A global TV hit ... produced in Germany?

The most recent edition of the Economist (24th Oct. 2017) has a lot of positive things to say about "Babylon Berlin", a TV series set at the end of the "Roaring Twenties" in Berlin (ca. 1929):
“Babylon Berlin” could be the next big German export

“Babylon Berlin” is not only Germany’s most expensive television series but also its most impressive. Dynamic, thrilling plots and moody soundtracks capture the zeitgeist of the Roaring Twenties and of today. With such resonant and engaging material, a skilful creative team at the helm and distribution in at least 60 countries, “Babylon Berlin” has the potential to be the next global television hit. 

What do you think? Have you had a chance to see an instalment of this series (on Sky Deutschland)? Were you impressed? If you haven't seen any of it yet, would the Economist article make you curious? Give reasons why you would like to see this series - or why you wouldn't.

The series is based on novels by Volker Kutscher, and it is named after their protagonist, police officer Gereon Rath (the Gereon Rath novels). The title of the first novel is Der nasse Fisch (The wet fish). 

Here you can watch a feature on the author (in German, with English subtitles).

The novel has already been translated into English, and the title of the first book was changed into "Babylon Berlin". Have a look at the publisher's website, Kiepenheuer & Witsch - you'll find a sample both in the German original and in the English translation (PDF).

Here is a German trailer, and below there's an English one. What are the differences?

Youngest female Prime Minister in New Zealand: Jacinda Ardern

Look at the new head of the New Zealand government: Jacinda Ardern, who has become New Zealand’s youngest prime minister, 26 days after the country went to the polls.

You haven't heard so much about politics in New Zealand, have you? What do you associate with NZ at all? Tell me about it.

And what do you think of Jacinda Ardern's becoming prime minister? Find out more about her as a person and as a politician.

Margaret Atwood: Peace Prize of the German Book Trade

Canadian novelist Margaret Atwood (author of, among other books, The Handmaid's Tale) has been awarded the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade 2017.

You can read her acceptance speech, given on 15th Oct. 2017 at Paulskirche, Frankfurt, in full at the site of the "Friedenspreis". If you would like to get a little excerpt, look here:

The citizens of every country must ask themselves the same question: what sort of world do they want to live in? Being of a Plutonian and sinister cast of mind, I would reduce that sentence to: Do they want to live? Because, drawing back from our human picture – drawing back so that the borders between countries disappear, and the earth becomes a blue marble in space, with much more water on it than land – it is evident that our fate as a species will be determined by whether or not we kill the oceans. If the oceans die, so will we – at least 60 percent of our oxygen comes from marine algaes.

But I will try not to depress you too much. There is hope, there is hope: brilliant minds are already at work on such problems. But meanwhile, what is an artist to do? Why make art at all, in such disturbing times? What is art, anyway? Why should we be bothered with it? What is it for? Learning, teaching, expressing ourselves, describing reality, entertaining us, enacting truth, celebrating, or even denouncing and cursing? There’s no general answer. Human beings have engaged in the arts – music, visual imagery, dramatic performances – including rituals – and language arts, including tale telling – ever since they have been recognizably human. Children respond to language and music before they themselves can speak: those capabilities seem to be built in. The art we make is specific to the culture that makes it – to its location, to its driving energy system, to its climate and food sources, and to the beliefs connected with all of these. But we have never not made art.

Below, you can watch a seven-minute TV report on the new film version of The Handmaid's Tale produced by Hulu in 2017, including interview passages with author Margaret Atwood and the Hulu version's protagonist, Elizabeth Moss.

Guns in the U.S.

Your task: Comment on the material linked to at this page (some or all), give your own opinion on gun ownership and consolidate it with arguments and examples. - Alternatively, you can find (and link in the comments) your own example of how someone deals with this topic in a creative way (song, novel, movie) and comment on it.

We've all heard of and read about the Las Vegas massacre.

We also know - from experience - that there probably won't be any changes to gun legislation in the U.S. - The N.R.A. (National Rifle Association) is an extremely powerful lobby group for gun owners and gun fanatics of all kind. They base their conviction that all Americans have a right to possess guns on the Second Amendment, which is an addition to the U.S. Constitution passed in 1791 (three years after the original version of the constitution was ratified). What the Second Amendment in fact means is still being disputed today (cf. discussion of the 2nd Amendment here), and many liberals are convinced that it should be changed or abolished (cf. Bret Stephens's opinion article here).

Here there's a slam poet giving us his view on the passivity of Congress on this matter:

'Can't you hear the children scream?' — this man's spoken word poem about America's gun violence will move you to tears (via @inqlife) pic.twitter.com/4JaviUM9RY

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) 6. Oktober 2017

 If you still have some ten minutes to spare, have a look at what Jimmy Kimmel has to say about what happened in Las Vegas. Kimmel is a comedian - exceptional in his bipartisan approach; he usually does not only make jokes about Republicans or Democrats, but is critical of both sides of the political spectrum.
If you have become really interested in the topic now, you may want to read this article in Süddeutsche Zeitung (7 Oct. 2017), which examines the historical roots of (gun-) violence in the United States and comes up with an assessment that is not at all reassuring: "So brauch ich Gewalt" by Hubert Wetzel.