Mike Litt in conversation with Schiwa Schlei

How's it going, Düsseldorf?

Our podcast "Alle Rhein" for culture in times of Corona. What Mike Litt wants to know: How did the talk guests perceive the surreal times? What has changed for them? What projects are they working on now?
In episode 32, Mike talks to Schiwa Schlei, Head of Cosmo & 1Live .

At the boxing club, on the banks of the Rhine and in the old town of Düsseldorf, the successful media manager Schiwa Schlei recharges her batteries to run two of the most successful young radio stations in NRW. The Düsseldorf native directs the WDR stations Cosmo and 1Live from Cologne with a focus on a young attitude to life and diversity. Incidentally, 1Live has just produced a podcast on "40 years of Die Toten Hosen". It provides insights into how the Düsseldorf band has shaped the German music landscape.

Schiwa Schlei was born in Tehran and later moved to Düsseldorf, where she graduated from high school. The German-Iranian studied Modern and Eastern European History, Political Science and Media Studies at Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf. The Grimme Award winner regularly represents WDR on panels and at conferences, including re:publica. Despite all her commitments in Cologne and the traveling that her job entails, she is firmly rooted in Düsseldorf.

In this episode of "Alle Rhein!", Schlei tells our host Mike Litt about her anchor points and relaxation spots in the North Rhine-Westphalian state capital, about the inspiration she got even before her responsible jobs in Düsseldorf and why a Düsseldorf boxing club is even closer to her than the traditional soccer club Fortuna 95.

Our host

Mike Litt was born in the US state of Virginia and lived in Bochum for many years. The globetrotter usually works in Cologne but lives with his family in the beautiful Düsseltal district of Düsseldorf. He is a radio presenter (1Live, WDR 2, DLF Nova), a DJ with Mayday festival experience and an author (‘The loneliest DJ in the world’). For our podcast, he holds fascinating conversations with other people from Düsseldorf’s cultural scene.

Photos
Cover picture: © WDR/Annika Fußwinkel
Mike Litt: © [email protected]
Music / Sound: Christian Moster / Mike Litt