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Sanders Isaac Bernstein

@return2sanders.bsky.social

450 followers 480 following 66 posts

reader, writer, theatergoer. PhD into memory. Writing in The Baffler, Jewish Currents, Ploughshares, Hypocrite Reader, Full Stop, Majuscule, The London Magazine, newyorker.... Stage Editor for @exberlinermag. https://sandersbernstein.wordpress.com

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Sanders Isaac Bernstein @return2sanders.bsky.social · Feb 18

I first saw The Klezmer Project, a beautiful film that plays with fiction, history, text & image, urging us to consider culture beyond blood and nation, at Berlinale 2023. @jewishcurrents.bsky.social let me write about it. Thank you, Nathan & Nora, for supporting and editing this labor of years.

Jewish Currents @jewishcurrents.bsky.social · Feb 18

The film The Klezmer Project, writes Sanders Isaac Bernstein, suggests a new ethic of diasporism—rejecting both the violence of Zionism and the sentimental dream of recovering a Yiddish past.

Now online from our Fall/Winter 2024 issue:

Sonic Bloom

The film The Klezmer Project suggests a new ethic of diasporism—rejecting both the violence of Zionism and the sentimental dream of recovering a Yiddish…

jewishcurrents.org

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Sanders Isaac Bernstein @return2sanders.bsky.social · 3d

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Mark Harris @markharris.bsky.social · Jul 16

A few thoughts about the NYT critics shakeup: Theater is one of the hardest of all disciplines to cover as a critic (or reporter). You need to know its language and history. And there's a ton you can and should do to educate yourself. But you can never "catch up." You can't see what you didn't see.>

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The Drift @thedrift-mag.bsky.social · Jul 9

On Florentina Holzinger’s latest opera, by @return2sanders.bsky.social‬

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Gabriel Flynn @gabrielflynn.bsky.social · May 22

My debut novel, Poor Ghost! is out today with @sceptrebooks.bsky.social

It’s about class, mourning, love, fathers, Manchester, and lots of other stuff.

I’m proud of it and I hope you’ll enjoy it too.

A handsome looking novel called Poor Ghost! with endorsements from Claire Messud, Lara Williams, Wendy Erskine, Tim MacGabhann, Julianne Pachico, and Aidan Cottrell-Boyce

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Ralf Michaels @ralfmichaels.bsky.social · May 17

Dass der Zentralrat besorgt ist vom Beschluss der @die-linke.de, die IHRA-Arbeitsdefinition abzulehnen und die Jerusalem Declaration (JDA) anzunehmen, kann man ihm glauben. Aber seine Argumentation gegen die JDA ist so nicht haltbar. Vier Punkte. 1/ x.com/ZentralratJu...

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robin celikates @robin-c.bsky.social · May 17

„Dass die IHRA-Definition von Regierungen angenommen wurde, ist weitgehend Ergebnis politischer Kampagnen von Akteuren im Einklang mit der israelischen Regierung. Es gibt ausreichend Belege, dass die IHRA v. illiberalen Kräften instrumentalisiert wird, um Freiheiten & Menschenrechte zu untergraben.“

Peter Ullrich @textrecycling.bsky.social · May 17

Wie haben uns in Verteidigung der Jerusalemer Erklärung und des Beschlusses der Linken zu Wort gemeldet: "Antwort auf die Mängel“ der IHRA. www.fr.de/kultur/gesel...

Wissenschaftler bekennen sich zu Jerusalemer Erklärung zum Antisemitismus: „Antwort auf die Mängel“

Stellungnahme von 53 Forschenden zur Jerusalemer Erklärung zum Antisemitismus

www.fr.de

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Katy Derbyshire @katyderbyshire.bsky.social · May 12

An interesting layered take on Joe Chialo and the dismantling of funding for progressive arts projects in Berlin, plus whether mockery helps.
thediasporist.de/bait-and-swi...

Bait and Switch – the Diasporist

So what about Chialo’s legacy? No reasonable person could say that his work has consolidated the strength of culture or fostered “social cohesion.” To the contrary, animosity and mistrust now reign be...

thediasporist.de

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Alexander Wells @ajbwells.bsky.social · May 8

Book launch in Berlin tomorrow >>>

www.lettretage.de/Termine/berl...

Berlin Launch: Elegy, Southwest - Lettrétage

Reading & Discussion Join us on May 9th for the launch of „Elegy, Southwest“ , the hotly anticipated second novel by Australian-born Berlin author Madeleine Watts. Watts will be joined by local critic...

www.lettretage.de

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Sanders Isaac Bernstein @return2sanders.bsky.social · May 3

Now get rid of the AfD policies and attitudes that the CDU/CSU has adopted.

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🏳️‍⚧️ Josephine Riesman @josie.zone · May 3

The wonderful people of @almafamily4.bsky.social still need your help!!! Give if you can!!!

Donate to Help me and my family Rebuild their lives, organized by Alma Family

I am alma from Gaza and I am 14 years old. My family consists of 10 member… Alma Family needs your support for Help me and my family Rebuild their lives

gofundme.com

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Alexander Wells @ajbwells.bsky.social · Apr 30

FULL LINEUP for our little festival of Australian and Aoteoroa/New Zealand literature in Berlin on May 24th!! Come see professors, poets, artists, & novelists (& me); come hear about Weiss & Bismarck's bastards & Sebald in the desert & multidirectional war memory >>

stadtsprachen.de/en/event/par...

PARATAXE Symposium XVI = Antipodes: Down under in Berlin – the Australian & New Zealand authors of Berlin

Draft program: 13:30: Kick-offWith Alexander Wells and Martin Jankowski 14:00 – 15:30: Panel 1 (in German)NEIGHBOURS. Encounters, translations, suggestions.Keynote: Prof. Anja SchwarzPanel: Joel Scott...

stadtsprachen.de

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Alexander Wells @ajbwells.bsky.social · Apr 24

www.the-berliner.com/books/vilay-...

COME TO CURIOUS FOX TONIGHT TO SEE THIS LOVELY MAN BUT LESS IN MUD

@berlinbooks.bsky.social

Violence and the road: Vilay Khurana on The Passenger Seat - The Berliner

In Vijay Khurana’s debut novel, The Passenger Seat, male friendship is all fun and games - until it isn’t.

www.the-berliner.com

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Alexander Wells @ajbwells.bsky.social · Apr 22

great column on thomas brasch and berlin's political theater by @return2sanders.bsky.social in last month's Berliner mag >>
www.the-berliner.com/stage/thomas...

Brasch Words: Remembering a Berlin theatre that spoke truth to power - The Berliner

In the year that would have marked Thomas Brasch's 80th birthday, two new plays that interpolate his work pose questions about the transgressive playwright's legacy.

www.the-berliner.com

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Alexander Wells @ajbwells.bsky.social · Apr 11

in this month's Berliner mag, I waded in to the "brodernism" debate—and called time on the genre of anglophone literary criticism that was designed to go viral on Twitter >>

www.the-berliner.com/books/broder...

In search of “Brodernism”: Where is this maximalist cult of difficulty? - The Berliner

It's possible to read literature in translation and not fetishise it – we do it all the time.

www.the-berliner.com

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Vulture @vulture.com · Apr 9

More than 40 years after the start of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the full scope of the toll AIDS took on the world of theater in New York remains difficult to access.

The List Keepers

More than 40 years after the start of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the full scope of the toll AIDS took on the world of theater in New York remains difficult to access.

www.vulture.com

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Claas Gefroi @claasgefroi.bsky.social · Apr 9

Was für ein Grauen: Der Berliner Kulturzerstörer Joe Chialo soll lt. tagesschau offenbar Kultur-Staatsminister werden.

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ROMEA @romeacz.bsky.social · Apr 6

🪓 Outrage in the Czech Republic: Axe used to vandalize memorial to Romani children murdered during the Holocaust

📰 Full article: romea.cz/en/czech-rep...

Liberec, Czech Republic: Axe used to damage memorial to Romani children who died during the Holocaust - Romea.cz - Everything about Roma in one place

An unidentified perpetrator has damaged a memorial commemorating children of Romani origin who were murdered by the Nazis during the Second World War. The bronze plaque of the Liberec memorial has bee...

romea.cz

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Roberta Mock @robertamock.bsky.social · Apr 9

Rest in power, John Fox. Welfare State was a guiding light to a generation of theatre and performance-makers. 🏮

John Fox obituary

Co-founder of the Welfare State, a street theatre company that later moved on to community-related work

www.theguardian.com

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Sanders Isaac Bernstein @return2sanders.bsky.social · Apr 3

Amen

Dr. T. Flo @tnflorvil.bsky.social · Apr 3

According to C. Smith's 2022 article in The Atlantic, Germany has learned from its past. 👀 That piece is still in my craw.

If you can't see how their current actions are related to their past (the Holocaust, WW2, colonialism, slavery, etc.), then I can't help you.

Sanders Isaac Bernstein @return2sanders.bsky.social · Apr 1

With the money from the sponsorship, I hear the stabi’s going to have some decent food at last… www.the-berliner.com/english-news...

OpenAI Akademie: Berlin library assumes controversial new name - The Berliner

Berlin's Stabi gets a new name: OpenAI to sponsor the Berlin library, now the "OpenAI Akademie" offering AI-generated book summaries.

www.the-berliner.com

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Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · Mar 29

Harvard is obeying in advance. Absolute cowards.

www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

Harvard Dismisses Leaders of Center for Middle Eastern Studies | News | The Harvard Crimson

Interim Harvard Dean of Social Science David M. Cutler ’87 dismissed the director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, professor of Turkish Studies Cemal Kafadar, and its associate director, Hist...

www.thecrimson.com

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Alexander Wells @ajbwells.bsky.social · Mar 25

Viktor Orbán's Hungary: scourge of the EU, role model for the US right. For @thebaffler.com, I wrote about how the Orbán regime seeks legitimacy by telling dodgy stories about the 20th century—stories not all so different from those that we've been telling in the West

thebaffler.com/salvos/house...

House of the Rising Hun | Alexander Wells

In Budapest, the House of Terror museum is a physical embodiment of Viktor Orbán’s ambition to rewrite Hungary’s national myths along authoritarian lines.

thebaffler.com

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The Baffler @thebaffler.com · Mar 25

Viktor Orbán wants to rewrite Hungary’s national myths. In this preview from our new issue (out next week) @ajbwells.bsky.social writes on the many fronts of the Fidesz party’s culture war.

Manipulations of Historical Memory in Orbán’s Hungary

In Budapest, the House of Terror museum is a physical embodiment of Viktor Orbán’s ambition to rewrite Hungary’s national myths along authoritarian lines.

thebaffler.com

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Gabriel Flynn @gabrielflynn.bsky.social · Mar 25

Fidesz wants to "substitute gulag for Auschwitz, to make ideas like redistribution and internationalism just as politically taboo as antisemitism and eugenics"

Such a great essay about Hungary's anti-communist memory culture by @ajbwells.bsky.social in @thebaffler.com

House of the Rising Hun | Alexander Wells

In Budapest, the House of Terror museum is a physical embodiment of Viktor Orbán’s ambition to rewrite Hungary’s national myths along authoritarian lines.

thebaffler.com

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Sanders Isaac Bernstein @return2sanders.bsky.social · Mar 22

and they say transatlanticism is dead