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I feel you: Über Empathie
Empathie gilt als höchste Kunst des Miteinanders. Trotzdem scheint sie der gegenwärtigen Debattenkultur abhanden gekommen zu sein. Im digitalen survival of the fittest beschäftigen sich alle mit allem, vorrangig jedoch mit sich selbst. Meinungen werden absolut, Zwischentöne unmöglich.
Warum wir wieder lernen müssen, empathisch zu sein - oder zumindest mehr empathische Egoisten brauchen -, erzählt Yasmine M'Barek in I Feel You. Von relatable Content auf Instagram über den Zusammenhang von Empathie und Kapitalismus bis zum Tod der Mit Schärfe, Humor und analytischer Klarheit plädiert Yasmine M'Barek für ein gesellschaftliches Wiederentdecken der Empathie - politisch, privat und popkulturell.
Warum wir wieder lernen müssen, empathisch zu sein - oder zumindest mehr empathische Egoisten brauchen -, erzählt Yasmine M'Barek in I Feel You. Von relatable Content auf Instagram über den Zusammenhang von Empathie und Kapitalismus bis zum Tod der Mit Schärfe, Humor und analytischer Klarheit plädiert Yasmine M'Barek für ein gesellschaftliches Wiederentdecken der Empathie - politisch, privat und popkulturell.
144 pages, Hardcover
Published September 26, 2025
1 person is currently reading
62 people want to read
About the author
Yasmine M'Barek
5 books15 followersYasmine M'Barek hat die Kölner Journalistenschule für Politik und Wirtschaft besucht und ist Redakteurin bei Zeit Online im Ressort X. 2020 wurde sie vom Medium Magazin unter die Top 30 unter 30-Journalist*innen gewählt. Im März 2022 erschien "Radikale Kompromisse" (Hoffmann & Campe). Yasmine M'Barek ist regelmäßig in politischen TV-Talks zu Gast und hostet den neuen ZEIT Podcast "Ehrlich jetzt". Sie moderiert regelmäßig mit Markus Feldenkirchen den News-Podcast "Apokalypse und Filterkaffee". Sie lebt in Köln und Berlin.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 5, 2025
At 26 years old, Yasmine M'Barek is already one of the best known political journalists in Germany - I really enjoy listening to podcasts that feature her, because she is not only smart and well-informed, she also unapologetically uses a language that suits her age without ever being cringeworthy or appearing nonserious. She has simply mastered the art of authenticity, which renders the way she delivers her takes easy to follow and full of character. This is also true of this short non-fiction book that ponders the meaning and potential of empathy in a polarized society.
Empathy, M'Barek argues, is nothing you're born with, it's a practice we have to consciously decide to train and employ, again and again. As we live in a hyper-individualistic society and suffer from ever-increasing exhaustion due to the information overload we confront ourselves with in real-time, both in the private and in the public sphere, we tend to constantly lack time and emotional resources, which renders simple or clear standpoints ever more desirable. The consequence are deficits in nuance and empathy, and we can see the effects every day. M'Barek ponders how we can counteract that.
To achieve that, she first highlights what empathy actually means: Citing Daniel Goleman, she explains that cognitive empathy means to be able to understand another person's perspective, emotional empathy means to feel what another person is feeling (within the limits of the self: we can't know what it means to be someone else), and empathic concern means to know what the other person needs. To find the space to think about these aspects allows a person to leave the constant mode of attack and defense that follows from polarized thinking: Empathy is a beginning and a bridge.
Based on these definitions, M'Barek writes about the exploitation of empathy under (digital) capitalism and empathy as a tool against the violence of capitalism, the role of empathy when it comes to fighting far-right positions (remember: to empathize means to understand, not to agree!), empathy and (cultural) criticism (remember: it fosters nuance), and the value of gossip (vs. the devastation that rumors can bring).
This is not a scientific text, it has limited references to researchers and/or other books, the tone is conversational and light and the examples range from biblical ideas to (mainly) pop culture. There are some sentences in here that display questionable grammatical choices plus a little more stringency would have been welcome, but as an essayistic attempt to structure and fuel the conversation about empathy, I found this to be a lot of fun. (Extra points for taking my mind to other things after the worst week of my life.)
You can listen to the podcast gang discussing the book (in German) here: https://papierstaupodcast.de/podcast/...
Empathy, M'Barek argues, is nothing you're born with, it's a practice we have to consciously decide to train and employ, again and again. As we live in a hyper-individualistic society and suffer from ever-increasing exhaustion due to the information overload we confront ourselves with in real-time, both in the private and in the public sphere, we tend to constantly lack time and emotional resources, which renders simple or clear standpoints ever more desirable. The consequence are deficits in nuance and empathy, and we can see the effects every day. M'Barek ponders how we can counteract that.
To achieve that, she first highlights what empathy actually means: Citing Daniel Goleman, she explains that cognitive empathy means to be able to understand another person's perspective, emotional empathy means to feel what another person is feeling (within the limits of the self: we can't know what it means to be someone else), and empathic concern means to know what the other person needs. To find the space to think about these aspects allows a person to leave the constant mode of attack and defense that follows from polarized thinking: Empathy is a beginning and a bridge.
Based on these definitions, M'Barek writes about the exploitation of empathy under (digital) capitalism and empathy as a tool against the violence of capitalism, the role of empathy when it comes to fighting far-right positions (remember: to empathize means to understand, not to agree!), empathy and (cultural) criticism (remember: it fosters nuance), and the value of gossip (vs. the devastation that rumors can bring).
This is not a scientific text, it has limited references to researchers and/or other books, the tone is conversational and light and the examples range from biblical ideas to (mainly) pop culture. There are some sentences in here that display questionable grammatical choices plus a little more stringency would have been welcome, but as an essayistic attempt to structure and fuel the conversation about empathy, I found this to be a lot of fun. (Extra points for taking my mind to other things after the worst week of my life.)
You can listen to the podcast gang discussing the book (in German) here: https://papierstaupodcast.de/podcast/...
February 5, 2026
3,5 Sterne. Kann man schon machen, viele gute Gedanken und teilweise sehr relatable. Ich hätte mir nur eine klarere Struktur gewünscht.
Außerdem spricht sie das Hörbuch verhältnismäßig schnell und die Soundqualität ist nicht sonderlich hoch.
Außerdem spricht sie das Hörbuch verhältnismäßig schnell und die Soundqualität ist nicht sonderlich hoch.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews