“The Bauhaus. That was an idea, more, an ideal. No difference between draftsmen and artists. Everyone together in a new community, we should build the cathedral of the future. I wanted to be a part of it. And something happened that freed us. We did not learn to paint, but learned to see anew, to think anew, and at the same time we learned to know ourselves” - Re Soupault

I’ve been meaning to do an episode about the Bauhaus, which is central to the aesthetics of the Weimar Republic and changed modern design and architecture around the world. I was going to focus on the founders and teachers, but I stumbled upon a wonderful book about the extraordinary lives of women who trained at the Bauhaus. I’ve had trouble finding good, readable histories of women in the Weimar Republic, so starting from their perspectives is a great way to begin discussing the school. This episode is about five amazing women whose lives were changed by the Bauhaus: what it brought them, their struggles and achievements at the school, and their lives afterwards.

Count Harry Kessler is remembered today less for what he did — though he did quite a lot — than for what he wrote. His diaries, kept over six decades, are among the most extraordinary documents of the twentieth century. They record conversations with everyone from Rodin and Rilke to Einstein, Strauss, Cocteau, Hofmannsthal, and Diaghilev. They also record his impressions of the great turning points of modern history: the First World War, the Weimar Republic, the rise of Nazism.

In this episode, we’re going to trace the arc of Harry Kessler’s life, with special attention to his Weimar years — when he tried, with extraordinary energy, to build cultural bridges across a divided Europe. I’ll take a look at his privileged origins, his aesthetic vision, his wartime disillusionment, and his relentless advocacy for art as a force for peace and meaning.

Okay, full disclosure, I started this podcast not for any deep political reason, but because I was fascinated by the culture of the Weimar Republic, the music, the arts, the architecture, the personalities. I didn’t start it because I thought that the political parallels between then and now were absolutely clear. But, there’s that thing that happens, where something's in your head and you start seeing it everywhere. Well, I feel like every time I read the news, turn on the radio, listen to a podcast, or talk to a friend over drinks, someone is telling me we are living in days exactly like the end of the Weimar Republic.

I’m not sure about that, but I thought it might be worth an episode.