Peace and Books

On Sunday, we attended the Brooklyn Book Festival, the largest of its kind in the U.S. The event lasts for several days and includes talks and panel discussions. On Sunday, a free market is held around Borough Hall, where publishers, bookstores, authors, and organizations showcase their offerings.

The place was packed, and so many people flocked to the booths that it was sometimes hard to examine a book closely. We met an old friend who told us that she hauls bags of books from the fair to her home every year. You can indeed find good bargains here: as one publisher told us, without the distribution costs, they can sell books at a steep discount and still make more money than through their usual channels.

Walking over the fair and soaking in the atmosphere – or browsing a bookstore on any day – makes you feel better about humanity. Not all life spins around itself in a TikTok second. There are still many who take the time to write, produce, and read thoughts that go much deeper than a few moments of entertainment.

Elke took this spirit to our Five Songs and curated an eclectic list of songs to make you feel a little better about the world.

A Big Album Release Day

We have five albums on our list that will be released tomorrow. To be honest, our album list is a bit random, as most records are added when we write a Song Pick of the Day feature. Sometimes we are offered a preview, allowing us to make an informed decision about whether the album works for us as a whole. However, often we need to rely only on the released songs and cannot make an informed call. Still, our list distills the many new releases and serves as a good starting point for discovering new music.

One record I am super excited about is Is It Now?, the third album by LA trio Automatic (Izzy Glaudini – synths, vocals; Halle Saxon – bass, vocals; Lola Dompé – drums, vocals). The band brings krautrock rhythms and an ’80s underground vibe into a fresh context, where their political commentary feels in dialogue with past underground movements.

Five Songs

Listen to glamglare five songs on Spotify, Apple Music, or below on YouTube.

Inspired by a song I couldn’t shake off all summer — one where I only knew the first verse — I dug a little deeper. In the context of everything going on right now, that led me to a theme for this week’s Five Songs.

dArtagnan – “Was wollen wir trinken” (2017)
A medieval folk-rock take from Nürnberg, Bavaria, rooted in the Breton folk melody Son ar chistr (“The Song of Cider”) from the 1920s. Popularized in Germany by the Dutch band Bots in the early 1980s, it became a hit of the peace and protest movement. The chorus is simple and catchy, but the verses speak of solidarity, working together, and resisting oppression.

Timothée Chalamet – “The Times They Are A-Changing” (2024)
Chalamet performs Dylan’s protest classic in A Complete Unknown, the Dylan biopic. Other Versions: from the movie, Bob Dylan, live in England.

Reinhard Mey – “Über den Wolken” (1974)
A poetic song about freedom and perspective: “Über den Wolken muss die Freiheit wohl grenzenlos sein” (“Above the clouds, freedom must be boundless”). This is a beloved, timeless German classic, embraced both as folk poetry and protest. Watch this charming 70s video; the lyrics are in the description box, and you can easily get them translated. It’s worth your time!

Bruce Springsteen – “The River”(1980)
A stark ballad of lost dreams and working-class struggle. Inspired by Springsteen’s sister’s early marriage, it tells of youthful love turning into hardship. With harmonica and stripped-down arrangement, it became one of his most powerful storytelling songs.

Simon & Garfunkel – “The Sound of Silence” (1965)
“People talking without speaking / People hearing without listening” — a haunting meditation on silence, alienation, and suppressed voices. Subtle yet enduring, it resonates as a song about communication and the complexities of censorship.

Together, these five songs remind me that music has always been a way to carry voices — of protest, of freedom, of struggle, and of hope — and to keep them heard, again and again. These songs also happen to be incredibly catchy, memorable, and beautiful, which is why they stay with us long after the last note fades.

Song Pick of the Day

Listen to/watch all seven songs on YouTube. Follow our daily updated playlists on YouTube, Apple Music, or Spotify for the 50 latest Song Pick of the Day features, or subscribe here to receive them in your mailbox in real-time. Thank you for following us and sharing the excitement.

• Kanadia break through the shadows with “I Can’t Feel The Sunlight,” a turning point in sound and spirit where '80s-tinged indie rock meets anthemic, uplifting release.
• “Don’t be late,” Laura Mary Carter sings, knowing she’s rarely on time herself. Her new track “Four Letter Words” is a restless dance of affection’s push and pull — big, shimmering, and impossible to sit still to.
• sophie-lou,’s debut single “How to not expect too much” is a hauntingly beautiful ode to vulnerability.
• “The chorus came to me on the way to the grocery store…” That spark became Miranda Del Sol’s irresistible new track “keep it to yourself,” from her debut EP.
• With "Man Ray," Ananya delivers a song of love, nostalgia, and the kind of memories that stay with you.
• Nostalgia hits differently— Lulu Simon “Summer Dog” wraps bittersweet memories in shimmering pop.
• Ásgeir invites us to pause, breathe, and dream again with “Ferris Wheel” — a tender reflection on slowing down, starting anew, and imagining life by the sea.

Nine Photos of Small Treasures

This week’s Nine Photos are a kaleidoscope of colors: little things that caught my eye and moments Oliver and I have been up to. Here's a bit of context:

(1) A seat on this Hollywood swing at the Seaport is in high demand. Of course, I wanted a photo too!
(2) Sunrise over the East River as seen from our terrace and more from there (3).
(4) A big thank-you to the lovely friend in photo (9) who brought me beautiful sunflowers on a recent visit. One stem held out long enough to join the little cacti on the windowsill.
(5) Another East River moment - I just love the colors of this boat!
(6) Last Saturday, we walked for the third time in the annual German-American Steuben Parade — always such a joy and splash of color on Fifth Avenue.
(7) Me again, proudly holding the highly coveted magazine from the book fair.
(8) The treasures we picked up at the fair. My birthday’s coming up…
(9) Cillë performing parts of her EP live at Baker Falls last Sunday in a wonderful event hosted by music firm Marauder.

Until next week — in search of small treasures.