Beyond the Lecture

Colson Whitehead, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and the Academy’s spring 2026 Dirk Ippen writer-in-residence, reflects on what first inspired him to begin writing, the scope of his work, and what lies ahead in conversation with Wieland Freund, editor of German daily Die Welt’s culture section. The event took place in cooperation with Kultur Büro Elisabeth. For more information about Colson Whitehe...

Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Percival Everett reflects on the interplay between his literary work and visual art with Naomi Beckwith, Deputy Director and Jennifer and David Stockman Chief Curator at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation; and Artistic Director, documenta 16. This event took place collaboration with the American Academy in Berlin, Hamburger Bahnhof, and Literaturhaus Berl...

Two powerhouse authors from each side of the Atlantic: American Jeffrey Eugenides -- a former Academy fellow -- and German-Austrian Daniel Kehlmann discuss the craft, challenges, and joys of novel writing at a literary salon in Aspen, Colorado, hosted by Academy trustee Leah Zell. On July 1, 2025, Zell hosted this fifth annual summer salon, bringing the work of the American Academy in Berlin to th...

Today’s German-based Jewish writers navigate complex identities that encompass Holocaust migration history and diverse diasporic narratives. In this episode of “Beyond the Lecture,” literary scholar and spring 2025 Carol Kahn Strauss Fellow in Jewish Studies Agnes Mueller speaks to three prominent authors who are bringing such stories to life: Olga Grjasnowa, Julia Franck, and Dana Vowinckel. It’s...

Taiwan is frequently in the news, but context is scarce. In this episode of "Beyond the Lecture," journalist and spring 2024 Holtzbrinck Fellow Michael Meyer talks about his research and writing on the colonial history of the island, the immense changes it has seen in recent decades, and what’s at stake for residents when their now thriving democracy is treated like a geopolitical pawn between sup...

Our “Beyond the Lecture” podcast is back! In this episode, spring 2024 Nina Maria Gorrissen fellow and expert in comparative political behavior Noam Lupu talks about his research into how intergenerational trauma shapes political identity. Touching on his own family's experience and those of his research subjects, he opens new ways of understanding this transfer. Visit https://www.americanacademy....

With the Russian attack on Ukraine, the Academy's spring 2022 Daimler fellow Lawrence Douglas's project on aggressive war, atrocity and the "Verbrecherstaat" suddenly became very current. On this episode of "Beyond the Lecture," Douglas talks about the origin of the term "Verbrecherstaat," considers Russia's actions in light of the categories of aggressive war and atrocity, and explains the option...

In fall 2021, New Orleans-based writer Ladee Hubbard spent her time as Mary Ellen von der Heyden Fellow in Fiction working on her new novel, "The Descendants." On this episode of "Beyond the Lecture," Hubbard talks about her novel-in-progress, the 1980s war on drugs, and, as a special treat, reads a story from her forthcoming collection "The Last Suspicious Holdout" (Amistad, March 8). Host: Denis...

During her stay at the American Academy as the Mary Ellen von der Heyden Fellow in Fiction in fall 2021, Lan Samantha Chang gave the finishing touch to her much-anticipated new novel "The Family Chao," to be published by W.W. Norton & Company in February 2022. On today's episode, you can find out how rediscovering Dostoevsky's "The Brothers Karamazov" has shaped Chang's own writing, what it means...

In this episode of "Beyond the Lecture," we take a behind-the-scenes look at a debate currently roiling classical scholarship and pedagogy. It’s a debate about how the field should be approached now and in the future, about privilege and access and the very aura of classics. To get into this story, we talk with spring 2021 American Academy fellow Nandini Pandey, who teaches classics at the Univers...

What was it like to be the first black person at an all-white private school in the American South? The very first, that is. In this episode, we explore this question through the work of investigative journalist and fall 2020 Holtzbrinck fellow, Mosi Secret, who's currently writing a book about a philanthropic initiative to integrate black children into elite Southern schools in the 1960s and '70s...

There are few novelists who made more of an impact on twentieth-century German literature than Thomas Mann. His works have been translated into over thirty languages and remain the subject of much debate. On today's podcast, we bring together two scholars who have made Mann's life and literary output the focus of their academic concerns: Susan Bernofsky, a fall 2020 fellow and professor of writing...

The world is on hold and we are all going a bit stir-crazy. Strange things are happening in a tiny New York City apartment, where a young podcaster uses his isolation time to open a mysterious portal to the afterlife. This episode of “Beyond the Lecture” features a special recording of novelist Paul LaFarge’s fictive play “Ninth Beast.” LaFarge is the American Academy’s spring 2020 Holtzbrinck fel...

In this episode of „Beyond the Lecture,” scholars and artists at the American Academy in Berlin reflect on the various intersections of the coronavirus pandemic with their respective fields of study. We spoke with composer Carolyn Chen, cultural historian Liliane Weissberg (spring 2020 Anna-Maria Kellen fellow) of University of Pennsylvania, German Studies professor Veronika Fuechtner (spring 2020...

In this episode of "Beyond the Lecture," cultural anthropologists Dominic Boyer (spring 2020 Axel Springer Fellow) and Cymene Howe, both of Rice University, reveal some insights from their recent research into Iceland's ancient traditions. What they found has profound implications for how we view grief, the future, and the way we come to terms with an increasingly shared sense of precariousness. M...

Poet, playwright, and Yale University professor Claudia Rankine was at the American Academy in Berlin as a Distinguished Visitor in early November 2019, to deliver the John W. Kluge lecture. Academy producer Tony Andrews sat down with Rankine to discuss the various dynamics at work in the conversations she quotes in her forthcoming book, Just Us, a collection of essays that critically engages with...

Historian Linda Gordon was recently at the American Academy in Berlin, as a Marcus Bierich Distinguished Visitor, to discuss her latest book, "The Second Coming of the KKK." In it, Gordon goes beyond the more well-known terrorism of the KKK in the South, to show just how active the Klan was in northern states like Oregon and Massachusetts in the first half of the twentieth century. There, the prim...

Writer Anne Finger is in Berlin to research histories of disability in the city. In this episode, she goes on a trip to an old, abandoned Nazi psychiatric facility with producer Tony Andrews. Along the way, they meet up with Andreas Hechler, whose great grandmother was sent to a facility just like it. In the process, they confront some disturbing history and reflect upon the politics of memory tod...

Composer and pianist Wang Lu was born in the Xi’an, China, the country’s ancient capital. Brought up in a musical family with strong Chinese opera and folk music traditions, her compositions are inspired by both of these forms, and fused with urban environmental sounds. Wang’s works have been performed internationally by the Ensemble Modern, The Minnesota Orchestra, The American Composers Orchestr...

Literary historian Martin Puchner's journey with languages started early and unexpectedly: a series of seemingly unconnected events led to his discovery that he was the last speaker of an almost forgotten medieval language, Rotwelsch. In his research into what this language was — where it came from, who spoke it, and why — Puchner was forced to confront the good and the bad in his own family's his...

Sir David Chipperfield is a world-renowned architect who has designed and refurbished some of the most iconic buildings in the world, including Berlin’s Neues Museum. On March 21, 2019, Sir Chipperfield was at the American Academy to deliver a lecture entitled “Identity and Sustainability—Fundación RIA in Galicia.” In the lecture, he discusses his work at Fundación RIA, an NGO that enables archite...

New Yorker staff writer Masha Gessen was at the American Academy in late November to talk about her most recent book, The Future Is History. In this podcast, she discusses Russia, cynicism, doublethink, and the imaginative powers of democracy with fall 2018 Academy fellow Joshua Yaffa, the Moscow correspondent for the New Yorker. Host: R. Jay Magill Producer: Cristina Gonzalez Photo: Annette Horni...

P. Carl is a dramaturg, nonfiction writer, theater producer, and Distinguished Artist in Residence at Emerson College. As a Holtzbrinck Fellow at the American Academy in fall 2018, he’s is working on a memoir about gender transition, entitled Becoming a White Man, to be published by Simon & Schuster. The American Academy’s Tina Reis sat down with Carl to talk about his memoir, recent political and...

Many climate scientists say it's past midnight on the environmental clock. New Yorker staff writer and Pulitzer recpient Elizabeth Kolbert has spent the last few decades reporting on climate change and its effects. We sat down with her to talk about the dire state of the biosphere. Host: R. Jay Magill, Jr. Producer: Cristina Gonzalez Photo: Annette Hornischer

On October 11, 2018, Pulitzer-prize winning author and journalist Frances FitzGerald delivered a lecture on evangelical voters in the United States, as the American Academy's fall 2018 Richard von Weizsäcker Distinguished Visitor. We sat down with FitzGerald to find out more about this particular voting bloc and its political influence in the United States. Host: R. Jay Magill, Jr. Producer: Crist...