Since 2017, My Country Talks events have brought together over 170 thousand participants from around the world - from Italy to Norway to the USA. My Country Talks events are created and hosted through a collaboration of members from the media, government, and the social sector to foster debate among citizens.
In 2017, the newsroom at ZEIT ONLINE was trying to come up with a new way to connect people across political divides. The result was called "Deutschland Spricht", which quickly grew into the My Country Talks platform. Read about where it all started, and the four consecutive Germany Talks events that have gathered over 65 thousand people from across the country.
When Europe Talks launched in 2019, it seemed almost impossible to
get people of different cultures, languages and opinions to speak to
each other. Yet that’s exactly what thousands of Europeans from across
the continent did. Europe Talks 2019 brought together over 16,000
participants from 33 countries to have a conversation. Europe Talks
launched again in 2020 in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. With
the continent more divided than ever, over 20,000 participants were
matched for a debate.
Just two days after US President Joe Biden was inaugurated, 500 participants from across the US met online to discuss across political divides. The result was a successful pilot that will grow into the first national event in the USA, in spring of 2021.
June 23, 2019 and June 19, 2021
The Netherlands Talks, November 3, 2020 and March 21, 2021
Sweden Talks, November 23, 2019
Denmark Talks, June 2, 2019
Norway Talks, May 25, 2019
Italy Talks, June 10, 2018 and May 11, 2019
Belgium Talks, May 4, 2019
Finland Talks, March 30, 2019
Switzerland Talks, October 21, 2018
Austria Talks, October 13, 2018