October 2011 – The Needle: Berlin

Places in Berlin

Joseph Pearson 18/10/201123/06/2018

Sweating Silence in the Stadtbad Mitte Sauna

The first time you come to the sauna of Stadtbad Mitte, the Bauhaus bath complex on Gartenstraße, certain things take

Gay and Queer Berlin

Joseph Pearson 04/10/201123/06/2018

Traumatised by Gay Oktoberfest

I traumatised a friend visiting from Los Angeles by taking her to Gay Oktoberfest. Oktoberfest, Berlin, Gay? Do all these

Joseph Pearson is a writer and historian based in Berlin. His non-fiction portrait of Berlin was published in 2017. He published a second book, My Grandfather’s Knife, about how everyday objects tell World War Two stories, in 2022. His writing has appeared widely in the press, literary and academic journals, and has been translated into German, Italian, French, Arabic, and other languages. Born in Canada, he was educated at Cambridge University, UK, where he received his doctorate in history in 2001. He works at New York University, Berlin, and at the Barenboim-Said Akademie. Since 2008, he has written The Needle, which has become one of Berlin’s most popular blogs. For professional inquiries please contact his agency, Peters Fraser Dunlop, email him directly joseph [AT] cantab.net, or visit his professional website: josephpearson.ca