Campaign Season on Both Sides of the Atlantic

The American Council on Germany and the Goethe-Institut hosted a live podcast recording and discussion at the Goethe-Institut Washington on “Campaign Season on Both Sides of the Atlantic” with Liz Goodwin, National Political Reporter, The Washington Post and Nadine Lindner, Journalist, Deutschlandradio.

Nadine Lindner , Liz Goodwin , Dr. Steven E. Sokol

Nadine Lindner, an award-winning correspondent for Deutschlandradio known for her reporting on the rise of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) and political developments in eastern Germany, was joined by Liz Goodwin, a national political reporter at The Washington Post who covers the people and movements reshaping American politics. The discussion is moderated by the President and CEO of the American Council on Germany, Dr. Steven E. Sokol.

The year 2026 is shaping up to be an important electoral moment on both sides of the Atlantic. In the United States, voters will head to the polls for the midterm elections that will determine control of Congress and shape the final years of the current administration in Washington, DC. In Germany, several key state elections will test the strength of the governing coalition and the continued rise of parties such as the Alternative for Germany (AfD), offering an early indication of the political dynamics that could influence the next federal contest. Together, these campaigns will provide a revealing snapshot of how domestic political pressures in both countries may shape the future of the transatlantic relationship.

Drawing on our guests’ extensive on-the-ground reporting – from Germany’s evolving party landscape to the shifting dynamics of U.S. national politics – this discussion explored how political narratives, voter behavior, and media coverage are influencing democratic debate and the broader transatlantic relationship. This event was part of a week-long speaking tour by Nadine Lindner to five U.S. cities titled State(s) of Democracy: A German Journalist’s Journey to the U.S. in 2026.

Listen to the podcast here on the following platforms:

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Spreaker

Foreign Correspondents Unplugged

The American Council on Germany and the Goethe-Institut are holding a series of events across the United States highlighting how German and American journalists see political and social developments in Germany, the United States, and internationally. Our guests will take a step back from the stories they follow day to day and address a range of topics that affect citizens in both countries. Following the events, the discussions will be released as podcasts.

Nadine Lindner

Nadine Lindner has been a Correspondent in the Berlin studio of "Deutschlandradio" since early 2016 and is responsible, among other things, for covering the AfD and transport policy. Before that, she was a Correspondent in the Free State of Saxony for two and a half years and followed the rise of Pegida there. She studied Political Science, Journalism, and African Studies in Leipzig and discovered her enthusiasm for radio there at the training station "mephisto 97.6." After graduating from university, she worked as a freelance journalist for "MDR sputnik" and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung as well as Deutschlandradio.

Born 1980 in a small town close to Frankfurt/Main, studying Political Science in Leipzig/Saxony. Later she did her journalistic training at Deutschlandradio, a nationwide public radio station. In 2013, Ms. Lindner moved back to Saxony as a regional correspondent for Deutschlandradio, where she covered the early days of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the anti-asylum movement Pegida. Since 2016, she has worked at the capital studio of Deutschlandradio in Berlin, where she is responsible for covering the AfD in the German parliament. Nadine Lindner received the prize of the Bundespressekonferenz, the association of capital studio journalists, for her reporting about the AfD and Eastern Germany in 2024.

Liz Goodwin

Liz Goodwin is a national political reporter for The Washington Post, writing about the forces and people remaking American politics. She previously covered the Senate. Goodwin joined The Post from The Boston Globe, where she covered national politics since 2018, most recently serving as Washington bureau chief. Before joining the Globe in 2018, Ms. Goodwin wrote about national politics and national affairs for Yahoo News, covering Congress, the 2012 and 2016 presidential campaigns, immigration, and criminal justice, among other topics. Earlier in her career, she worked at the Daily Beast.

As a reporter, Ms. Goodwin is known for capturing the human side of politics — writing revealing profiles of candidates and examining the complex decision-making of voters in absorbing narratives. She has written from the U.S.-Mexico border about the Trump administration's family separation policy and from Britain on former president Donald Trump's influence on nationalists in that country and has reported from the campaign trail over three presidential elections.

Dr. Steven E. Sokol

Steven E. Sokol has been the President and CEO of the American Council on Germany since 2015. Previously, he served as President and CEO of the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh and prior to that he was the Vice President and Director of Programs at the American Council on Germany. Prior to this, Dr. Sokol served as the Deputy Director of the Aspen Institute Berlin, was the Head of the Project Management Department at the Bonn International Center for Conversion GmbH (BICC), and a Program Officer in the Berlin office of the German Marshall Fund of the United States. Earlier in his career, he also was a Program Manager at the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) and was a paralegal at Fulbright & Jaworski.

He holds a Doctorate in Law and Policy from Northeastern University as well as an M.A. in International Relations and International Economics from the Johns Hopkins University’s Paul Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and a B.A. from Wesleyan University. He has also studied at the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität in Heidelberg and as a Fulbright Scholar at the Freie Universität in Berlin. Dr. Sokol serves on several non-profit boards and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He was awarded a Bundesverdienstkreuz (Order of Merit) for his work to strengthen German-American relations.

Episode 12 Campaign Season on Both Sides of the Atlantic

Foreign Correspondents Unplugged