In three weeks time, Germans will vote to elect a new Bundestag or federal parliament. The country’s biggest parties and their top players are currently vying for your attention and your vote. But who are these key players and what exactly are their policies?

In this episode we are joined by journalist Kate Brady to get a better understanding of the chancellor candidates and the parties themselves. How do parties choose a chancellor candidate? Does Annalena Baerbock have a chance of coming in ahead? How could Armin Laschet maintain the stability some Germans are looking for from the CDU? How has Olaf Scholz become the frontrunner? What will happen to the grand coalition come September 26? How do smaller parties like the FDP, AFD, and Die Linke impact the coalition-building process?

Thank you Kate for chatting with us, Pirate Studios for making our recordings possible, and Epidemic Sound for the theme song.

If you enjoyed this episode and would like to hear more, help us make that happen by donating to our PayPal. The linked account is info@bearradio.org - all donors will receive a virtual hug and a loving shoutout in the next episode.

Our theme song is City Phases by John Abbot, also featuring audio from
Deutsche Welle (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bE7pKkeoUHw&t=5s),
Deutsche Welle (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mVGsFhd9oY&t=22s),
Deutsche Welle (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i52MGlRWf3Q&t=367s)
and TLDR News EU (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RchwILo7HhQ&t=24s).