Welcome to the March installment of URSA! In this episode, we take the opportunity to address the Ukraine war, taking a look at where the conflict began, the demonstrations in Donetsk, Russian sanctions, Putin’s fight for power over Eastern Europe, and more. We also explore the major role that energy and natural resources play in this conflict and how the EU’s energy insecurity remains a core part of the issue.

Our feature story takes us to communist Poland in the 80s as we learn the story of pole vaulter and Olympic gold medalist, Władysław Kozakiewicz. Then, we dive into the almost antiquated world of sister cities and find out which German city is ‘related’ to Louisville, Kentucky.

As always we have Jane Silver of Exberliner, our food correspondent, this time telling us all about the French food scene in Berlin, and how a teenage Tesla stalker found his new passion.

Jonny Tiernan, our culture correspondent, from Lola Magazine joins us to chat about what’s happening in Berlin - from a 4D Darkroom experience by Pornceptual, to MaerzMusik, the launch of Synchron Magazine, and more.

Closing with original music from Blake Farha. Make sure to stay up to date with his musical journey on Facebook and Instagram. Theme music from Lucas Carey and audio from Epidemic Sound. Cover art by Sian Amber Fletcher.

This episode is brought to you by Bear Radio. Special thanks to our featured producers Wojciech Oleksiak and Stephanie Wolf, and our Food & Culture correspondents, Jane Silver of Exberliner and Jonny Tiernan of LOLA.

If you’re a producer based in Europe and have an idea for an URSA story, we’d love to hear from you! We’re always accepting new pitches.

If you enjoyed this episode of URSA and would like to hear more, help us make that happen by donating to our PayPal. The linked account is info@bearradio.org.