Kaffeepause: What's Abuzz in Berlin?

On this week's Kaffeepause, Dr. Steven E. Sokol is joined by Sabine Rennefanz , award-winning journalist, author, and columnist for DER SPIEGEL. Ms. Rennefanz has written extensively about the fall of the wall, the transformation and the challenges of the unified Germany. Her book „Eisenkinder. Die stille Wut der Wendegeneration“ — a coming-of-age-memoir about the 1989/90 change — was a bestseller...

On this week's Kaffeepause, Dr. Steven E. Sokol is joined by Dr. Melanie Amann, Member of the Editorial Team at SPIEGEL. She studied Law in Trier, Aix-en-Provence, and Berlin, and received her doctorate from the LMU Munich. From 2003 to 2004, she spent a year at the German School of Journalism in Munich. After working as an editor at the Financial Times Deutschland , the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zei...

On this week's Kaffeepause, Dr. Steven E. Sokol is joined by Marc Felix Serrao, Editor-in-Chief in Germany for the Neue Züricher Zeitung . Marc Felix Serrao has been the Head of the Berlin office since July 2017 and Editor-in-Chief of the  Neue Züricher Zeitung  in Germany since 2021. After military service, he studied political science in Berlin. In 2004/05, he was a Visiting Scholar at Columbia...

On this week's Kaffeepause, Dr. Steven E. Sokol is joined by Nette Nöstlinger, Political Reporter for Politico Europe.  Nette Nöstlinger is a Politics Reporter for Politico Europe in Berlin, where she keeps an eye on all things relevant to an international audience interested in the EU’s biggest economy. Her coverage has ranged from the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) to German...

On this week's Kaffeepause, Dr. Steven E. Sokol is joined by ACG Fellowship alumna Miriam Hollstein , Chief Political Reporter for Stern. Miriam Hollstein serves as the Chief Political Reporter for Stern. Before this, she was the Chief Report from January 2022 to Septepmber 23 atT-Online in Berlin. Prior to this position, she served as the Chief Political Reporter for FUNKE Zentralredaktion from N...

On this week's Kaffeepause, Dr. Steven E. Sokol is joined by Anja Wehler-Schöck, International Editor for Der Tagesspiegel. Anja Wehler-Schöck joined the Editorial Board of  Der Tagesspiegel  as the International Editor in January 2025. She has been Head of International Politics at  Der Tagesspiegel  since August 2022. Prior to that, she worked as editor-in-chief of the IPG Journal, a debate plat...

On this week's Kaffeepause, Dr. Steven E. Sokol is joined by Paul-Anton Krüger, Editor for Der Spiegel .  Paul-Anton Krüger has been an Editor at SPIEGEL’s capital city office since January 2025. He was the Parliamentary Correspondent in the Berlin Bureau of the  Süddeutsche Zeitung  from September 2021 to December 2024. He previously reported on political affairs and served as Deputy Head of the...

On this week's Kaffeepause, Dr. Steven E. Sokol is joined by Deutsche Welle's Washington Bureau Chief, Ines Pohl. Ines Pohl served as the Editor in Chief of Deutsche Welle from 2017-2020. During her three-year tenure, she focused on increasing DW’s social media presence and the exclusive content of all 30 language services. She joined DW in 2015 as a correspondent in the Washington Bureau. As a jo...

On this week's Kaffeepause, Dr. Steven E. Sokol is joined by Nette Nöstlinger, Political Reporter for Politico Europe.  Nette Nöstlinger is a Politics Reporter for Politico Europe in Berlin, where she keeps an eye on all things relevant to an international audience interested in the EU’s biggest economy. Her coverage has ranged from the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) to German...

On this week's Kaffeepause, Dr. Steven E. Sokol is joined by Malte Lehming, Columnist for Tagesspiegel .  From late 2000 to 2005, Mr. Lehming was the newspaper’s Washington bureau chief. He joined the Tagesspiegel in 1991 as foreign policy editor — focusing on security policy, transatlantic relations, and the Middle East. From 1989 to 1991, he worked as a personal assistant and speechwriter for fo...

On this week's Kaffeepause, Dr. Steven E. Sokol is joined by Stephan Detjen, Chief Correspondent for Deutschlandradio and the head of the station’s capital city studio in Berlin. Previously, Mr. Detjen worked as Deutschlandfunk’s Editor-in-Chief in Cologne and as a legal policy correspondent in Karlsruhe, among other positions. Mr. Detjen is a member of the board of the Bundespressekonferenz and w...

On this week's Kaffeepause, Dr. Steven E. Sokol is joined by former Foreign Editor at the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , and Nadine Lindner, Correspondent with Deutschlandradio. Klaus-Dieter Frankenberger was the Foreign Editor of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . His writings deal especially with the United States, European, transatlantic, and international politics. He holds a Master’s Degr...

On this week's Kaffeepause, Dr. Steven E. Sokol is joined by ACG Fellowship alumna Miriam Hollstein, Chief Political Reporter for Stern . Before this, she was the Chief Reporter from January 2022 to Septepmber 23 at T-Online in Berlin. Prior to this position, she served as the Chief Political Reporter for FUNKE Zentralredaktion from November 2020 to December 2021. She wrote for the Berliner Zeitun...

On this week's Kaffeepause, Dr. Steven E. Sokol is joined by award-winning journalist and ACG fellow Vladimir Balzer. Vladimir Balzer is a moderator at Deutschlandfunk Kultur. He grew up in Leipzig and studied German, art history, and journalism in Dublin, Venice, and Leipzig. He studied abroad in Italy and the United States. He began his career as a presenter, reporter, and editor at Deutschlandr...

On this week's Kaffeepause, Dr. Steven E. Sokol is joined by Marc Felix Serrao, Editor-in-Chief in Germany for the Neue Züricher Zeitung . Marc Felix Serrao has been the Head of the Berlin office since July 2017 and Editor-in-Chief of the  Neue Züricher Zeitung  in Germany since 2021. After military service, he studied political science in Berlin. In 2004/05, he was a Visiting Scholar at Columbia...

On this week's Kaffeepause, Dr. Steven E. Sokol is joined by Paul-Anton Krüger, Editor for Der Spiegel. Mr. Krüger has been an Editor at SPIEGEL's capital city office since January 2025. He was the Parliamentary Correspondent in the Berlin Bureau of the Süddeutsche Zeitung from September 2021 to December 2024. He previously reported on political affairs and served as Deputy Head of the Foreign Pol...

On this Special Edition of the Kaffeepause, Dr. Steven E. Sokol is joined by Klaus-Dieter Frankenberger, former Foreign Editor at the  Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , and Nadine Lindner, Correspondent with Deutschlandradio. Mr. Frankenberger's writings deal especially with the United States, European, transatlantic, and international politics. He holds a Master’s Degree in Political Science, Econ...

On this week's Kaffeepause, Dr. Steven E. Sokol is joined by 2018 Kellen Fellow Dr. Anna Sauerbrey, Foreign Editor for Die Zeit.   Before assuming this position, Dr. Sauerbrey was Deputy Editor-in-Chief at Der Tagesspiegel , a daily newspaper based in Berlin. She has written about German politics in The New York Times and comments on German and international politics on public German radio and tel...

On this week's Kaffeepause, Dr. Steven E. Sokol is joined by Political Editor of the Süddeutsche Zeitung , Stefan Kornelius.  Previously, Mr. Kornelius served as Foreign Editor of the paper for nearly 20 years. In his reporting career, he has covered Germany’s Christian Democratic Party (CDU), the chancellorship of Helmut Kohl, and defense issues in Europe. He served as Berlin Bureau Chief, and fr...

On this week's Kaffeepause, Dr. Steven E. Sokol is joined by award-winning journalist and ACG fellow Vladimir Balzer. Vladimir Balzer is a moderator at Deutschlandfunk Kultur. He grew up in Leipzig and studied German, art history, and journalism in Dublin, Venice, and Leipzig. He studied abroad in Italy and the United States. He began his career as a presenter, reporter, and editor at Deutschlandr...

On this week's Kaffeepause, Dr. Steven E. Sokol is joined by Anja Wehler-Schöck, International Editor for  Der Tagesspiegel . She has been Head of International Politics at  Der Tagesspiegel  since August 2022. Prior to that, she worked as editor-in-chief of the IPG Journal, a debate platform for issues of international and European politics. She previously worked as a social affairs officer at th...

On this week's Special Edition of the regular Kaffeepause, Dr. Steven E. Sokol is joined by Cameron Abadi , deputy editor at  Foreign Policy , and Rüdiger Lentz , senior political advisor for the firm of Rud Pedersen. The two experts discussed the first three years of the Ampelkoalition and the outlook for Germany’s snap election in February. Cameron Abadi is a deputy editor at  Foreign Policy  a...

On this week's Kaffeepause, Dr. Steven E. Sokol is joined by ACG Fellowship alumna Miriam Hollstein, Chief Political Reporter for Stern . Before this, Ms. Hollstein was the Chief Report from January 2022 to Septepmber 23 at T-Online in Berlin. Prior to this position, she served as the Chief Political Reporter for FUNKE Zentralredaktion from November 2020 to December 2021. She wrote for the Berline...

On this week's Kaffeepause, Dr. Steven E. Sokol is joined by Melissa Eddy, Berlin Correspondent for the The New York Times. Ms. Eddy spoke in her own personal compacity.  Melissa Eddy is a correspondent based in Berlin who covers German politics, social issues, and culture for The New York Times. Her most recent work has delved into the challenges of integrating one million refugees, the spate of...

On this week's Kaffeepause, Dr. Steven E. Sokol is joined by Malte Lehming, Opinion Writer for Tagesspiegel .  Malte Lehming works as a writer for the Tagesspiegel , where he heads the opinion page. From late 2000 to 2005, he was the newspaper’s Washington bureau chief. He joined the Tagesspiegel in 1991 as foreign policy editor — focusing on security policy, transatlantic relations, and the Middl...