The manosphere, the 'TikTok messiah', and 132 hamsters

We've got a heady mix of Romanian politics, online misogyny and animal-based chaos for you this week. Friend of the show Andrei Popoviciu joins us to explain why his dad and many other voters backed the TikTok-fuelled campaign of far-right Romanian presidential candidate Călin Georgescu. And we ring up three young people from Greece, Ireland and Lithuania to ask: what's it like being part of a generation that's increasingly divided over whether feminism is a good thing? Plus, hamsters. Lots of hamsters.    This week's interview with Siloé Musoke, Goda Skiotytė and Chris Ntonis was produced in collaboration with the European Institute for Gender Equality. You can find out all about the Gender Equality Forum 2024, and sign up to attend online, here.   You can follow Andrei on Twitter here and Bluesky here.   Thanks for listening! If you enjoy our podcast, we'd love it if you'd consider supporting our work. You can chip in to help us cover the weekly research and production of the show at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/europeanspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (many currencies are available), and even gift a donation to a super fan of The Europeans here!  We're also crowdfunding our new series for 2025, 'Who Does It Best?', which will delve into the most imaginative policies around Europe. We're three-quarters of the way there! You can find out all about our plans for the series, and help us start making it, at https://4fund.com/z/europeanspodcast. This week's Inspiration Station offerings: 'Nature Manifesto' by Björk and Aleph; lohikeitto.   Other resources for this episode    Anna Sale - 'Let's Talk About Hard Things   'Capturados hamsters que pararam avião da TAP' - Correio da Manhã, November 18, 2024 (video at the bottom)   Producers: Morgan Childs and Katz Laszlo  Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina 00:23 Which country's got quiet, boring politics right now? 02:42 Good Week, Romania, Bad Week, Romania 20:52 Interview: Siloé Musoke, Goda Skiotytė and Chris Ntonis on the rising divide over feminism in young Europeans 46:08 The Inspiration Station: 'Nature Manifesto' by Björk and Aleph at the Centre Pompidou; lohikeitto 50:53 Happy Ending: Hamsters on a plane   Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | Bluesky | Mastodon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | Threads⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | Twitter | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[e-mail]