Culture: Kasia Lenhardt: A life staged as a cliffhanger

The classic investigative piece, whether on television or in print, was once a dry affair: in a highly condensed form and unwaveringly sober, formalized language, it presented us the result of its research: a strictly selected selection of statements and evidence that was intended to convince us that on There is a significant grievance in the place mentioned, which concerns not only those involved and those affected by it, but also us, all of us. Seen from today’s perspective, its formal purism seems almost touching – as if it speaks of a naive trust in God, which can no longer be justified by anything, that what is important and journalistically significant simply because it is important and significant also penetrates and is also economically significant will wear.

Today we have long since considered it appropriate, even necessary, for investigative media to exhaust all available means in order to hold its own in the race for our attention – and to find us, its audience, as they say. We follow the race of which we are the target with professional, honored interest. And accordingly, we no longer see the pair of words “investigative research” and “entertainment” as an irreconcilable contradiction, but are immediately ready to list numerous favorite examples in which the former antipodes have not only formed attractive but even particularly powerful connections. The long list begins, yes, of course, with Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show” – and since the format has actually been resumed, it doesn’t seem inconceivable that it will end the list at some point.

Journalists Maike Backhaus and Nora Gantenbrink are probably also worried that their current, awe-inspiring meticulous research might not be perceived to the extent it deserves, discussed, clicked on and shared enough. In any case, they have decided to publish their investigative piece – with strong PR support from Spiegel-Verlag – in the form of a massive six-part podcast.

The podcast has now made a noticeable impact in the media and is called “NDA – The Kasia Lenhardt File”. The authors examine the question, which has not yet been clarified legally, as to whether the soccer player Jérôme Boateng caused severe harm to his former lover Katarzyna “Kasia” Lenhardt by using not only physical and mental violence, but also dubious to inadmissible legal means. And of course – even if it is never explicitly formulated by the authors – the obvious follow-up question arises while listening. Namely, whether Boateng also bears, if not legal, at least ethical, responsibility for Lenhardt’s suicide, which still obsessively concerns not only the tabloids but also social media.

Spurred on by the seriousness of these multiple suspicions, but also that of the overarching theme, the mass phenomenon of “intimate partner violence,” Backhaus and Gantenbrink seem to be just that Everything that can be found out about such a case based on human judgment has actually been found out and documented with the greatest care. Unfortunately, the central problem with your podcast, which lasts over three hours, is that it leaves the listener with the tiring impression that all of this is being listed almost without exception and unabridged. Even if you listen to the individual episodes with the utmost attention, which is by no means the usual use of a podcast, it is not easy to follow the stream of new details, clues, assumptions and facts that flow in an inexplicable rush.

Trying to retain what you hear for a while and process it sensibly proves to be even more challenging. At some point one thinks that the form presented here is actually accurately described with the title term of the act. And yes, what we heard at the end is less like a concise, vivid narrative than an impressive collection of material that primarily strives for completeness.

Ultimately, there would have been little objection to that, and even to the lack of a classifying, higher level of reflection – had the whole thing been published as a text, as a voluntary offer to study the files. But if a collection like this is read to you at a relentlessly high pace over several hours, you’ll want to stop studying early.

Finally, it should be noted that, given the deflating tragedy of the title character’s life, it might have been advisable not to end each episode with a glaring cliffhanger (“We’ll talk about it in the next episode: about Kasia Lenhardt’s death file! «). It wouldn’t have been absolutely necessary to persistently ask listeners to recommend and like the podcast every time and, if you please, to take out a “Spiegel Plus subscription” right away so that they could consume all the episodes at once.

Of course, the authors can’t do anything about the fact that a disgusting true crime series called “Crime Scene Berlin – Nightlife Killer” is advertised in the middle of the first episode. But someone does. As we have long known, Kasia Lenhardt ended her life in Berlin. The unknown person now has something to be a little ashamed of when given the opportunity.

Available on all common streaming portals or at: www.spiegel.de

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