He started out as a local newspaper reporter in small-town Eastern Germany – today, he presides over Complex Networks, a global media company headquartered at Times Square in the heart of New York City. As president, Christian Baesler leads the daily operations of the company and its roughly 300 employees.
Being a tall teenager, she got bullied for her height. But when she entered the basketball court for the first time, “all the girls ran up to me and were like, 'Oh my God, you're so tall'. And I realized they were actually excited, which I’ve never felt before. I think that's why I ultimately got stuck with basketball.”
Today, at 6’5”, Marie Gülich holds the center position at the WNBA team Los Angeles Sparks, one of very few Germans at the highest level of female basketball worldwide.
Marie Gülich is a leader both in the WNBA and for the...
From Mr. Universe to Hollywood actor, from Cyborg to Barbarian, and always a cigar at hand – sounds familiar? Well, Ralf Möller's way of life and career is closely tied to Arnold Schwarzenegger, one of his best friends to this day.
For episode 17 of Wunderbar Together, co-host Oliver sat down with Ralf Möller, German Hollywood star, famous for his role in Gladiator and other action movies, and one of the tallest bodybuilding champions to date (6 ft 5 in), in Düsseldorf. Enjoy this conversation recorded in Germany, in German and in-person, yet socially distanced – all a first on...
You may know him from this week‘s cover of The New Yorker, just one of many he created – or from his Sunday sketches on Instagram, followed by over 1 million people: Christoph Niemann is one of the greatest illustrators of our times.
But do you know how he creates a cover illustration? What he learned as a young artist in New York? Why he doesn't play basketball any more? And how he looks at his 50th birthday?
Find out on episode 16 of the Wunderbar Together podcast.
„If you can worry about your ego, you’re in a very good...
He is the face of New York for many German tourists: Sanel Huskanovic, founder of "Mein Trip Nach New York", a social media platform and tour agency specialized on the German-speaking world. Until the pandemic hit, he would stream live from the streets of New York City every week, sharing his life with over 100.000 followers. Many of them would eventually tour the city with him and his team and bring business to his company, located a few steps from Time Square. But the pandemic brought all that to a crushing halt – and the successful entrepreneur and influencer lost everything he...
On his last day in office as director of Wunderbar Together – the celebration of German-American friendship that gave this podcast its name – historian Christoph Mücher takes stock: Together with his team, he coordinated, co-created or supported 2.800 events in 560 places in all 50 states of the U.S. since October 2018.
He oversaw a budget of 20 million Euros. And he met thousands of everyday Americans with German roots or connections. What stuck? How did it change him? And what does he tell the world about this country that's so hard to understand? "The people are worth to...
Dr. Frederik G. Pferdt is the Chief Innovation Evangelist at Google – a zealous advocate of turning challenges into opportunities. How? Any challenge, as big and harrowing it might seem, can be turned into a question, he says. That question takes away anxiety and inspires action. Even if it takes weeks or months to find and reframe that question. And even if it's highly uncomfortable, because most of us, when faced with a challenge, look for a solution first. "What we are lacking as human beings is not creativity – it's confidence to turn ideas into action."
After playing soccer for most of his childhood, Moritz Wagner discovered his ease with mastering the game of basketball. As a teen, he skyrocketed through the ranks of his home town club Alba Berlin, before trying the impossible: At age 17, he turned down an offer to play professionally in Germany and joined the college team at University of Michigan with the dream of becoming a NBA player.
And he did it. After being drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018 he currently plays on the Center position for the Washington Wizards in the nations's capital.
On episode 12...
Nora Abousteit grew up in a household of makers and tinkerers. Today, as the founder & CEO of CraftJam, she teaches the U.S. and the world how to craft, reintroducing the digital generation to using their hands. "We are what we make" is her mantra, and wants us all to make more – and consume less.
Join Nora on her journey from Munich to Cairo to New York, discovering her cultural identities, before finding her true calling as part of the maker movement in the U.S. – on episode 11 of the Wunderbar Together podcast.
"Back in the days, crafting was...
Marco Schnabl's affinity for all things cars and engines goes back to his childhood near Cologne. But after putting himself through a tough dual study program with Daimler and starting a career in one of Germany's key industries, he left his secure job to become a car salesman in America's largest city. „Selling cars in Manhattan exposes you to all walks of life.”
In episode 10 of the Wunderbar Together podcast, Marco Schnabl describes how his journey eventually lead to revolutionizing the car selling process altogether – and how he, together with his co-founder, built automotiveMastermind, a company that was...