tapmag

tapmag: Who’s blogging on USA Blogger? What is your background, are you American, European, or both?

Thomas Furlong: I’m a British bloke who’s been living in Germany for the greater part of my life. I’m currently trying to wrap up my studies – I take American literature/history and African studies at Cologne University – but for the time being I’ve relocated to Berlin where I dabble in online marketing. I’ve been to the US a number of times, lived in upstate New York for a year and have generally always just been intrigued by the States.

Daniel Heise: I’m (just) a German, studying social sciences in Bochum, with an interest in politics and a continuing fascination with the U.S. ever since my exchange year in High School (Charlotte, NC).

Thomas: Oh, and of course we’re always looking for anyone who wants to help out and join the fray.

tapmag:  Which topics do you write about? Who do you write for?

Thomas: For the time being we’ve mostly taken to writing articles about subjects being bandied about in American public debate that haven’t received as much coverage over in Germany. And of course we’re still coming to terms with the new Obama administration. You know, the whole “well I’m glad he won, now where’s that pet unicorn he promised me” thing.

tapmag:  Why are you blogging? Why did you start in the first place?

Thomas: At some point we found we were spending far too much time on the phone having heated discussions about minutiae of American politics, so we thought it might be a nice idea to share our nerdiness with other people. Plus I find it helps me collect my thoughts and is a good way to bookmark articles for later reference. Everyone wins.

tapmag:  Soccer or Football?

Thomas:  Same thing. Love it. Big England and somewhat disgruntled Mönchengladbach supporter. When it comes to what Americans call football on the other hand I only really watch the Superbowl. But that’s a game I never miss. Really I’m more of a basketball guy when it comes to US sports.

Dan: Soccer for me (though just a bit). When it comes to US sports I barely watch or follow any, though I like some football and baseball. Sometimes.

tapmag:  What is your favorite article on USA Blogger? Which one is the most clicked?

Thomas: You know, the problem is that the articles I like most always seem to get read least. I’m pretty happy with my article on the future of the Republican Party (although Bobby Jindal’s crash ‘n’ burn Kenneth the page performance may have impacted his chances for 2012) but the one that gets the most traffic by far is my article on the conspiracy theories surrounding Obama’s birthplace – most of which seems to comprise exactly the kind of nutters I was trying to debunk.

Dan: My favorite would be about the Minnesota recount, written after watching hours of people looking at paper (….members say Aye…..Aye!) and giving me a small reason to having watched that. To protect my sanity, I should have stopped after a couple of minutes, though.

tapmag:  Jesus or Obama?

Thomas: What, they’re not the same person?

Dan: You shouldn’t compare Obama to a convicted felon. I’m going for hope

tapmag:  What question would you have liked to answer? And what would be your answer to it?

Dan:
Q: Is it true that you are omnipotent?
A: No, but thanks for asking.

Thomas: Speak for yourself, man.

tapmag:  Tatort or The Wire?

Thomas: The Wire, hands down.

Dan: The latter is on my to-watch list.

tapmag:  Your favorite blog?

Thomas: I have far too many of the pesky things in my RSS reader, but if I have to pick one, my shout-out for the past year definitely has to go to Numberz Nate at FiveThirtyEight.com.

Dan: Have to agree there, checked it a couple of times each day at high times, which should keep me away from polls until the midterms.

tapmag: Thanks.

You can find all blog posts of this series on transatlantic blogs here.