On Wednesday, October 29, 2025 at 19:00, Michael Thumann will read from Michael Thumann from "Eisiges Schweigen flussabwärts" as part of the fall tour of "Der Norden liest" by NDR Kultur at the NDR Landesfunkhaus Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Where is Russia heading? Since the war of aggression against Ukraine, we have been reading ever new forecasts - often with contradictory results. One person who prefers to keep a low profile is Michael Thumann, long-time Moscow correspondent for DIE ZEIT: "I prefer to describe what I see," he says, "rather than make grand predictions."
And so, in his latest book "Eisiges Schweigen flussabwärts", Thumann tells of the "soft-focus normality of everyday life in Moscow" and takes us to Narva, one of the last open land crossings between Russia and the EU. On an overnight train to Kazakhstan, he observes young Russians fleeing from military service and meets Russian refugees in the Café Auditorium in Tiblisi.
His diagnosis: Russia is barricading itself off from the West and drawing an almost insurmountable ideological border: through the country, through the state, through society and through people's minds. With Michael Thumann, we can take a look behind this border.
Under the patronage of Stiftung Lesen. In cooperation with NDR Landesfunkhaus Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the State Association of Adult Education Centers Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and the bookstore littera et cetera.
For all those who can't be there live: The broadcast of the event will be available on November 30, 2025 at 8 p.m. on NDR Kultur's "Sonntagsstudio".
Further dates of the tour in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern: 24. 10. 2025 - Berit Glanz, Dock Inn Warnemünde
