Media
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EU lacks compelling stories
Union needs compelling folk tale The best way to do something against rising populism in European Union is to popularize Europe. The EU suffers from unpopularity because it lacks an inspiring story in which everyone can identify. But how do you create such a story? When the journalist Frans Nypels took me on in 1980…
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Underwater art
Summer exhibition Maura BiavaJune 14 to September 15, 2024, Escher in the PalaceMaura Biava was the first artist to create underwater photography in the 1990s. Accompanied by a photographer and a diver, she herself dove meters deep into the sea with costumes and objects for a photo series or a video of her performance. Every…
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Matter of Worldview
That, as Urgant and Pozner claim in the attached piece, “the West” would have promised at the breakup of the Soviet Union that NATO would not expand eastward is a myth. Simply because NATO or “the West” has nothing to say about it. Individual member states unanimously decide who can and cannot join NATO, and…
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Today, Europe Day: Van Beethoven’s ‘Ninth’
One of the best, most famous and influential pieces of classical music was premiered in Vienna two hundred years ago. According to a younger professional and contemporary, after completing this great work, the composer could say to himself, “Now let death come, my task is done.” That composer: Ludwig van Beethoven. That great work: his…
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Olympic Nazi torch
Featured image: English: Paavo Nurmi lights the fire at the Olympic games in Helsinki 1952. Excitement is mounting in the run-up to the Summer Olympics , which begin in Paris at the end of July. But old Olympic traditions are already in full swing: This week, the Olympic flame was ignited during a choreographed ceremony…
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About the Russian soul
Tucker Carlson’s visit to Russia some time back (early February 2024) was very illuminating – not so much because of Vladimir Putin’s condescending lecture to the former Fox News host, in which he used selective history and lies to justify his war on Ukraine, but because of a telling and tragic juxtaposition that followed. Over…
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The Underwater Cabaret (May 5)
From Engelsberg Ideas: On August 22, 1943, the first issue of a strange new magazine appeared in Enschede. The Underwater Cabaret took the form of a small booklet measuring about 13.5 x 10.5 cm. The cover was a collage of photographs cut from newspapers and magazines; the contents consisted of 18 hand-stitched pages of handwritten…
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Colonial ghost
From Politico: Belgium’s attempts to face its brutal colonial past continue to run into problems. After two years of work by a parliamentary committee, a report was produced earlier this year, along with political recommendations for the next steps the country should take. But the full report and recommendations have not been made public. The…
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From the lounges to the cinemas
From: Politico: How French are intellectualizing the war on woke. About once a month, the cream of a specific section of French society meets at Le Laboratoire de la République, a think tank in central Paris, to warn against what it sees as a dangerous and divisive import. The events organized by the Laboratoire do…
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EU: A marriage of convenience
NOS News Survey: EU useful but not loved The Dutch see the added value of the European Union in addressing a number of cross-border problems. Only 18 percent favor a “nexit,” a departure from the EU. But there is no love for the Union, partly because of a lack of trust in the integrity of…
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On the Soul of Europe
Henri #Bontenbal, the party leader of the #CDA, the Dutch Christian Democratic Party, on the upcoming election to the European Parliament on June 6-9 for the 2024-2029 term. He was on the weekly program on political issues on Dutch public broadcaster #NPO on Sunday, March 24, repeating on Europe what he had also said before…