The Big Ponder

Written by: Goethe-Institut
  • Summary

  • This transatlantic podcast explores abstract concepts and phenomena through personal radio essays. Every other week, one of our producers transforms a broad topic into a captivating story told from a US-German perspective.

    ℗ & © 2020ff. Goethe-Institut
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Episodes
  • Ball Bearings
    Sep 1 2022

    Ball bearings — these mechanisms are all around us, inside our wheels and motors. Hidden away, we rarely see them, and most people don’t even know what they are. In this episode, Scott Carrier reveals the overlooked role this engineering marvel has played in human history.

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    28 mins
  • The Typewriter
    Aug 18 2022

    In search of inefficiency in an overly efficient digital world, Jakob Lewis entered the ‘typosphere,’ an online community of typewriter enthusiasts. Several typewriters and a letter to Tom Hanks later, Jakob is a convert to the analog life.

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    28 mins
  • Beer
    Aug 4 2022

    Long ago, German immigrants brought their brewing traditions to the United States. More recently, brewers from the U.S. have begun bringing American-style craft beer to Germany. Sally McGrane and Axel Scheele look at two breweries on opposite sides of the pond.

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    29 mins

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