What connects a psychoanalyst and a professional interviewer? Legendary cultrual interlocutor Paul Holdengräber, founder of "LIVE from the New York Public Library," meets psychoanalyst and author Josh Cohen. Both have made listening their vocation—one in the therapeutic practice, the other in public dialogue.

This evening, they will discuss the subtleties of active listening—the power of silence and resonance, the unspoken aspects of conversations, and the art of encouraging people to speak.

The event is part of the Ways of Listening Festival, in collaboration with DAI Heidelberg. You can find an overview of the full program here.

Josh Cohen lives in London and works as a psychoanalyst, literary critic, and author. His books address contemporary issues such as privacy, work, performance culture, and anger from the perspective of psychoanalysis, culture, and personal experience. His works include: How to Read Freud (Granta, 2005), The Private Life: Why We Remain in the Dark (Granta, 2013), Not Working: Why We Have to Stop (Granta, 2019), How to Live. What to Do: How Great Novels Help Us Change (Ebury, 2021), Loser (Peninsula, 2021), and All the Rage. Why Anger drives the World (Granta 2024). His essays and reviews have appeared in The Guardian, New Statesman, Economist/1843, Granta, Aeon, and TLS.

The intellectual Paul Holdengräber was the founding director of Onassis Los Angeles. Previously, he led a formative cultural series at the New York Public Library, where he held discussions with renowned personalities such as Patti Smith and Werner Herzog.