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  • Please Irritate me: Between outrage and insight

Please Irritate me: Between outrage and insight

Event

Picture: Wübben Stiftung Wissenschaft
Starts on
25.09.25
Ends on
25.09.25

19:00 — 20:30

Studio14 - Die rbb Dachlounge
Masurenallee 20, 14057 Berlin

Event access: Public

The event will be held in German.

How can we have an open, re­spec­t­ful dialog in times of po­la­ri­za­ti­on and dis­in­for­ma­ti­on? What do we need to usher in a new culture of con­struc­tive debate? On Sep­tem­ber 25, 2025, media studies pro­fes­sor Bern­hard Pörksen will be the guest in our Please ir­ri­ta­te me! dis­cus­sion. In con­ver­sa­ti­on with Peter-André Alt, he will be talking about the power of lan­guage, media re­spon­si­bi­li­ty, and how we can make space for genuine dis­cour­se.

Bern­hard Pörksen is one of the best-known media studies pro­fes­sors and in­tel­lec­tu­als in the German-speaking world. He lec­tures at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Tü­bin­gen and is known as an author, speaker, and in­ter­viewee for his in­cisi­ve ana­ly­sis and pas­sio­na­te pleas for a culture of open, con­struc­tive debate. He ex­p­lains how outrage became a cur­ren­cy, how social media ac­ce­le­ra­tes and po­la­ri­zes debates – and how this shifts the con­di­ti­ons for science com­mu­ni­ca­ti­on. In a “scandal-driven society”, Pörksen be­lie­ves that people often confuse at­ten­ti­on with re­le­van­ce – with far-reaching con­se­quen­ces for science and re­se­arch. For Pörksen, lis­ten­ing, par­ti­cu­lar­ly at a time when public dis­cour­se is do­mi­na­ted by po­la­ri­za­ti­on and noise, is a form of at­ten­ti­on that helps us un­der­stand other­ness, handle com­ple­xi­ty, and rethink com­mu­ni­ca­ti­on.

In the Please ir­ri­ta­te me! dis­cus­sion series, Pörksen will be talking to Peter-André Alt about the role of the media in an uneasy world, about the re­spon­si­bi­li­ty of science and jour­na­lism, and about the im­por­t­an­ce of true lis­ten­ing.

Please register on the webseite of the Wübben Stiftung Wissenschaft.

"Please Irritate Me" is a joint series of events organised by Die Junge Akademie and the Wübben Stiftung Wissenschaft. This event is also held in cooperation with the SILBER-SALZ Science & Media Festival. It is free to attend and is aimed at anyone interested in lively debates and new perspectives.

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