Happy holiday season from us to your ears!

This edition of URSA features news headlines on recent museum heists in Germany and an international drug raid that seized one third of the European cocaine trade, as well as climate updates on COP27, Spain’s new water restrictions and the worrying state of Europe’s air quality.

We then hear from our friends at The Europeans podcast about the Barcelona Time Use Initiative, a social organization asking the important question, “What if we redesigned policies to give citizens their time back?”

In our second feature, we share the whimsical piece from The Critter Shed, called “The unsung critters of Christmas,” you’ll hear all about the lesser known holiday creatures and their lore. Did you know that there are Yule arachnids and even Yule marsupials?

Exberliner’s Foodie, Jane Silver, tells us about a unique bondage themed restaurant in Mitte and some exciting restaurant openings focusing on making lunch cool again. Jonny Tiernan of Lola Magazine chats about the Underground Institute Festival in Wedding, an upcoming live comedy show, and much more.

Our artist spotlight is Dasom Yang, who reads her poem, ‘Herakles was an important Greek hero and the elimination of Geryon constituted one of His celebrated Labors: A Cento.’ Followed by a beautiful rendition of Silent Night from the Musical Theater Society Berlin and their caroling choir.

Our theme music is from Lucas Carey, with audio from Epidemic Sound. Cover art by Sian Amber Fletcher.

This episode is brought to you by Bear Radio. Special thanks to The Europeans podcast and The Critter Shed for sharing their incredible work with URSA this month. Thanks also to our Food & Culture correspondents, Jane Silver of Exberliner and Jonny Tiernan of LOLA.

If you’re a producer based in Europe and have an idea for an URSA story, we’d love to hear from you! We’re always accepting new pitches.

Support for this podcast comes from our Patreon - if you like URSA and all the incredible stories that come with it - then please consider supporting us at patreon.com/ursapodcast. The price you’d spend on a coffee would go to supporting us and our contributors each month.