I highly recommend the debut novel by Olivia Wenzel.
Author Archives: Christoph
The Nickel Boys
“The white boys bruised differently than the black boys and called it the Ice Cream Factory because you came out with bruises of every color. The black boys called it the White House because that was its official name and it fit and didn’t need to be embellished. The White House delivered the law and …
You or Someone You Know
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huffam4qf4Y I’m just going to go out on a limb here: You or Someone You Know by Worriers is my favorite record of the year. Such a perfect punk/power pop record – I listen to it when I’m happy, when I’m sad, when I’m sitting in the sun on my balcony, when I have to …
A Hero’s Death
https://youtu.be/jLNt8aMNbvY “A Hero’s Death” is the new single by Fontaines D.C. The video is a great downward spiral with a Birdman-vibe, starring Aiden Gillen. The song is really terrific, and it soundtracked my end of the workweek yesterday. Sometimes hearing a postpunk reminder that Life ain’t always emptyLife ain’t always emptyLife ain’t always emptyLife ain’t …
New Muff Potter (Sic!)
Muff Potter released a new single and I’m so excited, I even reactivated my blog.
“But perhaps the most striking and frightening aspect of the German flight from reality is the habit of treating facts as though they were mere opinions.” Hannah Arendt The Aftermath of Nazi Rule – Report from Germany. (1950) Hannah Arendt was born today in 1906. These days, her theories and commentary feels all too relevant.
You’re So Pretty When You Hate
Punk is really at its best when its angry and abrasive – and Deutsche Laichen, a decidedly queer feminist punk band from Göttingen, Germany, are really, really abrasive. Their self-titled debut LP is almost physical in its rejection of toxic masculinity, homophobia and (cis)sexism. Case in point: “Du bist so schön, wenn du hasst”, the …
“To Give a Being Like Me Language” – Akwaeke Emezi on Toni Morrison
After Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison died just a few days ago, I thought a lot about what her work meant to me, and I read a lot of tributes to her. The piece of writing that struck me most is this letter by nonbinary writer/ogbanje Akwaeke Emezi: The elderspirit of you leapt into my head …
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“We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.”
Toni Morrison (1931-2019) The above quote is from her 1993 Nobel Lecture, which I can only recommend. Of all her novels and essays, the lecture is perhaps my favorite piece of writing of hers, the one I return to most often, and not just because I quoted it in my master’s thesis.
Happy 100th Birthday Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, poet, painter, activist, and co-founder of City Lights Booksellers & Publishers turned 100 years old today. Ferlinghetti is maybe best known for “A Coney Island of the Mind” and as publisher of the beat poets, which included being arrested for publishing Allen Ginsberg’s Howl and the ensuing First Ammendment trial. My favorite work …
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