In light of the climate crisis, authoritarian tendencies, hostility, and militarism, Max Czollek explores the power of friendship in his discussion series Discourse. Pop. Love. For each date, he invites two guests who are connected by their friendship, collaborate, or support each other’s work. He discusses with them the importance of community in political and artistic work.

Benjamin Fischer is a European expert for online regulation and minority protection. His work combines technological policy, civil society and evidence-based interventions against disinformation and extremist networks. He is currently Director of Development, Europe at Bellingcat, where he is responsible for expanding European partnerships and providing institutional support for open-source investigations. Previously, he was programme director at the Alfred Landecker Foundation. Fischer continues to be involved in several non-profit and academic committees. He is chairman of the advisory board of CeMAS, a member of various boards of trustees, and founding president of the Jewish Student Union Germany. Fischer works in Vienna and Berlin.

ruth__lol is the administrator of the meme account of the same name on Instagram, which has over 23,000 followers. The memes deal with German remembrance culture, anti-Semitism, racism, sexism, queer hostility and German politics – all from a left-wing, Jewish perspective. ruth__lol lives between the two LOL countries of Germany and Austria and has been confronted with anti-Semites of all stripes since childhood. With her memes, she confronts these issues, aims to provoke thought and highlight injustices in order to potentially inspire change in people. It’s about pain and trauma, but above all about self-determination and the ability to act in a majority society that has always tried to control the narrative for minorities.