Overview

• ZDF pushed Wednesday’s Markus Lanz to 0:00 to accommodate Champions League coverage, resulting in an unusually late start.
• The delayed edition featured Boris Becker with Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro reflecting on his 231 days in prison and personal lessons.
• A second episode aired Thursday at 23:45 with Peer Steinbrück and Janine Wissler debating industrial competitiveness, the welfare state and flexible retirement ages.
• The political exchange also examined migration, with Lanz pressing its impact on communities such as the Ruhrgebiet.
• ARD’s Maischberger on September 17 gathered a six-person panel on the 2025 federal budget, energy policy shifts and the risks of political radicalization.