Media and Technology

Digitalisation
Digitally Sidelined

Signing petitions, booking a visit to the local swimming pool, home schooling – all kinds of everyday things work digitally today. Those who have no access to the internet or who have only limited digital skills could be marginalized in our society.

Artificial intelligence
Algorithms are like recipes

But the ingredients have to be carefully selected to ensure that a dish tastes good: Algorithm expert Sebastian Schelter talks about artificial intelligence, how it takes decisions off our hands, and how this impacts our lives.

Algorithmic Governance
Total surveillance

Algorithms that reward or penalise the citizens of a country on the basis of collated data – in places like China and India, “algorithmic governance” has long been a reality. But even in Germany, computer software already takes decisions that have consequences for many people’s lives.

Makerspaces in libraries
Learning by discovering

In 2013, libraries in Germany started running makerspaces for creative projects. Has the concept stood the test of time?

Podcasts
The Allure of the Auditory Experience

One in every four Germans listens to podcasts, and in the United States it is one in every two people. What makes the audio programs so popular and who is involved in the German-speaking podcast scene?

Frankly … posthuman
How robots manipulate us

Have you read the terms and conditions? No? In our “Frankly … posthuman” column, Liwen Qin reveals how our behaviour adapts to that of a machine.

Algorithms
We build them; they shape us

Technical advances promise a great deal then often deliver something completely different. Such was the case of the washing machine at the beginning of the twentieth century, and it may be the case with artificial intelligence today.

Frankly ... Posthuman
Of Technology, Artificial Intelligence and Post-humanism

Our author Eliphas Nyamogo remarks that nowadays a visit to a hotel can be eerie – what with deserted lobbies, electronic self-check-in terminals and brief encounters at the door.

Posthumanism
At the Threshold of a New Era

What ethical, social and political questions arise when automation and artificial intelligence revolutionize the world of work? In the dossier on Posthumanism the Goethe-Institut Canada takes a critical look at these issues.

Fear of Technology
A critical look can lead to more caution

In Germany there is less investment in innovative technological start-ups than in, for example, the United States. Is this a sign of greater scepticism about technology? Check out this interview with the philosopher of technology, Christian Vater.

Frankly ... Posthuman
Deepfakes Technology and Our Identity Crisis

Anyone who places pictures of themselves on the Internet can easily become the target of deepfakes. Computers are already able to use faces from photos for fake news or fake porn videos. Liwen Qin worries about the new possibilities of technology.

Granny Trude
Data security: I know where you live

Fear of data theft and excessive data storage is widespread. But how can you guard yourselves against it in everyday life? Granny Trude shows you how to play it safe. 

The Big Pond
A Transatlantic Listening Series

From pretzels and beer to the Berlin Wall, from motorcycles to recycling, these 50 radio features explore the relationship between Germany and the US on all levels.

Frankly ... Posthuman
How technology helps us in times of crisis

As interpersonal human contact has become a health risk, Liwen Qin outlines how advances in digitalization and information technology can help us cope with the global COVID-19 pandemic.

re:publica
Europe’s digital festival

The entire net community looks forward to re:publica Berlin every year – and not just in Germany.  The conference’s curator, Geraldine de Bastion, talks about re:publica’s history, its importance abroad, and how Germans are talking about digital issues.

Egometer
Your position on copyright regulation

How should copyright law be regulated in line with the times? Use our egometer to pinpoint your position on this question and find out where in the world people think the way you do!

English-Language Radio from Berlin
KCRW Berlin

KCRW Berlin is an English-language radio station based in Germany’s capital featuring original Berlin content and nationally syndicated US public radio shows. Tune in for a glimpse of Berlin life and culture, from Berlin.

The New German Media Makers
“Give everyone a voice”

“Bring more diversity into the media” is the motto of the New German Media Makers. In an interview, their Deputy Chairman, Chadi Bahouth, explains why the perspective of immigrants gets the short end of the stick in media coverage and how the association wants to change this.

European Elections
Seven websites and apps promoting digital civic courage

Hate speech and fake news can massively influence public opinion. These apps and initiatives set out to counter that by strengthening political awareness and encouraging positive online discourse. 

Coding da Vinci
The digitalisation of culture

Visitors to museums and archives usually interact with exhibits locked in display cases in darkened rooms. Yet modern technology has given us ways to more directly experience art and cultural artefacts. Coding da Vinci is an open, cultural data hackathon that digitally brings museum pieces to life.  

Working conditions in the arts
Fair-trade music downloads

Many artists live in precarious conditions, and few can make a living off their art. Initiatives like fair music providers and fair-trade certificates for music labels show how a more equitable value chain could be created. 

Artificial Intelligence
Master or Minion?

Will Artificial Intelligence rule humanity at some point? – On the insurmountable distinctions between humans and machines. An essay by Peter Glaser.

Foreign language learning in the future
Will everything be digital?

How will we be learning foreign languages in 50 or 100 years’ time? What role will be played by digital media in the foreign language lessons of the future? And is it in fact possible to give meaningful answers to these questions today?
 

Female Protagonists in Games
From Victim to Tragic Heroine

The gaming industry has not only attracted more and more female customers in recent decades; it has also produced a large number of memorable heroines. Yet gender stereotypes still persist today.

Virtual Reality
VR projects ‘made in Germany’

Ten German virtual reality and 360-degree video projects you should know about.

The “Yolocaust” Project
“I wanted to talk about the selfie culture”

For Yolocaust, Shahak Shapira combined selfies taken at the Holocaust memorial in Berlin with pictures of concentration camps. The project of the Israeli satirist came to an end after the depicted people got in touch with him. But not the discussion it provoked.

“These bodies are filled with fear”
Interview with Klaus Theweleit about violence in Germany

In recent weeks, Germany has been disturbed by images of men chasing people they perceived to be refugees through the streets of a German town. We asked Professor Klaus Theweleit, an expert on violence and male fantasies in the context of fascist ideology, for a psychological profile of these men.

Media Theory
What is Information?

What does a squeezed marshmallow have to do with information? How does something new come into the world and what happens to it? Media theorist Andreas Ströhl explores the difference that makes a difference.

Interview with Peter Weibel
Between Near and Far Sensing

Interview with Peter Weibel, Chairman and CEO of the ZKM, Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, about Faith in Images; the ordinary and the sublime; and The dream of Universalism.

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