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bryn stole

@brynstole.bsky.social
609 followers 819 following 417 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 · 14h
Jerusalem (AFP)—The Committee to Protect Journalists on Tuesday urged pressure on Israel if it does not hold responsible troops behind a deadly 2023 strike on reporters in Lebanon that killed a Reuters journalist and seriously wounded two AFP reporters.
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bryn stole @brynstole.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Stockholm (AFP)—The Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded on Thursday to Canadian poet Anne Carson, an essayist and classicist who brings a modern twist to mysticism and antiquity in her writings about love, desire and despair.
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bryn stole @brynstole.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
As you make your dips, put out the chips and sauce your chicken wings for your big annual Nobel Prize for Literature watch party tomorrow, dig into this @mathildegm.bsky.social dispatch from the prize-picking trail: www.theauflauf.com/p/scene-math...
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 · 07/10/2026
As you make your dips, put out the chips and sauce your chicken wings for your big annual Nobel Prize for Literature watch party tomorrow, dig into this @mathildegm.bsky.social dispatch from the prize-picking trail: www.theauflauf.com/p/scene-math...
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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Kampf mit Kette @kampfmitkette.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Trying to explain to non germans how the biggest espionage scandal of the BND is just a subplot of the messy steakhouse franchise divorce
static.klipy.com
Charlie Kelly's Pepe Silvia Conspiracy
ALT: Charlie Kelly's Pepe Silvia Conspiracy
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bryn stole @brynstole.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
"It is unacceptable that journalists can be beaten and robbed by armed settlers in front of Israeli security forces who made no attempt to intervene," said Phil Chetwynd, AFP's global news director.
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bryn stole @brynstole.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Aqraba, Palestinian Territories (AFP)—Israeli settlers on Tuesday beat an AFP photographer and fired guns in the direction of him and a colleague as they covered ongoing violence by settlers against West Bank olive farmers. www.rfi.fr/en/internati...
rfi.fr
Israeli settlers beat AFP photographer covering West Bank
Israeli settlers on Tuesday beat an AFP photographer and fired guns in the direction of him and a colleague as they covered ongoing violence by settlers against West Bank olive farmers.
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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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👻🎃Kasper von Altenbockum🎃👻 @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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Gremliny Nussboo @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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bryn stole @brynstole.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
crazy!
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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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bryn stole @brynstole.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
War aber anscheinend der Fotojournalist für NYT da vor ort, oder?
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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 · 15/07/2026
My point was switching to permanent DST **while simultaneously** moving school starts later to match natural sun cycle sleep rhythms of the young.
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bryn stole @brynstole.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
... thereby creating catastrophic scheduling problems for their working parents
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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 · 11/06/2026
it's amazing on video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f-u...
youtube.com
Why do you have Euros in Ireland?
YouTube video by The Firemen
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bryn stole @brynstole.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
a strange complaint, considering the source.
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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 · 20/05/2026
would courts likely consider potential religious freedom issue as well even though doesn't seem like FNB raises it directly?
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bryn stole @brynstole.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
still, perhaps a step forward from last year's bruising months-long talks about what concessions to offer in an unsolicited proposal to this utterly uninterested counterpart.
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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
guess he was just too busy writing all the books and getting in tons of twitter fights etc etc to write his own background grafs
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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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