The series "55 Voices for Democracy" is modeled after the BBC radio speeches, through which Thomas Mann, from his home in California, turned to listeners in Germany, Switzerland, and occupied Netherlands and Czechia during the war. From 1940 until November 1945, Thomas Mann pleaded to thousands of listeners to resist the Nazi regime and thus became the most important German voice in exile. Thomas Mann’s conviction that the “social renewal of democracy” is condition and warrant for its victory seems more relevant than ever.    
 
"55 Voices for Democracy" is an initiative launched by the Thomas Mann House in October 2019. With the new podcast series, Los Angeles Review of Books, Goethe-Institut Boston, the Goethe Pop Ups in Seattle, Houston, and Kansas City as well as Wunderbar Together expand the successful series. The series is produced by Tom Lutz, Professor of Creative Writing at UC Riverside and the founding editor in chief of Los Angeles Review of Books. He is the author of nine books and winner of the American Book Award.    
 
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