Demo Tape | Nr. 2 mit Katja Oskamp & Anke Stelling

Two hosts, two guests, a screen and a piano. And an audience who appreciates a good sing-along – welcome to Demo-Tape, the political song salon!

Every era has its own particular struggles, and every protest movement has its songs, reminding us of forgotten industrial struggles and revolutions. Some of them are sung by the street fighting men and women, others make it to the heavy rotation level at radio stations. They are about struggles over emancipation and workers‘ participation, environmental protection and better work conditions, telling of oppression and resistance, of exclusion and solidarity in difficult times.

We will talk about songs we had sung by the campfire (which host Martin loved and host Fatima hated), at celebrations and parties. Songs that inspired us or made us practice our first chords on the guitar, and songs we added to our holiday playlist because we loved the lyrics. In short: we will present both well-matured classics and new-found gems that are definitely worth a listen.

For each show, we will invite one or two special guests and ask them to bring along their favourite song. We will talk, watch video films and make music together, and invite the audience to sing along at the end of the show, accompanied by the musician Sir Henry on the piano.

Our November guests are:

Katja Oskamp was born in 1970 in Leipzig and grew up in Berlin. After completing her degree in theatre studies, she worked as a dramaturg at the Volkstheater Rostock, and went on to study at the German Literature Institute. Her debut collection of stories, Halbschwimmer, was published in 2003. In 2007, the first novel, Die Staubfängerin, followed. In 2019, Marzahn, Mon Amour with the subtitle ‘A Chiropodist’s Tales’ won her many prizes.

Anke Stelling was born in1971 in Ulm and studied at the German Literature Institute in Leipzig. She has written many novels since; the novel Bodentiefe Fenster (2015) was nominated for the longlist of the German Book Award, and awarded the Melusine-Huss Prize in 2015.  The last book, Schäfchen im Trockenen (2018), was awarded the Leipzig Book Fair Prize in 2019. In 2020 followed a collection of short stories: Grundlagenforschung.

Fatima Çalışkan is a theatre maker, moderator and author. fatimacaliskan.de

Martin Kaluza is a journalist, author, and, on occasions, a musician. His blog daspolitischelied.de explores protest songs across the globe.