Sandra published her debut novel "Der Himmel Muss Warten" (trans. Heaven Must Wait) in late 2022. We spoke about the path that led her to publish her book, the tricky media landscape for new writers, making the decision to pursue her dream, and more! Hope you enjoy!

You can purchase Sandra's novel here (in German): https://www.muerysalzmann.com/neuerscheinungen/der-himmel-muss-warten

Sandra's website

Harley is a curator, researcher, and the kind of person who could make any topic interesting. We settled on talking about the ups and downs of friendship. Harley is a New Yorker and she came to Berlin with her best friend from college, but things started changing between them after the big move. We talk about adolescent anger, what we need from our friendships, and becoming more settled  than you ever thought you‘d be. This was my first in-person chat in a while and it was a windy day, so some of the audio might sound off at times! 

Harley's art collective COVEN

Instagram

And now for something completely different. I sat down with film professor Prof. Peter Lehman and horror scholar Dr. Alexandra Heller-Nicholas to discuss male nudity in cinema. We discuss our connections with the topic, the phallus vs the penis, rape revenge, the pitfalls of “respectable cinema,” the prosthetic penis and a lot more. I’m so glad and grateful that I had a chance to talk to these bona fide experts about a topic that I have been wondering about for a very long time. I hope you take something away from this unusual film exploration. 

A Selection of Peter Lehman’s Work: 

Running Scared: Masculinity and the Representation of the Male Body 

Masculinity: Bodies, Movies, Culture 

Pornography: Film and Culture 

Peter Lehman’s Arizona State University Profile

A Selection of Alexandra Heller-Nicholas’ Work:

Rape-Revenge Films: A Critical Study 

1000 Women In Horror, 1895-2018 

The Giallo Canvas: Art, Excess and Horror Cinema 

Alexandra Heller-Nicholas’ Website 

Watching Rape, the book Alexandra mentions 

Wesley Morris’ NY Times article on Black male sexuality 

Films mentioned: 

• The Virgin Spring (1960)
• Drive, He Said (1971) 
• Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971)
• Last House on the Left (1972)
• I Spit On Your Grave (1978)
• Sweet Savage (1979) 
• A Room With A View (1985)
• Drifting Into Chaos (1989)
• The Pillow Book (1996)
• Traps (1998) 
• Baise Moi (2000)
• Irreversibel (2002)
• Django Unchained (2012)
• Promising Young Woman (2020) 
• PVT Chat (2020) 
• Zola (2020) 
• Minx (2022-) 

Kevin Bacon’s penis PSA 

Lastly, thank you to Karolin Schnoor for all the support and for making the brilliant illustration!

Freyia is a trainee wellness practitioner, podcaster and aspiring lingerie designer who reached out to me on social media. Freyia experienced a psychotic break a few years ago and we talk about what that was like for her as well as what changed in her life afterwards and what didn‘t. I want to thank Freyia for giving her first-person account and being so open with me, a stranger. My side of the chat sounds a bit off at times, apologies in advance!

Grace, a student of psychology is interested in decision-making and therefore pretty perfect for the podcast. Grace, previous podcast guest Jess and I have been virtually movie watching for a year now, but this was the first non-movie related conversation Grace and I ever had. We talk about overthinking, some decision rules of thumb, inexplicable decision moves, and more. I was trying to go for a bit of a Hidden Brain ambience in this one. Hope you enjoy and take something away from this one!

During the pandemic I joined a book club filled with great, admirable women. One of these women is Dyan, my guest this episode. Dyan is a multi-instrumentalist and singer currently working on her first solo album after almost two decades of working in bands. We talk about what led to her producing a solo album, what rising in the indie ranks with bands The Blood Arm and Mexican Radio was like, the catharsis that can come from music, and more. Dyan’s debut single “Fade Away” will be released this fall and her debut album “Stand” is coming out in early 2022! Be sure to follow her on social media for updates!

The Bend is back with a light and hopefully fun episode! I chatted with Robby Hoffman, a Canadian stand-up comedian. I first saw Robby on The Chris Gethard Show where she was working as a writer. A year or so later, I found her comedy/advice show Dykevice on YouTube. Robby’s brand of comedy is really refreshing because she is clearly being herself the whole time, which is unfortunately rare to see! Robby actually started off as an accountant. We talk about her transition from accounting to comedy, her healthy amount of self-confidence, what winning a Daytime Emmy is like, and the art of advice giving.

One film project that has had a huge impact on me is the Up Series. The Up Series is an ongoing British series of documentary films that began in 1964 and followed 14 children from different socio-economic backgrounds in England. Every 7 years director Michael Apted meets up with the kids, who are now 64 years old, and talks about what has happened in their careers, mindsets, families and so on. The project packs an emotional wallop, and the longer it continues, the more compellingly humanist it becomes. The latest episode, 63Up, came out in 2019. I started to watch the series in my early teens and I’m now 35, so these individuals have accompanied me in some way for more than half my life. With all this in mind, you can imagine how happy I was when I got the chance to speak to Tony, the very charismatic London cabbie and former jockey, the “cheeky chappie” as he calls himself, who is one of the protagonists of the film series. We talk about his life, his priorities, and of course, we talk about the Up Series.

Sophia is is the owner of the charming English-language bookstore Another Country in Kreuzberg and is quite a known entity in some Berlin circles because of it. She spent most of her life in England and moved to Berlin more than two decades ago. Trans coming out stories are very diverse, of course, and Sophia‘s experience is no exception. What started off as one of the effects of a health issue went on to change her life and led to her transition. Sophia was diagnosed with liver cancer a year ago and we discuss that as well as her many insights into the transitioning process. We did this interview over the phone and the sound isn’t optimal, I apologize in advance!

Lizzie Borden is the director of the influential sci-fi/agitprop cult film BORN IN FLAMES (1983) and Sundance award winner WORKING GIRLS (1986). We showed BORN IN FLAMES as part of Final Girls Berlin Film Festival’s special sci-fi event in 2019 and I decided to reach out to Lizzie Borden during these Corona times and ask if I could interview her for the podcast. Luckily, she agreed! We spoke about her background, her films, what it was like to work with Harvey Weinstein, her current projects, and quite a lot more.

This episode is with one of my closest and dearest friends Kia. I met Kia during my college prep year in Berlin. I was quickly struck by her intelligence and self-assurance and have felt very strongly about her ever since. Kia has gone through some huge changes in her life, a big one being her recent divorce from her high school sweetheart. We talk about the aftermath of such a huge change as well as our friendship. It’s pretty damn long, but that’s only because we had too much to talk about!

Svenja has been living in Berlin for over 10 years working in the film business and is now about to embark on a new career path. We talked about growing up in a small town, spirituality, and addiction.

Tanika is a fellow third culture kid who moved to Silicon Valley with her husband around 3 years ago after living in the UK for all of her adult life. We talk about the notion of home, the true meaning of belonging, and what acclimating to Silicon Valley life is like. This was my first time talking to Tanika and it really was a pleasure!

This episode is dedicated to the thing that has taken complete control of our lives – the Corona Virus. I spoke to 6 different people from Berlin, Bournemouth, Brandenburg, the Bay Area, and New York about how the virus has affected them. This episode is a bit of an experiment, but what better time to change things up than now, in lockdown, with excess time on my hands.

Inna is a microbiologist who recently started her second masters in gender studies. We talk about following your interests, unconventional parenting, and dealing with life's curveballs.

Ceven is an event manager, producer, artist, and former bar owner. We talked about what closing down the bar was like for him as well as other things like polyamory and feeling comfortable in chaos.

Jess is a filmmaker/marketing coordinator currently living in Berlin. She volunteered at the film festival I co-direct and we started forming a connection over our pop culture obsessiveness soon after. We talk about the ebbs and flows of her creativity, depression, how researching German cinema helped her connect to the city, and more!

Indi is a musician and producer from New Zealand who recently moved to Berlin. We talk about going solo, what life is like for someone who lives and breaths music, and much more. There are snippets of indi's song Demeter throughout the episode.

Paula is a Spanish actress and festival coordinator who is now doing her second masters in Dublin. Paula has gone through quite the whirlwind - she has lived in 3 continents in less than a decade! We talk about what "home" really is, cultural differences, the passage of time, and more!

Juli is a sound designer, filmmaker, yoga teacher, and she also happens to be the sound engineer of The Bend! We talk about her recent move, feeling like an adult, settling in Berlin, and more!