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The Needle: Berlin

The Needle: Berlin

Sharp Views on the German capital

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Photo by Alex Yoku (2014) Used with Permission from the FIND Festival, Schaubühne, Berlin
Opinion and Politics 

Speaking Up for Artistic Freedom in Russia: The Serebrennikov Arrest

28/08/201723/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

Kirill Serebrennikov, a familiar face to the Berlin theatre scene, has been arrested in Russia and will face a show

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Berlin and German Politics 

What Germany Does to Fight Nazis

20/08/201723/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

by Joseph Pearson, historian Germany is a country that jumps on Nazis every time they come out of the woodwork. The

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Gay and Queer Berlin 

WAS IST POST-GENDER? and CAN BERLIN BE POST-GENDER?

17/08/201723/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

by Joseph Pearson Can Berlin be a post-gender city? And is it willing? What would it mean for spaces in

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Berlin History 

Interview with Joseph Pearson about his new book “Berlin”

13/07/201723/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

Today, I’m reprinting a short interview, on the occasion of the publication of my new book, Berlin, with Reaktion Press in London

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Berlin Arts 

A New Concert Hall in Berlin

08/03/201723/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

8/03/17. Berlin has a new concert space, The Pierre Boulez Hall, named for the French composer and conductor. It opened this

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Opinion and Politics 

Is Trump’s Rule Fascist?

30/01/201723/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

In Trump’s first nine days since assuming the presidency, he has adopted many positions that recall a ‘fascist style of

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Opinion and Politics 

Europe After Trump Day: Going Forward

20/01/201723/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

20.01.2017 BERLIN. Where does Trump’s inauguration leave us in Europe? Turning points in history are usually distinguished well after the

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Berlin and German Politics 

In Response to Last Night’s Attacks in Berlin

20/12/201623/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

  BERLIN: 20 DEC 2016 (11am). The driver of the truck that killed at least 12 people, and wounded scores more, in

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Opinion and Politics 

Fear the News Cycle, Not Italy’s Referendum Result

05/12/201623/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

5 DEC 2016 The international press is dangerously over-dramatising the results of the Italian Referendum, after 60% rejected Italian PM Matteo Renzi’s

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Opinion and Politics 

The Absurd Italian Referendum

29/11/201623/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

29.11.16 Last weekend, I was at one of my favourite olive and salami merchants in Berlin, talking to the Neapolitan

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Berlin History 

Why Sponsor a Stolperstein?

19/10/201623/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

  We could not find very much information about the lives of the two women who lived in our building

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About the Author

Joseph Pearson is a writer based between Berlin and New York City. Born in Canada, he was educated at Cambridge University, UK, where he received his doctorate in history in 2001. His non-fiction portrait of Berlin was published in 2017. He is also the essayist and blogger of the Schaubühne Theatre, one of Berlin’s best known state-funded institutions. Since 2008, he has written The Needle, which has become one of Berlin’s most popular blogs. His writing has appeared widely in the press, literary and academic journals, and has been translated into German, Italian, French, Arabic, and other languages. For professional inquiries please contact:  joseph [AT] cantab.net.

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 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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Berlin Links

  • Architecture in Berlin A blog about buildings in the city
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