By Cora LeCates
October 14th, 2025
BERLIN—Tonight, our class filled up the entire indoor seating area at Ebn Tamshah–a Palestinian restaurant in Berlin’s Charlottenburg neighborhood. Inside, mosaic lanterns and tapestries are layered against portraits of Che Guevara and Shireen Abu Akleh; decorative mirrors and ceramic plates framed pictures of the owners’ family. The evening was dedicated to a conversation with journalists Joshua Yaffa, Jakub Laichter, and Barbara Demick.
Over plates of pita and pitchers of lemonade, we took turns discussing our ideas and plans for migration reporting this week in Berlin. As we were still in the first few days of the trip, shaking off jet lag and locking down our sources, some projects were in more certain states than others. Nonetheless, every piece offered a distinct lens on the story of migration in Germany, blending political and legal concerns with the more humanitarian, sociological, or religious elements of migrant communities. Some of us are interested in Palestinians or Afghans, while others are choosing to write about Ukrainians or Syrians. Still others veer into the more political realm, tracking manifestations of right-wing extremism in local football clubs, or reporting on the rising popularity of the AfD amongst German youth.
Occasionally, overhearing our conversation, Rayk Nabil—our waiter, and the son of the chef at Ebn Tamshah—would chime in with a word on his own experiences. Nabil is well-acquainted with the political landscape for migrants in Germany at present. He studied history in school, and his social world includes a network of many migrants from different parts of the world. Hearing our interests in residents of Berlin from different backgrounds, he recommended several friends for interviews off the top of his head. The combination of the advice of Joshua and Barbara and the serendipitous input from Nabil reminded me of a phrase we’d heard earlier today in a very different context: “Coincidence and circumstance.”
At the German Historical Museum, our afternoon tour of the “Roads Not Taken” exhibit provided a compelling—if controversial—lens for looking at German history. The exhibit’s overarching premise, our guide explained, is to outline centuries of German history with an eye on alternative outcomes. What were the key moments in German history where a single decision shaped the lives of millions? Where were its most important mistakes or accidents? And what might have happened if German leaders had chosen differently? The exhibit views the study of history as an examination of a long series of decisions—and their repercussions. In a country with a history as influential and haunted as Germany’s, the exhibit is daring.
“Coincidence and circumstance,” our guide kept repeating this afternoon, arguing that these two elements were responsible for some of the most transformative, catalytic, or devastating moments in human history. I disagree. A national history cannot be illustrated as merely a series of forks in the road; there are too many people implicated and involved in its every event and “decision” to allow for such a reductive portrayal. Especially in the country responsible for, as our guide himself called it, “the singular insanity of human history” that was the Holocaust, the notion that entertaining alternative histories might be worthwhile can seem insensitive—or, at minimum, a fruitless attempt to imagine what might have been.
Still, our dinner conversation today emphasized the importance of “coincidence and circumstance” on the level of the individual, and indeed for the profession of journalism. Joshua and Barbara underscored the importance of critical, uncontrollable factors in their own careers, from the timing of a story to the unpredictable or erratic behaviors of their sources. Meanwhile, the very setting of Ebn Tamshah, and Nabil’s coincidental connections to many of our stories, spoke to the huge potential value of random events and circumstances in reporting work. Journalism is challenging because it is so unpredictable—yet, this volatile quality is also what makes it exciting.
Today’s activities reminded me to approach the remainder of our time in Berlin with coincidence and circumstance in mind—to control, as far as I can, the conditions in my reporting, and to keep an eye out for leads and stories wherever they might appear.
