Duels of History

The new ARTE talk format visits exceptional thinkers throughout Europe and invites them for in-depth conversations.

A small community in Brandenburg is torn over how to remember terrible events of World War 2.

Author of Death in Venice and The Magic Mountain. Who was Germany’s most important writer of the twentieth century?

Could the Spanish have conquered Mexico without the help of Malinche, a Native American slave who became Hernan Cortés' translator? 

How did Marie Curie's love affair with the married physicist Paul Langevin become a national story that divided France?

In her battle against Ronald Reagan, activist Angela Davis became the icon of an entire generation.

Jiang Qing represented the old ways of the Chinese Communist Party, so she had to go.

Why is Lucrezia Borgia, daughter of Pope Alexander VI, still viewed as a Machiavellian manipulator? 

Sculptors Auguste Rodin and Camille Claudel had a passionate affair, but things turned sour.

Ordinary civilians are now preparing for war by volunteering for the Latvian National Guard in large numbers.

Jean-Michel Jarre sets up his equipment on Seville's Plaza de España for an immersive concert-show.

An old man swims in the sea. As he moves through the water, memories resurface... 

The US has pulled almost all its funding just as Ukraine is entering its fifth year of war. Can the EU plug the gap?

Skiing began as a means of survival in prehistory, only becoming synonymous with glamour and leisure in modern times.

From queer cake sitting to sex positive tasting evenings, Tracks finds out about food and sexuality.

The European Space Agency (ESA) is ramping up its budget. Does this mean Europe is to take the lead in the space race?

150 years after his birth, social media has brought Austro-Hungarian poet Rainer Maria Rilke to a new generation of readers.

Vanessa Wagner performs Philip Glass’s Piano Etudes with dancers from the Accrorap company.

We have released so many toxic chemicals that we have caused existential damage to our ecosystem.