Can Pedro Sánchez unite the global left?

This week, we’ve got a little something for everyone: gambling! Kraftwerk! Blast from the recent US political past Tim Walz! It was a Good Week yet again for Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, the darling of the global left, who threw a party for… the global left. And it was a Bad Week for the legendary German electronic band Kraftwerk, who apparently have been around since 1970(!) and therefore can withstand the occasional bad week. We also caught up with Greek investigative reporter Eurydice Bersi, who was part of a team that uncovered a slew of streamers on places like YouTube and Twitch who’ve been directing their followers to unlicensed gambling sites – and profiting off it.

Eurydice is a reporter with Reporters United, Investigate Europe’s partners in Greece.

This week’s Inspiration Station recommendations are the European Cultural Foundation’s calendar of the smörgåsbord of events coming up in celebration of Europe Day 2026, and the website WhoSampled.com.

UPCOMING BOOK CLUB: Don’t forget to pick up a copy of Vincenzo Latronico’s novella Perfection, which we’ll be discussing with our friends from the European Review of Books right here on 14 May.

Resources for this episode:

• “The European rule on whether samples need to be cleared moves to a ‘maybe’ with latest Kraftwerk ruling” – Complete Music Update, 15 April 2026
• “The Court of Justice clarifies the scope of the exception for ‘pastiche’ in relation to sampling” – Court of Justice of the European Union, 14 April 2026
• “Greek utility completes 2.13 GW solar cluster at former coal mine” – PV Magazine, 7 April 2026
• “Social media influencers steer millions of Europeans to unlicensed gambling websites” – Investigate Europe, 24 February 2026
• Shady Bets, Investigate Europe’s series on online gambling

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Produced by Morgan Childs and Wojciech Oleksiak

Mixing and mastering by Wojciech Oleksiak

Music by Jim Barne and Mariska Martina

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