The Trans-Atlanticist

The Trans-Atlanticist

Novel RomAntics #5: Lesley Nneka Arimah's What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky

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In this episode, novelist Nadifa Mohamed and host Douglas Cowie discuss What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky, a collection of short stories by Lesley Nneka Arimah. They discuss several of the stories, and the overlaps and differences in cultural expectations between the United States and Africa, the pressures of young womanhood, and more. Nadifa Mohamed's latest novel, The Fortune Men, is published by Penguin, and will be available in German from September, under the titel Der Geist von Tiger Bay, published by C.H. Beck Verlag.

LadyFiction#4: Poetry by Elizabeth Alexander, Marilyn Nelson and Bettina Judd

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Recorded on International Women's Day, LadyFiction’s episode 4 turns to the history of science—and the forgotten role black people played as study objects in this context. Stefanie Schäfer and Dr. Christine Vogt-William from the University of
Bayreuth discuss how black women’s poetry unearths and retells these
forgotten histories. We read Elizabeth Alexander’s poems “The Venus
Hottentot” and selections from Marilyn Nelson’s “Fortune’s Bones” (2004)
and from Bettina Judd’s “Patient” (2014). The poems selected showcase
the Renaissance of the Black Arts in the current moment and its
aesthetic of empowerment that gives a voice to those who have been
silenced by History.

Novel RomAntics #4: Madeline Miller's Circe

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In this episode, host Douglas Cowie and his guest, Classicist Hannah Bean, discuss Circe by Madeline Miller. The novel reimagines and retells the story of one of the characters Odysseus encounters in The Odyssey of Homer, and the discussion looks both at the roots of the story, other tellings of it, and some of the specifics of how Miller imagines these roots into a contemporary novel.

Europe's COVID Vaccine Crisis

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In this episode, host Andrew Sola and our resident EU expert Guenter Danner discuss challenges facing the EU's vaccination program. Also, they discuss the long-term economic consequences of the pandemic as well as challenges facing European social services post-pandemic. Lastly, they offer a preview of the upcoming federal elections in Germany in September.

Novel RomAntics #3: Kim Stanley Robinson's The Ministry for the Future

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In Episode 3, host Douglas Cowie and his guest, science fiction writer Adam Roberts, discuss The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson, an ambitious novel set in the near future that tells the story of a global effort to slow impending environmental collapse. Please also see Adam Robert's post about the novel here https://sibilantfricative.blogspot.com/2020/10/kim-stanley-robinson-ministry-for.html

LadyFiction #2: Curtis Sittenfeld's American Wife

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We celebrate Women's History Month with an episode about women and politics. In the second episode of LadyFiction Stefanie Schaefer discusses First Ladies and “First Lady Fiction” with her guest Dr. Katharina Gerund from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. In January 2021, the arrival of new First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, an educator who has said she will keep working during her time in the White House, garnered renewed debate about marriage, politics, and modern womanhood. In this episode of LadyFiction, we turn to Curtis Sittenfeld’s bestselling novel American Wife (2008), a fictional autobiography of Laura Bush, First Lady from 2001-2009.

NovelROMANtics #2: Colum McCann's Apeirogon

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March is Irish-American Heritage Month in the United States. In Episode #2 of NovelROMANtics, host Douglas Cowie and his guest Shane Carmichael discuss Apeirogon by Colum McCann, an Irish storyteller living in New York. They discuss the intersection of storytelling, conflict, and global politics with respect to McCann's multifaceted novel.

LadyFiction#1: Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents

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The Trans-Atlanticist launches its second new podcast series called LadyFiction. In the first episode, our host Dr. Stefanie Schaefer and her guest Prof. Alexandra Ganser-both from the University of Vienna-discuss Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents. February is African-American History Month, and these books were chosen because Butler's Earthseed series provide profound insights into black history and culture.

About this podcast

Andrew Sola explores the past, present, and future of relations between Europe and the United States with scholars, artists, authors, politicians, journalists, and business leaders. Based at the Amerikazentrum in Hamburg, the Trans-Atlanticist provides you with insights from the thought leaders who are shaping the trans-Atlantic relationship every single day.

by Andrew Sola

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