De Balie

With the global rise of the far-right, women’s rights are increasingly under threat. French author Lauren Bastide remains hopeful: feminism can save the world, but only as a revolutionary project that seeks to improve society at all levels, for everyone.Together with migrants and people from the LGBTQ+-community, women are among the first to suffer when a society takes an autocratic turn. Abortion rights in the United States are being undermined; in Hungary, women are encouraged through tax incentives to have more children – policy measures expressing the autocratic conviction that a woman’s primary roles are those of mother and wife.How can feminism oppose these tendencies? And what should feminism look like? French author and journalist Lauren Bastide argues that feminism should not be about corporate slogans and individual success stories, but rather be grounded in global solidarity. In this programme, we’ll explore how feminist values can build new alliances across borders. What solutions does feminism rooted in solidarity and intersectionality provide?Programme maker: Larissa BiemondThis programme is a part of the Forum on European Culture 2025.Zie het privacybeleid op https://art19.com/privacy en de privacyverklaring van Californië op https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

De ochtendkrant openslaan of om stipt acht uur het nieuws aanzetten? Dat is voor jongeren verleden tijd. Het grootste deel van de jongeren vindt hun nieuws online. Vaak bij alternatieve media als instagramkanaal als CestMocro. Een uitdaging voor journalistieke organisaties. Hoe bereik je een generatie die het traditionele nieuws de rug toekeert? In samenwerking met UNESCO organiseert De Balie een gesprek over de nieuwshouding van de jongeren. Want wat zijn de gevaren? En hoe zorgen journalistieke organisaties ervoor dat de jongeren niet afhaken? Deze avond gaan we in gesprek met zowel de jongeren als de nieuwsorganisatie. Wat werkt er wel en wat werkt er niet?Programmamaker Sylvia Vegter gaat in gesprek met Aelaf Mohammed (Lid Unesco Jongerencommissie), Tobya Monté (Lid Unesco Jongerencommissie), Edmund Lauf (Senior onderzoeker Commissariaat voor de Media), Bruce Mutsvairo (Hoogleraar Media, Politics & Global South Universiteit Utrecht), Kelly van Hal (Adjunct-hoofdredacteur regionale dagbladen Mediahuis), Frank Brinkhuis (Chef video, social & podcast NU.nl) en Mark Koster (journalist).Zie het privacybeleid op https://art19.com/privacy en de privacyverklaring van Californië op https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

‘You can kill the messenger, but not the message’ is the slogan of news platform Forbidden Stories. We speak with founder Laurent Richard about the opportunities and challenges technology brings when working in the danger zone.107 journalists were killed during their work last year. Very often because of their work. With his organisation Forbidden Stories, French journalist Laurent Richard completes the news stories of journalists who were murdered. Under the slogan ‘you can kill the messenger, but not the message’, Forbidden Stories published about forced labour in Turkmenistan, captagon trafficking in Syria and deforestation in Cambodia.Before Forbidden Stories, Richard was involved with the Pentagon Papers, a project that published millions of documents that exposed offshore financial constructions.Technology helps Richard in his investigative journalism, but comes with its own dangers. How do you communicate safely with your sources? How do you verify your facts online? And how do you work together with other organisations to finish a story? In this edition of Techdenkers we speak with Laurent Richard and Thomas Muntz, Editor-in-chief Investico, about the opportunities and challenges technology brings when working in the danger zone.Programme maker: Rosalie DielesenModerator: Marcia LuytenThe Techdenkers series is supported by Adyen. This programme is a part of the Forum on European Culture 2025.Zie het privacybeleid op https://art19.com/privacy en de privacyverklaring van Californië op https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Nieuwe woonwijken die niet aangesloten kunnen worden op het stroomnet, bedrijven die met honderden op de wachtlijst staan, huishoudens die in het donker komen te zitten. Netbeheerders waarschuwen dat vanaf volgend jaar het stroomnet overbelast raakt en de vraag niet meer aankan. Hoe heeft het zover kunnen komen? En hoeveel tijd hebben we nog voor de oplossingen?We onderzoeken de knelpunten rondom netcongestie. We wekken steeds meer groene stroom op, maar de infrastructuur om die stroom van a naar b te vervoeren schiet ernstig tekort. Terwijl de vraag naar stroom alleen maar zal groeien. Bij wie ligt de sleutel voor de oplossing? Netbeheerders, de overheid, bedrijven of toch wijzelf, de consumenten? Hoeveel zin heeft het om op piekmomenten je wasmachine even niet te laten draaien?In gesprek met Frank Westhoek (Manager Klant & Congestie bij TenneT), Oemar Kanhai (Manager Directie Toezicht Energie bij Autoriteit Consument & Markt (ACM)), Bart van der Laan (Programmamanager Flexibel energiecontract bij Alliander), Paul Giesbertz (Netcongestie expert en Regulatory Affairs Officer bij EP NL) en Bard van de Weijer (Journalist bij Volkskrant).Over Onder hoogspanning: Komt er in de toekomst nog 24 uur per dag stroom uit het stopcontact? Rijden we binnenkort allemaal in een Chinese e-auto? De energietransitie is in volle gang en vraagt om fundamentele beslissingen waarachter grote politieke en economische belangen schuilen. In de programmareeks Onder hoogspanning brengen we de drijvende en botsende krachten van de energietransitie naar de oppervlakte. Van overheden, bedrijven tot consumenten: wie zijn de spelers, en wat zijn hun belangen? Wat is er nodig voor een eerlijke energietransitie, en wat is eigenlijk eerlijk?Onder hoogspanning wordt mogelijk gemaakt door Vandebron.Programmamaker: Katarina SchulZie het privacybeleid op https://art19.com/privacy en de privacyverklaring van Californië op https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What if giving up isn’t a failure, but a form of resistance? Arnon Grunberg meets the British writer and psychoanalyst Adam Phillips. Together they talk about letting go of control, ambition and certainty.Determination is often lauded as a virtue. But determined to do what? Adam Phillips and Arnon Grunberg explore how stepping away from expectations can bring freedom. In a world that prizes success and perseverance, can letting go open the door to new forms of autonomy and creativity — and, with it, challenge power?About: Adam Philips (1954) is a renowned psychoanalyst and essayist. He is the author of numerous books, including Missing Out: In Praise of the Unlived Life, On Wanting to Change, and Attention Seeking. His works are known for bringing psychoanalysis into conversations about literature, art, and everyday life. In his latest book, On Giving Up, Phillips continues to explore the intricacies of human emotion and self-awareness.Arnon Grunberg meets is a series of conversations in De Balie in which Arnon Grunberg speaks with prominent thinkers, writers, artists, and politicians. Grunberg previously spoke with Marlene Dumas, Zadie Smith, Tomas Sedlacek, Ulrich Seidl, Deborah Feldman, and Damiaan Denys.This programme is a part of Forum on European Culture 2025.Programme maker: Ianthe MosselmanZie het privacybeleid op https://art19.com/privacy en de privacyverklaring van Californië op https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What role does art play in times of war? Is it a tool of resistance, a witness to destruction, or a space for imagining the future? War transforms the conditions of making, sharing, and experiencing art. It forces new responsibilities onto artists but also opens unexpected freedoms. In the midst of destruction, creative work becomes a form of survival, memory, and resistance.Throughout history, war has shaped and been shaped by art. In moments of violence and turmoil, artists confront devastation, mourn loss, challenge dominant narratives, and preserve fragments of threatened cultures. Their work raises urgent questions – can art intervene in the course of war? Does it document reality or create its own truths? And how does conflict alter the very language and purpose of artistic creation?This conversation will bring together artists from different cultural backgrounds sharing their experiences and perspectives.About the speakersTetyana Ogarkova (1979) is a Ukrainian writer, journalist, and essayist whose work focuses on themes of memory, cultural resistance, and the impact of conflict on societies. She has written extensively on the intersections of violence, politics, and art, with a particular interest in the role of creative expression during times of crisis.Anton Varga is part of the Ukrainian artists’ collective Open Group, known for their exploration of displacement, memory, and the social consequences of war. In 2024, they represented Poland at the 60th Venice Biennale with Repeat After Me II, an installation that engaged audiences in reflecting on the sounds of war. For this conversation Anton Varga will join.Elma Čavčić, a Bosnian-born artist, explores war, memory, and inherited trauma through figurative painting. Her dreamlike yet unsettling works reflect stories absorbed in childhood—quiet but deeply felt. Using soft tones and layered symbolism, she creates a visual archive of collective memory, preserving what must not be forgotten across generations.Mounira Al Solh (b. 1978, Lebanon; lives and works between Beirut and Amsterdam) is a visual artist whose practice spans installation, painting, sculpture, video, drawing, text, embroidery, and performative gestures. Her work delves into equality, while it adopts manners such as micro-history, to bear witness to the impact of conflict and displacement. Al Solh’s work is socially engaged while being political and poetically escapist simultaneously. Her practice utilizes oral documentation, multidisciplinary collaboration, and wordplay to explore themes of memory and loss. Motivated by acts of sharing and storytelling, change, and resistance, Al Solh strives to craft a sensory language that transcends nationality and creed.Moderator: Ianthe MosselmanThis programme is part of the Forum on European Culture 2025 in Amsterdam.Zie het privacybeleid op https://art19.com/privacy en de privacyverklaring van Californië op https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Crimea has been a starting point of the Russian war against Ukraine. By dissecting the tumultuous history of Crimea, Cambridge-scholar Rory Finnin argues why returning Crimea to Ukrainian controle is the only path to a sustainable peace.The Russian war against Ukraine began in 2014 with the appearance of mysterious ‘little green men’ – masked, unmarked soldiers – who suddenly took over Crimea. Now, the Americans seem willing to simply give up Crimea in negotiations with Russia. But history shows us that a Russian Crimea has no future. The idea of a ‘Russian Crimea’ is a colonial phantasm enforced by decades of suppression and ethnic cleansing of the Crimean Tatars.Renowned British scholar Rory Finnin, expert on Ukrainian history, shows how a peace deal that makes Crimea Russian territory would lay the foundation for a future of further military escalation from the Kremlin. To understand why that is, we need to understand the history, culture and geography of the contested peninsula. Together with Alim Aliev, a human rights activist and journalist who is the Deputy Director General of the Ukrainian Institute, and researcher, PhD and co-curator of the Past / Future / Art memory culture platform art curator Oksana Dovgopolova, Rory Finnin will tell the tumultuous story of Crimea.This programme is made in collaboration with Ukrainian Institute, Past / Future / Art, made possible by DutchCulture and is part of the Forum on European Culture 2025 in Amsterdam.Programme maker: Merlijn GeurtsModerator: Mirthe FreseZie het privacybeleid op https://art19.com/privacy en de privacyverklaring van Californië op https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How to live through the age of collapse? Science writer and broadcaster Gaia Vince (Nomad Century, Adventures in the Anthropocene) explores how the climate crisis is uprooting us and reshaping our planet—fueling migration, food insecurity, and conflict over land and resources. Together with political scientist and writer Kiza Magendane.As the planet warms and swathes of land become uninhabitable, as fertile land disappears, food systems falter, millions are forced to move. In this era of cascading ecological and social shifts, Vince argues for radical rethinking: of how we grow food, how we share space, and how we treat people on the move.In Nomad Century, Vince argues that migration is not the crisis itself – but a rational, necessary response to it. She connects environmental collapse with the weaponization of essential resources, warning that without coordinated action, scarcity could deepen global divisions. In an era of rising authoritarianism, Europe’s apathy and hardened borders risk becoming tools of tyranny. Vince argues that surviving the climate crisis requires not just resilience, but radical cooperation across nations. With foresight and humane policy, she contends, this century of upheaval can become one of renewal.About Gaia Vince: Gaia Vince is an award-winning journalist and author focusing on climate, development, and migration. Her books, including Nomad Century and Adventures in the Anthropocene, have been internationally acclaimed for their clarity and urgency. Vince is a former editor of Nature and New Scientist and regularly contributes to The Guardian and the BBC.Moderator: Kees FoekemaThis programme is part of the Forum on European Culture 2025 in Amsterdam.Zie het privacybeleid op https://art19.com/privacy en de privacyverklaring van Californië op https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How are the tech oligarchs shaping our democracies? In conversation with former EU-parliament member Marietje Schaake and journalist Ece Temelkuran.In his farewell speech, President Biden warned of a ‘tech-industrial complex’ and an ‘oligarchy of extreme wealth’ threatening democracy. His successor highlighted this very point by placing tech oligarchs like Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Tim Cook in the front row during his inauguration speech.Once celebrated as visionary enterprises driving progress and innovation, tech companies have become questionable forces in our democracies. From data privacy scandals to monopolistic practices and spreading misinformation on a wide scale, Big Tech has undermined public trust while molding the very fabric of our democracies.Together with former EU-parliament member Marietje Schaake, author of The Tech Coup, and journalist Ece Temelkuran, author of How to Lose a Country, we investigate the position of tech companies in our democracies. How are the tech oligarchs shaping our democracies?About the speakers:Marietje Schaake (1978) is the director of international policy at the Cyber Policy Center at Stanford University. From 2009 to 2019, she was a member of the European Parliament for D66. In 2024, her book The Tech Coup: How to Save Democracy from Silicon Valley was published.Ece Temelkuran (1973) is a journalist and writer. In 2012, she was fired from the Turkish newspaper she was working for at the time, for writing critically about the Erdogan government. In 2019, she published How to Lose a Country: The Seven Steps from Democracy to Dictatorship.Moderator: Rosalie DielesenThe Techdenkers series is supported by Adyen. This edition is part of the Forum on European Culture 2025 in Amsterdam.Zie het privacybeleid op https://art19.com/privacy en de privacyverklaring van Californië op https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Pulitzer prize-winning author Anne Applebaum and Ukrainian philosopher Volodymyr Yermolenko engage in conversation about Ukraine’s past, present and future. With an introduction from Ukrainian writer Andrey Kurkov.‘The bad guys are winning’, Anne Applebaum wrote in an essay in The Atlantic in 2021. If the twentieth century was about the rise of liberal democracy, the twentieth-first sofar has been about the opposite. The fight for democracy is nowhere as pressing as in Ukraine. Anne Applebaum and Ukrainian philosopher and writer Volodymyr Yermolenko discuss Ukraine’s ongoing struggle for freedom, and the stakes for the future – not just for Ukraine, but also for democracy in Europe. About the speakers:Anne Applebaum (1964) is a historian and writer specializing in Eastern European and Soviet history. She has written several award-winning books, including Gulag: A History, which won the Pulitzer Prize, and her latest Autocracy, Inc. The Dictators Who Want to Run the World. Applebaum is also a staff writer at The Atlantic and a senior fellow at the AGORA Institute at Johns Hopkins University. Her work provides critical insight into the rise of authoritarianism and the fragility of democracy. Volodymyr Yermolenko (1980) is a Ukrainian philosopher, writer, and journalist. He is the editor-in-chief of UkraineWorld, a multimedia platform, and author of several books on Ukrainian identity and European philosophy. He is the current president of PEN Ukraine and he has been a powerful voice for Ukraine during the ongoing war, offering a nuanced understanding of the cultural and historical context behind the conflict.Programme maker: Ianthe MosselmanModerator: Yoeri AlbrechtThis programme is part of the Forum on European Culture 2025 in Amsterdam.Zie het privacybeleid op https://art19.com/privacy en de privacyverklaring van Californië op https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.