Allen Lane imprint Penguin Books 2019

ISBN-13: 978-0393652512

The shocking truth about Chernobyl is how few people were killed or made ill by radiation.

I’m getting an adrenaline rush watching HBO and Sky TV’s five-part dramatisation of the Chernobyl accident, because in 1995 I spent six months working at the heart of the disaster. At that time, I was the only Westerner permanently based at the site. So I’m pleased that – so far – the Chernobyl drama has delivered a riveting portrayal of blundering bureaucrats and their betrayal of plant operators. It stirs my heart to see proper credit given to those involved in the heroic effort to contain the accident and clean up the mess. The scale of the fallout, which displaced hundreds of thousands of people, affecting millions living in designated contamination zones, was massive. The response to it was courageous and inspirational.

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In meiner Funktion als Eventmanager des „Zurich Salon“ organisierte ich am 20. Oktober 2018 an der Universität Zürich das „Battle of Ideas Festival“ in Zürich. Es war eine Satellitenveranstaltung eines etablierten, grossen Festivals in London, das seit 2012 jährlich im Barbican Centre, Europas grösster Kunst- und Kultureinrichtung, stattfindet. Das „Battle of Ideas Festival” wurde 2005 an der Universität „Royal College of Art“ in London gegründet. Read on ›

In his just published book – Media Madness: Donald Trump, the Press, and the War over the Truth – Howard Kurtz, a former Washington Post columnist, explores how the media became the ‘opposition party’ to an unlikely President. It delivers a compelling account of how,  by refusing to engage in proper debate and resorting instead to insults and fear-mongering, the fourth estate betrayed its historic mission to hold power accountable to the public. He warns that the media’s failure to grapple with the major issues of the day risks damaging their reputation to such an extent that it may never recover. Read on ›

On Thursday evening this week I am pleased to be one of the organizers of the Zurich Salon’s What is Time? discussion at the Karl der Grosse in Zurich, Switzerland. Featuring Raymond Tallis, Guido D’Amico, Norman Sieroka and Angus Kennedy, Read on ›

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What is driving so many young Westerners to commit or sympathize with appalling acts of terror in Paris, London, Madrid and the Middle East? Read on ›

On Tuesday October 20 at the Karl der Grosse, I’m pleased to announce that the Zurich Salon will be debating what is art and what is connoisseurship and how do we distinguish false, bad or mediocre art from a masterpiece. What makes something qualify as art as opposed to kitsch? After all, regardless of how we assess art’s intrinsic value, art certainly has a price. Is everybody’s opinion equal? Read on ›