Actually, they only wanted to blaspheme in “Feminist Shelf Control” about bad romance novels. But in the meantime, the journalists Rebekka Endler and Annika Brockschmidt with the post-strong podcast to initiate social debates again and again-most recently in December with their episode about the ARD culture program “TTT-title, theses, temperaments” and the author Thilo Mischke. This should first become the new moderator of the show and then, according to criticism, by “feminist Shelf Control”, but not. ME author Aida Baghernjad was also there as a commentator. What actually happened there and what was it really about? And is Cancel Culture really the big problem – or something else?
AIDA: Two months after the “Causa title, theses, temperaments”. It was quite a hurricane to put it nicely – how do you look back?
Rebekka Endler: During that time I actually had to finish my new book “Witches, Bitches, IT Girls”. That was a very nice double burden. But then I found new things that I could write in my book. Actually it was done, but a lot of what was debated in the discourse about “TTT” and Thilo Mischke was exactly what I am writing about: patriarchal myths and how they shape us to this day. Maybe it was karma to drive through the whole thing firsthand.
What do you mean?
Rebekka: We do something, we go to the public with a concern, it will be reacted to it, we are unexpectedly successful with it-and the moment we could have been a piece that the action is successful, a large backlash wave breaks in and we are suddenly “evil witch” and “feminist clan leaders”. We were attributed to an importance that we never had and probably never have. I found that absurd.
Annika Brockschmidt: The summit of absurdity was reached when a social media post from our account resulted in an entire article in the daily newspaper “Die Welt”. We were “hungry in power”, we were accused because we also criticized the purchase of Felix Lobrecht’s comedy specials by the ARD. But that fits quite well into this eternal paradox of anti-can-Cancel culture author: inside, who accuse a supposed “left” of being so easy to be triggered, but even a single sentence on social media.
Let’s go a few steps back: It is before Christmas 2024, the ARD culture program “TTT-Title, Theses, Temperament” announces that the journalist and author Thilo Mischke should be the new moderator and thus succeed Max Moor. Like Moor, he should be the face of the show every two weeks alternating with Siham el-Maimouni. Why did you decide to make a special episode of your podcast “Feminist Shelf Control”?
Rebekka: I still had Mischke in my head because I had dealt with travel literature in my first book. Among other things, because it has existed as a genre since the time of colonialism and historically write in particular white men about how they travel the world. And from the beginning it was always about sexual experiences. In the context, I had Thilo Mischke’s book “In 80 women around the world” from 2012 as a very uncomfortable example.
The book, which was expelled as a memoir, is about sleeping after a separation with his friends to sleep on a trip around the world with eighty women. And if he did it, his friends would pay him the world tour. I also read the book and am … not a fan. Because of the derogatory language that is talked about about women, because of scenes in which secret nude photos are shown by a woman and so on.
Rebekka: When I wrote my book, it was only six years old and thus contemporary. In “The Patriarchate of Things” it was a footnote in the end, but that’s why I knew him and what he did afterwards. On social media it was already an issue and we were waiting for it to take up larger media and critically shed light on the matter. But when nothing was still published on December 22nd in the evening and everyone was ready for the Christmas holidays, we thought: “Okay, then we have to do it ourselves.” We then asked the journalists Isabella Caldart and Anja Rützel as guests for the episode and all of you as votes and commentators and everyone we asked wanted to be there.
Annika: And you also have to say that we have not carried out a investigative research to show that the choice for the new moderator may not be the right one in view of his previous work. These were all sources that were accessible to everyone. Later in newspaper reports it also stood that the editorial team of “TTT” probably known similar statements and passages as we found were known and that they brought them to their superiors.
The specific case assumed that large parts of the cultural scene surprisingly agreed that Mischke would not be an appropriate moderator of one of the last major cultural programs in the German television landscape. Perhaps also because he already spoke of a “sub -complex” concept of culture as something positive in the announcement video, especially in times of rampant cuts and attacks on cultural business. There was an open letter, even in more conservative newspapers such as the “FAZ”, the appointment was critically examined. At the beginning of January the ARD withdrew its decision, but instead of granting that the moderator may not be a good choice for this specific show, those responsible rather seemed to want to unpack the specter “Cancel Culture”. Why do you think this thing has made such large waves?
Annika: The ARD communication strategy quickly became the actual history with its attempt to sit out the situation. The personnel was and is a symptom of a structural problem. She would have caused outrage at other times within the cultural scene, but with the current debates it feels as if we were in the middle of a backlash against “#metoo” and everything that tries to saw on patriarchal structures. At that moment a combination and anger and helplessness have bundled.
Rebekka: It was never about people themselves, but about system criticism and awareness of the Boys-and-Girls Clubs in the media company. I struggle that I lost my personal confidence in the whole thing in terms of public service broadcasting and its educational mandate. I always work for the ÖRR and see him as a pillar of democracy. But dealing with the criticism has shaken a piece of my trust in parts of the radio, even though I am a huge fan.
I feel the same way. In my guest post in your podcast it was also important to me to say that it is not about the individual and that people should not or do not want to cancel out of the world anyway. But it would have been an opportunity for discourse and processing. It was exciting to see that so many people expressed criticism of love, faith and respect for public service broadcasting and the program “TTT”.
Rebekka: Exactly, in the same place one could have said: “How nice, we were not even aware of how much this show means to the people, we appreciate that and take something from it.”
Annika: I also believe that Mischke could have kept his job and turned the public discussion, one would have reacted differently. If it had been communicated: what I said in the past, I am embarrassed. I hear you, I understand you, I learn and I am aware of responsibility in this role. But unfortunately that never came.
More about the podcaster of feminist Shelf Control
Rebekka Endler was born in Cologne in 1984. After studying social sciences, her book “The Patriarchate of Things. Why the world does not fit women” appeared in 2021, and was already in Polish, French and Turkish translation in 2022. In April of the same year she and Annika Brockschmidt started the Pod Cast “Feminist Shelf Control”, in which they discuss literature, feminism and politics.
Annika Brockschmidt was born in Berlin in 1992. As a freelance journalist, she works for ZDF, “Tagesspiegel” and “ZEIT ONLINE”. In 2017 she published the book “Goethe’s Faust and Einstein’s catch. The struggle of sciences” with Dennis Schulz. This was followed by the bestseller “America’s God’s warriors. How religious rights endangered democracy”. In 2024 “the arsonists appeared. How extremists took over the Republican party”.