This year I decided to take a several-day pre-Christmas trip to Athens. My goal was not the ancient monuments, but the district of Exarchia. This part of Athens is well known for its alternative and anarchist spirit. And perhaps by coincidence, it was exactly the weekend when the annual protests against police violence take place,…
I headed to this event sometime earlier this year. At first, I hesitated a bit. A punk musical? Dominion Theatre in the West End with velvet seats? A capacity of 2,000 seated? But as soon as I saw the crowd trickling in—many of them familiar faces from the 100 Club or Camden gigs—my doubts gradually…
Sealand is one of the most remarkable micronations in the world—not just because of its size, but above all because of the story behind it. It was established on the abandoned wartime fortress Roughs Tower, built by the British military during World War II in international waters of the North Sea, approximately 11 kilometers off…
Problematic Youth It was 1987. In the Soviet Union, a political and economic reform programme called “Perestroika” had been underway for two years, aiming to liberalise the rigid socialist system in a desperate attempt to save its bare existence. The Soviets, who had previously controlled everything, suddenly stopped dictating to their satellite states and, to…
