September 17, 2019

Tolerance, censorship and free speech.

45 minutes

Moral philosopher Susan Neiman studies lessons from German & US history. Ursula Owen went from Virago to Index on Censorship. Christopher Hampton has translated an Ödön von Horváth novel about the fallout from an accusation of racism. Anne McElvoy brings them together for a conversation about tolerance, censorship and parallels between the past and the present.

Written in exile while in flight from the Nazis, Youth Without God was the last book by Ödön von Horváth (1901-1938), a German-writing Austro-Hungarian-born playwright and novelist . Christopher Hampton's stage version has its UK stage premiere at the Coronet Theatre, Notting Hill London from 19 Sep–19 Oct

Susan Neiman's latest book Learning from the Germans: Confronting Race and the Memory of Evil looks at western struggles with the legacies of racism and colonialism. A white girl from the American South, Susan Neiman is also a Jewish woman living in Berlin and the book draws on these experiences.

Urusula Owen's parents were German Jews who fled Berlin for London. Her career has seen her work as a founder director of Virago Press and later as Chief Executive of Index on Censorship. Her memoir is called Single Journey Only.

Producer: Harry Parker

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