The Agora

Greece is celebrating the 200th anniversary of its war of independence, which began in 1821 and allowed Greeks to free themselves of Ottoman rule and oppression, and form their own nation-state.To mark this occasion, we spoke to Sakis Gekas, the Hellenic Heritage Foundation (HHF) Chair of Modern Greek History at York University in Canada. He told The Agora about where the Greek revolution stands in an international context as well as some of the broader themes to emerge from the momentous events two centuries ago.We have avoided going into historical detail because this is well served by various documentaries, online events and other podcasts that are currently available. One of those is "The idea of Greece", a seven-part podcast produced by the HHF's History Committee and in which Professor Gekas was involved.For the second half of this episode, we try to move the conversation forward by talking to Kathimerini columnist Nikos Konstandaras about the Greek revolution's legacy, where Greece stands today and what its future might hold. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode of The Agora, we check in with the Greek economy again to see how it is performing under the pressure of the coronavirus.MacroPolis co-founder Yiannis Mouzakis and the site's economics editor Marcus Bensasson explain what the latest GDP figures mean, what sectors of the economy are suffering and how important the upcoming tourism season will be.We also take a closer look at a Greek export that is thriving despite the pandemic - wine. Co-host Phoebe Fronista sat down with Markus Stolz, a German based in Athens who has been making a success of exporting local products to the USA.Markus describes what prompted him to leave the world of finance and focus his efforts on making Greek grape varieties popular abroad. He also explains why Covid-19 has not put the brakes on his business. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greece is in the grip of a steady stream of claims about sexual harassment, assault and abuse allegedly carried out by men in positions of power.In this episode of The Agora podcast, hosts Nick Malkoutzis and Phoebe Fronista speak to a range of women about this developing story.New York Times correspondent Niki Kitsantonis explains how the #MeToo developments began and why they are becoming more complex, and political, as time goes on.Also, actress Amalia Kavali - from hit Greek TV show Agries Melisses - and dancer Katerina Foti, members of a new initiative called Women in Arts (WOM.A) whose goal is to combat gender discrimination, explain what #MeToo means for them and women in their field.Finally, Dr Elli Siapkidou, an expert on gender issues, discusses what obstacles Greek women face, what advances have been made and what more needs to be done. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For the last episode of The Agora podcast in 2020, we examine how Brexit may affect Greece's relationship with the UK.Naturally, we look at what the UK's departure from the EU means for trade and bilateral relations, but we also delve into the impact on studying and living in the UK.Hosts Nick Malkoutzis and Phoebe Fronista spoke to Nikos Skoutaris, an associate professor in EU law at the University of East Anglia, about all these issues, as well as his Christmas turkey.Our second guest, writer Alex Kemp discusses how he left London to discover Greece, its customs, culture and people - all of which he's captured in his book "Here is Greece." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On a sunny October morning this year, thousands of people crowded outside an Athens courthouse to hear the landmark verdict in the trial of NeoNazi Golden Dawn.It brought the party's rapid rise during the Greek economic crisis to a halt but did not necessarily signal the end of the far-right's presence in Greece.Now that some of the dust from the lengthy court proceedings has settled, The Agora co-host Phoebe Fronista speaks to Ioanna Meitani, part of the Golden Dawn Watch team that covered the trial from inside the courtroom, about the historic process.Also, Nick Malkoutzis speaks to Professor Daphne Halikopoulou from the University of Reading, an expert in the far-right, looks at the bigger picture and explains how Golden Dawn gained such a following and what might happen now that the party is out of the picture. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greece has submitted its plans, outlining how it will use the money from the EU Recovery and Resilience Fund (RRF).The funds that will be pumped into Greece over the coming years should help boost the economy in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. But the Greek government also sees this money as vital to transforming the economy and the country's infrastructure.Investment in the green and digital transition are at the top of Greece's list, with these two areas set to receive more than 50 pct of the EU grants available to Athens.Hosts Nick Malkoutzis and Phoebe Fronista spoke to MacroPolis feature editor Georgia Nakou and WWF economist Olivier Vardakoulias to discuss how much of an impact this money can make and what kind of obstacles Greece could face. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Over the last few weeks, Greece has not just seen more worrying data on the Covid-19 front, but the forecasts for its economy have also been worsening.Nick Malkoutzis and Phoebe Fronista discuss where things have gone wrong this year for the Greek economy, particularly in the tourism sector. They hear from a tour operator and hotel owner, who explains why 2020 has been a disaster.MacroPolis co-founder Yiannis Mouzakis and business reporter Omaira Gill look at this year's numbers and what we can expect in 2021. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Donald Trump may not have accepted Joe Biden's victory in the US elections, but the rest of the world is preparing for a change of guard in Washington.Greece is among the countries that will have a very keen eye on what the new American administration will bring to the table in terms of foreign policy.The recent flare-up in tension between Greece and Turkey means that Athens is hoping Biden will be more active in southeastern Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean, providing more presence and certainty going forward.The Agora host Nick Malkoutzis and producer/co-host Phoebe Fronista discuss what's at stake before MacroPolis foreign policy analyst Alexandra Voudouri and George Tzogopoulos, a senior fellow at the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) and the Centre International de Formation Européenne (CIFE), give their views on what to expect in the months to come. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Amid more pressing issues, the 10th anniversary of Greece's first international bailout went slightly under the radar earlier this year.However, to round off the first series of The Agora podcast, we have brought together three experts on the subject. Together, they look back at the events of a decade ago, which left a big mark on Greece, and asses the continuing impact of the first memorandum of understanding (MoU).Host Nick Malkoutzis speaks to Megan Greene, a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, Marcus Walker, the South Europe bureau chief of the Wall Street Journal, and MacroPolis co-founder Yiannis Mouzakis.These seasoned Greek crisis watchers discuss, among other things, why Greece had to be bailed out, whether there were any alternatives, what kind of flaws the adjustment programme had and what were its main legacies. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we have returned to one of the first topics we covered so can examine how the Greek economy is coping with Covid-19.Our producer, Phoebe Fronista, has been speaking to Constantinos Kouvaras, the area director in Greece for the Bacardi drinks company, to get a feel of how things are developing in the real economy. It turns out that the picture is constantly changing.Host Nick Malkoutzis speaks to an expert on Greek banks, Jonas Floriani who is a director in the research division of Axia. They discuss how the downturn is affecting local lenders, who were only starting to recover from the knocks they suffered during the previous crisis.In the second half of the show, Nick catches up with MacroPolis co-founder Yiannis Mouzakis and the site’s business reporter, Omaira Gill, to find out if tourism has provided Greece with a lifeline or whether the macroeconomic picture is bleak. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we take to the streets of our home city, Athens, to get an idea of what interventions would improve life in the Greek capital.Our producer Phoebe Fronista speaks to MacroPolis features writer Georgia Nakou about the Great Walk, a pilot scheme introducing pedestrian walkways and bicycle lanes to the heart of the city.The addition has sparked controversy and criticism. Phoebe and Georgia walk part of the route and sit down to discuss its positives and negatives.In the second half of the show, The Agora host Nick Malkoutzis speaks to tour expert and archaeologist Heinrich Hall.They discuss why Athens is the way it is and what can be done to make life here better for residents, as well as visitors, without sanitizing the city and losing its flawed, but appealing, identity in the process. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Usually, The Agora podcast is dedicated to analysing the latest political, geopolitical, economic and even social developments affecting Greece.In this episode, though, we have gone in a different direction.Sixteen years on from one of the greatest upsets in sporting history, we look back at how Greece managed to win football’s European Championship in 2004.A collection of journalists who followed that tournament and had a close eye on Greek football in the subsequent years join host Nick Malkoutzis to discuss how this incredible success was achieved and what legacy it left.. In the process, they also share some personal accounts of those heady summer days all those years ago.The three guests are: Paris-based sports writer, commentator and documentary filmmaker Barney Spender, the man behind Road to Sparta documentary about the legendary Spartathlon race; Kathimerini English Edition business and sports journalist George Georgakopoulos; and Graham Wood, an Athens-based journalist and communications expert who has covered football for UEFA.com and Reuters, among others. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we're taking a closer look at the Greek media landscape. We'll be asking why the public has little trust in the country's media and examining what difficulties a local independent outlet faces as it tries to upset the established pattern of news coverage.Our producer, Phoebe Fronista, speaks to MacroPolis features writer Georgia Nakou regarding the controversial 20-million-euro package provided by the Greek government to a variety of media outlets as part of the coronavirus campaign.She also catches up with Dimitris Xenakis, the co-founder of Inside Story – a subscription-based investigative and long form journalism site in Athens - to get an idea of the obstacles his organisation has to overcome.Our host, Nick Malkoutzis, has a discussion with Antonis Kalogeropoulos, a Communication and Media Lecturer at the University of Liverpool. Antonis was a research partner for annual Digital News Report published by the Reuters Institute in July. The report suggests that just 28 percent of Greeks trust most news most of the time, which was one of the lowest figures among the 40 countries surveyed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the latest episode of The Agora podcast, we examine Greek-Turkish relations, which are going through another rough patch.Athens and Ankara being at odds is not something new, but a rising number of issues have been causing friction between the two capitals over the last few months.In late February, the Greek government decided to shut its land border with Turkey after Ankara gave free passage to migrants.Turkey has also laid out plans for oil and gas exploration in the Eastern Mediterranean, including in spots that Greece considers to be part of its continental shelf.Also, there is growing consternation in Greece about the possibility of the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, once the symbol of Orthodox Christianity, becoming a mosque again.Host Nick Malkoutzis discusses all these flashpoints with MacroPolis foreign policy analyst Alexandra Voudouri and Harry Tzimitras, an expert on the Eastern Mediterranean.Nick also speaks to Spanish journalist Andres Mourenza about the book he recently published. It’s called Sínora (borders in Greek) and is about the border areas between Greece and Turkey and the people that live there. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For the last few years, Greece has been in the frontline of the migration challenge - at least as far as Europe is concerned.Having a country with such limited financial and administrative resources in so prominent a role has generated a wide range of problems.There have been times when Greece was lauded for its efforts and others when it was admonished for failing to deliver.In the latest episode of The Agora podcast, host Nick Malkoutzis and MacroPolis features writer Georgia Nakou take a look at the latest developments, including a contentious decision to remove several thousand refugees from their current accommodation in Greece.Also, our producer Phoebe Fronista visits a shelter for unaccompanied minors in Athens to find out what life is like there and to hear the thoughts of the people running the facility.Nick also speaks to Daniel Howden, the managing director of Lighthouse Reports, which helps newsrooms investigate migration-related issues, about the myriad challenges and the way our societies and authorities approach the issue. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The European Commission has presented its proposal for a recovery fund to help EU countries stimulate their economies and overcome the impact of the coronavirus.In this episode of The Agora, Nick Malkoutzis speaks to John Springford and Christian Odendahl from the Centre for European Reform think-tank about what kind of economic damage the pandemic will leave behind and how EU member states might overcome this setback.Nick also has a discussion with Greek economist and academic George Pagoulatos about what the Commission's proposal means for Europe, and Greece in particular. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The second episode in our new podcast series looks at how the Greek tourism industry is faring amid the turbulence caused by the coronavirus.Host Nick Malkoutzis speaks to a specialist on the subject, Eleftheria Pantziou of Greek Travel Pages, to find out what the usually busy summer season is likely to entail for hotels and other businesses that rely on visitors coming to Greece.The Agora’s producer Phoebe Fronista reports back after checking out a couple of places in Athens that would normally be teeming with visitors at this time of year.Nick also has a chat with MacroPolis co-founder Yiannis Mouzakis and business reporter Omaira Gill about the importance of tourism to the Greek economy.They discuss why simply focussing on what will be open and what the experience for tourists might be like is not the big story. Instead, the spotlight should be on the many businesses and households that rely on tourists for their livelihood and the difficulties they are likely to face in the coming months. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our first podcast is on (what else?) the coronavirus. Host Nick Malkoutzis discusses with MacroPolis co-founder Yiannis Mouzakis and the website's features writer Georgia Nakou about how Greece has coped with the public health challenge of Covid-19 and what impact the virus could have on the Greek economy. Producer Phoebe Fronista introduces the "walk and talk" section of the show as she takes advantage of the lockdown being relaxed in Athens to go for a stroll along the seafront. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Agora host, Nick Malkoutzis, explains what our show is about and what you can expect to hear in the coming weeks and months. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.