The titles alone are cool: “Are leftists without honor?”, “German rap lies in the back seat and bleeds to death” or “Cackers clap or fuck?”. The Don’t Read Theory (DRT) podcast is one of the most intelligent current explorations of the radical left, pop culture and zeitgeist. This week he celebrates his two-year anniversary Spotifywhere he has around 18,000 followers.
DRT is about everything and nothing – be it psychoanalysis, humor, nutrition, bad books or theory jokes. The hosts Ayşegül and Valentin are in their early 30s and live in Berlin. They don’t want to reveal their last names, preferring to be “artificial characters,” explains Valentin to the taz when asked. Sometimes they chat as a couple, sometimes they invite guests: the rapper Grim104, their friends, etc Hengameh Yaghoobifarah or the social scientist Ferda Berse.
They were threatened with a lawsuit for the third episode. What was that about? Middle East, of course. The podcast is particularly recommended to those on the left who are on one side or the other of this conflict. One episode explains how the “Anti-German” movement came into being, which is often accused of lacking sensitivity to racism. This was precisely the core of an inner-left dispute in view of the racist pogroms of the 1990s. While Anti-Imps stuck to mobilizing the masses for their revolution – including racists -, Anti-Ds were against organizing with all – including racist – Germans; they do not see them as a revolutionary subject per se.
“Don’t Read Theory” is available for free on Spotify. More exclusive episodes behind the Paywal at Steady.
In addition to left-wing history and the application of Theodor W. Adorno’s theory to German rap, at DRT you are constantly learning new vocabulary: “Psyop”, “Killjoy”, “Platform-Sneaker”, “Catfish”. The podcast is half English and half snarky German – with wrong verbs at the end of sentences or wildly mixed proverbs. You can find that annoying or nice. In any case, this language represents a break from the intellectual level of the podcast, which seems approachable. Sentences like: “I’ll listen to the other side of the barricade first” (Valentin) or “What we say here, nobody cares!” (Ayşegül) are also sympathetic.
“A man who has undergone therapy is still a man.”
Then why do they do it? Typically self-ironic, Valentin told the taz: “We have a compulsive need to comment on the discourse.” Despite all the bluntness, they often do this in a brilliantly pointed way – for example with regard to the neurodivergence hype: “I don’t want acceptance for it ADHD“I want acceptance for those who suffer from it,” Valentin says. Or: “A man who has undergone therapy is still a man.”
Ayşegül believes that “one should not have respect for a culture, not even for a subculture”. She’s fucked up by rapists in the left-wing scene, but that’s why she doesn’t celebrate every turn of feminism: neither the desire for female submission, as promoted by the rapper Ikkimel, nor “dump him” feminism.
Speaking of criticism: Some fans think the hour-long podcast could go even deeper into the topics and theory. Others, on the other hand, like exactly that: “Don’t Read Theory” is easy to snack on or hang up your laundry at the same time.