Helena Steinhaus | „You shouldn’t actually be able to cut the minimum subsistence level any further.“

Cultural participation is considered a human right - and yet it is not a reality for many people in Germany. In this episode, Martin talks to Max Ciolek from the Bundesvereinigung Kulturelle Teilhabe about why access to culture is still heavily dependent on social factors - and why this often overlooked human right is so crucial for social participation. It is about invisible barriers, political responsibility and the question of why cultural participation is more than just a leisure activity: it is a prerequisite for belonging, expression and democratic participation. An episode about a right that many people are unaware of - and yet is fundamental to an open society.

In this episode, Martin talks to Katja Urbatsch, co-founder and managing director of ArbeiterKind.de, about education as a question of social justice. In Germany, social background still plays a major role in determining who goes to university and who does not. Urbatsch explains why many young people from non-academic families face structural barriers on their way to higher education – from a lack of information to financial uncertainties. The conversation focuses on education as a prerequisite for social participation, solidarity through peer networks, and the question of what needs to happen to ensure that the right to education truly applies to everyone.

In this episode, we talk to US academic John Austin about the state of democracy in the United States and the growing authoritarian and anti-democratic currents that are increasingly shaping politics and society there. John Austin worked for many years in Michigan, in the heart of the American Rust Belt, and studied Public Administration at Harvard University. From this perspective, he analyses the structural causes of political radicalisation: the decline of industrial regions, the disintegration of local communities and the loss of prospects for the future, which has become deeply inscribed in the political self-image of many people. In our discussion, we draw parallels between the Rust Belt and the Ruhr region. We discuss why structurally weak regions in the USA and Germany are becoming politically alienated in a surprisingly similar way - and why economic decoupling, institutional mistrust and cultural insecurity are preparing the ground for authoritarian proposals. An episode about democracy under pressure, about regional inequality as a human rights issue - and about what it takes to strengthen democratic resilience in times of profound upheaval.