Common Ground Berlin

Why is a Nazi resistance fighter big in Brazil and unheard of in Germany? How did an African American bass-baritone artist become a national hero in the former GDR? Does Onkel Toms Huette refer to a German man and his cabins or the protagonist of a controversial American 19th-century novel? Senior Producer Dina Elsayed explores the fascinating stories behind Berlin’s unusual street names in this special Common Ground collaboration with the Goethe Institute for The Big Ponder series.  Featuring guests:Blogger and author Beata Gontarczyk-Krampe;Musicologist and historian Kira Thurman; Saxophonist and sound experimentalist Matana Roberts;Literary and cultural historian Todd Carmody;Artist Tatiana Heide; Filmmaker Thais Nepomuceno.This show was produced by Dina Elsayed and Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson.Frederic Chopin’s Prelude Opus 28, No. 9 was performed by Paul Cantrell. Also featured are "Brazil" by Serge Quadrado, "Woke up this Morning" by Till Paradiso and All is Written by Matana Roberts from their album Coin Coin: Chapter Three.And from Blue Dot Studios, we heard Nine Count, Minister Creek, Vulcan Street and Ervira.Note on the correct pronunciation of Matana Roberts' first name: equal emphasis should be given to all three syllables.

Russia appears ready to invade Ukraine, with the recent deployment of roughly 100,000 Russian troops along their mutual border. In this episode of Transatlantic Takeaway -- a monthly collaboration between Common Ground and the German Marshall Fund of the United States -- Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson and her guests discuss the ongoing crisis and its impact on the EU, the United States and Moscow. Our experts: Rachel Tausendfreund, GMF editorial director in Berlin and host of “Out of Order” podcast;Liana Fix, GMF Resident Fellow and program director for International Affairs at the Körber-Stiftung;Michael Kimmage, GMF Non-Resident Fellow and Catholic University history professor who was part of the U.S. Secretary of State’s planning staff from 2014-2016 advising on Russia and Ukraine.This show is produced by Dina Elsayed.

Our collaboration with the Goethe Institute that shatters the stereotype of the unfunny German – Or does it? Laugh at and learn about German humor with host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson and her guest comedians Carmen Chraim, Christian Schulte-Loh and Daniel Stern as well as German Institute for Humor founder Eva Ullmann and Nicola McLelland, a German professor and linguistics expert at the University of Nottingham in the U.K.The music was Latin by Crowander and Lemoncholy by Tea K Pea.This show is produced by Dina Elsayed. 

On the inaugural episode of Transatlantic Takeaway -- a monthly collaboration between Common Ground and the German Marshall Fund of the United States -- Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson explores what German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the French taking over the EU presidency will mean for the European bloc and the United States. Her guests: Rachel Tausendfreund, GMF editorial director in Berlin and host of “Out of Order” podcast;Sudha David-Wilp, GMF deputy director in Berlin and Senior Transatlantic Fellow; Michal Baranowski, GMF director in Warsaw;Martin Quencez, deputy director of the GMF Paris office and a research fellow in its Security & Defense program.This show is produced by Dina Elsayed.

How will Germans respond to beer getting more expensive? What will the outcome of the ongoing coalition talks mean for younger Germans? How do Americans perceive the legacy of Angela Merkel? And is Joe Biden a hit or a miss in Germany?Host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson and her guests delve into these issues and more on this special episode of Common Ground, which was the opening event of Podfest Berlin 2021. Joining her are guests: Agence France-Presse Correspondent Deborah Cole (@deborah); Comedian Georg Kammerer (@GeorgFKa); and Podfest Berlin Founder and Performer Daniel Stern (@DanielandStern).This show was recorded live at Comedy Café Berlin and produced by Dina Elsayed. 

In A.D. 321, an edict drawn up by the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great appointed Jewish people to the Cologne town council. This decree is the oldest known document showing Jewish life thriving north of the Alps.But what does it mean to be Jewish in Germany today? In this episode, guest host Stephanie Wolf speaks with Anti-Defamation League’s Assistant Director for European Affairs, Dalia Grinfeld, and visual and performance artist Rachel Libeskind.This show is produced by Dina Elsayed and Stephanie Wolf.

Today marks the birthday of Mildred Harnack, an American academic and spy who was murdered by the Nazis in Berlin and who is the subject of Rebecca Donner’s New York Times bestseller “All The Frequent Troubles Of Our Days.”In this episode, Common Ground host Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson talks to Donner about her great-great-aunt's life, the state of women in the Third Reich, and how sexism distorted her legacy. Plus, Donner reads a few of her favorite passages. We also hear from German historian Arnd Bauerkaemper and president of the American Women’s Club in Berlin Shweta Gupta. This show is produced by Dina Elsayed. 

Tune in to a special episode of Common Ground on Sept. 15th, which is the birthday of the protagonist of Donner's new book about an American heroine in Nazi-era Berlin.