Good to see you!

In the “Popakademie Talks” series, guests from the music and culture sector discuss various current topics. In the 2025/26 winter semester, three talks will be held on the topic of “Populism and Extremism.”

On Tuesday, November 11, journalist and author Valerie Schönian will be a guest at Popakademie Talks, where she will report on populism and radicalism in eastern Germany. She was born in 1990 in Gardelegen, Saxony-Anhalt, and grew up in Magdeburg. Schönian studied German philology and political science in Berlin and trained at the German School of Journalism in Munich. She has been awarded the Marlies Hesse Young Talent Prize, among others, and was nominated for the Theodor Wolff Prize and the Reporter Prize. Her books “Halleluja” and “Ostbewusstsein” were published by Piper Verlag. Valerie Schönian has been working for DIE ZEIT since 2017, initially as an editor in the Leipzig office and, since 2019, as an author.

Participation in the talk is free of charge.

In cooperation with the Popakademie, the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Science, Research, and the Arts is presenting the POPLÄND Award for the first time. Three categories (live act, live music venue, producing) will each receive €10,000 in prize money. Further information to follow.