Carolin Emcke: What Does a Person Count For? — Reading and Discussion with Lena Gorelik as part of the “Reading the Present” series

To kick off our new series “Reading the Present” with Theater Freiburg, Carolin Emcke asks what radical humanism means: Are there limits to empathy for others? What obligations does the memory of history impose on us? Are there limits to the duty to speak out in the name of human rights? Or should nothing prevent us from perceiving others as part of the universal “we”?
The multi-award-winning journalist, reporter, and Peace Prize laureate was already asking herself these questions before October 7 and the events in Gaza. Since then, they have become even more urgent. For over 20 years, Emcke has been traveling to Israel-Palestine, most recently to speak with people from Be’eri or Jenin, from Tel Aviv or Ramallah—and to shed light on the blind spots of empathy in the local discourse. Carolin Emcke will discuss her new book *Was zählt ein Mensch?* (S. Fischer, 2026) with author and curator Lena Gorelik.
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Photo: Andreas Labes

Co-organizer: Theater Freiburg

Date: November 16, 2026, 8:00 p.m.
Location: Theater Freiburg, Kleines Haus
Admission: 16+1/10 euros (Advance tickets: Theater Freiburg)

Reading and discussion
Off-site