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bryn stole

@brynstole.bsky.social
606 followers 819 following 412 posts

Berlin correspondent for AFP, occasional reporter & critic at various other places. A Midwesterner in Germany, former newspaperman in the Deep South. “...whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul...”

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bryn stole @brynstole.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
pretty incredible, and she still finished just three minutes off the world record Berlin (AFP)—Berlin Marathon winner Tigst Assefa has undergone surgery in Munich on Monday after finishing Sunday's race with a torn Achilles, her manager confirmed.
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bryn stole @brynstole.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
seriously thinking of giving up this racket to go to clown school
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👻🎃 Philippa Amthorror 🎃👻 @ellebil.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Tag 2 nach der Wahl. Berlin ist nicht wiederzuerkennen. Über Dahlem liegt das dumpfe Schluchzen der Eigentümer. Im Westen stauen sich SUVs mit hastig verladenem kulturellem Kapital. Erste Augenzeugen berichten von bezahlbarem Wohnraum. Wie konnte man es nur so weit kommen lassen? Ein Lagebericht.
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Ned Richardson-Little @historyned.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
A far right govt led by a party that is openly calling for the deportation of 1/4 of the population of Germany is taking power in Sachsen-Anhalt, but the threat of the twinned cultural others of the Bundesrepublik - red Ossis and Muslim migrants - is much more existentially unsettling.
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Emily Nussbaum @emilynussbaum.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Eureka Day 2: Northhampton Boogaloo www.bostonglobe.com/2026/09/22/m...
bostonglobe.com
A Western Mass. lesbian bar required KN-95 masks. When it changed the rules, all hell broke loose. - The Boston Globe
Last Ditch Bar in Greenfield wanted to build community. They got a firestorm instead.
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Felix Schilk @stillapossibility.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Heute vor 87 Jahren besiegelten Nazideutschland und die Sowjetunion mit einer gemeinsamen Siegesparade in Brest-Litowsk die Teilung Polens, nachdem beide Mächte mit ihren Angriffen auf Polen den Zweiten Weltkrieg begonnen hatten.
Foto von Wikipedia: Guderian, Kriwoschein und Mauritz von Wiktorin inspizieren Truppen während der Übergabe von Brest-Litowsk an die Rote Armee
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Martin Shaw @thebooksdesk.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
"There’s one woman out there, but would a Nobel Prize committee member pair a pizza with a latté?"... – fantastic in-situ reportage here from formidable Nobel-channeller Mathilde!
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Mathilde Montpetit @mathildegm.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
As anyone who knows me is tired of hearing, I am very good at guessing who will win the Nobel prize. This year, though, I needed a bit of inspiration, and I wrote about it for The Auflauf's new SCENE series:
theauflauf.com
SCENE: Mathilde Montpetit, in search of a Nobel pick, goes to Laidak
Anarchists, Ladbrokes, showtunes, and a little bit of literature
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bryn stole @brynstole.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
is local expat magazine so completely checked out that they can't bother to cover a crucially important local election, instead waiting 12+ hours to slap together what appears to be a mishmash of AI-translated bits lifted w/o credit from the german press? www.the-berliner.com/english-news...
the-berliner.com
Berlin Election: Die Linke Are Clear Winners - The Berliner
At 74.2%, the voter turnout was 11.3% higher than in the previous election. Die Linke win the majority vote in Berlin state election
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Tobias Ryan @tobiasvryan.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
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bryn stole @brynstole.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Ambivalent mood among the Social Democrats in Schwerin over Mecklenburg-Vorpomern result. SPD's Manuela Schwesig waged a remarked comeback campaign, but crowd clearly disappointed not to have caught the far-right AfD (at least in early projections).
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bryn stole @brynstole.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Berlin/Schwerin (AFP)—Germans began voting Sunday in two state elections where far-right and far-left gains could send fresh shock waves through Berlin and rock the government of embattled Chancellor Friedrich Merz. www.afp.com/en/germans-v...
afp.com
Germans vote in elections threatening fresh blow to Merz
Germans began voting Sunday in two state elections where far-right and far-left gains could send fresh shock waves through Berlin and rock the government...
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bryn stole @brynstole.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Election day here in Schwerin (Mecklenburg-Vorpomern)
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Alexander Wells @ajbwells.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Berlin people involved in writing, reading, living, laughing, and/or loving: Tomorrow we celebrate six months of our new online literature magazine. It's free and there'll be readings plus some chats. Come along and say g'tag!!! www.lettretage.de/programm/6-m...
lettretage.de
6 Months AUFLAUF – Lettrétage
Sep 19, 2026 19:00 Uhr | Eintritt: frei | Ort: Lettrétage, Veteranenstr. 21, 10119 Berlin | Sprache: Englisch
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Alexander Wells @ajbwells.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
TOMORROW www.lettretage.de/programm/6-m...
lettretage.de
6 Months AUFLAUF – Lettrétage
Sep 19, 2026 19:00 Uhr | Eintritt: frei | Ort: Lettrétage, Veteranenstr. 21, 10119 Berlin | Sprache: Englisch
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Nora Biette-Timmons @biettetimmons.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
people on this website often complain (correctly) about the death of journalism. here's an easy way to help its rebirth: by supporting independent media in Berlin.
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Mathilde Montpetit @mathildegm.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Our September books bring together the distant and the familiar: Celina Baljeet Basra on migrant Berlin, @brynstole.bsky.social on minimalism and the fantastic, Michaela Anchan on the long life of the peatlands:
theauflauf.com
September Books: BABEL, Kracht, Armstrong
A multi-vocal anthology of Berlin fiction, Christian Kracht’s ventures to another realm, and Sheila Armstrong finds a bog body
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bryn stole @brynstole.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
... what about ten?
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bryn stole @brynstole.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
From the wire this morning: "The Pentagon chief used the gender-neutral terms 'warfighters' and 'warriors' in his remarks and did not specify whether the testing requirement and treatment option is for women—whose testosterone levels also decline as they age—as well as men."
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bryn stole @brynstole.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Wolfsburg (AFP) – Volkswagen workers staged protests nationwide Thursday as unions warned of "major conflict" if the struggling German car giant pushes ahead with what could be the global auto industry's biggest restructuring. www.rfi.fr/en/internati...
rfi.fr
Union warns of 'conflict' as Volkswagen eyes mass job cuts
Volkswagen workers staged protests nationwide Thursday as unions warned of "major conflict" if the struggling German car giant pushes ahead with what could be the global auto industry's biggest restru...
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bryn stole @brynstole.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Hip-hop group Kneecap played a secret show in Berlin this week, their first-ever concert in Germany. The group have seen other concerts cancelled over their vehement pro-Palestinian stance. There's an interview and feature in @heistberlin.bsky.social: www.heistberlin.com/kneecap-berl...
heistberlin.com
Critics Tried to Block Kneecap From Playing in Berlin. They Came Anyway.
In an exclusive backstage interview, the Irish band talks about the political pressure that forced them to play their first Berlin gig in secret.
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Nick Ashdown @nickashdown.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
It's time. "On a sunny summer day at noon, only about 10% of Spain’s electricity comes from fossil fuels; around half comes from solar. Portugal does just as well, and France better still."
economist.com
Europeans should learn to love the air-conditioner
Green electricity means never having to say sorry for lowering the thermostat
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bryn stole @brynstole.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
The German conundrum: The World Cup is on, but it's a Sunday. Can the neighbors call the police if you cheer too loud?
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bryn stole @brynstole.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
.@ruthbetold.bsky.social rounded us up to taste all the special-edition "World Cup"-themed chip flavors we could find in Berlin. Many are genuine marvels of modern flavor engineering. But find out in @heistberlin.bsky.social if any were actually, y'know, good. www.heistberlin.com/lays-potato-...
heistberlin.com
Who Will Win the Potato Chip World Cup?
Mexico Taco, BBQ Brisket, Loaded Fries — only one country's limited-edition chip can take home the trophy.
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bryn stole @brynstole.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Washington (AFP) — Rarely a week goes by without US President Donald Trump lavishing praise on the bodies of men he meets: fawning over "the muscles on this guy" or an athlete's "tree trunk" legs or a UFC fighter who is "too good looking" to be in the ring. www.yahoo.com/news/politic...
yahoo.com
All the president's men? Inside Trump's hot guy fascination
Rarely a week goes by without US President Donald Trump lavishing praise on the bodies of men he meets -- fawning over "the muscles on this guy," or an athlete's "tree trunk" legs, or a UFC fighter wh...
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bryn stole @brynstole.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
City Chicken vs City Chicken: Berlin's brutal and bloody rotisserie feud that's spawned lawsuits, criminal investigations and landed one chicken tycoon in prison for torture... www.heistberlin.com/news/nhas-ci...
heistberlin.com
City Chicken vs City Chicken: Berlin's Bloody Rotisserie Feud
14 lawsuits and one man in jail for torture: the story behind Sonnenallee's rival rotisserie chicken shops is crazier than you could have imagined.
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Viktor Winetrout @viktorwinetrout.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
This is the ideal male body. You may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like
An elongated sitting bench with Colonel Sanders head in the middle of it, his arms and feet appearing at end end
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bryn stole @brynstole.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
Innsbruck (APA)--Mann in Tirol schoss sich selbst in den Fuß
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Martin Shaw @thebooksdesk.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
"That sentence alone is enough to send indie Berliners of a certain age into a spell of Sebaldian melancholy so extreme it can only be resolved by a twenty-minute angry nap." Read @ajbwells.bsky.social's piece to find out what the sentence was! open.substack.com/pub/theaufla...
open.substack.com
June Books: Rauhut, Miller, Hoyer
The GDR rock band Silly, poems by Alice Miller, and Katja Hoyer on the rise of fascism in interwar Weimar
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Mathilde Montpetit @mathildegm.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
"Johann had taken issue with the use of the word murdered. Johann—a theologian—who loathes violence in all its forms! I voiced my surprise. I was not the only one. What could be so wrong with saying murdered?" A thoughtful short story about teaching in Germany, translated by @ajbwells.bsky.social.
theauflauf.substack.com
Short fiction by Sylvia Krupicka
A new story, after Christa Wolf, in the original German and an English translation by Alexander Wells
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bryn stole @brynstole.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
maybe the most just outcome is that that one guy gets banished from journalism for the plagiarism and the other guy gets banished from journalism for the overwrought kicker
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bryn stole @brynstole.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
gotta wonder what this means for guys who write reviews of dad books... www.wsj.com/business/med...
wsj.com
Dad Books Are a Dying Breed
Print sales of “serious” nonfiction are in serious decline, and publishers think the reason is the smorgasbord of podcasts and other new media their male readers are devouring.
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bryn stole @brynstole.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
A tiger was shot dead by German police on Sunday after escaping from a private enclosure outside of Leipzig owned by a controversial tiger trainer who calls herself the "Tiger Queen" and attacking one of the animal keepers... www.rte.ie/news/europe/...
rte.ie
Escaped tiger shot dead by German police
German police have said they had shot dead a tiger that escaped from an enclosure run by a woman nicknamed the "Tiger Queen" after it attacked one of the keepers.
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Commonweal @commonwealmagazine.org · 17/05/2026
"Not everyone in Buruma’s Berlin is out for their own survival, but there are also vanishingly few saints untainted by compromise or selfishness." @brynstole.bsky.social reviews a new history of Berlin during World War II:
commonwealmagazine.org
Dancing on a Volcano
In Ian Buruma’s telling, Berlin during World War II was a time of contradictions: hedonism, escapism, heroism, and compromise.
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Commonweal @commonwealmagazine.org · 12/05/2026
In Ian Buruma’s telling, Berlin during World War II was a time of contradictions: hedonism, escapism, heroism, and compromise. @brynstole.bsky.social: 'Dancing on a Volcano'
commonwealmagazine.org
Dancing on a Volcano
In Ian Buruma's telling, Berlin during World War II was a time of contradictions: hedonism, escapism, heroism, and compromise.
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Nora Biette-Timmons @biettetimmons.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
this is a wildddd story
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bryn stole @brynstole.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
considering that there's astoundingly little evidence this is actually happening at all this is ... quite the sweeping take !
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bryn stole @brynstole.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
"From the Vietnam war in the 1960s to the Iraq war this side of the millennium, the slur of 'appeaser' has been used to hush dissenters against foreign interventions. This would be easier to take if the hawks occasionally emulated the Allies by winning." www.ft.com/content/50a5...
ft.com
The second world war fixation gets the US into trouble again
The Iran war is the latest mess to spring from the idea that ‘appeasement’ is always wrong
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bryn stole @brynstole.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
"Turning points are usually only clear in retrospect, but Iran and the Greenland crisis may prove to be the turning points that confirmed what negotiations over Ukraine merely suggested: This [US], far from being an ally of Europe, acts against Europe." www.nytimes.com/2026/05/07/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | Trump Keeps Saying He Wants to Leave NATO. Maybe He Already Has.
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Alexander Wells @ajbwells.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
In the AUFLAUF review mail this month: - Karaoke - Fascist afterlives - Very good literature - Pick-me-girls - Books cost 20c a page now??? - Finally the truth about the Limerick Writers Center theauflauf.substack.com/p/may-books-...
theauflauf.substack.com
May Books: Barton, Koeppen, Celan
An expat novel by Polly Barton, two thirds of Wolfgang Koeppen's postwar trilogy, prose ephemera from Paul Celan, and an apology
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Hamburglar Humblebrag @plantpotonassis.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
Interesting statistic in this article by Jon 'Into Thin Air' Krakauer. www.theatlantic.com/books/2026/0...
Between 1953 and May 96, there were 621 summits of Everest. From 96 to 2026, there have been 13,000.
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Mathilde Montpetit @mathildegm.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
Some great reviews this month: @brynstole.bsky.social on Wolfgang Koeppen's post-war trilogy, @return2sanders.bsky.social on Paul Celan's still-mesmerising ephemera, and myself on Polly Barton's novel of expat life and karaoke and translation:
theauflauf.substack.com
May Books: Barton, Koeppen, Celan
An expat novel by Polly Barton, two thirds of Wolfgang Koeppen's postwar trilogy, prose ephemera from Paul Celan, and an apology
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bryn stole @brynstole.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
I read a bunch of Wolfgang Koeppen and—you know what?—it was really good. Lots more here in the latest issue of our freshly baked literary casserole.
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bryn stole @brynstole.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
i got to write about ian buruma’s new book on life in nazi wartime berlin for this month’s books issue of the wonderful @commonwealmagazine.org www.commonwealmagazine.org/dancing-volc...
commonwealmagazine.org
Dancing on a Volcano
In Ian Buruma's telling, Berlin during World War II was a time of contradictions: hedonism, escapism, heroism, and compromise.
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heistberlin.bsky.social @heistberlin.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
Gallery Weekend Berlin starts tomorrow. Here’s where to go. www.heistberlin.com/art-heist-gu...
heistberlin.com
The HEIST Guide to Gallery Weekend 2026
HEIST picks the best of Gallery Weekend Berlin 2026: from Potsdamer Strasse to Kreuzberg and beyond, plus four Sellerie Weekend highlights for Sunday.
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bryn stole @brynstole.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
"that's why X is the future. It's citizen journalism, where you hear from the people."
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heistberlin.bsky.social @heistberlin.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
Revolutionary May 1 Queerfeminist marches, a rave against the Görli fence, far-right counter-demos, and a 10,000-strong march through Neukölln. www.heistberlin.com/news/may-day...
heistberlin.com
May Day 2026: Who's Taking to the Streets This Year?
Queerfeminist marches, rave against the Görli fence, Revolutionary 1. Mai, and far-right counter-demos: who is taking to Berlin's streets this May Day?
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Ulrike Franke @rikefranke.eu · 29/04/2026
Good long read on Europe’s reactions to German rearmament. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... Germany re-arms: what does it mean for Europe?
giftarticle.ft.com
Germany re-arms: what does it mean for Europe?
Paris sees risks for its industry and the continent’s sovereignty in Berlin’s rapid defence build-up
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bryn stole @brynstole.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
In Berlin, you can take a dip in the Spree right on Museum Island on the 20th of every month (to protest against Berlin's otherwise strict swimming ban in most of the urban river). My dispatch @heistberlin.bsky.social: www.heistberlin.com/swimming-in-...
heistberlin.com
You Have Five Chances To Swim in the Spree This Summer
Throughout the summer, Berliners will be staging regular protests by swimming in the Spree on the 20th of each month. Will you join them?
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bryn stole @brynstole.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
I too miss the days when what was on the front page of a printed newspaper really mattered. Somewhat ironically, the New York Times might be the only newspaper in the world that doesn't really miss those days.
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