1940s Los Angeles became the cultural capital of German and Austrian exiles - taking the cafes of Munich, Berlin, and Vienna and placing them between physical paradise and writing purgatory. In LA, airy aristocrats like Thomas Mann were put together with Marxist firebrands like Bertolt Brecht - what ensued was boredom, tedium, but also resilience and hope - and some of the most defining post-war literature to reflect on what led Germany to madness.
I often wonder about what city or perhaps online community this might mean for the exiles of Ukraine, Russia, Iran, China and more. Perhaps Nostr?