Ferry Biedermann
Finally, a nice, lighthearted piece, a bit tongue in cheek, about our human need to be entertained, even if it means risking life and limb. Get ready for the summer of love, the whoring twenties, etc. Or so I thought. Alas, it was not to be. Eurovision song contest antics lost out to the serious stuff, like case numbers and vaccine percentages in this article for the New Europan.
The New European asked me to shed a light on the baffling decline of social democratic parties in Europe, in the wake of Labour’s poor performance on Super Thursday in May. My unsurprising conclusion: it’s complicated…
I got this Dutch pre-election analysis for The New European mostly right, but than again it wasn’t rocket science: Long-serving Dutch PM Mark Rutte gained seats, and so did the far-right. I didn’t see the gain for the so-called progressive liberals of D66 coming but don’t think it’s particularly significant. Further fragmentation and the far-right turn are.
Brexit, the gift that keeps on giving, right? For anyone who thought that the EU-UK trade deal was the end of it, think again. Brexit and its consequences are going to be with us for years, potentially until the UK rejoins the EU and then we can start all over again. That’s why, when BCU’s Centre for Brexit Studies asked me to continue to blog on it, even after the UK has finally left the building, I agreed. Enjoy!
And now for something completely different. I contributed a chapter to the book Bodies of Evidence, edited by Gurtum Ertem and Sandra Noeth, associated with Tanzhaus nrw Düsseldorf, published by Passagen Verlag. My contribution: Being There: Journalists and Dead Bodies in Conflict. A rollicking read.
It’s OK again to flaunt your wealth in the Netherlands as art collectors open a rash of new private museums. A piece for FT Wealth
Can impact investing in Israel and Palestine help bring peace? It’s an argument sometimes used by opponents of the BDS campaign against Israel. The jury is out on both approaches. A piece in the FT
This gig ran for ten weeks until the end of July this year and had me reporting in-depth on Israel’s economy and investment opportunities for CNBC. Of course it was advertising driven; Israel is diversifying its branding efforts somewhat and flooding the internet with non-conflict related, economy and preferably high-tech focused stories, is part of that. Even so, it was not advertorial – CNBC had editorial control and I reported to their digital team. It did give me an interesting insight, not only into Israel’s economy and high-tech sector but also into the world of advertising dollars, client-editorial balance and clicks
Beirut is charming, if you’re passing through. Reporting can sometimes be tricky because of the civil war-sized chips that people have on their shoulders. I though this piece was innocent enough but it seems nothing is in Lebanon. A tale of two hotels
A piece I did on Dutch Jews and identity politics for Jewish Renaissance magazine in London. It’s not online so I put it here.
Spiked Stories 