Mathias Broeckers

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Mathias Bröckers at the Elevate Festival 2019 in Graz

Mathias Bröckers (born June 26, 1954 in Limburg an der Lahn ) is a German journalist who primarily writes for the taz and Telepolis . He is also a book author . He promotes the legalization of hemp in his books and spreads conspiracy theories as of September 11, 2001 . In this context, he was accused of anti-Semitism several times .

biography

After graduation in 1973 at the Limburger Tilemannschule Bröckers moved to West Berlin to its convocation to be avoided. In the same year he started at the University of Berlin literature , linguistics and political science with German and policy for the teacher to study. To finance his studies, he obtained a passenger transport license in 1976 and joined the first Berlin taxi collective . He graduated in 1980 with a master's thesis on the role of language in psychoanalysis .

Topics and projects

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journalism

From 1980 to 1991 he worked initially as a culture editor, later also as a science editor for the taz . During this time he published his first book in 1985 with texts by the Berlin cabaret artist Wolfgang Neuss . In 1989 he published the documentation Die taz - the book on the occasion of the paper's tenth anniversary. It was published by the two-thousand-one publishing house, which later became his house publisher. Most recently he established the satirical page “The Truth” , which still exists today. Afterwards he was a columnist for Die Zeit , der Woche and author of scientific radio programs for the SFB . In addition, Bröckers is interested in scientific topics that tend to attract less attention. He never let the connection with taz be completely broken, as a freelance journalist he continues to publish articles and comments there. In 2006 he revised the taz website so that blogs from editors and friends of taz can now also be read online. Until his age-related retirement from taz 2020, he was also responsible for the tazblog.

hemp

His friendship with Wolfgang Neuss since the early 1980s aroused his interest in cannabis and hemp and its diverse uses. In several publications he devoted himself to the education about this old cultivated plant and also its criminalization and pathologization of the consumers by the American media tsar Randolph Hearst in the 1930s. In 1993 he and friends developed the business idea of ​​a wholesaler exclusively with products made from hemp. In the following year he became managing partner of HanfHaus GmbH , which had to file for bankruptcy at the end of 2001. He also sat down as chairman of the “Hanfgesellschaft e. V. “for a re-approval of hemp cultivation. The cultivation of hemp has been banned in West Germany since 1964 and is now allowed again for low-THC varieties - but only under strict controls and with high requirements. In 2001 he stepped down from the management of HanfHaus and worked again as a freelance author and journalist.

He also gave his journalistic attention to other psychotropic substances such as LSD and absinthe .

Journalism

His genre spectrum ranges from contributions in books and anthologies, radio broadcasts, cabaret programs to working on TV and film scripts, editing and editing activities, to lectures and workshops. He was also a member of the non-fiction jury of the Süddeutsche Zeitung .

The style of his publications is characterized by satirical puns. He edited the German edition of the "Lexicon of Conspiracy Theories" by Robert Anton Wilson . According to his own statements, he has an artistic self-image and rejects the question "What do you really believe?" He was aware that conspiracy theories could be contradicting one another. He researched them as a social phenomenon mainly with the help of the internet . Bröckers does not conduct investigative journalism , such as research trips to investigate certain allegations on site. He sees himself less as an investigative journalist than as a critic of investigative journalists and their editorial offices.

In his 2013 book JFK - Coup in America , he points out unresolved contradictions in the case of the murder of John F. Kennedy and alleges a coup-like conspiracy by the CIA , FBI and other actors.

September 11, 2001

Alongside Gerhard Wisnewski and Andreas von Bülow, Bröckers is one of the best-known and most successful journalists of conspiracy theories on September 11, 2001 in the German-speaking area. With his "WTC Conspiracy" series in the online magazine Telepolis , Bröckers became known to a larger audience and achieved with his following book, published at Two Thousand and One , Conspiracies, Conspiracy Theories and the Secrets of 9/11. high editions.

In a 2002 Telepolis article, Bröckers picked up reports of an alleged Israeli bugging attack on the United States. This process, like the question of Cui bono, feeds the suspicion of a "kosher conspiracy" in connection with the terrorist attacks of September 11th . According to Broeckers, George W. Bush and Ariel Sharon are among the main suspects of this attack . Bröckers was sharply criticized for this contribution and accused of improper research due to the rendering of outdated or incorrect arguments. The Berlin historian Wolfgang Wippermann spoke of " pure anti-Semitism ". The journalist Tobias Jaecker accused Bröckers of supporting anti-Semitic conspiracy theories following the protocols of the Elders of Zion . In addition, Jaecker notes that Bröckers deals with the topic ironically and less doggedly than other proponents of conspiracy theories: "You always don't know for sure: does he really believe it now or is he actually just kidding."

More conspiracy theories

In his dissertation on the history of conspiracy theories as the history of the media, the media scientist John David Seidler dedicates a separate section to Bröckers in which he analyzes his statements on the media. Afterwards, he confessed to a conscious departure from established media as the basis of journalistic research: He sees this as a mere consensus machine and tends to be corrupt. On the other hand, Bröckers praised the Internet as an alternative to the “media conspiracy” : “Googling twice a day and form your own picture - that reliably helps against virulent manipulation, propaganda infections and the threat of chronic idiocy!” By denigrating the mainstream media with medical metaphors, he set but himself from the suspicion of doing propaganda. Seidler explains the violent attacks on his theses with the fact that Bröckers, unlike other conspiracy theorists, appears as a professional journalist and publishes in a thoroughly reputable environment.

In 2017, Bröckers took up the narrative of a “deep state” in the online magazine Rubikon , which was pulling the strings in secret. He urged the left to overcome the cognitive dissonance that forced them to ignore the alleged facts. The Swiss journalist Roger Schawinski sees this as "a clear indication that leading conspiracy theorists are trying to close the ranks between the far left and the far right because they seem to agree on the central conspiracy theories".

Private

At times he lived with the illustrator of various joint productions Gerhard Seyfried in Solothurn (Switzerland). Bröckers has been married since 1981, has two children (* 1982) and lives in Berlin-Kreuzberg .

Publications (selection)

  • as Ed .: Common sense is pure poison. Bangs from Wolfgang Neuss . Heyne, Munich 1985, 159 pp., Ill.
  • Jack Herer : The rediscovery of the useful plant hemp . Edited by Mathias Bröckers, Zweiausendeins, Frankfurt a. M., 1993, 526 pp., ISBN 3-453-11566-X
  • with Gerhard Seyfried: Hemp in luck - The song of noble hemp . Two thousand and one, Frankfurt a. M. 1996, 96 pp., Hardback, ISBN 3-907080-59-9
  • The so-called supernatural. From the intelligence of the earth, departure to a new understanding of nature , Eichborn, Frankfurt a. M. 1998, 298 pp., Hardback, ISBN 3-8218-1528-0
  • Conspiracies, conspiracy theories and the secrets of 9/11 Two thousand and one, Frankfurt a. M., 2002, ISBN 3-86150-456-1
  • Cannabis. Hemp, Hemp, Chanvre, Canamo. AT Verlag, Aarau 2002, 224 pages, ISBN 3-85502-872-9 (illustrated book)
  • Fitz Hugh Ludlow : The Hashish Eater - Classic of intoxicated world literature. Foreword by Mathias Bröckers, Nachtschatten Verlag, Solothurn 2001, ISBN 3-907080-72-6
  • Can tomatoes dream? From the intelligence of the earth. Departure to a new understanding of nature . Königsfurt Verlag, Klein Königsförde 2001, ISBN 3-933939-76-3
  • Mathias Bröckers and Albert Hofmann : Trans Psychedelic Express, Eleusis - Basel - Babylon - and further . Nachtschatten Verlag, Solothurn 2002 ISBN 3-907080-89-0
  • with Andreas Hauß: facts, forgeries and the suppressed evidence of 9/11. Two thousand and one , Frankfurt a. M., 2003, ISBN 3-86150-604-1 , also contains a video CD with the documentary "Mohammed Atta and the Venice Flying Circus" by Daniel Hopsicker , book review Deutschlandradio
  • with Lynn Zimmer, John P. Morgan: Cannabis Myths - Cannabis Facts. An analysis of the scientific discussion. Nachtschatten Verlag, Solothurn 2004, 264 pages, ISBN 978-3-03788120-0
  • Mathias Bröckers and Roger Liggenstorfer: Albert Hofmann and the discovery of LSD . On the way to Eleusis . AT Verlag - AZ Fachverlage, Aarau 2006, ISBN 978-3-03800-276-5
  • with Chris Heidrich, Roger Liggenstorfer: Absinthe - The Return of the Green Fairy. Stories and legends of a cult drink. Nachtschatten Verlag, Solothurn 2007, 95 pages, paperback, ISBN 978-3-03788-151-4 , excerpt ( memento of August 19, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  • Cogito ergo bum and 49 other proofs of the inevitability of failure. Westend Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2007, ISBN 3-938060-17-4 , table of contents
  • The drug lie - Why drug bans promote terrorism and harm your health. Westend Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2010, ISBN 3-938060-51-4 ( table of contents )
  • with Christian C. Walther: 11.9. - ten years later. The Collapse of a Lies Building , 2011, ISBN 978-3-938060-48-3
  • JFK - Coup in America , Westend Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2013, ISBN 978-3-86489-043-7
  • Mathias Bröckers and Paul Schreyer: We are the good guys. Views of someone who understands Putin or how the media manipulate us , Westend Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2014, ISBN 978-3-86489-080-2
  • The Ken Jebsen case or How journalism can regain its independence online , Westend Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2016, ISBN 978-3-94677-800-4
  • with Sven Böttcher: The whole truth about everything - How we can still save our future , Westend Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2016, ISBN 978-3-86489-122-9
  • Newton's Ghost and Goethe's Polaroid. About nature. Westend Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2019, ISBN 978-3-86489-238-7 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Marcus Klöckner: It was "not about journalism, but about politics". www.heise.de, accessed on September 23, 2018 (German).
  2. ↑ Jan Feddersen : Best colleague. the daily newspaper of March 2, 2020, online
  3. ^ Mathias Bröckers: The Kosher Conspiracy (March 2, 2002)
  4. ↑ Panopticon of the Absurd - Der Spiegel (PDF 1.1 MB).
  5. ↑ Wolfgang Wippermann : Agents of Evil. Conspiracy theories from Luther to today , be.bra. Verlag, Berlin 2007, pp. 134-140
  6. ^ Anti-Semitic conspiracy theories after September 11th. New variants of an old interpretation model. LIT Verlag, Berlin-Hamburg-Münster 2005, ISBN 3825879178
  7. ↑ Interview with Jaecker on Loose Change , August 8, 2006 Deutschlandradio Kultur, “Conclusion”, August 8, 2006, accessed on Jaecker's website 11/2008
  8. ↑ John David Seidler: The Conspiracy of the Mass Media. A cultural history from the bookseller plot to the lying press . transcript, Bielefeld 2016, ISBN 978-3-8376-3406-8 , p. 283 f. and 288-292 (accessed via De Gruyter Online).
  9. ↑ Roger Schawinski: Conspiracy! The fanatical hunt for the evil in the world. NZZ Libro, Zurich 2018, p. 174.
personal data
SURNAME Broeckers, Mathias
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German journalist and author
DATE OF BIRTH June 26, 1954
PLACE OF BIRTH Limburg on the Lahn