The Netherlands

The Netherlands -- list of articles in the main section The Netherlands

  • Remembering the Second World War in the Netherlands: Historical sound from the 1950’s- Part 2, Remembering the Battle of Arnhem
    This programme is part of the series Remembering the Second World War in the Netherlands: Historical Sound of the 1950'sWhile much of the south of the Netherlands was liberated in late 1944, the …
  • Remembering the Second World War in the Netherlands: Historical sound from the 1950’s- Part 3, Remembering the food droppings in The Hague
    This programme is part of the series Remembering the Second World War in the Netherlands: Historical Sound of the 1950'sThe failure of the Battle of Arnhem in September 1944 meant that the northern …
  • Between easel and museum: The 350th anniversary of Rembrandt’s birth
    The world celebrated the 350th anniversary of the birth of Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) in 1956. In this vintage radio report, Amsterdam fine art dealer Evert Douwes (1928-2019) and the director of …
  • Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s remarks on his arrival in the Netherlands (1957)
    On July 8, 1957, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru paid an official visit to the Netherlands. Dutch Foreign Minister Joseph Luns greeted him at Schiphol Airport and Radio Nederland was there …
  • Window on Holland 1960
    Good old-fashioned radio roundup of the year’s main events from the Dutch perspective. This newsreel-style programme contains interesting little facts and sound bites about Holland and the …
  • Autumn of the Middle Ages: A six-part history in words and music from the Low Countries, Part 1
    This programme is part of the series Autumn of the Middle AgesIn the Middle Ages, the Netherlands played a very prominent role in European musical life. By “Netherlands”, we mean the so-called Low …
  • Autumn of the Middle Ages: A six-part history in words and music from the Low Countries, Part 3
    This programme is part of the series Autumn of the Middle AgesIn the Middle Ages, the Netherlands played a very prominent role in European musical life. By “Netherlands”, we mean the so-called Low …
  • Autumn of the Middle Ages: a Six-Part History in Words and Music from the Low Countries, Part 5
    This programme is part of the series Autumn of the Middle Ages In de Middle Ages, the Netherlands played a very prominent role in European musical life. By “Netherlands” we mean the so-called …
  • Press Conference with Queen Beatrix in Washington D.C., on April 20, 1982)
    Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands paid a state visit to the United States in 1982, the year that marked the bicentennial of Dutch-American diplomatic ties. After a state dinner with President Ronald …
  • The Friday Report (1983)
      This is one of the few surviving copies of a weekly magazine programme on the Netherlands, broadcast in the 1980’s. In this end-of-year edition, presented by Barry O’Dwyer, five …
  • VIP Lounge: Economist Jan Tinbergen
    This programme is part of the series VIP LoungeVIP Lounge was a series of portraits produced in the late 1980’s of well-known Dutch people who gained international fame for their professional …
  • VIP Lounge: Former prime minister Dries van Agt
    This programme is part of the series VIP LoungeVIP Lounge was a series of portraits produced in the late 1980’s of well-known Dutch people who gained international fame for their professional …
  • VIP Lounge: Fons Rademakers
    This programme is part of the series VIP LoungeVIP Lounge was a series of portraits produced in the late 1980’s of well-known Dutch people who gained international fame for their professional …
  • VIP Lounge: Johan Cruijff
    This programme is part of the series VIP LoungeVIP Lounge was a series of portraits produced in the late 1980’s of well-known Dutch people who gained international fame for their professional …
  • Herman Brood
    Pete Myers interviews Herman Brood (1987)
    This programme is part of the series Pete Myers' interviewsHerman Brood (1946-2001) was one of the greatest, if not the greatest, rock star in Dutch history. His hedonistic, frantically creative life …
  • VIP Lounge: Karel Appel
    This programme is part of the series VIP LoungeVIP Lounge was a series of portraits produced in the late 1980’s of well-known Dutch people who gained international fame for their professional …
  • VIP Lounge: Harry Mulisch
    This programme is part of the series VIP LoungeVIP Lounge was a series of portraits produced in the late 1980’s of well-known Dutch people who gained international fame for their professional …
  • 1988: 40 Years Israel
    1988 marked the 40th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel. This programme takes a look at Israel from a Dutch perspective. It was first broadcast on May 4th, which is the Dutch annual …
  • An interview with Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands about the World Wide Fund for Nature
    In this unedited interview, Radio Netherlands’ science editor Anne Blair Gould spoke to Prince Bernhard (1911-2004) of the Netherlands about the World Wide Fund for Nature. The prince, who was …
  • Rembrandt Express: featuring Prince Charles
    Pete Myers was among a select group of Dutch journalists invited to Kensington Palace to interview Britain’s Crown Prince Charles in 1988 to mark the 300th anniversary of the Glorious …
  • VIP Lounge: Jeroen Krabbé
    This programme is part of the series VIP LoungeVIP Lounge was a series of portraits produced in the late 1980’s of well-known Dutch people who gained international fame for their professional …
  • Rembrandt Express, including Joseph Heller
    In this edition of our weekly magazine programme “Rembrandt Express”, Pete Myers speaks with Joseph Heller, the renowned American novelist and famed author of the classic “Catch …
  • VIP Lounge: Joris Ivens
    This programme is part of the series VIP LoungeVIP Lounge was a series of portraits produced in the late 1980’s of well-known Dutch people who gained international fame for their professional …
  • Rembrandt Express: Parents of gay children
    Rembrandt Express was a weekly magazine show about the Netherlands, hosted by Pete Myers. In the late 1980’s, he introduced the Gay Front, a monthly column about gay social issues. It was long …
  • Prisons in the Netherlands: The separate society
    By the late 1980’s, the Dutch prison system came in for praise from abroad for its low prison population – 6000 prisoners for a population of nearly 15 million – low sentencing and …
  • Celebrating Rotterdam
    The great port city of Rotterdam is a close rival to Amsterdam, not only in football but also as a hub of culture, with world-renowned annual poetry and film festivals, as well as some of …
  • Candle
    Rites of passage: An inside look at euthanasia in Holland
    Mercy killing or euthanasia continues to provoke heated debates in most parts of the world. In the Netherlands, according to some estimates, up to 10,000 ask for euthanasia, literally the good death, …
  • In so many words – Language cultures of the European Community: Part 3, Dutch
    This programme is part of the series In So Many WordsLanguages change constantly. Dutch has been around since the Middle Ages, but it was not until the Golden Age of prosperity in the 17th century …
  • Hidden Holland
    This programme was part of a series on lesser noticed aspects of life in the Netherlands. In this episode, a British national discusses with anthropologist Harie Hoetink what has struck her about …
  • Newsline: Radio Netherlands’ daily current affairs programme
    At the start of 1980’s, the Radio Netherlands’ English department led the transition from mainly entertainment shows to high-quality feature programmes. The focus also switched from being …
  • East of Edam: Christmas show 1992
    Maggie Ayre and Dheera Sujan have fun with some awful Christmas songs and fan letters. Mike Bullen analyses the office party, colleagues pick their favourite fantasy figure (Anne Blair Gould, Rina …
  • The colonial muse: The East Indies as an inspiration for the Dutch novel
    The most famous Dutch novel of the 19th century is “Max Havelaar” by Multatuli (pen name of Eduard Douwes Dekker (1820-1887). It not only became a classic of European literature but also …
  • Frits Bolkestein on Dutch tolerance
    Hélène Michaud meets VVD leader Frits Bolkestein who was in the news at the time because of his critical remarks about asylum seekers, refugees and foreigners. They talk about Dutch tolerance, the …
  • Research File: Christiaan Huygens
    This special edition of our science program , Research File, is devoted to the achievements of Dutch 17th- century mathematician and physicist Christiaan Huygens (1629-1695). Huygens’ …
  • Robert van Gulik
    The Dutch mandarin: Robert van Gulik
    In his time, Judge Dee, a historical figure of the Tang Dynasty, earned fame as a magistrate, detective and statesman. Though never forgotten in his own country, it was only in the 20th century that …
  • Living on the land: The new pioneers in Holland – Part 1 of 3
    The first of three programmes produced in association with Radio Netherlands, BBC Scotland and RTE Ireland. The people who live on the man-made polders in the north of Amsterdam are sometimes called …
  • Living by the water: A Dutch couple’s life on a barge – Part 1 of 3
    In the first of three co-productions between Radio Netherlands, BBC Radio Scotland and RTE Ireland, Maggie Ayre travels down the Rhine with a Dutch husband and wife team who live aboard their motor …
  • Highlands & Lowlands: Highlands – Terschelling
    The Frisian island of Terschelling remains one of the Netherlands’ last wild nature reserves, with mile upon mile of deserted beaches and sand dunes. Once gloriously isolated, with islanders …
  • Highlands & Lowlands: Language – The Frisian experience
    The Frisian language is spoken by more than 300,000 native speakers in the northern Dutch province of Friesland. Although the language was never suppressed in the manner of Gaelic in Scotland or …
  • The Radio Netherlands building in Hilversum
    A golden anniversary celebration – Radio Netherlands’ 50th anniversary: Part 1, The house
    This programme is part of the series A Golden Anniversary CelebrationThis is probably the most comprehensive audio compilation of what was achieved in the first 50 years of the Dutch external radio …
  • A golden anniversary celebration – Radio Netherlands’ 50th anniversary: Part 2, the 40’s
    This programme is part of the series A Golden Anniversary CelebrationThis is the second of an 8-part series broadcast to mark the 50th anniversary celebrations of Radio Netherlands in March 1997. It …
  • The Radio Netherlands building in Hilversum
    A golden anniversary celebration – Radio Netherlands’ 50th anniversary: Part 3, the 50’s
    This programme is part of the series A Golden Anniversary CelebrationIn this comprehensive audio compilation of what was achieved in the first 50 years of the Dutch external radio broadcaster, part …
  • The Radio Netherlands building in Hilversum
    A golden anniversary celebration – Radio Netherlands’ 50th anniversary: Part 4, the early 60’s
    This programme is part of the series A Golden Anniversary CelebrationIn this comprehensive audio compilation of what was achieved in the first 50 years of the Dutch external radio broadcaster, part …
  • The Radio Netherlands building in Hilversum
    A golden anniversary celebration – Radio Netherlands’ 50th anniversary: Part 5, the later 60’s
    In this comprehensive audio compilation of what was achieved in the first 50 years of the Dutch external radio broadcaster, part five of the eight-part series looks back at the second half of the …
  • The Radio Netherlands building in Hilversum
    A golden anniversary celebration – Radio Netherlands’ 50th anniversary: Part 6, the 70’s
    This programme is part of the series A Golden Anniversary CelebrationThis is probably the most comprehensive audio compilation of what was achieved in the first 50 years of the Dutch external radio …
  • A golden anniversary celebration – Radio Netherlands’ 50th anniversary: Part 7, the 80’s
    This programme is part of the series A Golden Anniversary CelebrationThis is probably the most comprehensive audio compilation of what was achieved in the first 50 years of the Dutch external radio …
  • A golden anniversary celebration – Radio Netherlands’ 50th anniversary: Part 8, the 90’s
    This programme is part of the series A Golden Anniversary CelebrationIn this final chapter of our 8-part series telling the story of Radio Netherlands, we focus on the English language department. …
  • VOC ship Duyfken
    Dheera Sujan happened to be in Perth when Crown Prince Willem-Alexander laid the keel for the replica of the VOC ship Duyfken, which brought the first white man to Western Australia. At the same …
  • Multiculturalism in Holland in 1997
    This edition of the “Sounds Interesting” focuses on Holland as a multicultural society, political correctness and the problems this creates for newcomers. The programme talks to …
  • The Jordaan will never die
    25 years ago, the Jordaan, Amsterdam’s most famous neighbourhood was badly run down and in danger of being demolished. But, as Simone Weimans and Robert Chesal discover, common sense saved the …
  • A tale of two cities: Part 1 of 3 – Amsterdam & Rotterdam
    What’s the best thing about Amsterdam? According to the people of Rotterdam, it’s the last train leaving Amsterdam for Rotterdam. In Holland, as in most places, there’s a bit of …
  • Euthanasia in the Netherlands in 1997
    Robert Chesal interviews several doctors who talk about how carrying out euthanasia affects them personally. It contains a very moving illustration of this, involving a mother of 11 children. …
  • Mucho corazon
    This award-winning programme tells a trans-Atlantic tale of love, music and politics. It is the story of Leon Perlee and Mercedes Sosa, both of them linked to the wooden street organ. He, a restorer …
  • Bending the rules in the Netherlands
    The image that many people have of Holland is one of an extremely tolerant and, in fact, overly permissive society when it comes to sex, drugs, prostitution, religion or euthanasia. The Netherlands …
  • Her Majesty Queen Beatrix at 60
    By the time Queen Beatrix celebrated her 60th birthday in 1998, she had been on the throne of the Netherlands for almost 20 years. By this time, she had acquired a great deal of respect both among …
  • You are what you eat, Part 1: A big fish in a small pond
    The first part of a three-part co-production looking at aspects of national cuisine and the customs associated with serving and receiving food in Scotland, Ireland and the Netherlands. Part One is …
  • Anne Frank at school at the age of 12
    Recreating Anne Frank: the diary debate
    From its first publication to the plays, films and dispute surrounding the ownership of her name, Anne Frank’s diary continues to stir up controversy. David Swatling investigates the history and …
  • A shop for children’s rights: The Children’s Legal Aid Centre
    In the Netherlands, children are being encouraged to stand up for their rights. “My parents are getting divorced. What’s going to happen to me? I’m being bullied at school.” …
  • Wilhelmina: a kingdom for a queen
    When Queen Wilhelmina inherited the Dutch throne from her father King Willem III of the Netherlands in 1890, she was only ten years old. She was not only the country’s first female monarch, but …
  • Hudson's Half_Moon_in the New World
    Wake of the Half Moon: the Dutch colony of New Netherland, Part 1 of 3 – A propitious misadventure
    In 1609, Henry Hudson sailed his famous ship “Halve Maen”, the “Half Moon”, up the river in North America that would one day bear his name. It was the start of the 60-year …
  • John Irving
    David Swatling meets John Irving in Amsterdam. They discuss the storyline of Irving’s latest book, “A Widow for One Year” (set in Amsterdam), his love of Amsterdam, and we hear from …
  • Postponed parenthood
    Around the world, women are postponing motherhood, usually in order to take time to study and start their careers. When this programme was made, Dutch women were on average 29 years old when they had …
  • The clouds are our dreams
    Dykes, ditches, windmills, villas and geometric fields – these are some of the features of the Dutch landscape. They reflect Holland’s struggle against the water, the wealth of the Golden …
  • Ruigoord: The vanishing island
    25 years ago, a group of idealists squatted an entire Dutch village and created a utopian art colony and unique nature reserve: Ruigoord. It’s all over now. With plans to expand it harbour …
  • Sentenced for life
    After a shocking case of serial sexual abuse by a high school teacher, Dutch educators struggle to find more effective ways to detect and put a stop to sexual misconduct.  Producer: Robert …
  • The way I see it: Foreigners living in the Netherlands, Part 1 of 2
    The Netherlands as seen through the eyes of some of the foreigners who were living here in the late 1990’s. Alain Francau, France 1998 Alan Gibson, Scotland 1999 Anna Marima, Tanzania, 1998 …
  • Island life: Schiermonnikoog
    James McDonald looks for a corner of the densely populated Netherlands where modern life hasn’t managed to take hold. The island of Schiermonnikoog provides just that. The 1000 inhabitants live …
  • In father’s footsteps: Bulk transport on Europe’s inland waterways
    A programme about the disappearing way of life of inland skippers. Bulk transport on river barges accounted for half of Europe’s marine freight traffic when this programme was made. Half of the …
  • Operation Vula: A secret Dutch network against apartheid
    This award-winning programme focuses on a secret operation involving the Netherlands Anti-Apartheid Movement, the AABN, during Nelson Mandela’s imprisonment and the apartheid years in South …
  • The gypsy in my soul: Sinti and Roma in the Netherlands
      The people who many of us refer to as “gypsies”, but who call themselves Sinti and Roma, are a small ethnic minority in the Netherlands, numbering between 5,000 and 7,000 at the …
  • The way I see it: Foreigners living in the Netherlands, Part 2 of 2
    The Netherlands as seen through the eyes of some of the foreigners who were living here in the late 1990’s. Jacqueline Aflick, Australia Jos Wibisono, Indonesia Leila Zacharia, Lebanon Lois Pot …
  • Immigration: The story of Khaled and Shukria
    Khaled and Shukria Manupal are both physicians. They had a prosperous life and a nice home with their children in Afghanistan, until the Soviet invasion in 1979 forced them to leave their country in …
  • A war requiem: The soldiers’ experience of war
    When the young soldiers who had fought in the trenches of World War I returned home after the armistice of 1918, they were no longer boys but men. Many of them traumatised by their experience of the …
  • Reading the periphery: The pioneering world of Dutch 17th century publishing
    Within 100 years of Johann Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press, The Netherlands was the publishing centre of Europe. With presses in Amsterdam, The Hague and Utrecht, the most famous name in …
  • Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander on water management
    At the Second World Water Forum in The Hague in 2000, Saskia van Rhenen speaks to Dutch crown prince Willem-Alexander, the chairman of the meeting. They discuss what the Netherlands can offer the …
  • A place to stay: Dutch Antilleans migrate to Europe
    In this documentary, Marijke van der Meer looks at present-day Dutch-Caribbean migration to the Netherlands. Thousands of people from the Netherlands Antilles are hoping to find a better life in the …
  • Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander on being a flying doctor
    In this short interview recorded in Nairobi, Kenya, Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands talks about his involvement as a pilot with AMREF, the African Medical and Research Foundation. He flew …
  • Homeless in Holland: A look at homelessness in Amsterdam and Rotterdam
    Why, in a country of plenty, with a booming economy and a highly developed welfare system, are there homeless people in Holland? Jonathan Groubert goes onto the streets of major Dutch cities to …
  • The Kruispost: A portrait of a medical centre for people living illegally in Amsterdam
    The Kruispost is one of two medical centres in Amsterdam staffed by volunteers. Its purpose is to offer medical treatment to those who have fallen through the health insurance safety net, such as …
  • The mill at Rijnwoude on the Lagenwaardse Polder (Photo-Vincent van Zeijst, Wikimedia Commons)
    Fences: Liberating the Dutch landscape, Part 4 of 4
    In the last of a four-part series on fences, The Sound Fountain concentrates on Holland, where the countryside has been tamed more than in any other country of the world. The Dutch landscape was …
  • Bhutan and Zeeland
    Hélène Michaud reports on an unusual project to help improve bio-diversity in Dutch agriculture. It appears that most of the wheat grown in Holland is not suitable for baking good bread. Bhutan, with …
  • The island on dryland: The Dutch island of Schokland
    In this programme we hear the strange story of the Dutch Island of Schokland. For centuries islanders battled against the raging Zuider sea. In 1859 they lost the fight and were forced off their …
  • Journalist Willem Oltmans at a press conference in 1983
    Holland’s enfant terrible, Willem Oltmans, on the Dutch monarchy
    In this uncut interview with Bertine Krol, Willem Oltmans (1925-2004), talks freely (and outrageously, sometimes) about the monarchy, Queen Beatrix, Prince Claus, Prince Willem-Alexander and his …
  • Love is love
    Dutch Horizons: Gay marriages
    In the weekly programme about the Netherlands, “Dutch Horizons”, a report by Chris Chambers on the historic first official marriage of homosexuals in Amsterdam’s Town Hall, and …
  • Social housing
    A roof over every head: 100 years of the Dutch Housing Act
    The purpose of the Dutch Housing Act was to provide safe and affordable housing for everybody. This resulted in a number of monuments of social housing. In the programme, Michele Ernsting reports on …
  • Chris Chambers meets Louise Groenman
    This programme is part of the series Chris Chambers meetsLouise Groenman (©Rob Bogaerts) In this unedited interview, Chris Chambers talks to perhaps the most influential woman in the Netherlands. …
  • Cycling with Frits
    It was in the early 1980’s that the first announcement was made about the disease that has come to be known as AIDS. In the late 80’s, David Swatling was given a cassette tape for his …
  • Domestic violence in the Netherlands
    Dheera Sujan looks at domestic violence in the Netherlands. Official figures show that 43% of the Dutch population has at some time been the victim of either physical, sexual or mental cruelty. …
  • Palace of dreams: The Tuschinski movie theatre in Amsterdam
    It was one of the most lavish movie theatres to be built in its time, a pioneering monument to the new medium of cinema, a palace for the dreams of movie-goers, from bored housewives to weary …
  • Baking holy bread
    An intimate profile of Antoine de Bakker. His name in Dutch means “the baker”, and he earned his living making the machines necessary to produce Holy Communion hosts. These very thin …
  • Westermoskee - Amsterdam
    Racism in the Netherlands
    After September 11, 2001, Muslims in the Netherlands became outsiders almost overnight. They are distrusted, feared and even hated. We find out how this could have happened from Yassin Hartok of the …
  • The kingdom at a crossroads: Reshaping relations the Netherlands and the Dutch Caribbean
    In this special edition of Dutch Horizons, “The Kingdom at a Crossroads”, we look at the ties between the Netherlands and its former colonies in the Caribbean—Aruba and the Netherlands …
  • Global perspectives: Re-tracing the roots of Holland’s tulip fields
    This programme is part of the series Global PerspectiveA group of international broadcasters exchanges documentaries with a common theme. This five-part series examines the way in which global forces …
  • Searching for Ariana
    Ariana Nozeman (1628-1661) was the first actress on the Dutch stage. Although she came from a family of thespians, this was a daring career choice for a woman in Calvinist Holland, given the …
  • Amsterdam Forum: Job Cohen
    This is the first in an occasional series of programmes in which leading figures in Dutch society are interviewed before a live audience about politics, social issues, the arts and culture. The host …
  • Pim Fortuyn’s assassination
    Wide Angle looks back over the week in which Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn was shot dead. There are reactions from politicians, ordinary people, journalists and analysts. How will the dead man’s …
  • The story of Nemo and Ebyan: Two Somali refugee children in the Netherlands
    In 1988, a civil war broke out in Somalia in the Horn of Africa. Nearly a million people had to flee the fighting. Some settled in other African countries, but many went to the United States or …
  • A significant present: Dutch Mennonites in Poland
    Mennonites are a group of Christians founded by a former priest from Friesland, Menno Simons, in the 16th century. Despite centuries of persecution and discrimination because of their strong pacifist …
  • A taal tale: Foreigners’ difficulties for the Dutch language
    The Dutch language is the subject of this programme, more specifically a foreigner’s difficulty with it. David Swatling meets Dr. Robert Druce, editor of the new edition of “An …
  • Rivers of the World: The Vecht in Holland
    This programme is part of the series Rivers of the WorldRivers are the cradle of the world’s earliest civilisations. Mythology and religion were born on their banks. They provide us with life-giving …
  • Samuel Sarphati: The founder of the new Amsterdam
    As a young Amsterdam physician of Portuguese and Spanish Jewish descent, Samuel Sarphati (1813-1866) worked early in his career to improve the living conditions of broad sections of the population in …
  • Lysistrata rising: A women’s worldwide protest against war
    Protests against the war in Iraq took many forms: demonstrations, marches, candlelight vigils. But one of the most unique and peaceful actions took place on March 3, 2003. In more than 1000 venues in …
  • Greenberg’s universe
    A programme about our universe and the origin of life on Earth, dedicated to the late Mayo Greenberg (1922-2001), the founder and director of Leiden Astrophysics Laboratory, Netherlands.  …
  • Traces of war: Survivors of the Burma and Pakanbaroe Railroad
    “Traces of War” is a book created by photographer Jan Banning about 24 men who survived slave labour on the construction of the notorious Burmese and Pakanbaroe railroads. The railway …
  • The right side: Dutch Communists 50 years after Stalin
    When Joseph Stalin died in 1953, many people all over the world truly mourned. Several generations later, this reaction is difficult to understand, given the millions of people who were killed under …
  • Keeping up with Calvin: The Dutch and Calvinism
    Chris Chambers explores the relationship between the Netherlands and the philosophy of the Protestant religious reformer John Calvin. Calvinism has been a major and formidable influence on the Dutch …
  • Tour de Goose: Migratory birds in the Netherlands
    Every year the Netherlands is the favourite stopover of millions of migrating birds, including 1.5 million geese. It’s all about location, location, location. The Netherlands has the …
  • Vermeer- Girl with the Pearl Earring, 1665-7 (The Hague)e
    Six ways to Vermeer
    A montage documentary about one of the greatest of the Dutch Masters, Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) of Delft, using six of his paintings to look at aspects of his life and fame.  …
  • A man’s choice: A look at male contraceptives
    Over the past 40 years, an amazing range of contraceptive products have been developed for women. For men, nothing new has emerged. Fathers and lovers just have to make do with condoms or vasectomy – …
  • Dr. Joop de Jong, director of the Transcultural Psychosocial Organisation
    Joop de Jong of the Transcultural Psychosocial Organisation
    During wars and their immediate aftermath, the United Nations and international aid organisations try to help deal with people’s most immediate needs: food, shelter, water and sanitation. In recent …
  • Basement sessions: Historic Dutch jazz recordings, Part 5
    This programme is part of the series Basement Sessions: Historic Dutch Jazz RecordingsProducer David Swatling and host Hans Mantel delve into the Radio Netherlands’ jazz archives. In this …
  • Sick at heart
    1 in 6 people of working age in The Netherlands are on a disability pension (the WAO). For years, people with even a minor ailment could and often did earn 70% of their last pay packet till they …
  • The winged muse: Swans
    Swans have inspired some of the world’s most beautiful music, poetry and legends. Many people from saints to kings have been identified with swans, like the Russian prima ballerina Anna Pavlova …
  • Javaeiland, Eastern Docklands, Amsterdam
    From harbour to hotspot
    The Amsterdam Docklands have recently been redeveloped. Where there used to be warehouses, cranes and ocean steamers are now more than 8000 houses. The project is nearing its completion and has …
  • The day the world came to an end: The great Delft Thunderclap of 1654
    This programme commemorates the 350th anniversary of one of the most bizarre events to take place in the 17th century. The day was October 12, 1654, a normal Monday morning in the Dutch city of …
  • Releasing the river: Restoring the rhythms of the Zambian wetlands
    Imagine an African landscape nearly half the size of the Netherlands, antelopes and zebra grazing a huge, flat wetland full of storks, cranes and wading birds. This is the Kafue Flats of Zambia …
  • Adams in Amsterdam, Part 2 of 3 – Dearest of friends
    During the American war of independence from Britain, many years before he became the second American president, John Adams represented his country as the first American ambassador to the …
  • Adams in Amsterdam, Part 3 of 3: The two republics
    The final program in a three-part series to commemorate the 225th anniversary of John Adams’ arrival in Amsterdam in 1780. His diplomatic mission was to gain support for the fledgling United …
  • 100 years of nature conservation in the Netherlands
    In this edition of our weekly magazine on developments in this country, Dutch Horizons, science editor Anne Blair Gould looks at the 100th anniversary of Natuurmonumenten, the Dutch Society for the …
  • A Dutch love story
    Anouk is a young Dutch girl who lives with her boyfriend Said. He’s Dutch too, but from a fairly traditional Moroccan-Berber family. Both of them are Dutch and Muslim. They have what should be a …
  • Houseboat Holland
    Tourists visiting Amsterdam often marvel at the thousands of houseboats lining the famous canals. Are they safe? Are they like real houses? And above all, why do so many people in the Netherlands …
  • Painting by a traumatised asylum-seeker
    In Limbo – Holland’s traumatised asylum-seekers
    Over the past decade, more than 400,000 asylum-seekers have come to Holland. Many of them were fleeing war, torture, or political or ethnic persecution. Large numbers of them were traumatised by …
  • Faceless: Dire times for illegal immigrants in the Netherlands
    Illegal immigration and residence became an issue in the Netherlands in the beginning of the 1990’s. People began to realise that quite a few immigrant workers – both legal and illegal – …
  • Keeping the peace: Dutch peacekeepers in Afghanistan
    In 2002, the Netherlands sent a peace-keeping contingent to Afghanistan as part of ISAF, the International Security Assistance Force. In this programme, we speak with some of the officers and …
  • Home birth in Holland
    This programme was made as part of the theme of “family”, a Radio Netherlands Worldwide focus in 2006. The concept of family has changed through the ages and is becoming more diverse. …
  • The Fairbridge Farm School
    After the end of the Second World War, hundreds of Dutch children and adults who had been prisoners of the Japanese in the Dutch East Indies were sent to the Fairbridge Farm School in …
  • Running with Atalanta: Human trafficking
    In the mid 1990’s, two young women studied law – one in The Netherlands and the other in Latvia. Years later, their lives would intersect in what the United Nations has called the fastest …
  • Copyists, collectors and curators: Rembrandt’s modern-day heirs
    Hundreds of years after he lived, the painter Rembrandt continues to affect the lives of people in our own century. In every generation, there are people who study his work, trade in it and try to …
  • Dîner pensant
    Food and philosophy: they seem like natural companions – long dinners, leading to longer discussions. But, in fact, food has seldom been the subject of philosophers. That’s possibly …
  • Art historian Gary Schwartz
    © sueddeutsche/Koos Breukel and nationalgallery Gary Schwartz is a Brooklyn-born expert on Rembrandt and Dutch 17th century art. He studied art history in the United States, came to the Netherlands …
  • Matthijs Van Boxsel: Recognised expert on stupidity
      Have you ever wondered why, when we think we have found a solution to a problem, we just create more problems? Some people ascribe this to the universal phenomenon called stupidity (domheid). …
  • Lonely funeral: Burying Amsterdam’s anonymous dead
    With the anonymity of urban life in a globalised world, we hear every day of people who have died alone and unidentified. In Amsterdam, there are about 20 such cases every year, and each person is …