Madelene Nitzsche, Author at Inter

Framing the Alien in Ildikó Enyedi’s Silent Friend

By Siyan Fan Illustration by Madelene Nitzsche Taking its cue from Rilke’s poetic address to a silent friend, Ildikó Enyedi’s Silent Friend renders the alien simply as something I would call a serene abundance. Through the careful focus of early cameras and the data translations of modern sensors, the titular ginkgo tree holds an absolute,…

Alienation of Sex Work

By Lucia Deon Illustration by Madelene Nitzsche The rise of platforms such as OnlyFans has forced discourse surrounding sex work further into the public eye – giving rise to conversations (and judgement) regarding its empowerment, ethics, and politics. Despite turns around income potential and personal autonomy, discussions often return to the same central question. It…

Sense of Uncertainty, Sense of Control, and Sensing the Future: Notes on Prediction Markets

By Iulian Ion Illustration by Madelene Nitzsche In the early hours of February 28th, the US and Israel carried out air strikes on hundreds of sites across Iran. In the weeks since, I have made several unsuccessful attempts at writing a summary of the war as an introduction to this article. I would write one…

The Senses at the Edge of Ecstasy: Would Friedrich Nietzsche Have Loved Rave Culture?

By Darya Aleinikava Illustration by Madelene Nitzsche In the dark, industrial cathedral, your pulse is no longer your own. It is surrendered to a relentless 145 BPM. As the light slices reality into irregular frames, your body dissolves into the crowd, and the “I” is liquidated in a sweat-soaked mirage of strangers. Welcome to the…

After the End of Holocene: Homo Sapiens Creating Its New Path

By Weichen Zhang Illustration by Madelene Nitzsche Nighttime comes after the end of daytime, and then the sun comes up from the east. A new day, another cycle. At a larger time scale, people all over the world observe season cycles in a year, with one season swiftly following the end of the previous. The…

Spread: Power Dynamics across Digital Technology

By Lucia Deon Illustration by Madelene Nitzsche Classical economists might suggest that the market is a place where a wide variety of actors come together on a balanced playing field. Conversely, the modern digital economy presents an economic reality that is anything but even; extremely important algorithmic systems and databases are controlled by a singular…

Smooth Sailing or Rowing Against the Current: Why We Work and Why It Matters

By Piotr Górecki Illustration by Madelene Nitzsche You’re working… in the field in Mesopotamia. Dirt, hear, tenth hour of farmwork… You turn around to call your son to help… Factory… The sound of metal hitting metal, tens of workers like you along the conveyor belt… You look at what you’re assembling… A script… Cold wind…

The Sea in the Page: Water’s Journey Through Literature

By Larua Cadamuro Illustration by Madelene Nitzsche When we discussed the theme of this issue and decided to pick water/sailing as our fil rouge, I was extremely excited with it. Given my background in literature, my mind immediately went there, and I started brainstorming about the million directions this article might have taken. The cradle…

In and Out: Plastic Inside and Around Us

By Norbert Borski Illustration by Madelene Nitzsche The human body is a well-functioning, complex system made up of trillions of cells. As you can imagine, our body must be compartmentalized – we have organs, made of specific tissues, which are composed of specific cells. They can be tightly connected, creating walls that separate one part…

Sequels, Prequels, Franchises, and Reboots

By Lina Leskovec Illustration by Madelene Nitzsche The phrase “There’s nothing new under the Sun” is sometimes attributed to Shakespeare, and sometimes (more accurately) to the Bible. But whether it was the greatest writer in the English language or God himself who had said it, they must have been talking about the current state of…