These are unusual, darkish occasions we live in, writes Kristoffer Granov in his editorial to the fiftieth subject of Atlas (Denmark). As we develop into more and more numb to fashionable horrors, our language appears deadened too: information tales looping the identical occasions in lifeless, formulaic journalese, trite advertising copy, political slogans repeated till they imply nearly nothing. Considering itself is in its demise throes, it will appear.
To mark its fiftieth subject, Atlas hopes to breathe some life again into prose, celebrating vivid, well-crafted, and reflective writing: ‘We want residing folks talking a residing language to different residing folks.’
Manosphere tales
The well-informed web person is conscious of the risks of the digital manosphere – however consciousness might not be sufficient, writes Alexander Wealthy Henningsen.
‘Coaching is non-negotiable,’ explains a fiftysomething on Henningsen’s feed, pectorals bulging. ‘Lifting weights is one thing each individual on this planet needs to be doing,’ says American doctor Peter Attia. After which there may be cardio, a should for avoiding cognitive decline in center age.
Not unhealthy recommendation in itself – certainly, these well being influencers typically supply suggestions grounded in sound analysis. But taken collectively, such doses of helpful recommendation can develop into poisonous.
Henningsen describes how, as he fell deeper contained in the rabbit gap of male well being influencers, the relentless reminders of his supposed failings started to form his pondering. He knew the photographs of good masculinity supplied up on social media have been unattainable to realize. But discovered himself shopping for into these unusual benchmarks: ‘Sure, maybe onerous, long-lasting erections actually have been an indication of a person’s standing and price.’
Greatly surprised by how simply his pondering had been infiltrated, Henningsen rapidly realized he was not resistant to the manosphere’s delicate powers of persuasion. On this cautionary story, he exhibits how the route into far-right misogyny needn’t start with extremism, however with seemingly sober discussions of train, well being and self-discipline.
Copyright and creativity
What can – and will – be copyrighted? Inventive works, actually, however what about tales, characters, even character arcs? That is the query on the coronary heart of Liv Helm’s essay, written within the aftermath of a lawsuit involving the Copenhagen theatre she directs.
In spring 2025, Husets Teater and playwright Nanna Cecilie Bang have been sued by the rights company Nordiska on behalf of the American rights holders to A Streetcar Named Want. A settlement was ultimately reached, however the theatre can by no means carry out the play once more. Extra lasting than the authorized final result, nonetheless, was its affect on Helm’s relationship to inventive creation itself.
‘If I develop into afraid of my very own shadow in artwork, within the creation of theatre – which I like – then I’m completed.’ The essay is much less an try to settle scores than an effort to work by that concern and get well a way of inventive freedom: ‘My fireplace should not exit fully.’
As Helm explains, Notes on Blanche will not be an adaptation of A Streetcar Named Want, however a play about ‘a lady who sees herself mirrored in a fictional character she has encountered in a movie’. But the rights holders maintained that this was not Bang’s story to inform: ‘We personal the character’s dramatic improvement.’
The startling declare prompts a broader reflection on inventive inheritance and mental property. From Shakespeare’s reworkings of acquainted tales to sampling in hip-hop, all artwork develops by dialogue with what got here earlier than.
What started as a dispute over copyright regularly broadens right into a meditation on authority, energy and cultural possession. Beneath the authorized battle lies a extra troubling asymmetry: a small theatre confronted by a robust rights regime able to figuring out not solely what could also be carried out, however who has the correct to create and inform tales. ‘Who will move on our shared tales over the approaching millennia?’
Gentrification myths
Who’s chargeable for gentrification, asks Mikkel Borris in his essay on Copenhagen’s altering Nordvest district: property builders, politicians, traders – or the individuals who lament it most loudly?
Whereas exalting the grit and character of the ‘genuine’ neighbourhood, the gentrifier additionally calls for local weather adaptation measures, waste sorting and fewer noise disturbances. Like Midas turning all he touches into gold, the gentrifier, in shopping for up an ‘genuine’ property, strips it of its uncooked attraction.
But what precisely are Nordvest residents clinging to? As among the district’s rougher edges are smoothed out, Borris finds it troublesome to summon real outrage. The backlash towards a proposed cycle path connecting the district’s wealthier and poorer quarters reveals the bounds of city romanticism: variety is cherished as an aesthetic excellent, however much less so when it threatens to develop into a lived actuality.
‘One loves the thought of the socially various and ethnically blended working-class neighbourhood … However in follow one doesn’t notably get pleasure from spending time with the “socially susceptible.”’
Freedom regardless of
Kristian Husted’s poignant essay asks what freedom means as soon as it may now not be taken with no consideration. The query is prompted by the demise of his good friend Ivan, who was killed combating in Ukraine. Earlier than leaving for the entrance, Ivan advised him: ‘We’re combating in your freedom too – for the liberty of all Europeans.’
Husted probes the connection between freedom, energy and safety towards a backdrop of rearmament, geopolitical uncertainty and rising doubts concerning the American safety assure on which Europe has relied for many years. Freedom, he suggests, is greater than ‘freedom from’ constraints or ‘freedom to’ pursue one’s targets. It could even be a matter of ‘freedom regardless of’: the capability to behave freely within the face of hazard, uncertainty and oppression.
But Husted is cautious of turning freedom right into a heroic particular person achievement. The lesson he in the end attracts from Ivan’s demise will not be one in all solitary braveness however of mutual dependence. Freedom is neither a present nor a given; it’s one thing fragile that should be consciously maintained and defended. As Husted concludes, ‘freedom exists and unfolds inside human communities, not in solitary majesty.’
Overview by Cadenza Tutorial Translations
