The European Soapbox

As our final episode of the year, we wanted to sum up all of what we have discussed and discuss its present significance: what is the transatlantic relationship? 

Today we talk about what's next: now that the school year is over, we discuss what our post-graduate plans are and what is next for the European Soapbox :)

What do you think you need to know how to do to be a successful student? Successful person? To be able to survive in the wilderness? In this episode, we talk about some of the life skills we feel are important to have, some that may be cool to show off, and those that are very necessary as upcoming professioinals.

Democracy is an incredibly old concept that has been widely accepted as the marker for political stability. However, the history of challenges to democracy run just as deeply and are still present today. What does Democratic Backsliding mean? What are some indicators of this phenomenon? And what can. be done about it?

Do local representatives do anything? Does the federal government control everything? In this episode, we go over how our government is structured and how responsibilities are distributed across different levels of government.  

On an international scale, the last few weeks have been absolutely hectic. In this episode, we go back in time to talk about the Cold War and relate it to what is going on between Russia and Ukraine today. It is evident that Geopolitics is at the root of this conflict - hear us out, and listen to our thoughts about the present tensions of this war. 

Chapel Hill's iconic Franklin street is home to a TON of restaurants - find out which ones we feel are worth the hype and which ones we feel you could probably pass.

Does every country have a president? Does every country have a prime minister? What does the Queen do? Each European country has a unique government system - listen and find out what some of those most popular systems are!

Comparing political parties: could be a bit difficult depending on the criteria you choose to evaluate them on. Luckily for us, there is an existing system that can help us - the GAL TAN scale. Take a look at how monumental this discovery is, and how to properly use it!

Math is red, history is yellow, language is blue, science is green - right? Just like every subject has a different colored notebook, studying for each class looks a little different. Take a look into how we study - sound similar to yours?

In political science, freezing is a way to explain and understand how and why our political parties have gained their constituents. A bit nuanced, but we try to break it down as simply as possible! In addition, freezing is also the transition phase where liquid becomes solid, but that's for another podcast.

What majors would we have studied in another lifetime? How did we end up where we are?

Ever heard of the yips? It's incredibly frustrating, let me tell you. In this episode Cassandra talks about what's going on in her weightlifting life and Tim gives a bit of his friendly advice - make things fun.

In one way or another, you are hours away from staring death in the face. You get one last meal, as elaborate or simple as you want - what are you getting? Take a look into what our last meals would be and at the same time, get an insight into how different we are!

What's cleavage theory? If you ask us, it is an incredibly useful way to predict voting behavior of various blocs of people, of course! This is an especially difficult topic to fathom, so in this episode we try to break it all down!

With the start of the semester comes a variety of pressures that keep our stress levels high. Today we talk about some of the things we do to help reduce the negative stress and take control of the rest of the semester.

Tim and Cassandra discuss what the modern day EU looks like. How have the Euro crisis, migrant crisis, and brexit impacted Europe? What current events challenge Europe today? Listen and learn something...

On this episode, Cass talks about what her semester looks like and what is going on in her life. In addition, as it is her last semester at UNC, she takes a look at all of the eventful things that took place at UNC - a water crisis? Hurricane? Protest? Crazy and memorable 4 years.

The years 2015 - 2017 in Europe is characterized, in part, by the introduction of thousands of refugees and migrants. What happened? Who settled where? What have been the effects of the migration crisis?

Is buying a house on your bucket list? Does that even count as something on your bucket list? Let's hear about what qualifies as bucket-list-able as well as some of Cass and Tim's bucket lists!!

2008 - the year of the most devastating financial crisis since the Great Depression. How was Western Europe affected? In 20 minutes, we summarize some of the biggest takeaways from the 2008 recession.

The EU is an incredibly powerful economic entity - it makes sense that it would have a defense community , right? Well, let’s delve into why their first efforts at an organized defense community failed.

Bigger is better, right? A larger country and growing economy is great, right? Yes, but sometimes too much of a good thing becomes a bad thing. Learn about the pros and cons to scale, and what makes Europe's integrated markets a real game of balancing the scale!

 The concept of multilevel governance is crucial to understanding the vertical and horizontal distribution of power. Who is responsible for what is incredibly important when it comes to managing millions of people!

We discuss our snacking habits! Are we savory, salty, or sweet people? If we had to choose one snack for the rest of our lives and so much more...

Game theory is one of the foundational concepts that can help break down the decision-making process for international relations. We try to break this down as much as we can to help you weigh the solutions to such problems.

Today we try and understand Tim's passion for NBA Basketball. How does it differ from college basketball. And Tim makes some bold predictions. 

Are you outdoorsy? Do you prefer mountain views or waterfall destinations? Listen to our conversation talking about our experiences and NC hike locations!

I can make cheese, but you're better at making cheese than I. I can make bread, and you don't know how -- can you make me cheese and I'll make you bread?

Are you scared of the immortal snail? Or is that too abstract? Maybe sharks or heights? Listen as we talk about our own phobias, and then venture into the possibility of apocalypses!

What is the Commission of the European Union? On todays episode we discuss the ins and outs of the EU commison. Where they come from? What they do? And so much more

Today we interview Brett Harris, an alumni of UNC and now grad student at TAM. Today we ask him all about his honors thesis to try to ease Cassandra in her writing process!

Confused about how the Council of the EU and European Council differ? So was I until this episode! Come learn some of the Council's biggest responsibilities!

School, COVID, friends, and trying to figure out the future. It's all super stressful. See how we're doing and maybe some ways to help yourself!

 Let's get into the top tiers of the EU government system - what is Parliament? What are its functions? Why are they important??