Hidden in the Details: Adania Shibli and Maaza Mengiste
The year is 1949, and the state of Israel is in its infancy. In the Negev desert, bordering Egypt, Israeli armed forces have set up camp with the mission to “cleanse it of any remaining Arabs” after t...
31 Mar 20241h 8min
Censorship in East and West. Ian Buruma and Helge Jordheim
Freedom of expression is never absolute, but subject to laws and social conventions. Threats to freedom of thought and speech can come directly from authoritarian states or religious institutions. But...
7 Jan 20241h 1min
An Ode to Boyhood and Rage. Max Porter and Mattis Øybø
The year is 1995, and 16 year old Shy is sneaking out of the rural boarding school for “difficult” boys, named “Last Chance”. A long history of petty crime, expulsions and frustrated family members ha...
12 Nov 20231h
A Chorus of Voices from Vietnam. Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai and Yukiko Duke
Do you understand why I’ve decided to tell you about our family? If our stories survive, we will not die, even when our bodies are no longer here on this earth.The Vietnam war was a watershed event in...
22 Okt 202352min
A Love without Bounds. Aleksandar Hemon and John Freeman
In some other world, in some other life, Pinto might’ve prayed in the morning, prayed his šaharit, prayed to be relieved of his abhorrent passion. But the only prayer that came to his mind now was to ...
8 Okt 202351min
Traitor or war hero? Ian Buruma and Marte Michelet
A masseuse who rises in the ranks to become Himmler’s confidant. A cross-dressing princess who spies for Japanese secret police in China. A Dutch Jew who personally hands over his friends to the Nazis...
1 Okt 202349min
All Animals Are Not Equal. NoViolet Bulawayo and Priya Bains
In the novel Glory, we find ourselves in the fictional country Jidada, which is peopled with all kinds of animals; bleating sheep, a confident pig preacher, vicious dogs making up the country’s securi...
24 Sep 202352min
The Writer as Witness. Joyce Carol Oates and Karin Haugen
Joyce Carol Oates is one of the world’s greatest living writers, and is frequently cited as a candidate for the Nobel Prize in literature. It is truly a momentous occasion that Oates will visit the Ho...
2 Sep 20231h 14min
