Somewhere on the border, where the cold and the dry kills everything that needs to be killed, somewhere around here is where I’m from. Where the weeds are lush and the grass is gone. Where the cow’s milk tastes dirty and the breast milk tastes sad. Where bodies are cremated, not buried, and you can
Some Thoughts on Love
Some thoughts on love Some thoughts on affection I work my way up into no expectations And coax away the need for labels When I stare at your hand resting across the dinner table, And notice the fine scars across some shape of a palm That could belong to anyone But because it’s not anyone,
Imagined Sea Creature
I am fixated On a certain kind Of imagined sea creature That doesn’t exist yet, But has also Been clawing through the muck On the pond scum floor Of my stomach, Always. It loosens clots of dirt in my belly, And is made of white-hot metals That repel the water around it, Orbs of burning
When Solidarity Mitigates Racism’s Scars
During a niveous day of winter break, my friend from BCB, experienced racism at a bar in Berlin. Let’s pseudonymously call my friend Sam. Sam told me that they were out with a friend touring the city when they decided to stop by a bar for a beer. So stop they did, in a bar
An Interview with BCB’s Professor Dr. Gale Raj-Reichert
It’s a grey Berlin morning, and Prof. Gale Raj-Reichert welcomes me into her shared office in K24, offering me a seat on the couch, a glass of water, and my thoughts on the reading for our class together later in the day, “The Political Economy of Globalization.” I have always been interested in globalisation, and
An Interview with BCB’s Managing Director, Florian Becker
As I open the door to his office, Florian greets me with a frisson of excitement. His office, brightly lit, clean, cool, copacetic, is large but not too grand. There are three pieces of art on the wall and then a kaleidoscope of books — Bacon, Burke, Bertolt Brecht, Nabokov, Nietsche, Müller, Max, Kant etc.
From the Archives: Reflections in Times of Conflict
War and conflict are unfortunately omnipresent, displacing millions of individuals and communities worldwide. Die Bärliner invites readers to revisit some past pieces from students reflecting on the hardships encountered by refugees, international responses to forced migration and racial dynamics. The authors raise questions about pacifism and violence through personal narratives and opinions, and also provide
The Pierre Boulez Saal: Tracing a History
I walked into the Pierre Boulez Saal on a chilly Saturday night, I found my music class among the crowd and exclaimed to them, “Everything around here looks so new!” I’d just walked over from the U2 stop at Hausvogteiplatz and was surprised by the tall, modern buildings, smooth concrete, and shops that seemed to