It isn’t just the big international tech corporations who are holding heated discussions about staff returning to the office in summer 2022. Plenty of employees would like to remain at home in Germany too: what makes the home office so attractive?
 

Formats like virtual reality, the metaverse, or 3D animation can allow people with disabilities to walk, express themselves, or move. Uruguayan artist Fabián Barros experiments with virtual environments and talks about how technology can fuel inclusion.

In the worst case, targeted disinformation can become a real and present threat to our democracy. A number of initiatives in Germany have responded by taking on the mission of fact checking information on the net. 

Quite a number of words are still firmly established in German language use today – even though they came into existence at a time that barely has anything to do with our diverse present. In this series, Elisabeth Wellershaus tries to fathom them out and reinterpret them from a decolonial perspective. This time she takes a look at the term “Ferngespräch”.
 

Since time immemorial, Western literature has been characterised by stereotypical notions of gender. Myths and fairy tales, classical and modern literature are teeming with brave courageous heroes and long-suffering female figures. What is going on here and what is the negotiation actually about?

How do you write about people who are neither male nor female? Kim de l’Horizon showed how in “Blutbuch” (Blood Book). At the award ceremony in Frankfurt, Kim shaved their head bald – and thanked their mother.

After we reckon time “based on Jesus Christ” for more than two millennia now, our columnist Seyda Kurt is now searching for a new method for Berlin: For the next months she will write here about Berlin, queer feminism and a whole lot else to look forward to!

It would be hard to find a sport that is older, more egalitarian, or more popular: a tribute to endurance running.
 

“Cats are always good content” has been an unwritten and irrefutable marketing law since the commercial internet was invented. No great surprise, really, since the fluffy pet tiger still tops the list of Germans’ favourite animals. Ten famous cats from art, politics and social media. 

Artists and producers from the music scene are actively interested in environmental conservation. Some question whether preventing plastic waste at festivals and concerts is enough though when the travel involved in touring itself produces tons of CO2.

They pick up, sort through and gather together recyclables. Without its 300,000 waste pickers, the city of Mumbai would probably drown in its own rubbish.

Positive visions of and narratives about the future are rare, yet these are precisely what we need if we are to move away from polarization and a sense of hopelessness and embrace a proactive approach. An appeal for constructive climate communication.