ZEITGEIST - The Podcast

From butcher's daughter in Communist Hungary to winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine 2023 — Katalin Karikó’s story is astonishing. I spoke to her about growing up in a state that offered excellent education and childcare as well as brutal oppression and secret police surveillance. And I asked her what it was like to move from Hungary to America, to persevere and to make a breakthrough that changed the world. Katalin Karikó’s brilliant memoir Breaking Through: My Life In Science is out now in English [https://amzn.eu/d/dgax7Uv] and German [https://amzn.eu/d/7bfj3yb]. Get full access to ZEITGEIST at www.katjahoyer.uk/subscribe [https://www.katjahoyer.uk/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Over half a million British soldiers killed during the First World War are still missing. More than a century later, they have no known grave or their body has never been identified. In a deeply personal journey, John Nichol uncovers the story of one of them: the Unknown Warrior who lies in Westminster Abbey. Few are better placed to reflect on what it means if a person is lost in combat. As a Royal Air Force navigator during the first Gulf War, John was shot down. He was captured, tortured and held as a prisoner of war, facing the prospect that he might never return home. I spoke to him about every soldier's worst nightmare: to be forgotten. You can buy the book here [https://amzn.eu/d/flh42oJ] or see John live here [http://www.JohnNicholLive.com]. Get full access to ZEITGEIST at www.katjahoyer.uk/subscribe [https://www.katjahoyer.uk/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

In the 1790s an extraordinary group of friends changed the world. Disappointed by the French Revolution's rapid collapse into tyranny, what they wanted was nothing less than a revolution of the mind… I spoke to Andrea Wulf about her amazing book Magnificent Rebels [https://amzn.eu/d/04h6crIe], which brings historical figures to life whose echoes I had heard loud and clear during my time in Jena in central Germany where I studied history and they dreamt up new ways of thinking, loving, writing and creating over 200 years earlier. Get full access to ZEITGEIST at www.katjahoyer.uk/subscribe [https://www.katjahoyer.uk/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

As a German historian, I think a lot about dictatorships — usually, about the age-old question of how tyrants rise. Marcel Dirsus turns this question on its head. How do tyrants fall? Uprisings? Palace intrigue? Peaceful protest? The author met with coup leaders, dissidents and soldiers to find answers. ZEITGEIST - The Podcast spoke to Marcel Dirsus for a fascinating teaser. You can pre-order the book here [https://amzn.eu/d/08kTKZyl]. Get full access to ZEITGEIST at www.katjahoyer.uk/subscribe [https://www.katjahoyer.uk/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, images of celebrating Germans went around the world. But there is another story, too. Nearly a quarter of East Germans have since left their home and moved west. One of them is journalist Sabine Rennefanz. On ZEITGEIST, we talk about her life in the GDR, her new book Kosakenberg [https://www.amazon.de/Kosakenberg-Roman-Sabine-Rennefanz/dp/3351039697] and what it means to be East German today. Get full access to ZEITGEIST at www.katjahoyer.uk/subscribe [https://www.katjahoyer.uk/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]