The other night I encountered a stupendous, if somewhat Chicken-Little-esque, review by Hanno Rauterberg in Die Zeit about the Burj Khalifa, the world’s new tallest building. Of interest here is the kind of recognition of the foot-dragging of Western democracies in producing such feats, and the sense of the global future tacking to the East. And the fact that the review stems from a German critic who sees echoes of the Weimar period utopianism in this new global order makes the piece all the more delicious.
So here it is in four parts, minus fancy editing and three-piece suits by Leipzig tailors, but with the best German I can muster on a weeknight in North America. If readers have suggestions for ways that I could continue such features in modified fashion, I’d welcome the feedback:
Adam Cathcart 