Thomas Blubacher is a Swiss theater director and author on theatrical subjects who’s published a new book about European emigrés in Los Angeles called Weimar Under the Palms. Many of the artists who fled Hitler in the ’30s and ’40s — including Lion Feuchtwanger and Thomas Mann, Helene Weigel and Bertolt Brecht — came to the West Coast for the studio paychecks and the sunshine. They contributed in sometimes invisible ways to the culture of California, but found something besides pure political freedom.

There should be more from me on this topic in the near future. But this is a name-dropping episode, so you’ll find an index of names at the bottom of this email.

MEANWHILE don’t forget about our beach-noir reading this Thursday, March 26, 2026, at the Hermosa Beach Museum. A new Kelp Books anthology called The Savage Waves of Spring will be launched into the stratosphere, and Mike will read from a story.

It’s free, but reserve a seat. Space is limited, and these evenings are popular. If you’re in California, consider a trip to the watery fringe of L.A., and if not, order the anthology at your favorite bookstore, online or otherwise. Or straight from Kelp.

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Resources:

Weimar Under the Palms, by Thomas Blubacher

Thomas’ biography in English

A link to his new novel, Aufgelöst, in German

Sweetness and Blood, by Michael Scott Moore, for more on surfing in Bali in the 1930s

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An index of names in Episode 30:Friedrich W. Murnau, director

Walter Spies, painter and musician

Berthold Viertel, director

Salka Viertel, screenwriter and actress

Emil Jannings

Ernst Lubitsch, director

Charlie Chaplin

Vicki Baum, author and screenwriter

Lion Feuchtwanger, author

Marta Feuchtwanger, author

Bertolt Brecht, playwright

Helene Weigel, actress and cabaret singer

Thomas Mann, author

Greta Garbo, actress

Christopher Isherwood, author

Aldous Huxley, author

Fritz Lang, director

Arnold Schönberg, composer

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