Unlike so many German thinkers, they are not content to play their fiddle in their filter bubble and throw themselves into controversy. They are the independent spirits Germany sorely needs – and rarely respects. The book offers eight critiques of the present in one, eight attacks of German apathy, eight critical perspectives on a country on the threshold to the new Twenties. The eight critics are experts for fashion, literature, art, theatre, food and music; for political debate, film and TV. Their book is a boot camp against lethargy – and an escape from German coziness.   

The contributors are Katharina Herrmann (literature), Noemi Schneider (Film and TV), Daniel Gerhardt (popular music), Annekathrin Kohout (art), Lukas Haffert (political debate), Quynh Tran (fashion), Simon Strauss (theatre) and Leander Steinkopf (food).

‘We are the stone in your hiking boot.

We are the water stain on your weekly paper.

We are the coffee grounds in your plastic rubbish bin.’