The son of immigrant parents, Stefan Sirucek grew up on Cape Cod, Massachusetts with stars in his eyes and oysters in his ears. He graduated summa cum laude from Wheaton College and worked as a journalist before moving to Germany to complete a Fulbright scholarship. He enjoys paella, paper products, and writing about himself in the third person.

You can contact him at: stefan (DOT) sirucek @ gmail.com


Blog Entries by Stefan Sirucek

Remembering Kristallnacht in Berlin: The Story of Hans Riess

2 Comments | Posted November 9, 2009 | 08:35 AM (EST)


November 9th is an important date in German history. It marks the day that the Berlin Wall fell, 20 years ago this month, physically and symbolically uniting a dissevered nation.

The reason it's not a national holiday in Germany, is that November 9th - specifically the night of November 9th...

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YouTube Shifts Policy, Starts Paying One-Hit-Wonders

1 Comments | Posted September 4, 2009 | 11:52 AM (EST)


Well more like 20-million-hit-wonders.

On Sunday NPR reported that popular video-sharing site YouTube has begun paying those with hit videos, even if they only have one:

The online video Web site recently announced that users who create just one viral video are eligible for advertising partnerships with the...
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"Protester Does Shocking Thing": The Tyranny of Anecdotal Evidence

15 Comments | Posted August 25, 2009 | 11:57 AM (EST)


Anecdotal Evidence: (def.) (2) Evidence, which may itself be true and verifiable, used to deduce a conclusion which does not follow from it, usually by generalizing from an insufficient amount of evidence.

There have been guns at health care town halls. Possibly rocket-launchers. There have been people waving signs comparing...

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The Politics of Laughter: Hitler Takes Center Stage in Berlin

Posted May 21, 2009 | 06:18 PM (EST)


2009-05-21-hitapprwidClear.jpg

BERLIN

Mel Brooks' musical The Producers premiered in Germany on Sunday at the Admiral Palast theatre in Berlin.

The musical, for those unfamiliar with it, is the story of two scheming Broadway producers, the greedy Max Bialystock and his neurotic accountant Leo Bloom,...

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Honey, The View Shrank My Brain

6 Comments | Posted May 7, 2009 | 06:57 AM (EST)



"What you just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to...

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May Day in Berlin

Posted May 2, 2009 | 09:35 AM (EST)


Protests are traditional in Germany on the first of May, and - particularly in Berlin and Hamburg - the clash between police and protester is an almost cherished institution.

True to form, around 15,000 people gathered in the Kreuzberg district of Berlin yesterday to either protest, celebrate, or celebrate...

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Born In The U.S.A. - Expats Look Back

Posted November 12, 2008 | 02:03 PM (EST)


BERLIN

An excited, anxious mix of Americans and Germans crowded into the Babylon Theatre in Berlin last Tuesday to watch the election results roll in live on the big screen.

It was an eight-hour nocturnal marathon, with people switching between beer and coffee to calm their nerves and stay...

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Obama, Biden, Palin And McCain Get Stuck In An Elevator: A Blog Play

Posted October 31, 2008 | 02:52 PM (EST)


Obama, Biden, Palin and McCain Get Stuck In An Elevator

A Blog in One Act

Characters:

Barack Obama
Joe Biden
John McCain
Sarah Palin

SCENE:

On an ordinary October evening in a multipurpose venue in an unidentified swing state, Barack Obama and...

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Sarah Palin...If You Don't Read, You Don't Lead

Posted October 17, 2008 | 09:09 PM (EST)


As many know, in her Oct. 3 "do-over" interview with Carl Cameron of Fox News, Sarah Palin claimed to read the New York Times and the Economist.

Then a few days later we learned what she really reads.

Coffee cups.

Or rather, as observers quickly pointed out, and as Madeleine...

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Obama in Berlin: Walking the Walk

Posted July 26, 2008 | 01:26 PM (EST)


Even before the star arrives the event feels more like a rock concert than a speech. With people milling around sipping beer and two opening bands warming up the crowd the atmosphere is happy and relaxed.

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Ironically, the bag-strapped legions...

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Great Expectations

Posted July 23, 2008 | 08:30 PM (EST)


(Berlin) -- Tomorrow Senator Barack Obama will deliver a major speech in front of the Siegessäule, or "Victory Column," in Berlin. He will speak in front of thousands -- some have predicted hundreds of thousands -- in a speech that will mark the first and only major public address...

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