The Advocaat's Curaçao Cocktail Party Edition - Week 47 - 2025
Dick Advocaat sparks scenes of jubilation on Curaçao and the world's shortest open top bus tour after the Caribbean nation reaches the World Cup for the first time. Back in The Hague, Rob Jetten and Henri Bontenbal get bogged down on nitrogen policy, while Dilan Yeşilgöz serves coffee with humble pie to Hans Wijers. Groningen reels from its biggest earthquake in six years while economic affairs minister Vincent Karremans calms the storm that blew up in China over the Nexperia takeover. And the US ambassador rules out restoring a panel commemorating black American servicemen who buried the bodies of their comrades in Limburg during WWII.
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1:09:54
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1:09:54
The Delayed Dick Gratification Edition - Week 46 - 2025
Rob Jetten and Henri Bontenbal give Dilan Yesilgöz a taste of her own medicine by shutting the VVD out of the first round of coalition talks. Employers are struggling to entice workers to go back to the office, while the VVD quietly ditches plans to protect migrant workers from exploitation. Limburg protests against the removal of exhibits at a a US war cemetery honouring black liberators. The prefabricated houses donated to Zeeland after the devastating 1953 floods get heritage status. And we explain how there could be as many as five Dutch teams at next year's World Cup.
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The Can The Coalition Talks Stay on the Rails Edition - Week 45 - 2025
National train chief Wouter Koolmees defies expectations by getting the first stage of coalition talks under way with only a slight delay. But will Dilan Yesilgöz' pledge to deplatform GL-PvdA shunt the whole exercise into a siding? The housing crisis intensifies as private landlords sell off student flats and a project to convert empty buildings fails to make an impact. The cabinet controversially scraps measures designed to protect migrant workers. Company bikes prove a hit as the cost of travelling to work increases. And Ajax's head coach John Heitinga is told to pack his bags after yet another crushing night in the Champions League.
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1:15:39
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1:15:39
The Strawberry Short Cake Edition - Week 44 - 2025
We pick over the bones of the election that had just about everything … apart from a result. Jetten just about edges out Wilders, Yesilgöz snatches defeat from the jaws of catastrophe, Bontenbal and Eerdmans console themselves with huge gains and Van Hijum starts browsing brochures for Sint Eustatius. Eight so-called sovereign citizens are charged with forming a senior citizens' terror cell. Amsterdam sells itself short with its 750th birthday cake. And in sport, Katwijk's goalkeeper suffers from premature jubilation while Vitesse Arnhem's legal headaches continue.
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1:14:44
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Election Night Special - Week 44 - 2025
D66 look set to become the largest party in the new Dutch parliament in a shock result that sees Geert Wilders' far-right PVV lose a dozen seats. The VVD do better than expected and finish ahead of GroenLinks-PvdA – whose leader Frans Timmermans announced his resignation after we recorded the podcast – and the CDA. With Rob Jetten likely to get first dibs on forming a coalition and at least two viable options, the coalition building process may be more straightforward than expected. And we look at some of the surprises further down the line, including a boost for Forum voor Democratie and the return to parliament of the volatile pensioners' party 50Plus.
Netherlands