Issue #56

We welcome you to our first issue with a thematical focus: democracy. Looking at the topics covered below, it may come as a surprise that they do not contain any analyses of elections, but instead invite to think about democracy where we do not expect it: Seeing democracy as an inclusive concept, it can be applied to not only the political realm but to all spheres of our daily life: Can we still decide which kind of media we consume, or abstain from it completely, as author Julia Tappeiner did for a whole month? Lisa O’Leary reflects on social media being a threat or guardian of modern democracy – and what happens if it suddenly goes offline? Another sphere in which the state of democracy in a country becomes visible is sex, as Friederike Sandow shows when looking into women’s rights to abortion, the criminalisation of sex work or the orgasm gap. Gabriele Poteliunaite explores alternative forms of psychedelic therapy in her interview with Joël Brierre: How inclusive and open is society to alternative forms of therapy? Ultimately, Dominic Barabasi traces the gradual erosion of democracy in the case of Hungary which also contains some remarkable recommendations for winemaking.