Claudia J. Koestler is an award-winning editor of Süddeutsche Zeitung, Germany’s largest nationwide premium newspaper. But you are not here for the dry facts, are you? So here are a bit more juicy details: Her curiosity for humankind and her passion for discovering and capturing stories can be traced back to her pre-professional days. Whether as an agnostic pupil in a Bavarian Roman Catholic nunnery grammar schools or during her formative times she spent as a teenager abroad, especially in the UK, she´s continuously moved and driven by mankind and what makes it tick. This bloomed further when she studied Scandinavian, English and German languages and literature, first in Cologne, Germany, then in Reykjavík, Iceland. She later lived and worked for years as a manager, consultant and cultural bridge-builder for Icelandic artists, actors and musicians, introducing them and herself to new people, big ideas and global concepts.

As she is fabulously untalented as a singer, she abandoned this career early for humanity´s sake. But before she became a full-time journalist and editor, Claudia wrote as a freelancer for international television shows and magazines and translated Icelandic books and movies. She also has traveled extensively, including repeatedly to Great Britain, Iceland, USA, Russia and Africa.

She still likes to travel, when her job or her two elderly horses allow it who have been in her family for more than 30 years. If not, she can always go back to coffee, good food or her collection of books, music and films.

If you would like to know more about Claudia or follow her around as her bio continues to evolve, connect with her via one of the options below:

claudia@overhereoverthere.org; 

Born in Upstate New York, ‘Over Here, Over There’ (OHOT) host Dan Harris has had a varied career in politics, investment banking and high technology on both sides of the Atlantic. He is now a management consultant and increasingly serves as a moderator and presenter at industry and business events and a guest contributor on BBC radio/TV. He proudly boasts US, UK and Italian citizenships, although if he could complete his ancestral quest and obtain an Irish passport, he’ll die happy.

The idea of ‘Over Here, Over There’ originated from Dan’s appearances on BBC Radio, when he was invited to discuss the workings and nuances of the US political system. With populist movements and rapid societal change happening all over the world, more conversation seemed to be needed to achieve a better understanding of why things happen over there and what we can learn from them over here. The podcast idea shifted into overdrive when he teamed up with Claudia, and in early 2021 the first episodes were recorded and the podcast was on its way.

Having lived in the UK and Europe off and on since 1979, Dan can’t help being interested in comparative culture. It’s had its ups and downs to be sure, but it continues to feel like an extended vacation without a return ticket home. With his increasing number of passports affording him multiple identities, he feels obligated to look at things from different people’s perspectives. It also makes life a hell of a lot more interesting. He also self-identifies as a permanent 39-year-old and is a lifelong Boston Celtics and Chelsea FC fan, which no doubt will spark plenty of conversation among other things.

danharris@overhereoverthere.org