Culture

When Lady Gaga entered the scene in the late 2000s, she sent shockwaves through the world of pop music. Provocation often seemed to be her main aim. Looking back, however, it was clearly all part of her strategy. Pop music and videos would never be the same. From NYC fixture to global superstar Born on March 28, 1986 in New York City as Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, she grew up comfortably in Manhattan. She played piano and was already writing her own songs as a teenager. She loved the theater and musicals and making an impression through her extravagance. She delighted in wandering New York's hip Lower East Side in outlandish outfits. Even among hipsters and eccentrics, she was able to one-up them all, a stark contrast to her day-to-day life at an elite Catholic school, from which...

For years, BTShave been among the most influential pop acts in the world. The South Korean boy band helped shape the global K-pop wave by setting streaming records, topping music charts and building one of the strongest fan bases in music history. Now, after a long period of solo projects and mandatory military service, the seven-member group is ready to make a comeback. The key details of their return have now been officially confirmed: The new album, "ARIRANG," is released on March 20, 2026, followed by a comeback concert on March 21, 2026, in Seoul that's free to the public — a whopping 260,000 fans are expected to attend. Netflixwill stream the concert for global audiences, as well.Jung Kook and Jimin completed their military serviceImage: Lee Jin-man/AP Photo/picture alliance Solo p...

Amid thunderous applause, Salman Rushdie took to the stage. There was a standing ovation for the author who narrowly survived an assassination attempt in 2022 and has been under heavy police protection ever since. But as he gave a talk at the LIT:potsdam literary festival, just outside of Berlin, he played the entertainer, dazzling with witty anecdotes and admitting he hasn't lost his optimism. "It's a kind of stupidity," he said. "My friends make fun of me for the reason […] that there's very little in the world to be hopeful about right now. But I persist." At the event on March 19, Rushdie discussed his latest book, a collection of stories. In "The Eleventh Hour," he walks a fine line between humor and despair in five stories set at the end of life. The event was followed by a second...

Germany and Iran have been connected since long before either country looked like it does today. At first, their ties were mostly cultural; only later were official diplomatic relations established. Here is a brief look at that shared history. Goethe's enthusiasm for Persian poetry In 1814, at age 65, German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe read a translation of the "Divan of Hafez"— a collection of poems by the Persian poet and mystic Hafez. He was captivated, writing: "And even if the whole world were to sink, Hafez, with you, with you alone do I wish to compete!" Born around 1315, Hafez's real name was Mohammed Schemseddin. "Hafez" is an honorary title given to those who have memorized all 114 surahs (chapters) of the Quran. In Iran, Hafez remains a national poet, and many households...

Young men who identify with the "manosphere" — an online movement promoting toxic masculinity and misogyny — are being promised a better life and a higher "sexual market value" by becoming more attractive through "looksmaxxing." The online trend comes with its own lingo, significant costs — and a good dose of pain. Lookmaxxing influencers are promising isolated young incels, or involuntary celibates, that they can get better jobs and attract more sexual partners though a rigorous diet ("starvemaxxing"), plenty of steroids and weights, plastic surgery and a jawline made more angular with a hammer to the face ("bonesmashing").Looksmaxxing content on social media promotes questionable and painful procedures promising male beautification. When used improperly, hydrogen peroxide for example (s...

The current US-Israel war with Iran follows decades of political tensions that have shaped perceptions of the relationship between Israel and Iran. Despite the historical hostility, Berlin-based musicians from both countries are determined to demonstrate that cultural dialogue is still possible. The musical ensemble Sistanagila was initiated by Babak Shafieian, an Iranian who moved to Germany as a young adult to study. He began the project about 15 years ago when he decided to take a position against the antisemitic rhetoric promoted by Iran's then-president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — who was making international headlines by denying the Holocaust and threatening the destruction of the state of Israel. "That didn't reflect my stance on Israel and the Jewish people," Shafieian told DW. "So ...

In the early hours of March 24, 1976, military officers led by General Jorge Rafael Videla arrested President Isabel Peron and declared that the armed forces had taken control of Argentina. Peron's leadership from 1974 to 1976 had been marred by runaway inflation, strikes, political violence and party infighting. Against the backdrop of terrorist bombings and workers' strikes, Videla's regime initiated a campaign of brutal state terrorism known as the "Dirty War." Political opponents, students, intellectuals, journalists and lawyers were systematically persecuted, and the powerful labor movement became the main target of the regime seeking to push through its radically right-wing, anti-communist agenda. From 1976 to 1983, some 30,000 people vanished from Argentina without a trace. Most ...

Yayoi Kusama is one of Japan's foremost contemporary artists. She's known for her Instagramable "Infinity Rooms" — immersive installations that use mirrors, lights and reflective surfaces to create the illusion of endless space — as well as her large-scale polka dot sculptures. While her works often appear playful, behind them lies the story of a woman who has faced major social and mental health challenges. Around the age of 10, Yayoi Kusama began experiencing hallucinations, seeing dots and net patterns enveloping everything in her mind's eye. She has attributed these early visions to the psychological strain of growing up with an unloving mother, who forbade her from painting and tried to impose traditional expectations on her behavior. Although she continues to experience hallucinati...

Across history, European depictions of the Amazon have typically presented the South American region as a vast, untouched expanse. Over time, a set of tropes took hold: the rainforest as a "virgin" wilderness; Indigenous life cast as belonging to an earlier era; the whole region suspended outside of time. As a result, a complex, culturally diverse territory has been flattened into an exotic backdrop. Yet this framing of "the Amazon" as a single, timeless wilderness bears little resemblance to the culturally and historically diverse region of "Amazonia," the titular focus of a new exhibition in Bonn. A shift in perspective Co‑curated by anthropologist Leandro Varison and Brazilian Indigenous artist and activist Denilson Baniwa, "Amazonia. Indigenous Worlds" offers an insightful perspect...

Protected landmarks and humanity's cultural heritage are threatened by the US-Israel war with Iran. UNESCO-listed sites, including palaces and an ancient mosque in Iran, are among the historical landmarks that have been damaged by the US-Israeli strikes, which began on February 28. UNESCO, the UN's cultural body, has expressed its concern about the cultural heritage sites, saying in a statement that it has "communicated to all parties concerned the geographical coordinates of sites on the World Heritage List as well as those of national significance, to avoid any potential damage." "UNESCO continues to closely monitor the situation of cultural heritage in the country and across the region, with a view to ensuring its protection," the organization added. Here is a list of the cultural he...