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Those of us living in the city centre, close to industry sites or a very busy street junction know the smell only too well: fuel, burnt rubber, melting plastic and unspecified chemical stench that might or might not make your skin crawl (sometimes literally). Luckily for most, the days of potentially lethal air pollution in big cities like Berlin seem to be over.

But in February 1987 West Berlin and West Germany were in the thick of it. Why this was not the case for the DDR is explained in this episode... You will also find out something about Thor and a very useful Berlin flower.

Enjoy the episode!

(Link to Berlin's page where you can control air quality in the city on per-hour basis: https://luftdaten.berlin.de/lqi)

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Music for the show by ...

SMOG IN THE CITY: "DICKE LUFT" IN WEST BERLIN

Berlin Companion Podcast