Hi everyone! A big thanks to QHarp for covering last week’s thread while I was on vacation. Since I was visiting Berlin and Munich, I thought I’d give us a brief respite from the nightmare of American politics and talk about the news in Germany.
Cyberattacks struck infrastructure across Europe last week, including Berlin’s airport and rail system. Which probably played a role in my luggage being lost in my trip from Berlin to Munich.
There have also been rallies recently pushing back against war and militarization, with many people coming out to encourage Germany to support peace negotiations in the Middle East and Ukraine. In addition, there is increasing pushback against compulsory military service. There are likely to be even larger protests on October 3, the holiday commemorating German reunification.
However, scars from Germany’s division are still present. A recent poll finds that only 35% of Germans believe the country has grown closer since reunification. This number is down from a peak of 51% in 2019.
German investigate news outlet Der Spiegel hired a media scientist to do a critical inquiry into their own reporting, and he produced a thoughtful, interesting article about Der Spiegel and modern journalism as a whole. Worth a read!
Also, climate change. It’s affecting Germany too. This year’s Berlin marathon was the hottest on record — meaning yours truly and many others did not achieve the great times they hoped for in the race. (You know who did, though? Harry Styles.) Bringing me to 3/3 for marathons this year that were too warm and tough to set a new PR. Maybe next year…
Be kind and thoughtful today. Cheers.