Historian Ben Miller on why some conservative gay Berliners are flirting with the far-right, and the disturbing rise of homonationalism.
When an AfD candidate was criticized for referencing a concentration camp badge on a campaign billboard, the party’s defense was immediate: "How dare you accuse us of being homophobic? Our leader, Alice Weidel, is a lesbian." It’s a perfect, toxic blend of strategic provocation and plausible deniability. But it points to a much deeper, more disturbing mutation within European politics.
In this episode, founding HEIST editor Peter Matthews talks with <a href="https://benwritesthings.com/">Ben Miller</a>, historian, writer, and co-host of the podcast <a href="https://badgayspod.com/">Bad Gays</a> to talk about right-wing queer politics. 
They trace the lineage from the Netherlands' Pim Fortuyn to the AfD's current transphobia, exposing how by posing as moderate when it comes to queer topics, and blaming immigrants for homophobia, far-right parties win support - even from liberals. 
Check out Miller’s <a href="https://www.heistberlin.com/lgbt-queer-rhetoric-afd-pink-triangle-homonationalism/">feature for HEIST</a>, “With Its Queer Rhetoric, the AfD Attempts to Swing Both Ways.” 
This episode is part of the three-episode drop that properly kicks off the HEIST podcast. Check out our podcast feed for the other two conversations: with Hebh Jamal about life as a Palestinian in Berlin and Yossi Bartal about a faked murder on the U-Bahn.
Links & Resources:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://gladt.de/">Support GLADT</a>, a self-organization by and for Black, Indigenous and of Color lesbian, gay, bi+, trans, inter* and queer people in Berlin</li>
<li>Read Ben Miller’s <a href="https://www.heistberlin.com/lgbt-queer-rhetoric-afd-pink-triangle-homonationalism/">feature for HEIST</a></li>
<li>Follow him on Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/benwritesthings/">@benwritesthings</a> and on Bluesky at <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/benwritesthings.bsky.social">benwritesthings</a>. </li>
<li>Keep up with HEIST on Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/heistberlin_/">@heistberlin_</a></li>
<li>Support worker-owned Berlin journalism and <a href="https://www.heistberlin.com/sign-up/">subscribe to HEIST</a></li>
</ul>

<description>When an AfD candidate was criticized for referencing a concentration camp badge on a campaign billboard, the party’s defense was immediate: "How dare you accuse us of being homophobic? Our leader, Alice Weidel, is a lesbian." It’s a perfect, toxic blend of strategic provocation and plausible deniability. But it points to a much deeper, more disturbing mutation within European politics.

In this episode, founding HEIST editor Peter Matthews talks with Ben Miller, historian, writer, and co-host of the podcast Bad Gays to talk about right-wing queer politics. </description>

Historian Ben Miller on why some conservative gay Berliners are flirting with the far-right, and the disturbing rise of homonationalism.

When an AfD candidate was criticized for referencing a concentration camp badge on a campaign billboard, the party’s defense was immediate: "How dare you accuse us of being homophobic? Our leader, Alice Weidel, is a lesbian." It’s a perfect, toxic blend of strategic provocation and plausible deniability. But it points to a much deeper, more disturbing mutation within European politics.

In this episode, founding HEIST editor Peter Matthews talks with Ben Miller, historian, writer, and co-host of the podcast Bad Gays to talk about right-wing queer politics. 

HEIST

The AfD's Illusion of Safety

Journalist Yossi Bartal on the Al-Mashhadani case
In November 2025, Hudhaifa Al-Mashhadani, the "Professor Doctor" director of a German-Arabic school in Neukölln, claimed he had been shoved toward a moving U-Bahn train by a keffiyeh-wearing attacker. 
There was just one problem: CCTV footage showed he simply walked onto the train.
In this episode, HEIST founding editor Peter Matthews sits down with Berlin-based journalist Yossi Bartal to discuss the rise and fall of a seemingly pathological liar who became the German media and political establishments’ darling. But this isn't just a story about a single grifter. It’s an indictment of German media’s failures, a patriarchal style of inter-Neukölln governance, and a multi-million-euro antisemitism industry. 
Check out Bartal’s <a href="https://www.heistberlin.com/hudhaifa-al-mashhadani-yossi-bartal-false-flag-political-assassination-neukolln-attack-never-happened/">feature for HEIST</a>, “How to Stage a Political Assassination: The Neukölln Attack That Never Happened.”
This episode is part of the three-episode drop that properly kicks off the HEIST podcast. Check out our podcast feed for the other two conversations: with Hebh Jamal about life as a Palestinian in Berlin and Ben Miller about the AfD’s abuse of queer politics.
Links & Resources:
<ul>
<li>Read Yossi’s <a href="https://www.heistberlin.com/hudhaifa-al-mashhadani-yossi-bartal-false-flag-political-assassination-neukolln-attack-never-happened/?action=signin&errorCode=INVALID_TOKEN&success=false">full article on HEIST</a>, “How to Stage a Political Assassination: The Neukölln Attack That Never Happened.” </li>
<li>Follow Yossi on <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/yossibartal.bsky.social">Bluesky</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/yossibartal/">Instagram</a></li>
<li>Read Yossi Bartal in The Diasporist, TAZ, Freitag, and Neues Deutschland.</li>
<li>Keep up with HEIST on Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/heistberlin_/">@heistberlin_</a>.</li>
<li>Support worker-owned Berlin journalism and <a href="https://www.heistberlin.com/sign-up/">subscribe to HEIST</a>.</li>
</ul>

<description>In this episode, HEIST founding editor Peter Matthews sits down with Berlin-based journalist Yossi Bartal to discuss the rise and fall of Hudhaifa Al-Mashhadani - a seemingly pathological liar who became the German media and political establishments’ darling. But this isn't just a story about a single grifter. It’s an indictment of German media’s failures, a patriarchal style of inter-Neukölln governance, and a multi-million-euro antisemitism industry. 
</description>

Journalist Yossi Bartal on the Al-Mashhadani case

In this episode, HEIST founding editor Peter Matthews sits down with Berlin-based journalist Yossi Bartal to discuss the rise and fall of Hudhaifa Al-Mashhadani - a seemingly pathological liar who became the German media and political establishments’ darling. But this isn't just a story about a single grifter. It’s an indictment of German media’s failures, a patriarchal style of inter-Neukölln governance, and a multi-million-euro antisemitism industry. 


The U-Bahn Assassination That Never Happened

Journalist Hebh Jamal on surviving the German Staatsräson and "imported antisemitism" 
Germany holds the largest Palestinian population anywhere in Europe, yet Palestinians are officially recorded by the state as "stateless" or "undetermined." In a country deeply defensive of its own historical memory culture, the Palestinian diaspora is cast as a nuisance, and blamed for importing antisemitism.
In the inaugural episode of the HEIST Podcast, Peter Matthews and Ben Schuman-Stoler sit down with journalist Hebh Jamal to discuss her reporting on what it feels like to live as a Palestinian in Berlin. She details the dystopian reality of building infrastructure in a city that would rather pretend you don't exist.
Read Jamal’s feature for <a href="https://www.heistberlin.com/parallel-lives-how-it-feels-to-be-palestinian-hebh-jamal-berlin/">HEIST</a>, “Parallel Lives: How It Feels to Be Palestinian in Berlin.”
This episode is part of the three-episode drop that properly kicks off the HEIST podcast. Check out our podcast feed for the other two conversations: with Yossi Bartal about a faked assassination on the U-Bahn and Ben Miller about the AfD’s abuse of queer politics.
Links & Resources:
<ul>
<li>Read Hebh Jamal's <a href="https://www.heistberlin.com/parallel-lives-how-it-feels-to-be-palestinian-hebh-jamal-berlin/">full feature article at HEIST</a>.</li>
<li>Follow her on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/hebh_jamal/?hl=en">Instagram</a></li>
<li>See her other reporting <a href="https://linktr.ee/hebhjamal">here</a></li>
<li>Keep up with HEIST on Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/heistberlin_/">@heistberlin_</a>.</li>
<li>Support worker-owned Berlin journalism and subscribe to <a href="https://www.heistberlin.com/sign-up/">HEIST</a>.</li>
</ul>

<description>In the inaugural episode of the HEIST Podcast, Peter Matthews and Ben Schuman-Stoler sit down with journalist Hebh Jamal to discuss her reporting on what it feels like to live as a Palestinian in Berlin. She details the dystopian reality of building infrastructure in a city that would rather pretend you don't exist.</description>

Journalist Hebh Jamal on surviving the German Staatsräson and "imported antisemitism" 

In the inaugural episode of the HEIST Podcast, Peter Matthews and Ben Schuman-Stoler sit down with journalist Hebh Jamal to discuss her reporting on what it feels like to live as a Palestinian in Berlin. She details the dystopian reality of building infrastructure in a city that would rather pretend you don't exist.

Life in Berlin’s Palestinian Dystopia

A short preview of what's coming
The HEIST podcast is coming soon. We'll launch on 2 July with three episodes at once: interviews with Ben Miller, Hebh Jamal, and Yossi Bartal. Subscribe to this feed and pass it around - help us spread the word.
Going forward, we'll be in your feed every two weeks. HEIST editors Ruthie Weissmann, Peter Matthews, Ivona Alavanja, and Ben Schuman-Stoler will be talking with the journalists and experts covering the stories that matter most for Berlin, Europe, and the world.
HEIST wants to steal the media back from the people who've bought it up. We want to speak to the new generations of workers, writers, and artists making their home here. This show will feature the people challenging Berlin and changing the city to reflect the shape of their own lives.
Join us at our <a href="https://www.heistberlin.com/">website</a> and follow us at <a href="https://www.instagram.com/heistberlin_/">@heistberlin_</a> for daily news, weekly features, weekend guides, and much more. 
<a href="https://buy.stripe.com/bJe00de5q6q07Z48JtdfG00?ref=heistberlin.com">To donate and support HEIST, follow this link</a>.
Music by Patrick Nininger.

<description>The HEIST podcast is coming soon. We'll launch on 6 July with three episodes at once: interviews with Ben Miller, Hebh Jamal, and Yossi Bartal. Subscribe to this feed and pass it around - help us spread the word.</description>

A short preview of what's coming

The HEIST podcast is coming soon. We'll launch on 6 July with three episodes at once: interviews with Ben Miller, Hebh Jamal, and Yossi Bartal. Subscribe to this feed and pass it around - help us spread the word.

Welcome to the HEIST Podcast

Steal the media back. A podcast from Berlin's worker-owned magazine. HEIST brings you stories from Berlin you won’t get anywhere else. From the journalists and experts who cover the most relevant stories for Berlin, Europe, and the world.

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