In post-war Europe, protest was everywhere. On both sides of the Iron Curtain, from Paris to Prague, Milan to Wroclaw, ordinary people took to the streets, fighting for a better world. Their efforts came to a head most dramatically in 1968 and 1989, when mass movements swept Europe and rewrote its history.
In the decades between, Joachim C. Haberlen argues in Beauty Is in the Street: Protest and Counterculture in Post-War Europe (Penguin, 2023), new movements emerged that transformed the nature of protesting. Activism moved beyond traditional demonstrations, from squatting to staging 'happenings' and camping out at nuclear power plants. People protested in the way they dressed, the music they listened to, the lovers they slept with, the clubs where they danced all night. New movements were born, notably anti-racism, women's liberation, gay liberation and environmentalism. And protest turned inward, as activists experimented with new ways of living and feeling, from communes to group therapy, in their efforts to live a better life in the here and now.
Some of these struggles succeeded, others failed. But successful or not, their history provides a glimpse into roads not taken, into futures that did not happen. The stories in Haberlen's book invite us to imagine different futures; to struggle, to fail, and to try again. In a time when we are told that there are no alternatives, they show us that there could be another way.
Joachim C. Häberlen is a historian of modern Europe. He holds a PhD from the University of Chicago and worked until 2022 at the University of Warwick; he now lives and works in Berlin.
Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube channel. Twitter.
If you’ve been around long enough, and by that, I only mean a couple of years, you have probably observed the one fundamental truth about computers: they always get faster.
While games and web browning might seem faster, the average person’s computer usage doesn’t necessarily express just how much more powerful computers have become.
In particular, for several decades, supercomputers have been developed which are vastly more powerful than what is one your desk or in your pocket. Unless that is, you make comparisons over time…
Learn more about supercomputers, the evolution of computing power and how your computer stacks up to supercomputers of the past on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
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Caves! Caverns! Grottos! Crystals! Let's get down and dirty with Speleology with explorer, researcher, professor, and paleoclimatologist Dr. Gina Moseley. She shares what it’s like to spend a week straight in a cave, safety tips, climate research breakthroughs, and the deepest and darkest caves. Also: stalactites, stalagmites, cave clouds, show caves, who counts as a spelunker, what ancient climate science can tell us about our current sticky situation, cave diving, cave rescues, creepy caves, gated caves, old school versus new school cave mapping, if cavers ever lose their damn minds down there, and why nothing beats the longing for the underground. Grab a friend and wear a helmet. We’re goin’ in.
Tuesday night’s DNC turned into a raucous celebration as delegates from each state showed off their local pride while casting their votes for Vice President Kamala Harris. Former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama headlined the night’s speeches, capping an exciting night for the party. But to win in November, Democrats will need to mobilize voters while also combating a slate of new voter suppression policies enacted by Republicans since the 2020 election. Stacey Abrams, a former Georgia lawmaker and voting rights activist — and host of the new Crooked podcast ‘Assembly Required' — joins us from the DNC to talk about the voting rights fight ahead. Meanwhile, DNC organizers granted more than 200 content creators and influencers special access to the convention this year. Their presence speaks to the power of social media in the world of political messaging, especially with young voters.
And it’s a power that the Democratic Party is eager to tap into in these final few months before the election. Victoria Hammett, deputy director for Gen-Z for Change, talks about the content that resonates with young voters.
We'll recap the latest from the Democratic National Convention, including speeches from the Obamas and a couple of Republicans who worked in the Trump White House.
Also, we'll tell you about America's updated nuclear strategy and where Gaza ceasefire negotiations stand now.
Plus, job hunters are being warned about scams; there's a surprising link between video games and mental health, and you might notice QR codes on some helmets this college football season.
Those stories and more news to know in about 10 minutes!
Barack and Michelle Obama and Doug Emhoff make the argument for Kamala Harris with a trio of pitch-perfect speeches to the delegates in Chicago. Harris accepts the nomination with a surprise live greeting broadcast from her packed rally in Milwaukee. Then, California Senator Laphonza Butler joins the show to talk about the Kamala Harris she's gotten to know over the years, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus talks to Jon and Lovett about getting involved with politics—and all those Veep comparisons.
For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.
U.S. health officials now say COVID-19 is an endemic disease. That means it's here to stay – circulating fairly regularly like the flu. Even though that changes how public health officials think about managing the virus, they say it doesn't mean being less cautious or vigilant during surges, like the current one this summer. COVID still poses significant risks for older individuals and those with underlying conditions — and anyone who gets COVID is at risk of developing long COVID.
NPR science correspondent Rob Stein reported this story. Read Rob's full story here.
Interested in hearing more COVID or health news? Email us at shortwave@npr.org.
Welcome back to the Environmental Economics series, hosted by Jordan Lofthouse. On this episode, Jordan converses with Mikayla Novak and Nathan Goodman on their paper, "Militarized Climate Planning: What is Left?", co-authored by Lofthouse, Novak and Goodman. Their paper is influenced by Don Lavoie's critiques of central planning laid out in his book, National Economic Planning: What is Left?, applied to today's issue of militarized climate planning or "war footing." Instead of using climate planning to solve climate change, they advocate for a peaceful, polycentric approach that is more adaptive to local knowledge.
Mikayla Novak is senior fellow with the F. A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and the Associate Director of the Entangled Political Economy Research Network. Learn more about her work with EPERN here.
Nathan Goodman is a senior research fellow and senior fellow at the F.A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. He is an alum of the Mercatus PhD Fellowship. Learn more about Nathan’s work here.
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Candice Lim is joined by writer, podcaster and YouTuber Allison Raskin, whose new book I Do (I Think) about Gen-Z and millennial marriages comes out October 15th. On today’s episode, Raskin takes us through her internet diaries which include the Substack app and her favorite internet conspiracy theories. But first, Raskin talks about her good (and bad) memories of working at Buzzfeed in its heyday, and the highs and lows of her most public friendship online.
This podcast is produced by Se’era Spragley Ricks, Daisy Rosario and Candice Lim.
