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Please Irritate me: Between outrage and insight
Event
- Starts on
- 25.09.25
- Ends on
- 25.09.25
19:00 — 20:30
Studio14 - Die rbb Dachlounge
Masurenallee 20, 14057 Berlin
Event access: Public
The event will be held in German.
How can we have an open, respectful dialog in times of polarization and disinformation? What do we need to usher in a new culture of constructive debate? On September 25, 2025, media studies professor Bernhard Pörksen will be the guest in our Please irritate me! discussion. In conversation with Peter-André Alt, he will be talking about the power of language, media responsibility, and how we can make space for genuine discourse.
Bernhard Pörksen is one of the best-known media studies professors and intellectuals in the German-speaking world. He lectures at the University of Tübingen and is known as an author, speaker, and interviewee for his incisive analysis and passionate pleas for a culture of open, constructive debate. He explains how outrage became a currency, how social media accelerates and polarizes debates – and how this shifts the conditions for science communication. In a “scandal-driven society”, Pörksen believes that people often confuse attention with relevance – with far-reaching consequences for science and research. For Pörksen, listening, particularly at a time when public discourse is dominated by polarization and noise, is a form of attention that helps us understand otherness, handle complexity, and rethink communication.
In the Please irritate me! discussion series, Pörksen will be talking to Peter-André Alt about the role of the media in an uneasy world, about the responsibility of science and journalism, and about the importance of true listening.
"Please Irritate Me" is a joint series of events organised by Die Junge Akademie and the Wübben Stiftung Wissenschaft. This event is also held in cooperation with the SILBER-SALZ Science & Media Festival. It is free to attend and is aimed at anyone interested in lively debates and new perspectives.
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