We know, we know, not everyone loves Eurovision — but we think you'll enjoy this week's interview even if you're not as nuts about the annual celebration of euro-kitsch as we are. Dr Dean Vuletic is the world's pre-eminent Eurovision historian, and we were delighted to talk to him about how the contest came into being and why it's always been so political. We're also talking about the EU's Russian oil embargo, a row over WWII reparations in 2022, and a first for wind power in the Mediterranean.

We'll be running a Eurovision sweepstake for our Patreon supporters on the night of the finals, May 10! More details soon at patreon.com/europeanspodcast.

Financing Putin's war: you can find the real-time tracker of EU fossil fuel imports here and read the Atlantic Council's research on replacing Russian gas here.

This week's Isolation Inspiration: 'Young Mungo' by Douglas Stuart, the photography of Wolfgang Tillmans, and Russian Doll, Season 2.

02:26 (Tentative) Good Week: The EU's Russian oil embargo 10:24 Bad Week: Italy, Germany, and WWII reparations 15:57 Interview: Dean Vuletic on the history of Eurovision 32:45 Isolation Inspiration: 'Young Mungo', Wolfgang Tillmans and Russian Doll, Season 2

Thanks for listening! If you enjoy our podcast and would like to help us keep making it, we'd love it if you'd consider chipping in a few euros / dollars / pounds a month at patreon.com/europeanspodcast. You can also help new listeners find the show by leaving us a review or giving us five stars on Spotify.

Producer: Katy Lee and Wojciech Oleksiak

Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina

This podcast is part of the Are We Europe family. Find more like-minded European podcasts at areweeurope.com/audio-family.

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