Over his long career, Friedrich Merz has gone from rising CDU star to Blackrock executive and back to the very top of German politics. To discuss his trajectory—and the country's likely future—Ted speaks with NYC-based journalist Lukas Hermsmeier to discuss the "back to the future" qualities of Merz's political outlook.Read Lukas' NYT piece on Merz here: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/04/opinion/friedrich-merz-germany-chancellor.htmlFollow Lukas here: https://bsky.app/profile/lukashermsmeier.bsky.socialRead one of the scary pieces on Germany and the A-Bomb here: https://www.br.de/nachrichten/deutschland-welt/braucht-deutschland-eigene-atomwaffen-analyse,Ug5NOIkWatch Merz's retro campaign ad here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxuJekayt0M&ab_channel=FriedrichMerz*****Follow Spaßbremse on Twitter (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@spassbremse_pod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠). Music by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Lee Rosevere⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Art by Franziska Schneider.Support us on Patreon here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/spassbremse