Bridging the Atlantic: Recent Episodes
Nathan Crist, Stefano Montali
Bridging the Atlantic is a 6-part miniseries, created with Are We Europe, that will take stock of transatlantic relations today and examine it beyond the usual touchstones.
After a tumultuous four years with the Trump administration, many following the transatlantic relationship are eager to understand how the transatlantic relationship can bounce back and become more resilient in the future. But a reset is perhaps not the right goal. In the 21st century, people on both sides of the Atlantic are no longer satisfied with “back to normal” and want more.
Through interviews with experts on various aspects of the transatlantic relationship, this podcast will pit our understanding of transatlantic relations over the last several years against ideas from people re-imagining what the transatlantic relationship can and should be. The outcome, we hope, is a clearer sense of the alliance that shapes our lives in visible and invisible ways.
Guests include:
Pol Morillas, Director, Barcelona Centre for International Affairs(CIDOB)
Carisa Nietsche, Associate Fellow, Center for a New American Security (CNAS)
Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, former NPR Foreign Correspondent, Host of Common Ground Berlin podcast
Hosted and produced by Nathan Crist. Edited and produced by Stefano Montali.
Created by the Bertelsmann Foundation and Are We Europe.
Guests include:
Stephen Szabo, professor at George Washington University and senior fellow at the Johns Hopkins University American Institute for Contemporary German Studies (AICGS)
Gesine Weber, research analyst at the German Marshall Fund of the United States
Brandon Bohrn, project manager, Europe’s Future Program, Bertelsmann Stiftung
Hosted and produced by Nathan Crist. Edited and produced by Stefano Montali.
Created by the Bertelsmann Foundation and Are We Europe.
Guests include:
Olivia Lazard, Fellow at Carnegie Europe, lays out how competition for the resources needed to shift to greener energy can lead to conflict.
Matto Mildenberger, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara, compares how the different political systems in the United States and Europe have affected how climate change is treated in public discourse.
Madison Condon, Associate Professor of Law at Boston University, explains how large asset managers are incorporating climate change into risk assessment for their investments.
Hosted and produced by Nathan Crist. Edited and produced by Stefano Montali.
Created by the Bertelsmann Foundation and Are We Europe.
Vladimir Putin has brought war back to Europe, presenting transatlantic security with the massive challenge of supporting Ukraine and shoring up their own defenses. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has shifted the conversation from whether EU countries will spend more on defense, to how can they spend the newly pledged billions of euros the right way?
As the response to the war in Ukraine has shown, NATO and the EU work well together when the need arises, but questions remain about how to enhance EU security while strengthening NATO.
Guests include:
Philippe Étienne, Ambassador of France to the United States, begins this episode with some reflections on his storied career before discussing the objectives of the French Presidency of the EU for defense policy.
Kristine Berzina, Senior Fellow and Head of the Geopolitics Team at the German Marshall Fund’s Alliance for Securing Democracy talks about the origins of her interest in transatlantic security and her view of the EU’s Strategic Compass.
Oliver Mõru, Counsellor for Common Security and Defence Policy at Permanent Representation of Estonia to the EU gives an Estonian perspective on NATO and EU sovereignty.
Hosted and produced by Nathan Crist. Edited and produced by Stefano Montali.
In collaboration with Are We Europe.
This episode reaches back into the past to one of the most important artifacts of transatlantic history. Then, Rachel Rizzo, nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Europe Center, explains the foundations of the Euro-Atlantic alliance today. And finally, former NPR foreign correspondent Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson reflects on her experience as a journalist linking Germany and the United States and talks about the importance of finding common ground over disagreement.