tapmag

Welcome to the fourth installment of our mini-series on transatlantic blogs. Today with the first blog we introduce that is written in the U.S.: Dialog International by David Vickrey. He covers a vast scope of transatlantic topics—from literature and culture, over history, to politics and economics. His analysis is always on point and he continues to surprise with his in-depth knowledge of German affairs.

His first entry from July 2004 pretty much sums up his motivation: “This blog serves to support dialogue about culture and politics, with a special emphasis on repairing German-American relations.”

tapmag: Who’s blogging on Dialog International? What is your background, are you American, European, or both?

David: My name is David Vickrey and I am an American who has had close ties with Germany.  Formerly, I was a banker in Frankfurt and New York, working on cross-border investment opportunities.  I also have a strong interest in German history and literature, and wrote my doctoral dissertation on the Weimar Republic.

Today I live with my family on the coast of Maine in New England and work as a business consultant to technology companies. I am also an adjunct professor of German at a local college.

tapmag: Which topics do you write about? Who do you write for?

David: I write about books, painting, theology, politics, history – especially if there is a transatlantic angle.  Increasingly I find myself writing about literary topics, since contemporary German literature is all but unknown in America today.  Only 3% of books published each year in the US are translated from other languages; in Germany it is more than 35%, and American writers are well-known there.

tapmag: Why are you blogging? Why did you start in the first place?

David: I started blogging around the time of the US invasion of Iraq, when relations between Germany and the US were at a low point. I wanted to create a forum where Germans and Americans could meet and discuss our common interests.

tapmag: Soccer or Football?

David: Actually, I am a basketball fan (college and pro). I’m very pleased that the success of Dirk Nowitzki with the Dallas Mavericks has made basketball much more popular in Germany (although I  am a Boston Celtics fan).

tapmag: What is your favorite article on Dialog International? Which one is the most clicked?

David: I have two favorite articles: one on Salka Viertel and the other on Dorothy Thompson, two women who, in very different ways,  did so much to save the lives of the greatest German and Austrian writers, composers, and artists during the Nazi period by getting them  passage to America and helping them survive here. Their sacrifice and courage need to be much better known.

The most clicked article is on Barack Obama’s half-sister Auma.

tapmag: Jesus or Obama?

David: I am a Christian who canvassed door-to-door for Barack Obama in New Hampshire. I see no contradiction in that.

tapmag: What question would you have liked to answer? And what would be your answer to it?

What is the most beautiful German poem?  Answer forthcoming in a blog post soon.

tapmag: Tatort or The Wire?

David: Cannot get Tatort where I live.  Love The Sopranos.

tapmag: Your favorite blog?

David: For politics I like NachDenkSeiten for the articles and links; my favorite American political blogger is Matthew Yglesias because of the amazing array of topics he covers.

For cultural topics I follow Sign&Sight (too bad it scaled back) and Lyrikzeitung.

tapmag: Thanks.

You can find all the blog posts of this series here.