After Theater of Reconciliation, the second edition of the discussion series organized by Max Czollek is dedicated to the issue of Overcoming the Present. The focus lies on events and phenomena of the present and the question of how the past reflects in them. Max Czollek meets people who seek to understand many of the current crises and find answers to them: How to deal with the climate crisis, the expanding wars, the continuity of right-wing politics and violence? How to cope with feelings of grief, despair, and anger? What role does civil society play in dealing with conflicts? And how stressable are alliances for a collaboration in exceptional situations?

Hadija Haruna-Oelker is a political scientist, editor, moderator, and author. She mainly works for Hessischer Rundfunk, is a columnist for the Frankfurter Rundschau, and together with Max Czollek hosts the memory podcast Trauer & Turnschuh. Her nonfiction book, Die Schönheit der Differenz. Miteinander anders denken [The beauty of difference. Thinking differently together, 2022], has been nominated for the Leipzig Book Fair Prize. In October 2024, her book Zusammensein. Plädoyer für eine Gesellschaft der Gegenseitigkeit [Being together. Pleading for a reciprocal society] will be published. Hadija Haruna-Oelker lives and works in Frankfurt am Main.