In Berlin

Rap, poetry, dance, jazz, opera: Black Cracker has done it all. A native of Alabama, the artistic Tausendsassa has made a name for himself as one of the most noteworthy of Berlin’s creators. His projects range from a collaboration with Blixa Bargeld to the Jazz ensemble Grand Pianoramax. In a fitting finale to the second season of the podcast, we talk about life, love, the universe and, of course, Berlin.

Uganda to Sweden as a refugee, Sweden to Germany as an artist: Jaqee’s destinations in life so far are more than unusual. All the while though, she has managed to create stunning, hard to place music somewhere between Soul, Jazz and Reggae. Since May of 2017 she is back with her new album ‘Fly High’ and talks to us about what it is like to age in the music industry, how to balance motherhood with being an artist, and what her thoughts upon first seeing white people were.

In our first ever tea total episode of the pod, we talk to Ronny Blaschke, journalist and author of several books covering the societal background of sports, football in particular. We discuss his trajectory, growing up in Rostock being just a regular football fan, to becoming a journalist in Berlin covering topics such as hooliganism, Nazism and violent extremism in football. Extended rants, personal anecdotes, debates about free market economics, and a quirky intro: this episode has it all.

If you’re German and born in the 90s, then you will without a doubt have seen Cynthia Micas on your television screen as Joana Hofmeister on 'Schloss Einstein'. The only podcast guest to ever bring her own food to the studio kitchen has since had an impressive run both on screen and on stage, including a four-year tenure at Maxim Gorki Theatre. We talk about her childhood in Schöneberg, her experience being a woman of colour trying to make it as an actress, and her upcoming residency at Munich’s Residenztheater.

Freunde von Freunden called him ‘Berlin’s most fresh-faced photographer'. That was a year and a half ago. Since then Jonas Lindstrom has made big waves with his film Truth or Dare, shaped the imagery of some of the world’s most iconic brands and directed Kendrick Lamar’s recent video ELEMENT. He joined us in the studio-kitchen to talk about persuasive technology, the ethics of fashion photography and how his journey began with early 2000s skateboarding aesthetics.

Christopher Lauer is arguably one of Berlin’s most infamous politicians. He was an early member of the German Pirate Party which he left in 2014 and has since joined the SPD. He meets us in the studio-kitchen to explain his path from “red wine lefty” to serious politician with an impact.

Craig and Olya of The Underground Youth join us in the studio kitchen to talk about their latest album, how Manchester compares to Berlin, and how world politics factors into their art. We also touch upon Russia, going on tour, and a weird part of Andrew’s psyche that he possibly didn’t actually want revealed.

We return for season two with probably our most well-known guest to date. Marcia Barrett is the front-woman of 70s international disco phenomenon Boney M, which not only sold millions of records, but also shaped an entire generations’ night outs. She and her husband Marcus join us in the studio kitchen and tell some incredible stories from the past five decades of their lives.

Erik Spiekermann is probably one of the most iconic designers of our time. He has invented typefaces, written books, founded agencies and is responsible for more instantly recognizable corporate designs than anyone else. He also spent a good portion of his life living and working in Berlin. We talk to him about his life, his work, his quirks and - inevitably - Comic Sans.

We met with Dino Karlis earlier this year, on Mayday to be precise, to chat about his life. From him growing up in small town New Zealand to recording an album in a rented basement to ultimately touring the US and eventually ending up in Berlin. We also talk about music, parenthood and how those two go together.

Alexander Görlach, born Firat Kaya, grew up in a small German village to become a journalist and a scholar, holding two PhDs and writing for almost every reputable German media outlet imaginable. In 2009 he founded his debate magazine The European and he has since moved on to lecture at Harvard. We talk about all that and much more over some 'Helles' in our kitchen.

Anna Roxenholt, better known under the moniker of her latest musical project New Found Land, is a Swedish musician that for a long time has called Berlin her home. We catch up over some wine to talk about her growing up in Sweden, her latest album, the swedish music scene and - unlikely enough - babies, both real ones and CD ones.

An illustrator by trade, Niels discovered collage art, the nifty craft of glueing together cutouts from old magazines and books, more or less by accident back in the Netherlands. Today he lives in Berlin, has had some very successful exhibitions and joins us to talk about his art, his process and his coming-of-age in the capital.

In a truly heartfelt and brutally honest conversation, we talk to Katja Sallay about the often unpredictable path she's taken in life. A path that has lead her to ultimately become an actress, most recently for a lead role in the broadway adaption 'disgraced' at Theater am Kurfürstendamm.

Danielle de Picciotto came to Berlin in the 80s just to quickly find herself at the heart of Berlin's thriving art scene. She has since amassed an absolutely astounding body of work. She is an artist, she is a writer, she is a filmmaker. She also co-founded Loveparade and travelled the world as a nomad for a solid 5 years. We are happy to have her share some of her experiences with us in our Kreuzberg studio-kitchen.

You might not have heard his name, but if you've lived in Berlin for any significant amount of time you have most probably seen him up on stage getting strangers to perform a not-entirely-terrible rendition of "stand by me". Joe Hatchiban is the MC of Mauerpark Karaoke, a Berliner by choice since 2003 and joins us to talk life, love and of course Karaoke.