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Living in Berlin
Joseph Pearson 06/01/201223/06/2018

Fireworks

  Video from Canadian Berlin-based video artist Dan Hudson. I flew into Berlin on New Year’s eve, at around 8pm.

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Living in Berlin
Joseph Pearson 09/12/201123/06/2018

Moving to Berlin? The Needle Guide (2012 Edition)

FOR THE UPDATED 2012 GUIDE, FOLLOW THIS LINK PLEASE

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Living in Berlin
Joseph Pearson 06/12/201123/06/2018

From Istanbul to Kreuzberg

Walking down the main boulevard of Istanbul, in Taksim, İstiklal, one is swept up in a mass of humanity that makes Berlin

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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

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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

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Living in Berlin
Joseph Pearson 27/09/201123/06/2018

Emergency Landing on Graefestraße

I am in love with Christoph. He works for the fire department and he wears yellow overalls. I heard him

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Berlin and German PoliticsGay and Queer Berlin
Joseph Pearson 16/09/201123/06/2018

State Elections in Berlin: Homophobia and the BIG party

It’s election time in Berlin. On the 18th of September, the seats of the House of Deputies for the Land

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Berlin and German Politics
Joseph Pearson 04/09/201123/06/2018

Revolt on the Admiralbrücke, Kreuzberg

It’s a Wednesday evening on Kreuzberg’s Admiralbrücke in summer, and there must be 200 people here, drinking store-bought beer, smoking,

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Places in Berlin
Joseph Pearson 28/08/201123/06/2018

Boules in Berlin, Paul-Lincke-Ufer (VIDEO)

On the north side of the Paul-Lincke-Ufer in Kreuzberg, along the canal, locals gather to play boules. The Sunday traffic–-bicycles,

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Berlin History
Joseph Pearson 21/08/201123/06/2018

After the Nazis, are the Wertheims Coming Home?

The commercialisation of the former Wall’s no-man’s land progresses as fast as the cranes can haul girders. Awful, says a

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Berlin History
Joseph Pearson 13/08/201123/06/2018

The Berlin Wall at 50

Today is an anniversary. The Berlin Wall went up 50 years ago. Imagine a family arriving at Friedrichstraße station in

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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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