The hypocrisy of "Staatsräson"

Vor 5 Tagen•44:10

Our guest this episode is researcher, filmmaker, and strategist Alon Sahar, who recently published the report “The Campaign against UNRWA and the Palestinian Right of Return in Germany; Israel-aligned Actors, Narratives, and Policy Uptake” with the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation. HEIST founding editor Peter Matthews and Alon talk about the historical 20th century geopolitical context here, and then hone in on Germany’s role, the evolution of the term Staatsräson, and then finally bring it home to Berlin, where we see the implications of this campaign in local political scandals

Nobel laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah on Germany's Colonial Past

31.08.2026•28:56

“National narratives tell you what you must not say.” In this episode, Nobel Laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah joins HEIST founding editor Peter Matthews. Gurnah challenges history from a European perspective. To him, the idea of European centers is not just an oversight, but a kind of blindness. His work, novels with interwoven histories based on complex and surprising historical narratives, won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2021. The Swedish Academy cited his "uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fate of the refugee."

From Electric Cars to Tanks

17.08.2026•29:32

In this episode, HEIST founding editor Peter Matthews is joined by investigative reporter Lea Fauth. They discuss her reporting for Deutschlandfunk Kultur in two German cities where factories, unions, and workers are responding to the Zeitenwende, the new era of German investment in manufacturing arms.

How high would you get?

03.08.2026•40:33

In this episode, HEIST founding publisher Ben Schuman-Stoler talks to writer Lily Johnston about her experience at TRYP Expo, Berlin's new festival for "human flourishing.” Together they reflect on if the Expo means something bigger for Berlin. They talk about new synthetic drugs, the surprising Nazi history of psychedelics, what happens when subculture is commercialized, and ask, is there such a thing as too much self-optimization?

Quinn Slobodian on Muskism and the AfD

20.07.2026•1:06:35

In this episode, HEIST founding editor Peter Matthews is joined live at Chapters Bookshop in Berlin by historian Quinn Slobodian to discuss his latest book, Muskism, and ideas about the far-right and the AfD from his 2025 Hayek's Bastards.

LGBTAfD

06.07.2026•42:57

When an AfD candidate was criticized for referencing a concentration camp badge on a campaign billboard, the party’s defense was immediate: "How dare you accuse us of being homophobic? Our leader, Alice Weidel, is a lesbian." It’s a perfect, toxic blend of strategic provocation and plausible deniability. But it points to a much deeper, more disturbing mutation within European politics. In this episode, founding HEIST editor Peter Matthews talks with Ben Miller, historian, writer, and co-host of the podcast Bad Gays to talk about right-wing queer politics.