1989 – The Firstborns of a New Age

In this bonus episode of our 1989 podcast miniseries, host Mark Leonard is joined by ECFR's young generation, all born between 1988-1990. Coming from the former GDR and Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Venezuela and the UK, they grew up in a borderless world, in a united Europe, with their parent's optimism about the future but with their teenage years shaped by the financial crisis and 9/11. So what did 1989 mean for their lives? And how will this generation influence the world and politics once it's their turn?

This podcast was recorded on 18 December 2019.

Bookshelf:

• “Cruel Optimism” by Lauren Berlant
• “The Wall” by John Lanchester
• “My Parents: An Introduction” by Aleksandar Hemon
• “Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow” by Yuval Noah Harari

Films:

• “Sonnenallee“
• “Good-Bye, Lenin!“
• “The Lives of Others“