bryn stole
@brynstole.bsky.social
berlin correspondent @afp. occasional writer & critic at various other places. a midwesterner in germany. “...whenever it is a damp, drizzly november in my soul....”
Reposted by bryn stole
Sleuth @ruthbetold.bsky.social was hot on the potato trail around Berlin in search of free spuds amid the great glut. Really delightful dispatch in the FT magazine. www.ft.com/content/1554...
‘Das glut’: why Germans are handing out free potatoes
Tracking the ambitious plan to distribute 4 million kg of surplus spuds
www.ft.com
February 2, 2026 at 12:05 PM
Sleuth @ruthbetold.bsky.social was hot on the potato trail around Berlin in search of free spuds amid the great glut. Really delightful dispatch in the FT magazine. www.ft.com/content/1554...
Reposted by bryn stole
I'll say more before too long, but for now: Thanks to anyone who has ever read and supported the Post's books coverage.
February 4, 2026 at 3:24 PM
I'll say more before too long, but for now: Thanks to anyone who has ever read and supported the Post's books coverage.
i am so incredibly depressed by the news.
there isn’t a better Books desk in the country than the one at the Washington Post. I’m not really sure there’s anything else to say
February 4, 2026 at 3:21 PM
i am so incredibly depressed by the news.
Reposted by bryn stole
there isn’t a better Books desk in the country than the one at the Washington Post. I’m not really sure there’s anything else to say
February 4, 2026 at 2:26 PM
there isn’t a better Books desk in the country than the one at the Washington Post. I’m not really sure there’s anything else to say
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i know that this is an unpopular take, but everyone starting their own newsletter as a revenue stream is not a sustainable model for writing and reporting or for people who love and want to pay for media.
A lot of people cannot just start a paid newsletter or become freelancers to sustain their careers. The sports, metro, and international desks did work that requires *team* resources, like legal checks, documents, access to archives, and long-term beat experience.
February 4, 2026 at 2:50 PM
i know that this is an unpopular take, but everyone starting their own newsletter as a revenue stream is not a sustainable model for writing and reporting or for people who love and want to pay for media.
Reposted by bryn stole
Shutting down (the stellar) books coverage at WaPo is a real telling move when your owner is literally Jeff Bezos
February 4, 2026 at 2:36 PM
Shutting down (the stellar) books coverage at WaPo is a real telling move when your owner is literally Jeff Bezos
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Rheinmetall is pushing into a dizzying array of technologies and geographies as boss Armin Papperger seeks to turn the German firm into a multi-domain group akin to big US defence contractors
www.ft.com/content/a326...
www.ft.com/content/a326...
From arms to orbit: Rheinmetall’s expansion unsettles rivals
German group’s outspoken boss Armin Papperger wants to ‘catch’ €300bn in European deals by 2030
www.ft.com
February 4, 2026 at 8:00 AM
Rheinmetall is pushing into a dizzying array of technologies and geographies as boss Armin Papperger seeks to turn the German firm into a multi-domain group akin to big US defence contractors
www.ft.com/content/a326...
www.ft.com/content/a326...
Reposted by bryn stole
The Auflauf, a new newsletter for Berlin books, is here! Fresh out the oven: book reviews from me, @return2sanders.bsky.social and @brynstole.bsky.social; not to mention some hot literary gossip... Interviews and more to come!
February Books: Maci, Reimann, Clark
Essays from Enis Maci, a novella by the GDR's Brigitte Reimann, and Christopher Clark's nineteenth-century Prussia.
theauflauf.substack.com
February 3, 2026 at 3:25 PM
The Auflauf, a new newsletter for Berlin books, is here! Fresh out the oven: book reviews from me, @return2sanders.bsky.social and @brynstole.bsky.social; not to mention some hot literary gossip... Interviews and more to come!
Reposted by bryn stole
Check out The Auflauf, a new substack of Berlin books. Our first course: @mathildegm.bsky.social on Reimann, @brynstole.bsky.social on Clark, & me on Maci. @ajbwells.bsky.social is in the kitchen too helping cook and dish up lit crit, goss & conversations: theauflauf.substack.com
February 3, 2026 at 9:39 AM
Check out The Auflauf, a new substack of Berlin books. Our first course: @mathildegm.bsky.social on Reimann, @brynstole.bsky.social on Clark, & me on Maci. @ajbwells.bsky.social is in the kitchen too helping cook and dish up lit crit, goss & conversations: theauflauf.substack.com
On American vs. French nukes -- "Many in Germany 'buy the French argument…that the French offer is heavier on credibility', because of its proximity 'even if it’s lower on capability'." www.economist.com/europe/2026/...
Can Europe do nuclear deterrence without America?
Britain and France are deepening their co-operation
www.economist.com
February 3, 2026 at 9:05 AM
On American vs. French nukes -- "Many in Germany 'buy the French argument…that the French offer is heavier on credibility', because of its proximity 'even if it’s lower on capability'." www.economist.com/europe/2026/...
Sleuth @ruthbetold.bsky.social was hot on the potato trail around Berlin in search of free spuds amid the great glut. Really delightful dispatch in the FT magazine. www.ft.com/content/1554...
‘Das glut’: why Germans are handing out free potatoes
Tracking the ambitious plan to distribute 4 million kg of surplus spuds
www.ft.com
February 2, 2026 at 12:05 PM
Sleuth @ruthbetold.bsky.social was hot on the potato trail around Berlin in search of free spuds amid the great glut. Really delightful dispatch in the FT magazine. www.ft.com/content/1554...
Sleuth @_ruthbetold hot on the potato trail around Berlin in search of free spuds amid the glut. Really delightful dispatch in @FTMag www.ft.com/content/1554...
‘Das glut’: why Germans are handing out free potatoes
Tracking the ambitious plan to distribute 4 million kg of surplus spuds
www.ft.com
February 2, 2026 at 12:03 PM
Sleuth @_ruthbetold hot on the potato trail around Berlin in search of free spuds amid the glut. Really delightful dispatch in @FTMag www.ft.com/content/1554...
German breweries saw sales plummet in 2025, down 6%, and the worst year for German beer drinking on record (these stats on reunified Germany's beer consumption only go back to 1993). www.bild.de/geld/wirtsch...
Konsum von Bier in Deutschland auf Rekordtief: Brauereien mit Absatzrückgang
Deutschlands Brauereien kämpfen mit einer historischen Konsumflaute, der Absatz sinkt auf ein Rekordtief.
www.bild.de
February 2, 2026 at 9:20 AM
German breweries saw sales plummet in 2025, down 6%, and the worst year for German beer drinking on record (these stats on reunified Germany's beer consumption only go back to 1993). www.bild.de/geld/wirtsch...
“Four days before Donald Trump’s inauguration last year, lieutenants to an Abu Dhabi royal secretly signed a deal with the Trump family to purchase a 49% stake in their fledgling cryptocurrency venture for half a billion dollars” www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
‘Spy Sheikh’ Bought Secret Stake in Trump Company
$500 million investment for 49% of World Liberty came months before U.A.E. won access to tightly guarded American AI chips.
www.wsj.com
February 1, 2026 at 1:29 PM
“Four days before Donald Trump’s inauguration last year, lieutenants to an Abu Dhabi royal secretly signed a deal with the Trump family to purchase a 49% stake in their fledgling cryptocurrency venture for half a billion dollars” www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
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gotta hand it to the filmmakers for reaching their core audience
January 30, 2026 at 3:59 PM
gotta hand it to the filmmakers for reaching their core audience
that's german comedy for you www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/29/greenland-nuuk-comedian-flag-stunt-mayor
Greenland threats no laughing matter, says mayor after comic’s flag stunt
Avaaraq Olsen tells content creators to think before making jokes after German tried to raise Stars and Stripes in Nuuk
www.theguardian.com
January 30, 2026 at 1:06 PM
that's german comedy for you www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/29/greenland-nuuk-comedian-flag-stunt-mayor
the news hits on the berliner's website seem to never cite a source anymore, and sure read like they're just german news copy run through google translate and posted without credit or attribution.
e.g.: www.the-berliner.com/english-news...
vs.: www.zdfheute.de/wirtschaft/b...
e.g.: www.the-berliner.com/english-news...
vs.: www.zdfheute.de/wirtschaft/b...
January 29, 2026 at 4:12 PM
the news hits on the berliner's website seem to never cite a source anymore, and sure read like they're just german news copy run through google translate and posted without credit or attribution.
e.g.: www.the-berliner.com/english-news...
vs.: www.zdfheute.de/wirtschaft/b...
e.g.: www.the-berliner.com/english-news...
vs.: www.zdfheute.de/wirtschaft/b...
Reposted by bryn stole
Population ageing places pressure on public finances, squeezing out funding for long-term endeavours
• Spending on seniors' health and pensions is rising across developed economies
• In turn, low productivity growth and decaying infrastructure fuel popular dissatisfaction
www.ft.com/content/b4d2...
• Spending on seniors' health and pensions is rising across developed economies
• In turn, low productivity growth and decaying infrastructure fuel popular dissatisfaction
www.ft.com/content/b4d2...
January 29, 2026 at 12:02 PM
Population ageing places pressure on public finances, squeezing out funding for long-term endeavours
• Spending on seniors' health and pensions is rising across developed economies
• In turn, low productivity growth and decaying infrastructure fuel popular dissatisfaction
www.ft.com/content/b4d2...
• Spending on seniors' health and pensions is rising across developed economies
• In turn, low productivity growth and decaying infrastructure fuel popular dissatisfaction
www.ft.com/content/b4d2...
Reposted by bryn stole
In another era, Germany would be certain the US would shield a refinery supplying *90%* of greater Berlin's petrol needs from sanctions. But this is the Trump era - Gov is reviewing nationalisation (expropriation of Rosneft) as back-up plan - My dispatch: www.ft.com/content/9515...
The Russian refinery Berlin cannot afford to lose
Looming US sanctions risk cutting fuel supplies to German capital, prompting government to review Rosneft expropriation
www.ft.com
January 28, 2026 at 9:42 AM
In another era, Germany would be certain the US would shield a refinery supplying *90%* of greater Berlin's petrol needs from sanctions. But this is the Trump era - Gov is reviewing nationalisation (expropriation of Rosneft) as back-up plan - My dispatch: www.ft.com/content/9515...
i’m a huge fan of the washington post—styles, politics, sports, international, all of it—& contributing occasional reviews to their excellent books section has been such a huge thrill for me. a great institution. can only hope reports of devastating imminent cuts are wrong.
January 27, 2026 at 10:11 PM
i’m a huge fan of the washington post—styles, politics, sports, international, all of it—& contributing occasional reviews to their excellent books section has been such a huge thrill for me. a great institution. can only hope reports of devastating imminent cuts are wrong.
Reposted by bryn stole
this is often true, which is why it's such a shame that fewer and fewer magazines seem interested in publishing long nonfiction reportage (fewer magazines survive, and a hard shift toward essays in many of those that remain).
One bonus, heretical thought: if you’re interested in a topic, a long essay can be more informative than a (non-fiction) book.
There is a silly publishing convention that a "serious" book needs to be 300 pages++. The result is tomes that are mostly filler.
Might the 5,000-word New Yorker be better?
There is a silly publishing convention that a "serious" book needs to be 300 pages++. The result is tomes that are mostly filler.
Might the 5,000-word New Yorker be better?
January 23, 2026 at 11:25 AM
this is often true, which is why it's such a shame that fewer and fewer magazines seem interested in publishing long nonfiction reportage (fewer magazines survive, and a hard shift toward essays in many of those that remain).
Reposted by bryn stole
Attn news commentators: Trump saying he could use force to obtain Greenland but won’t is not Trump saying he won’t use force to obtain Greenland. It is Trump using force as a threat to obtain Greenland. That is why he mentions it.
January 21, 2026 at 2:16 PM
Attn news commentators: Trump saying he could use force to obtain Greenland but won’t is not Trump saying he won’t use force to obtain Greenland. It is Trump using force as a threat to obtain Greenland. That is why he mentions it.
they're thinking about thinking about it.
Scoop at @spiegel.de - German position regarding the Anti-Coercion Instrument as of Sunday:
„We must stay firm against the US threats. This will also include thinking about our trade policy instruments, i.e. (…) applying the first step of our Anti-Coercion-Instrument as ultima ratio.“
„We must stay firm against the US threats. This will also include thinking about our trade policy instruments, i.e. (…) applying the first step of our Anti-Coercion-Instrument as ultima ratio.“
January 20, 2026 at 5:41 PM
they're thinking about thinking about it.