The series “55 Voices for Democracy” is modeled after the BBC radio speeches through which Thomas Mann, from his home in California, turned to listeners in Germany, Switzerland, and occupied Netherlands and Czechia during the war. From 1940 until November 1945, Thomas Mann pleaded to thousands of listeners to resist the Nazi regime and thus became the most important German voice in exile. In this election year, Thomas Mann’s conviction that the “social renewal of democracy” is condition and warrant for its victory seems more relevant than ever.
"55 Voices for Democracy" is an initiative launched by the Thomas Mann House in October 2019. With the new podcast series, Los Angeles Review of Books, Thomas Mann House, Goethe-Institute Boston, the Goethe Pop Up Seattle, and WunderbarTogether expand the successful series. Starting on October 13, 2020, Tom Lutz and Tom Zoellner will engage in a vivid conversation with intellectuals, artists, and activists about the question of how to renew democracy today. Among the first guests are Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America, and the political scientist Chantal Mouffe.
Tom Lutz is a Distinguished Professor of Creative Writing at the UC Riverside, the founding editor in chief of the Los Angeles Review of Books, founder of The LARB Radio Hour, The LARB Quarterly Journal, The LARB Publishing Workshop, and LARB Books. He is the author of nine books for academic and trade presses and winner of the American Book Award.
Tom Zoellner is the New York Times bestselling author of eight nonfiction books, including Uranium Train, and The Heartless Stone. He teaches at Chapman University and Dartmouth College. A former reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle, he is the politics editor at the Los Angeles Review of Books.
The episodes will be available on this page starting October 13, 2020.
In collaboration with Los Angeles Review of Books, Goethe-Institut Boston, Goethe Pop Up Seattle, and Wunderbar Together.
Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House e.V. is supported by the German Federal Foreign Office and Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.