Wouter Bernhardt creates audio in Berlin.

I’m originally from Amsterdam, but have been living in the German capital since 2013. I launched my first podcast on September 16th 2015.

Inspired by shows like StartUp, 99% Invisible, Radiolab, This American Life and Love & Radio, I created my own format that would come to be known as Berlinology. I wanted a sound-rich and fast-paced story-telling podcast that could capture both the eclectic sounds of Berlin, as well as my own journey as I was looking for my podcasting voice.

In the four years that followed I hand-crafted my own Döner Kebab, almost got tattooed, climbed a former NSA spy station, covered the turmoil of a forced eviction, spent time walking the streets with Berlin’s bottle collectors, pulled a 13-hour all night recording session, documented the aftermath of Brexit on Brits living in Berlin, and investigated Germany’s precarious labour sector. Berlinology inspired me to think critically about the city I live in and use podcasting as a medium to voice that critique.

Between 2018-2020 the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) hired me to produce a podcast about our digital society. I interviewed the guests and produced the show called Exploring Digital Spheres. It was really gratifying being able to help this institute put a voice to their aspiring research and researchers.

I launched The Low Season in April 2020, to document the perils of a faltering tourism industry. Over the course of 3 months, I remotely interviewed 127 international tour guides from my home-built studio, and have now produced more than 50 episodes (and counting!) covering the impact of the Covid pandemic as it unfolds. Making this show has taught me to work and record in the now, with an extremely fast turn-over to bear witness to our rapidly changing society.