What does freedom mean, not as a concept, but in practice?

Not as a slogan, but as the result of life journeys, formative experiences, decisions, and turning points?"FREEDOM?!" doesn't seek to explain this very special attitude toward life, but rather to bring it to light.

Through in-depth conversations with figures from diverse cultural, political, artistic, and intellectual backgrounds, a Franco-German panorama of freedom emerges: contradictory, personal, and open.

The focus is not on definitions, but on biographies. Not on ideals, but on experiences. Here, freedom appears as something that has been shaped by socialization, social environments, resistance, opportunities, and individual perspectives on the world.

The book features: Bazon Brock, Boris Palmer, Raphaël Enthoven, Wolfgang Kubicki, Eva Ionesco, Michel Houellebecq, Roman Lipski, Ulf Poschardt, Charlotte Casiraghi, Marko Martin, Frauke Petry, Frédéric Lo, Zazie de Paris, and Philipp Peyman Engel.

The book does not synthesize these perspectives into a single truth, but opens up a space for reflection. It invites readers to find their own place within it and to examine their own conception of freedom.

 - "FREEDOM?!" Event Series -

A series of events across Germany is planned to accompany the book “FREIHEIT?! – 14 Conversations.”

During these evenings, one or two figures featured in the book will join the author, Dr. Ute Cohen, to discuss their own personal concept of freedom —beyond current political issues and partisan interpretations.

The dates and venues are currently being coordinated.

If you are interested in supporting the project as a partner or in hosting a FREIHEITS discussion at your venue, please simply click the “Feedback to the Publisher” button below .

The author:

 Dr. Ute Cohen livesin Berlin and works as a writer, journalist, and presenter. Her interviews appear in renowned newspapers and magazines.

The doctor of linguistics and history worked for many years in Düsseldorf and Paris for leading American management consultancies and an international organization. She is an alumna of the German National Academic Foundation.

Her novels Satans Spielfeld (Satan's Playing Field, 2017/2021), Poor Dogs (2020), and Falscher Garten (False Garden, 2022) were published by Septime Verlag. In November 2021, the conversation volume Chaos? Hinhören singen mit Ingrid Caven (Chaos? Listening and Singing with Ingrid Caven) was published by Kampa Verlag. 

In July 2024 , "Der Geschmack der Freiheit. Eine Geschichte der Kulinarik" ( The Taste of Freedom: A History of Cuisine) was published by Reclam Verlag. In March 2025, "Glamour. Über das Wagnis, sich kunstvoll zu inszenieren" (Glamour: On the Risk of Artfully Staging Oneself) was published by Zu Klampen Verlag.

.The German art theorist and professor of aesthetics Bazon Brock.

The outspoken mayor of Tübingen and former Green Party member, Boris Palmer.

The Monegasque writer and philosopherCharlotte Casiraghi.

Philipp Peyman Engel is a journalist and editor-in-chief of the weekly newspaper Jüdische Allgemeine.

Berlin-based AI artist Roman Lipinski.