Nah am Wasser Vol. 2: MACHT mit Eva Ladipo x Harbour Front Literaturfestival Hamburg

The new series of events at the Rathauspassage Festival Center as part of the Harbor Front Literature Festival explores the big yet deeply personal questions of love, relationships, and sexuality. Together with fascinating guests, Prof. Dr. Sonja Bröning will spend three evenings discussing emotional worlds in which we feel safe—until we experience them ourselves. The focus will be on desire, power, and shame—explored in an open, intelligent, surprising, and accessible way.

Right in the heart of Hamburg, a space is being created for honest conversations, new perspectives, and encounters beyond taboos. Personal, relevant, and always close to the water.

Sonja Bröningteaches and conducts research as a professor of developmental psychology at MSH Medical School Hamburg, including in the sexual sciences program. At MSH, she also runs the book club “Liebes Leben.” She is a couples and sex therapist in private practice.

Dates:
Wednesday, September 23, 2026, 8:00 p.m. Vol. 1: DESIRE with the ZEIT podcast “Is That Normal?”
Tuesday, September 29, 2026, 8:00 p.m. Vol. 2: POWER with Eva Ladipo
Tuesday, October 6, 2026, 8:00 p.m. Vol. 3: SHAME with Bianca Nawrath

Tuesday, September 29, 2026, 8:00 p.m.
Episode 2: POWER with Eva Ladipo

What does masculinity do to men—and what do societal expectations make of them? Why do some young men today feel lost, while others seek solace in authoritarian role models to feel strong and powerful? And who actually benefits from the narrative of “toxic masculinity”?

In her book *Not am Mann: The Invention of Toxic Masculinity*, Eva Ladipo examines how pop culture, social media, and political rhetoric contribute to the radicalization of young men and why gender stereotypes still hold so much power over us.

In conversation with Prof. Dr. Sonja Bröning, she discusses power, masculinity, and the longing for belonging—as well as the consequences of outdated role models for love, relationships, and sexuality.

An evening exploring wounded egos, political seductions, and the question of what a different understanding of masculinity might look like.