October Favorites: Lenny Letter

My October favorite is Lena Dunham's and Jenni Konner's Lenny Letter, a weekly newsletter dedicated to feminism, health, politics, style and literature. The project debuted in late September this year and has already become a regular highlight of mine. Its contributions are a mix of political information, personal essays, advice columns, interviews and book reviews, along with quirky artwork and beautifully drawn illustrations. Dunham compares this latest brain child of hers to an "over-sharing Internet friend", which perfectly captures the essence of Lenny Letter: Everything we need to know as young, confused, regularly overwhelmed, yet dedicated, politically-minded, and empowered women in the 21st century, and then a bit. 

The first issue of Lenny Letter, featuring an interview (and a flawless selfie) with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

USA Network’s Mr. Robot: I Hack, Therefore I Am – or Am I?

By Mario Rader

Picture found here

American fiction is replete with signature openings. “All this happened, more or less” from Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five is a case in point; “I am an invisible man” jump-starting Ralph Ellison’s eponymous novel is another. And what about that most iconic of introductions “Call me Ishmael,” as featured in Moby Dick? All three lines attract our attention since they break with the aesthetic illusion and the conventional semantics generally associated with storytelling. It is in this line of tradition that we are introduced to what is arguably the biggest televisual happening of the year:

"Hello, friend. Hello, friend? That’s lame. Maybe I should give you a name. But that’s a slippery slope. You’re only in my head. We have to remember that."

Angela Davis at the University of Vienna: The Tyranny of the Universal

On October 5th, activist, author and scholar Angela Davis gave a talk at the University of Vienna on the occasion of its 650th anniversary. The initiative "FrauenUniJubel" (roughly translates as "WomenUniversityJubilance"), dedicated to introducing a feminist perspective into the celebrations, heightening the visibility of female scientists, and presenting contributions from women and gender studies for a sustainable societal development, invited Davis to talk about her life and work. The lecture entitled "Life between Politics and Academia" tackled a dazzling diversity of periods, issues and concepts, all held together by Davis's incomparable rhetoric and exceptional energy. 

Photo: Angela Davis,  FrauenUniJubel website

Davis is one of the very few people, especially among those cultural icons still alive and thriving, who deserve the epithet "inspiring". After decades spent in political struggle (and several years on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List), she has lost nothing of her fervor and passion. While others would have grown cynical, disillusioned or merely disinterested with progressing age, Davis is as radical in 2015 as she must have been in the late 1960s and early 70s. Her talk in Vienna is nestled safely somewhere between academic lecture and political propaganda speech, a position she is more than comfortable with: To accomplish their respective work, politics and academia require each other, as Davis reminds her audience by way of introduction.

Book Launch Party: The New Formula for Cool

I'm thrilled to reveal what I've been cooking up the last couple of weeks: My book, The New Formula for Cool: Science, Technology, and the Popular in the American Imagination (Bielefeld: transcript, 2015), is finally out and will be officially launched on November 16th at 7:00 p.m. at Lane & Merriman's, Spitalgasse 3, 1090 Vienna. Join me for an evening of literary pleasure, live acoustic music and delicious cocktails to celebrate - everybody is welcome!

Read on for a synopsis and more infos on the party!

Fries of Hope: Wie mit Liebe, Engagement und einer Tonne Pommes frites Flüchtlingen geholfen wird

Please click here for the English version.

Fries of Hope ist eine einzigartige Aktion, um Flüchtlingen auf der Durchreise durch Österreich zu helfen: Am Hauptbahnhof Wien frittieren freiwillige Helfer_innen tagtäglich mehrere Kilo köstliche Pommes und verschenken sie an Flüchtlinge, um ihnen den Aufenthalt am kalten Bahnsteig und die bange Zeit des Wartens auf eine Weitereise nach Deutschland zu erleichtern. Manchmal braucht es in Krisenzeiten eben nicht mehr als Liebe, Toleranz, und eine Handvoll fettig dampfender Erdäpfelstreifen. 

Fabian Braesemann (links) und Fabian Stephany (rechts) mit zwei freiwilligen Helferinnen vor dem Wiener Hauptbahnhof.

Fries of Hope: Putting a smile on your face, one fry at a time

Für die deutsche Version bitte hier klicken.

Fries of Hope is a unique initiative to help refugees passing through Vienna’s central traffic hub, the Hauptbahnhof, on their way to asylum in Germany: Volunteers are giving away hot and delicious French fries to refugees and helpers, thereby proving that all we need in this moment of crisis is love, tolerance, and deep-fried potato strips.

Fabian Braesemann (left) and Fabian Stephany (right) with two volunteers at the Viennese Hauptbahnhof.

September Favorites

As days get shorter and the weather gets colder, September is the ideal month to brush up on your knowledge of art history and return to your favorite museums after a long summer break. In Vienna, many new and exciting exhibitions are set to open in the course of the fall, including the Albertina's Edvard Munch (Sept. 25 - Jan. 24) and World of Romanticism (Nov. 13 - Feb. 21), the Belvedere's Rembrandt - Tizian - Bellotto  (June 11 - Nov. 8), the Leopold Museum's A Rush of Color (Oct. 9 - Jan. 11), and the MUMOK's Prosperous Poison: On the Feminist Appropriation of the Austrian Unconscious (Sept. 10 - April 24). 

Your city's art offer is more restricted? It's already too cold to venture outside for a quick stroll to the next museum? Luckily, you do not even have to leave your house (or your couch, for that matter) to enjoy the fine arts. Here's a list of entertaining, thought-provoking, funny, and worthwhile virtual offers to satisfy your artistic cravings. 

Vitamin B, Freudian Musings, and the Loneliness of PhD Life: What it also feels like for a grad student in Austria

The University of Warwick recently asked me to contribute to their student-run blog PhD life, a platform for grad students to discuss all the aspects that pursuing a doctorate involves, from “reaching out” to “moving on”. Make sure to check it out for its great tips and resources on publishing in journals, managing your viva, or organizing field trips!

Eager to be part of such a laudable initiative, I composed a nice little blog post about grad student life at the University of Vienna, my alma mater, with a focus on the various possibilities of financing a PhD in Austria. 

Graduation day. Universities with impressive ceremonial halls like the Uni of Vienna are at a clear advantage. 

White Oleander by Janet Fitch and the female Bildungsroman

It's been a while since I've read Janet Fitch's White Oleander (1999), but I feel that my Bookfest couldn't possibly be complete without reviewing it. Everyone who has met me since I've devoured this wonderful piece of literature has probably heard me enthuse about it for hours on end and/or been pressured into reading it *asap*. What's the big deal, you ask? Let me show you!

August Favorites

Do you also try to put the warm summer weather to good use by engaging in some fun outdoor activity after a rather inert winter? If so, you've come to the right place, because this month's favorites are all about making your daily intake of natural euphoriants even more effective: Bring along a podcast! Whether you're going for a run, do some stretching and Yoga in the park, go on a bicycle tour, or just opt for a long walk in the woods or on the beach (whichever spot happens to be closest to you), be assured that there's hardly a better companion than a smart and stimulating audio lecture, interview or radio play.

The combination of (moderate) physical activity with (moderate) intellectual stimulation is a true win-win situation, and this is even backed by science proper. Physical exercise increases your heart rate, which means that more oxygen is pumped to your brain, hormones aiding the growth of brain cells are released, while the establishment of new neural connections between existing ones is fostered. Mens sana in corpore sano, amirite? At the same time, and this I can relate from personal experience, even the dullest jogging trail is elevated by a good and gripping audio program to go along with. The right podcast to occupy your mental facilities while your physical ones are hard at work definitely helps you stay motivated and focused, and you might even throw in an extra mile because you need to know how the episode ends. 

Does Claire Underwood listen to CNN's State of the Union podcast when going for a jog? Possibly!

So without further ado, here are some entertaining, inspiring and thought-provoking podcasts for your physical *and* intellectual workout! (And yes, all of them work equally well if you're listening while lounging on your couch with a glass of white wine - I don't have a peer-reviewed study at hand to back this one up, but it's a method thoroughly tried and tested during some of the rainier days of this summer...)