Real Is Not Real Enough – Details, episodes & analysis

Welcome to Real is not Real Enough. Subscribe for an audio experience based on the remarkable Californian diary of Günther Anders, who was forced to flee Berlin in 1933, and finally arrived in Los Angeles, after many stops that he is hardly able to retrace. Join us as we spend 12 days exploring the Hollywood Costume Palace in 1941, and learn the truth about Hollywood and exile, as seen through his eyes. 

“A strange kind of place – this Palace.”

“The past is becoming all the rage.”

“And who knows the world? You? Or them?”

Listen to all the whole diary! 

“One certainly can't learn cutting corners.”

Unpacking the Real is season two of Real is Not Real Enough. Here we introduce you to a range of guests who help us 'unpack' and the ideas that emerge from season one's podcast audio diary Real is Not Real Enough.

If you’re ready to wonder longer and question further, join us for Unpacking the Real.

Podcast cover design by Karen Ho

In this inaugural episode of Unpacking The Real we meet Dr Anna Pollmann. Anna is a researcher at the Research Institute for Social Cohesion at Konstanz University, where she is co-editor of the volume Key Concepts of Social Cohesion: A Critical Vocabulary. https://www.fgz-risc.de/das-forschungsinstitut/personen/details/anna-pollmann

Anna is a cultural historian of the 19th and 20th centuries. Her first book "Fragments from the End Times" is based on the work of Günther Anders and reflects her broader interest in the transformation of historical consciousness from modernity to postmodernity. 

In our conversation Anna refers to the diary chapter we have called Real is Not Real Enough by the more direct German translation: the Corpse Washer of History. In the original it is Der Leichenwäscher der Geschichte.

The Günther Anders archive is housed in the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek and located in the Wiener Hofburg right above the Spanische Hofreitschule. https://www.onb.ac.at/

Anna also refers, more specifically, to the Austrian Literature Archive in Vienna https://www.onb.ac.at/en/library/departments/literature/about-the-literary-archive

Find out more about Real is not Real Enough here: https://www.goethe.de/ins/au/en/kul/lok/gap.html  

In this episode of Unpacking The Real we meet Tracey Cameron and Dr Consuelo Martinez Reyes.

Tracey is a Gamilaraay person and Lecturer in Gamilaraay Language and Indigenous History at The University of Sydney: https://www.sydney.edu.au/arts/about/our-people/academic-staff/tracey-cameron.html

Consuelo is a Lecturer in Spanish and Latin American Studies at Macquarie University: https://researchers.mq.edu.au/en/persons/consuelo-martinez-reyes

Consuelo and Tracey each bring different perspectives to the text and audio of Real is Not Real Enough. Together in conversation, and with excerpts from the audio diary, we consider how Gunther Anders’ Hollywood reflections help us open up questions of translation, authenticity, cultural ownership and belonging.

If you would like to read as well as listen, you can find the English language translation of Real is Not Real Enough here: https://modernismmodernity.org/articles/washing-the-corpses-trans You might notice that the title of the text is the initial translation from the German, Washing the Corpses of History: The Hollywood Costume Palace, a 1941 Exile Diary by Günther Anders.

If you would like to read the original German you can find it here: https://www.chbeck.de/anders-tagebuecher-gedichte/product/12036/

Find out more about Real is not Real Enough here: https://www.goethe.de/ins/au/en/kul/lok/gap.html

This time on Unpacking The Real we unpack the sound and look of Real is not Real Enough with the people who helped us bring Günther Anders’ Hollywood diary to life.

To do that, we’re introducing you to Swiss/German actor Edgar Eckert and cartoonist, illustrator and fine artist Eric Löbbecke.

Edgar is an accomplished stage and screen actor in Germany and Switzerland and you can find out more about him here: https://www.deutschestheater.de/en/ensemble/ensemble-and-guests/edgar_eckert/

Have a look at samples of Edgar’s performance work via these links:

Produktionstrailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKKAJj-Bwug  

"Wolken.Heim." (Trailer) | Deutsches Theater Berlin, Kammerspiele

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCeVVnhhkN4  

"Medea. Stimmen" – Deutsches Theater Berlin, Kammerspiele

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69avGZ9O7Gg  

DER SPIELER am Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus (Gustaf TV)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-7xgu1-gts  

Väter und Söhne Deutsches Theater Berlin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5EkaFIz86A  

Eric Löbbecke is an award-winning artist and the person who designed our podcast art. Most recently, Eric has been working on a range of experimental techniques and after over 30 years in the field, seeks to push the boundaries of the forms he works in. Treat yourself to a look at Eric’s amazing work via his web page: https://www.ericlobbecke.com/

Find out more about Real is not Real Enough here: https://www.goethe.de/ins/au/en/kul/lok/gap.html