„IN GOOD SHAPE?“: LIVE PODCAST EVENTS ON THE FUTURE OF THE CONSTITUTION IN LEIPZIG

The new 10-part podcast from the Stiftung Forum Recht and detektor.fm asks what threatens the Basic Law and what the future of the constitutional state looks like.

Leipzig. Just in time for the 75th anniversary of the Constitution in May 2024, the new podcast from the Stiftung Forum Recht and the Podcast radio detektor.fm online: „In Good Shape? The Basic Law for Tomorrow“ asks how the Basic Law is faring and what direction it is taking in German society. How well-suited is our constitution for the next 75 years? What threats does it face from outside and from within—ranging from the consequences of climate change to infiltration by far-right extremists? How can we protect it, but also shape it? And what role do the rule of law and the Basic Law actually play in our everyday lives?

What is threatening the Constitution?

In recent months, hundreds of thousands of people across Germany have taken to the streets to demonstrate in support of democracy and the rule of law. As the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Basic Law not only guarantees fundamental rights, but also establishes the principles of our free and democratic basic order. But what happens, for example, if the Federal Constitutional Court be rendered incapable of acting as the guardian of the Constitution? The first episode of the new podcast, which will be released on May 8, 2024, on all podcast platforms, asks whether a constitutional state can democratically abolish itself and what lawmakers and civil society can do to prevent this.

Episode 2 focuses on an international comparison: How have far-right parties in Poland, Hungary, and Israel attempted to undermine the principles of the rule of law, where did they fail, and what lessons can we in Germany learn from this? Each episode focuses on a Future Challenge On the Basic Law: What tools can protect the Constitution? How do we deal with populism and extremism? What does the conflict over the limits of natural resources mean for the Constitution? Thirty-five years after the Peaceful Revolution, to what extent do differing perspectives in East and West Germany shape the population’s relationship to the Basic Law?

New season of the successful podcast

The podcast „In Good Shape? The Basic Law for Tomorrow,“ produced in collaboration between the Forum Recht Foundation and detektor.fm, is the second season of the detektor.fm podcast „In Good Shape: The Basic Law Podcast,“ which was successfully released in 2019. Rabea Schloz and Hajo Schumacher took a close look at each of the 146 articles of the Basic Law in 100 episodes. To mark the 75th anniversary of the Basic Law, detektor.fm editor Rabea Schloz („Teurer Wohnen,“ „Ist das gerecht?“) returns with the new season to discuss the future of the Basic Law and the rule of law with experts from the fields of justice, academia, politics, and civil society, including Nora Markard, a constitutional law expert and professor of human rights protection, and Arne Semsrott, a journalist and activist.

It’s not just the focus on the future of the constitution that’s new in 2024: The Forum Recht Foundation is on board as the initiator of the second season and a partner in all areas, meaning that the planning, editing, and production of the podcast project were carried out collaboratively. Another new feature is that, for the second season, podcast host Rabea Schloz will also be conducting her conversations with her guests in front of a live audience in Leipzig. The audience can attend the Live events At the Forum Recht Foundation’s offices, you can do more than just listen—you can meet fascinating guests and actively participate: by asking questions, taking part in interviews, and engaging with interactive elements, such as polls. „In Good Shape?“ is therefore not just a talk podcast; instead, it groups the results of the conversations by topic in each episode, offering listeners a whole new experience.

Two partners from Leipzig

The project brings together two partners from Leipzig—the Forum Recht Foundation and the podcast radio station detektor.fm—who are pooling their expertise in podcasts and education on the rule of law: Founded in 2019 by the German Bundestag, the Forum Recht Foundation offers events and educational programs on the topics of law and the rule of law at its locations in Karlsruhe and Leipzig, as well as online. With „Justice, Baby! The Podcast on Law and Justice,“ the foundation produced a successful 13-episode podcast series in 2023.
The Leipzig-based podcast radio station detektor.fm was most recently honored with the German Radio Prize and the Grimme Online Award in 2023.

Live on the podcast

The ten episodes of "In good shape? The Basic Law for Tomorrow" will be released from Wednesday, May 08, 2024, released every two weeks on all podcast platforms and on the Forum Recht Foundation's website, and are available to listen to for free.

If you've always wanted to be part of a podcast recording, you'll have the chance to do so on April 25 and 26, 2024 as well as at other live podcast events in the summer of 2024 at the Forum Recht Foundation in Leipzig. Admission is free!

"In good shape? The Basic Law for Tomorrow" is a ten-part podcast series by the Stiftung Forum Recht and the podcast radio station detektor.fm.