MTR-to-do

INTERNET: Are we here presented with 224 pages of panic attacks?

TRANSFORMATION: Hartmut Rosa is a central critic of modernity. He emphasizes the importance of our resonant experiences – be it with another, a work or a book – as a central part of being human.

HABERMAS II: The policy is marketed via advertising and propaganda and not through discussion. The audience is affected by echo chambers and filter bubbles. And what does globalization mean for today's public?

PUBLIC: The image of the public in the Enlightenment was an ideal image of enlightened citizens gathered in an audience that discussed – or 'deliberated' – to arrive at the best solution. But what happens when early hair loss, premature ejaculation and simulated disability become therapy texts for the endless frustration of living in one of the world's supposedly richest and best countries?

ECOLOGY: In this story, life on the sailboat becomes a microcosm. Tourists' life in the south disturbs the wildlife – while underwater life has been lost due to overfishing, erosion is increasing due to lost kelp forests. Is it possible to understand that the world that supports the body and consciousness is nature itself?

WATER: Do we know the figures behind today's water consumption? For example, cotton from the fashion industry accounts for 10 per cent of global CO2 emissions – more than aviation and shipping combined. It costs 2700 liters of water to produce a cotton T-shirt. 140 liters of water to produce a cup of coffee. And one kilogram of beef requires a whopping 14 liters of water. Must we always let capitalism trump the future?

ENERGY: When it comes to the energy shortage we are facing, could a possible answer be to let the state rule with a harder hand? And as for the war, are sanctions even an effective weapon? Federico Rampini's answer is no.

USA: Hanford is classified as one of America's most toxic sites. The author calls it a ticking bomb à la Chernobyl. This is the most expensive environmental remediation project the world has ever seen, and the most polluted place on the entire planet.

ESSAYS: The Coronation is a thought-provoking but naive collection of essays about the pandemic as a social phenomenon.

COMMUNITY: The need to stem the fear of an uncertain future is great today. Racism, xenophobia, violence and authoritarianism are growing all over the world. We present here some alternatives to this.

ADVERTISING: The documentary The Big Lie is the story of Jeremy Corbyn, Labor and the rot in British politics. Lord Keir, Keir Starmer, threw himself into the fight against his Labor predecessor with an appetite that only Stalin could display in eradicating former party veterans. And when commissioned reports about Corbyn's 'anti-Semitism' could not be confirmed, Starmer's method became to prevent direct dissemination of these. Rather, Starmer's people pulled out opportune parts which they propagandistically spread. Starmer could now become Britain's next prime minister.

INTERNET: Johann Hari points out in the book that the 'focus crisis' is directly dangerous for democracy and can contribute to forming totalitarian regimes.

FASCISM:Benito Mussolini is back to show us how to build a fascist regime of terror. Antonio Scurati, the author of M – son of the century, says in this interview with MODERN TIMES that "Benito Mussolini was like an empty shell, a man without opinions, but with an excess of the courage of opinions".

ETHICS: 'Secondary experiences' train us to empathize with people who are in situations we ourselves have no experience with. Martha Nussbaum believes that fiction such as Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky can do this.

PROSPERITY: Is there even a way back to our society as it was before? According to Stephan Lessenich, capitalism and prosperity in the West is a result of the exploitation of colonized peoples. But according to him, to abolish capitalism would be to abolish our democracy at the same time.

VISUALLY: Graphic satire has become a weapon. The first 'caricature war' arose between Protestants and Catholics. Caricature is about – also in Ukraine and Russia – increasing morale in one's own ranks by ridiculing the enemy with all possible means and stereotypes – and praising one's own side.

ECOLOGY: On the one hand, plastic replaces more polluting building materials. On the other hand, we have enormous amounts of plastic waste. We have produced 7 billion tonnes of plastic as of today.

PHILOSOPHY: Both the outer and the inner world are today being 'colonised'. What is the connection between the destruction of the mental landscape and the natural landscape, of the inner and outer environment? We look at this in the light of Jonathan Crary and philosophy – including Martin Heidegger.

RUSSIA: Mikhail Shishkin has long pointed out that Russia, unlike Germany, has never come to terms with its totalitarian past.

WOMEN'S MATCH: For far too long, Western authorities have relied on Iranian reforms and an illusion of a vibrant democracy. A Europe that has committed itself to human rights and feminist values ​​in foreign policy must now – also regarding Women's Day on 8 March – support Iran's women and give them the opportunity to be heard. Women in Iran are no longer fooled by the hope of reform.

UKRAINE: MODERN TIMES' regular commentator, John Y. Jones, gives us here in this essay (via Jacques Baud) an overview of the balance of power, the progression of the Ukraine war, the propaganda threat, the Russians' intentions and Western reactions, the Nazi accusations and lies campaigns.

ECOLOGY: Is it possible to have an earth free of war, a society free of violence, a love free of lies and a life free of anxiety? As someone has said: «It starts with water.» Here we look at three communities.

DESPOTER: The totalitarian regimes of the 20th century caused disasters and crimes of completely different dimensions than any pre-modern tyrants could have imagined. But what qualifies those in power over the centuries to become tyrants?

JENIN THEATRE: Recently many Palestinians were killed in Jenin. What does Palestinian resistance to the Israeli occupation entail in today's desperate situation? For The Freedom Theater in Jenin, the answer is still a cultural intifada. A performance is now being shown at the Human festival in Oslo.

GENESIS: Those who last night were the new martyrs, the new heroes who could be celebrated, are now just new corpses. This city is the symbol of the defeat of the Oslo agreement.