold down the fort and tell you about why Kim Kardashian West ruffled some feathers in the Netherlands, why Dutch people are still chanting racist things at football matches and how Oscar Wilde got his ring back. In the discussion,[...]

As the nitrogen crisis continues to hang over the country like a vaguely threatening cloud, we examine how cutting speed limits became such a hot political potato. A court orders the government to bring home the children of jihadist mothers, while the MH17 takes another twist as prosecutors implicate Russian military commanders. The start of[...]

It's been a week of false starts and abrupt endings as Schiphol's timetable was thrown into turmoil by a trigger-happy instructor, teachers went out on strike following a double U-turn by unions, a lawyer survived a cross-border assassination attempt and Ajax salvaged a draw from a winning position after being reduced to nine men against[...]

There's a groundhog day feel about this week's podcast as the builders' protest fills the deep tyre treads left by the farmers on the Malieveld, yet another do-or-die date is set for Brexit and our favourite football manager once again comes out of retirement for one last job. Plus we bring you an 11-year-old shaggy[...]

Sorry folks, no podcast this week!

As 8,000 tractors roll into The Hague, the DutchNews podcast asks if the farmers will reap a bitter harvest from their rolling protests against anti-nitrogen regulations. We also try to unravel the mystery surrounding a family of cultists found living on a remote farmhouse in Drenthe, find out how undercover flower investigators blew the lid[...]

The city of peace and justice resembles a Wild West frontier town this week after a corruption scandal and an inferno on the beach brought down The Hague's entire government. But the new sheriff, Johan Remkes, arrives with some heavy baggage as his report on the nitrogen ruling is cited as one reason why the[...]

This week, Paul and Molly update you on endless things going on in The Hague, from the municipality coalition falling to improper building permits. They also talk sports, protests and the Marianne Thieme leaving her post as the leader of the animal rights party. In the discussion, it's tractors, stifstof and a PSA for eating[...]

In a week literally exploding with news, we examine how the coalition may lose its majority over a building permit, the mayor of Amsterdam got in hot water over a non-smoking gun, ministers faced tough questions about Stints and jihadist passports, and some Dutch political horse-trading left British citizens in an unstable situation. There's also[...]

There was only one question on everybody's lips on Prinsjesdag (aka Budget Day) this year, eclipsing even the speculation about Marianne Thieme's outfit or whether Wopke or Erik came up with the €50 billion special projects fund: would King Willem-Alexander be the first monarch to deliver his speech through a beard? We also reflect on[...]

It's been a week of courtroom drama in the Netherlands as Geert Wilders calls for his race-baiting trial to be thrown out for political interference, a doctor is cleared of murder in a landmark euthanasia case, a woman seeks redress for having her baby taken away from the state in the 1960s and a key[...]

The podcast team look back over a summer of blistering heat and bristling with ophef: who poisoned the plants in Thierry Baudet's office? Why does Haarlem have a problem with globetrotters? And was the king wise to come out as a redbeard? We also look at how Amsterdam became a paradise for cocaine dealers, why[...]

There's plenty to shout about in our last podcast before the summer break as five cities bid to host next year's Eurovision, a children's playground is forced to close because of complaints about noise, a proposed Holocaust memorial sparks local protests and the Dutch women's football team are cheered all the way to the final.[...]

It's been a week of big-name casualties as the law finally caught up with celebrity gangster Willem Holleeder and Frans Timmermans saw a top European job slip through his fingers. While Queen Maxima came under fire for her silence in a meeting with Saudi Arabia's crown prince, one cyclist in Groningen probably wishes she'd kept[...]

Cheese, canals and cycling - the podcast team tries to identify the DNA of Dutch identity in a week when the Dutch sense of order was turned on its head. The 112 emergency services hotline broke down, the women's football team won a match with a late penalty and a midsummer Elfstedentocht was staged in[...]

For every action there must be an equal and opposite reaction, as a university in Eindhoven demonstrated this week with its plans for women-only job applications. We discuss the proposals and the ensuing social media firestorm in this week's podcast, as well as bringing you up to speed with the criminal inquiry into the downing[...]

We're living on the edge in this week's podcast, and not just because the pinautomaten in Albert Heijn have broken down. The king weighs into the Irish border issue that has been stirred up again by Brexit, Jeroen Dijsselbloem drops a bombshell into the pension talks, universities are accused of setting the bar too low[...]

This week we look at how a rogue news agency flapping its wings stirred up an international media storm about a Dutch teenage girl's death. We also bring you news of some real storms that exposed one of the country's largest cocaine labs, Ivanka Trump flying into The Hague to near-universal disappointment, two healthy developments[...]

We ask the hard-hitting questions on this week's podcast. What happened in the Eerste Kamer elections? Why are the Hell's Angels so upset this week? How will Sinterklaas arrive next year? Does Brabant really smell like anise? And, in the discussion, is anyone at the EU riding a dragon?

In this week's podcast we try to unravel the logic behind a European election debate that featured two men who weren't in the running but not the leader of the winning party, the blunder that led to hundreds of children being sent to the wrong secondary school, and the end-of-season football relegation play-offs. Duncan Laurence's[...]

Plenty of sea changes in this week's podcast as Mark Rutte takes the fight to Thierry Baudet, Sybrand Buma becomes the second coalition party leader to abandon ship in mid-term and Amsterdam's mayor decides not to impose a booze ban on the city's canals. The Hague opts out of the cabinet's plan for legalised cannabis[...]

The podcast returns from a two-week break to commiserate with Ajax fans over their shock exit from the Champions League, catch up with Forum voor Democratie's fruitless search for a senate leader and find out why the tourist board has started telling visitors to get out of Amsterdam. We also bring you the latest on[...]

This week on the podcast we try to piece together the debris after an explosive week for Forum voor Democratie, find out why so many MPs claim to live in Limburg and catch up with the campaign to ban a homophobic American Holocaust denier from Amsterdam. There's also news of the neck-and-neck Eredivisie title race[...]

As the country gears up for the Easter weekend, the podcast team checks on the progress of the fledgling provincial governments and asks if fears that the housing market is overheating are well grounded. We also look at Ajax's rejuvenation in Europe, what sank Amsterdam's last floating flower business and how one of the country's[...]

Cheese and chips are on the menu in this week's podcast as the Chinese are accused of stealing the Netherlands' digital secrets, Donald Trump threatens to raise the tariffs on Gouda and Edam and the country is warned of a growing obesity crisis. We also ask why Enschede council bailed out its football club, why[...]

This week's podcast has good news for Brits wanting to vote in the European elections, bad news for parents with unvaccinated children in The Hague and fake news about Amsterdam's coffeeshops that generated some home-grown ophef. We also look at why the justice department faced a grilling over a gruesome murder, how Ajax finally got[...]

Foreign interference looms large in this week's podcast as tulip growers tell tourists to stop trampling through their fields, the Dutch and Australian governments begin a series of highly awkward talks with Russia on the investigation into flight MH17, a Picasso is recovered from the clutches of the international underworld and Oranje's bright young upstarts[...]

Thierry Baudet's success in the provincial elections stirred up plenty of ophef (as well as sparking a speech strung together from off-cuts of Oswald Spengler and rejected Nick Kershaw lyrics), but has it really changed the political landscape? We dissect the results and discuss the implications for Mark Rutte's cabinet on this week's podcast. Plus[...]

In a week when the government agreed to bring in a "polluter pays" tax on CO2 emissions, the atmosphere turned poisonous at an Amsterdam school where staff are accused of having terrorist sympathies and in the fishing community of Urk, where a mob descended on the home of a migrant family. Mark Rutte nears the[...]

Plenty of ground to cover in this week's podcast, from Ajax's swashbuckling conquest of Madrid to Wopke Hoekstra's peacemaking mission to Paris and a setback for Albert Heijn in Belgium. Dutch ministers call for short-haul flights to Brussels to be scrapped, IS fighter Yago Riedijk is told he'll have to find his own way back[...]

A week of impulse buys and dodgy transactions is capped by the Dutch government increasing its stake in Air France-KLM, sparking ophef in Paris and causing the airline's share price to take a nosedive. We do our best to untangle the can of worms that was opened by Wopke Hoekstra's surprise move. Elsewhere, 90,000 bottles[...]

The sound of doors slamming shut runs through this week's podcast as the Netherlands says it will turn away returning IS fighters, Venezuela closes its border with Curacao and a Dutch journalist has a full-on crockery-smashing row with a Fox News host. We also find out how the cabinet got its fingers burned over energy[...]

A blockbuster edition of the podcast this week as the Dutch government sends in Stef Blok to wrestle with a muppet named Brexit and try to beat Venezuela's aid blockade by going through Curacao. We also hear how Ajax took pride from a home defeat, Amsterdam's mayor raised the stop sign to red light tourism[...]

There's an end of days feel to the podcast as we review a week in which schoolchildren took a collective day off to demand urgent action on global warming, just days after MPs agreed to talk about it for a bit longer. We also look at why a no-deal Brexit could trigger medicine shortages in[...]

It's a high-stakes edition of the podcast as political parties are banned from receiving foreign donations, the government sees an €8 million Rubens painting go west and cyclists face €95 fines for using mobile phones. In sport, physiotherapists' goldmine Robin van Persie leaves Ajax's €75 million man chasing shadows in the Klassieker, while FC Utrecht[...]

Dirty money and clean air are the hot topics on this week's podcast as the government is warned it won't meet the targets for CO2 emissions in the Urgenda ruling, while coming under pressure to tighten its fiscal rules to stop tax money flowing out of the country and organised criminals flowing in. In sport[...]

It may be winter outside, but there's been plenty to get hot under the collar about on the news front this week. Amsterdam's most infamous neighbourhood gets a less than clean bill of health, party leaders turn up the heat on the climate change deal and showbiz star Gordon (no relation) sees red over a[...]

The podcast returns after the Christmas holidays to blaze a trail through the opening week of the year. We ask why a 48-metre bonfire on a beach on a windy night surprised the authorities by setting things on fire, whether internationals are really responsible for Amsterdam's sizzling hot housing market, and what British nationals in[...]

The podcast crew discussed the Top 150, the Tweede Kamer's answer to the Top 2000.

Our last podcast of the year features a helter-skelter game of red cards, own goals and penalties that ultimately changed nothing, while away from the Brexit negotiations Ajax qualified for the next round of the Champions League. We ask why girls are more likely to move up the educational ladder then boys, whether stints will[...]

As a round-the-clock deportation-busting church service draws the attention of the world's media, Amsterdam calls time on the giant letters outside the Rijksmuseum, Dick Advocaat causes some ophef when he gets a time out in the referee's room and Emile Ratelband is told he can't turn the clock back on his passport. We also discuss[...]

The past looms large in this week's podcast as rail operator NS agrees to compensate Holocaust victims who were transported on its trains. Amsterdam's mayor comes under pressure to enforce the so-called burka ban, there's a run on contraceptive pills, Mark Rutte delivers a 'deal or no deal' message on Brexit and health insurers sound[...]

Things fall apart in this week's podcast as we update you on the increasingly bitter Zwarte Piet debate, plans to deal with a no-deal Brexit, the dispute over the 30% ruling and an electoral boycott triggered by a missing hyphen. Thankfully the football team salvaged some pride with their stunning comeback against Germany. In our[...]

In a week dominated by dodgy deals, Molly and Paul look at the implications of the Brexit breakthrough for UK nationals in the Netherlands, find out how a cinema chain lost €19 million in an internet scam and explain why Dutch language tests have been cancelled for the rest of the year. We also catch[...]

The regular podcast team returns to discuss whether nuclear power will kill us faster than global warming, why there's been a rash of births among sports stars and whether filming at accident scenes should be banned. We also bring you up to date on the Pakistani lawyer fleeing religious persecution, Ajax's revival in Europe and[...]

A bonus edition of the podcast!

The Dutch News podcast this week moves to Amsterdam, ditches Gordon and Paul, and introduces a whole new cast of characters. Senay Boztas and Deborah Nicholls-Lee join Molly to talk about the latest in the story about an electric wagon maker filing for bankruptcy, what advice Mark Rutte is giving schoolchildren and a new turn[...]

While King Willem-Alexander spiced up a royal banquet this week by mentioning Brexit and the last successful invasion of England in the same dinner speech, back in the Netherlands more recent ghosts loomed large as the government faced calls to apologise for the treatment of the so-called 'kraut whores' after WWII. We also focus on[...]

Fireworks and firearms are to the fore in this week's podcast as we rake over the ashes of Rutte's dividend tax debacle, find out how police blew open a suspected terrorist cell in Arnhem, and reveal how Amsterdam plans to make New Year a less explosive occasion. Plus the Night Watch gets a very public[...]

It's been a week of departures as D66 leader Alexander Pechtold handed over the reins to Rob Jetten, Mark Rutte pulled the plug on his dividend tax plan, Unilever rowed back from Rotterdam and the Zwarte Piet motorway blockers had to leave their clogs at the door. Plus Bibian Mentel hangs up her snowboard as[...]

It's been a week of comings and goings after Russian spies were ejected from The Hague, Pim Fortuyn's assassin was allowed to emigrate, and Zwarte Piet got a last-minute reprieve. Ajax returned from Germany with a point in the Champions League and Unilever looked poised to stay in Brexit Britain despite the Dutch government's offer[...]

Partnerships made the headlines this week as Sigrid Kaag answered Rihanna's call to invest in education, Mark Rutte called on the UN to secure justice for the victims of the MH17 disaster and new fathers were given more time off work to spend with their babies. One baby that stirred more controversy was Morgan the[...]

In this week's podcast we bring you the latest news on the tragic accident in Brabant that cost four young children their lives. As it was budget day we analyse the government's financial plans, including controversial measures on the dividend tax and the 30% ruling, as well as who wore the best hats and how[...]

On this week’s podcast, we update you on Lili and Howick, further the leaks ahead of Budget Day and discuss the potential changes to the dual nationality law. Dick Lawyer returns and Paul sneaks in a bonus op hef. In the discussion, Molly interviews Gordon about his recently published memoir. All The Time We Thought[...]

The podcast returns after the summer hiatus with news of a foreign minister fighting to stay in his job, two children fighting to stay in the country and students fighting for space on overcrowded university campuses. We also bring you up to speed on the terrorist stabbing at Amsterdam station and ING bank's unprecedented fine[...]

With the summer break looming, we decided to pick out our favourite examples of 'ophef' - those tornados of outrage that blow up on social media only to be forgotten within 24 hours - from the year so far. It was also a week in which Mark Rutte got caught up in another Trump whirlwind[...]

As one of the longest droughts on record continues, examiners are feeling the heat after an administrative meltdown leaves hundreds of students in Limburg facing a miserable summer. The government admits that new migrants have been left high and dry by the integration process, employees are being burned by the rise of casual labour and[...]

Own goals, defensive stalemates and an unorthodox formation – no, not the World Cup, but Rotterdam's talks to find a coalition, which finally concluded this week. This week the podcast team discuss the last week's political developments, which also saw former GroenLinks leader Femke Halsema come out of retirement to become Amsterdam's first female mayor.[...]

The podcast team looks back at a week of contrasts, as falling crime levels lead the government to consider closing more prisons while rising sea levels trigger a deal to set long-term climate change targets. As PSV's manager Phillip Cocu gets ready to fly out to Turkey, the Netherlands' Moroccan footballers are flying home after[...]

The podcast team looks back at a week in which the government decided that burqas were a bigger threat to society than stray fireworks, a school in Drenthe shelved plans to stage a mock shooting and Delft's porcelain image was rattled by a series of blasts and bombings. Schiphol airport vowed to get tough on[...]

This week's podcast asks if Amsterdam can hold back the rampant spread of tourism in the age of Airbnb and stag weekends. We also look back at a week in which Mark Rutte's handiness with a mop broke the internet, universities once again asked if English is taking over on campus, AD's fishy judging panels[...]

This week's podcast brings you up to date on the process of forming council administrations after this year's local elections. Elsewhere, torrential rain causes havoc around the country, the Dutch government gets tough on Russia over the MH17 inquiry, opposition grows to reforming the 30% tax ruling, and a court makes a groundbreaking ruling on[...]

This week's podcast looks at the ramifications of the latest developments in the MH17 inquiry as the Dutch government and joint investigation team point the finger of blame squarely at Russia. We also find out about the Friesland community came up with an eye-catching additional member to the European Capital of Culture programme, why a[...]

The podcast returns after a two-week break with a round-up of the minor outrages that have been swirling round social media, from the French family who cheated death at a safari park to Hema's protracted protractors and Thierry Baudet's unsettling ode to a baguette. Elsewhere, find out why Mark Rutte had some unlikely guests on[...]

Liner notes: https://www.dutchnews.nl/features/2018/05/dutchnews-podcast-the-shortbread-and-chill-edition-week-18

It's a special King's Day podcast this week as the team examine the Dutch tradition of donning inflatable headgear and flogging your unwanted Dire Straits CDs to unsuspecting neighbours. We also find out why the prime minister was caught out by some unmemorable memos, why Turkey was upset about Menno and why expats are up[...]

We have a second shot at discussing the war on drugs in the week's podcast: is the Netherlands really becoming a narcostate, and are so-called 'cocaine yogis', with their healthy eating, hard partying lifestyles really to blame? We also bring you the latest news on British citizens' efforts to secure their rights ahead of Brexit,[...]

Today on the podcast: is the housing market overheating, why did a singing road lose its voice, is Max Verstappen more accident-prone than a Jeff Koons sculpture, and how did hawks and sea eagles become embroiled in a treetop turf war? Note: Due to a technical error, there is no discussion on this week's podcast.

After scoffing all their Easter chocolate in record time, the podcast team return with news of the Dutch banker jailed for his part in Donald Trump's rise to power, why the supermarkets came under fire for their part in English football fans' latest rampage through Amsterdam, and the man ordered by his local council to[...]

It's an election results special in this week's podcast, as we discuss why local parties rule the roost, how D66 lost out in the cities, whether it can get any worse for Labour and who fared best of the newcomers, including Denk, the PVV and the Animal Rights Party. There's also news of the 'dragnet'[...]

With a week to go until the local elections, we bring you up to speed on the soap opera that is Rotterdam's campaign and explain how and where you can cast your vote. Elsewhere, was ING's about-turn on its CEO's pay rise a victory for people power, and did Unilever's decision to close its London[...]

In the week when the most boring man in politics returned to the cabinet, a plot by taxi drivers to storm Uber's offices with fireworks and molotov cocktails was foiled, Dutch cyclists won a clutch of medals at the indoor track world championships, we dig deep to find some more riveting news – like the[...]

It may be just about the coldest start to March on record, but there's plenty of hot topics to digest on this week's podcast. We find out why Geert Wilders's efforts to thaw relations with Russia got a less than warm reception from the MH17 relatives, how a teenager won the right to brand himself[...]

In this week's podcast we bring you the latest news on the campaign to prosecute tobacco firms for damaging public health, the row over whether Parliament should deny the people a referendum on its plan to scrap referendums, and the Dutch gold rush at the Winter Olympics. We also find out why a Bible belt[...]

This week's podcast brings you up to speed with the gold rush for Dutch skaters at the Winter Olympics, the minister who lost his job over a lie and the eagle that went awol after being harassed by seagulls. We also reflect on the life of the Netherlands' longest serving prime minister, Ruud Lubbers, and[...]

This week's podcast brings you the latest on the Brexit court case in Amsterdam, the race row engulfing the Forum voor Democratie and the party leader whose career capsized in the Maldives. The Dutch government replaces the leaders of its smallest Caribbean territory and Ronald Koeman replaces Dick Advocaat as manager of the national football[...]

In this week's podcast we ask who was responsible for the cyber attacks that mysteriously hit Dutch banks a week after details emerged of the security services' role in a counterespionage operation against Russia. Plans to cut gas production in Groningen and compensate earthquake-hit householders got back on track, the senate debated changes to the[...]

In this week's podcast: how the Dutch caught the Russians hacking the American election; why the Belgians swelled the numbers at a Dutch nationalist rally; how a German wolf toured the Netherlands for two weeks before dining out in Belgium; what police did when a dinosaur showed up in Almelo; and why Limburg wants to be[...]

In this week's podcast we survey the debris from a winter storm that cost €90 million and the obstacles on the path to learning Dutch. Plus how the Belgians came to the rescue when the Russians came calling, why an Amsterdam court became the latest Brexit battleground and the fake news item that's been exposed[...]

The podcast team looks back at a week of shocks that began with another earthquake in Groningen, saw the PVV whip up a social media storm in Utrecht and ended with a baptism of fire for new US ambassador Peter Hoekstra. How did Camiel Eurlings' apology backfire, why was nobody in the least perturbed when[...]

The DutchNews podcast returns after an extended Christmas break with a feast of news from the old year and the new. We catch up on the Dutch winter storm that was too fierce for Noah’s Ark, the former minister who crashed his bus while texting behind the wheel and the whirlwind of fake news that[...]

There's not much Christmas cheer in our last podcast of the year, as the Dutch government joins the chorus of disapproval against Donald Trump's latest diplomatic intervention, texting while cycling is officially frowned on, a radio station is pilloried for a sexist prank and Spain comes under fire for its treatment of Morgan the orca.[...]

In this week's podcast we tackle the biggest, blackest hot potato of our times - when and how will the Zwarte Piet debate end? It's been a week of bitterness and recriminations, with a chaotic end to the Yugoslavia tribunals in The Hague and the Dutch government facing accusations of fitting up an airline pilot[...]

We look back on a week of thwarted protests as MPs fail to talk out a bill to scrap a tax break for homeowners and the A7 motorway is gridlocked by the Zwarte Piet debate. Amsterdam emerges as the first big winner in the Great Brexit Clearance Sale (and immediately frets about the effect on[...]

The Dog Ate My Podcast Edition - Week 46 by DutchNews

Tax-free Millionaires' Shortbread (It Was A Scone) - Week 45 by DutchNews

This week's podcast has a transport theme as a judge calls time on Amsterdam's beer bikes, the Anne Frank Foundation cries foul on Germany's national rail operator and Russia has a hissy fit over air cargo slots at Schiphol. We also tackle the mystery of the cat that travelled 150km to a Belgian town with[...]

In this week's we give you the lowdown on who's who in the new Dutch government and find out why the health minister's shoes made a splash at the swearing-in ceremony. Others to make a splash this week were the protester who disrupted a dolphin show in Japan and the students who came up with[...]

In this week's we give you the lowdown on who's who in the new Dutch government and find out why the health minister's shoes made a splash at the swearing-in ceremony. Others to make a splash this week were the protester who disrupted a dolphin show in Japan and the students who came up with[...]

In a change to our regular podcast format, this week we interview author Ben Coates about why the Dutch are different, how he became an accidental migrant and how, as a former British political hack, he struggled to make sense of a political system that relies on parties agreeing with each other. We also bring[...]

There's an early Christmas feel to this week's podcast as we unpack the eagerly awaited coalition agreement, wrap up the Abba penalty kicks saga and find out how a neglected pet chicken led police to a drug dealer's treasure trove. We also have news of some green eggs and a ham-fisted attempt to break out[...]

The Deplorable Hand Grenade Edition - Week 40 - 2017 by DutchNews

The Cannibal Car Park Edition - Week 39 - 2017 by DutchNews

This week, we’ll be bringing you up to speed on the budget and the coalition talks; we’ll tell you about a Dutchman who was outstanding on his bike while a lot of new bike owners in Tilburg had problems standing out; and we find out what happened when Amsterdam’s women tried to take a stand[...]

The Twitching Game Show Finger Edition - Week 37 - 2017 by DutchNews

The Suicidal Kleptocat Edition - Week 36 - 2017 by DutchNews

The Loose Camel Edition - Week 35 - 2017 by DutchNews

The What Is Taking Them So Long Edition - Week 34 - 2017 by DutchNews

The Summer of Chicks Edition – Week 33 - 2017 by DutchNews

The We Apologise For Everything Edition - Week 28 - 2017 by DutchNews

The Bitterball Twist Edition - Week 27 - 2017 by DutchNews

The Fishy Edition – Week 26 - 2017 by DutchNews

The We Demand Absolute Loyalty Edition - Week 25 - 2017 by DutchNews

Tjeenk Willink's Love Letters Edition – Week 24 - 2017 by DutchNews

The Paul Ducks Out Edition - Week 23 - 2017 by DutchNews

The Headbanging Vultures Edition - Week 22 - 2017 by DutchNews

The Bus Baby Eagle Edition - Week 21 - 2017 by DutchNews

In this week's podcast, we argue about possible coalition options now that the talks have fallen apart, debate when there will be a team outing to see the new pandas and make fun of Molly for not knowing anything about football.

The Crashing Boars Edition - Week #19 - 2017 by DutchNews

This week, we will tell you about lines at Schiphol, lines in Rotterdam and update you with the latest coalition talks news. In our discussion section, we will ask whether or not it’s appropriate to honor refugees on Remembrance Day.

This week we talk about orange kings on television, orange ties in Brussels and the orange tragedy that is the Dutch national football team. In our discussion we will answer the question why the Dutch Royal Family is so popular as well as why James Bond should wear an orange bow tie.

We’ll be talking more about King’s Day traditions in our discussion, but first we’ve got news of earthquakes in Groningen, a rare footballing success and why Dutch teenagers are happy bunnies, but Dutch bunnies aren’t.

This week, we’ll update you on the latest coalition news, we’ll say farewell to the Amsterdam beer bikes and we’ll welcome two new immigrants to the country. This week we don’t have a discussion. Instead we’ll tell you something about us because we would like our listeners to get us know better, but mainly because[...]

This week, we have an update on the coalition talks, a missing dog and why you’ve been seeing a lot of photos of Dutch politicians holding hands. In our discussion, we tackle everyone's favorite issue: the inburgeringsexamen.

We’ll be looking at what Brexit means to the Netherlands, but before that we’ve got news of the coalition talks, a controversial shopping trip and a goat with a little bit extra.

This week we'll be discussing coalitions, crocodiles and cartagrophy, as well as an amazing art robery story.

This week, we talk about the election results and goldfish. And pandas. In our discussion, we dissect the election and what will happen next.

This is the second Special Dutch News Election Podcast. We have been keeping an eye on everything that has happened here in the Netherlands and we’ll give you an update on the Dutch elections as well as the exit polls results.

This is the Dutchnews podcast and this is the first special election day podcast we have in store for you today. In this episode we’ll be discussing yesterday’s big debate, the very last polls released yesterday and bring you up to speed what is going on in the Netherlands on this fine Election Day.

We talk about the Dutch government's response to the Turkish referendum, more on marijuana and naming Geert Wilders's cats. In our discussion, it's all the news ahead of next week's election.

Groningen Gas https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2017/03/gas-company-nam-is-liable-for-groningen-earthquake-victims-stress/ Police Diversity http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2017/03/102317-2/ Russian Election Interference http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2017/03/dutch-passed-on-information-about-trumps-aides-and-russia-nyt/ https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/01/us/politics/obama-trump-russia-election-hacking.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0 Over subscription https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2017/02/popular-dutch-university-courses-are-heavily-oversubscribed/ Beavers http://www.omroepbrabant.nl/?news/262039892/Bever+moet+opzouten,+want+zijn+gangenstelsel+maakt+de+dijk+zwak.aspx Granny https://www.theguardian.com/society/shortcuts/2017/mar/01/the-99-year-old-who-threw-herself-in-prison-and-other-strange-bucket-list-requests Polls http://peilingwijzer.tomlouwerse.nl/ Discussion http://www.parool.nl/binnenland/jan-roos-pauw-en-jinek-raken-mij-niet~a4450045/ http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2017/03/campaign-trail-wilders-back-on-the-streets-income-tax-call/ http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2017/03/facebook-to-start-fake-news-checks-in-the-netherlands/

This week’s podcast we have some drugs, a feast fit for a king, sponsored cows and a spare leg.

This week, it's elections, elections, elections and one stowaway cat. We talk the CPB report about the parties platforms, the latest polls and the rule of law assessment in election news. In our discussion, we cover equality in the Netherlands and why women seem to be lagging behind.

Dutch News Podcast - Week 5

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