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Berlin History
Joseph Pearson 27/04/201223/06/2018

Musing about Nazi Exiles in Mexikoplatz Station

‘All the streets around here were named after South American countries, so that when their soldiering grandfathers return from exile,

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Living in Berlin
Joseph Pearson 22/04/201223/06/2018

No Water for You, Unless It’s ‘Still or Sparkling’?

Getting a glass of water in a German restaurant is not an easy task. Unless you are willing to pay

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Foodie Berlin
Joseph Pearson 14/04/201223/06/2018

Erotica and White Asparagus Season

Asparagus season makes me uneasy. This is a problem living in Germany, because Spargelzeit* is unavoidable. The alien fern crops

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Living in Berlin
Joseph Pearson 26/03/201223/06/2018

The Sixth Borough: Berlin as New York

New York in the seventies without the crime? New York with a type-B personality? The way ‘the East Village used

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Berlin and German Politics
Joseph Pearson 15/03/201223/06/2018

The Arab Spring in Berlin

On Hobrechtstraße in Neukölln, that corner of Kreuzkölln between the Lebanese community on Sonnenallee and the canal, there is a

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Berlin Arts
Joseph Pearson 07/03/201223/06/2018

Gerhard Richter Unaccompanied: The Retrospective at the Neue

Gerhard Richter was flying to New York on September 11th 2001. His exhibition 40 Years of Painting was opening at MOMA

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Foodie Berlin
Joseph Pearson 19/02/201223/06/2018

London in Exile: Literati, Scones and Hudson’s Cakes

Walk through this door and into the story of many English speakers in Berlin. Jim Hudson worked for an architecture practice.

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Berlin Arts
Joseph Pearson 14/02/201223/06/2018

How to Survive the Berlinale (the Berlin Film Festival)

Potsdamer Platz is suddenly teeming with people. There isn’t the density of midtown Manhattan but, restrict your peripheral vision, you

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Berlin History
Joseph Pearson 08/02/201223/06/2018

Hidden Mid-Century Modernism at the Haus der Kulturen

I am about to visit one of Berlin’s most beautiful, undiscovered and under-appreciated interiors. Take the 100 bus through the

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Places in Berlin
Joseph Pearson 02/02/201223/06/2018

Literaturhaus Café

It’s winter and there is finally snow on the ground. I go to the Literature House on Fasanenstr. 23  in

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Berlin and German Politics
Joseph Pearson 10/01/201223/06/2018

The End of Cheap Housing in Berlin?

Once upon a time, artists moved to Berlin because it was cheap. These days, they move to Berlin because they’ve heard

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About the Author

 

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

What is The Needle?

The changing meanings of The Needle are the inspiration for these pages. Above Alexanderplatz is Berlin’s television tower. The Needle surveilled the city during East German times like a threatening eye; then its meaning changed after the Berlin Wall fell. Berliners now think of the tower as a giant disco ball flirting with the city lights––a symbol of sex, electronic music and youth culture. This bi-weekly documents the Berlin Renaissance today, mindful of a dramatic and terrifying history. Berlin is Europe’s most exciting city, and The Needle is here to share.

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