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.

Mely Kiyak is an author and has received numerous awards, including the Theodor Wolff Prize, the Kurt Tucholsky Prize and, most recently, the Heinrich Mann Prize from the Academy of Arts. Her most recent publications published by S. Fischer Verlag are Herr Kiyak dachte, jetzt fängt der schöne Teil des Lebens an (2024); Werden sie uns mit FlixBus deportieren? (2022); Frausein (2020) and Thomas Mann. Deutsche Hörer! (2025). Gute Momente (2025) and Dieser Garten (2024) were published by mikrotext Verlag.

Necati Öziri is a writer and curator. He studied philosophy, German philology, and modern German literature in Bochum, Istanbul and Berlin. As a curator, he headed the International Forum of the Theatertreffen at the Berliner Festspiele and Studio Я at the Maxim Gorki Theatre, where he was also part of the dramaturgy team. As a playwright, he writes for the Maxim Gorki Theatre, the Nationaltheater Mannheim, where he was resident playwright, and the Schauspielhaus Zürich, among others. His debut novel, Vatermal (2023), was recently published. Öziri lives and works in Berlin.