Author: Walter Phippeny
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Welcome to the Club: How Vereine Can Turn Berlin from a City of Strangers into a Home
In 2000 Robert D. Putnam published a book, “Bowling Alone”, in which he argued that Americans were becoming increasingly isolated and removed from community and social capital. He took the institution of the Bowling League as his prime example. I remember when the book came out – though, admittedly, I never got around to reading […]
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“Darth Vader speaks Amtssprache”: The Chilling Poetry of German Bureaucracy
Every bureaucracy has its language; one might even go further to say that language is bureaucracy’s main tool. The characteristics of bureaucratic speech are well known: thick, complicated sentences, dripping with precision and impersonality. It is intentionally difficult to understand, requiring a certain amount of skill and training in its dark art. Most people will […]
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The Kiez: Where Berlin Becomes Personal
I’ve often said that in France every region has its dish, its wine, and its cheese; in Germany, every region has its dish, beer, sausage…and language. If we learned German before coming here, we learned “High German” (Hochdeutsch) – because it’s spoken in the high country… not because it’s lofty, or something – and then […]
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What are you? New here? — Tips and advice for the newly arrived — Dispatch 02
(Disclaimer: these are just some observations and tips from yours truly. This is neither legal advise nor does it represent the views of Wahlheymat e. V. Your mileage may vary.) One of the aims of Wahlheymat is to provide resources for folks that are trying to come to terms with their new lives in Berlin […]
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What are you? New here? — Tips and advice for the newly arrived — Dispatch 01
(Disclaimer: this are just some observations and tips from yours truly. This is neither legal advise nor does it represent the views of Wahlheymat e. V. Your mileage may vary.) The aim of Wahlheymat is to provide resources to folks that are trying to come to terms with their new lives in Berlin in specific, […]
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Wahlheymat Talk: Tech, AI and Democracy. Some notes and resources.
TL;DR I talk about planning and approach to this talk. Intro to some resources. Estimated Reading time between 7 and 15 minutes (including all the resource notes)… without following links, of course. When Ivan asked me to do this, I felt honored, excited, and more than a little anxious. This is a huge topic! We […]
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