Overview
- On 23 October, Markus Lanz devoted the program to decades of German Russia policy, featuring Georg Mascolo, Katja Gloger and Andrey Gurkov.
- Mascolo said Putin told untruths to Scholz in a pre‑war call and the panel faulted Berlin’s deepening energy ties after Crimea, including Nord Stream 2.
- Former chancellor Gerhard Schröder’s closeness to Putin drew sharp criticism, with accounts of ignored warnings and references to a Russian term for “Schröderization.”
- On 22 October, Bundestag president Julia Klöckner defended addressing an MP’s “Palestine” sweater as enforcing parliamentary neutrality in a tense one‑on‑one with Lanz.
- The 21 October episode on schools surfaced practitioner reports of shortages and classroom challenges, including a Ludwigshafen primary school citing a 97% migrant‑background share, and viewers reacted strongly online; episodes are streaming in the ZDF‑Mediathek.