In episode #6 of the difgl Podcast LondonBerlinDemocracy, Dr. Robert Keeling @rokeeling and Sabine Pusch @spuschkin speak with the author, storyteller, and charming chronicler of everyday life: Wladimir Kaminer @wladimirkaminer.
Wladimir Kaminer came to Berlin from Moscow in the early 90s – and stayed. In Prenzlauer Berg, between vodka, prefabricated buildings, and party culture, he not only found a new home, but also inexhaustible material for his stories. His texts are insightful, humorous, melancholic – and always deeply human.
Hardly anyone has shaped the attitude to life in post-reunification Berlin as much as he has – with his debut “Russendisko,” Kaminer wrote a literary declaration of love to the capital at the beginning of the 2000s, which still enjoys cult status today.
A prolific writer, his latest book “Das geheime Leben der Deutschen” (NEW: “The Secret Life of Germans” by Wladimir Kaminer – Book – 2025 ) describes what fascinates him about everyday life in Germany.
In this podcast, we talk about his first years in Berlin after the fall of the Wall, how the city has changed since then, what role humor and literature play in this, and how Berlin is (still) a kind of playground for adults.
🎧 Podigee: https://londonberlindemocracy.podigee.io/6-neue-episode
🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4e8YecX4LPzSoKnBrbNeKv?si=59c565becf534ac3
