Televisionary Talk Club: Heated Rivalry

Talk with Kais Harrabi, Deutschlandfunk Kultur, Lena Frey, Buchhandlung Rombach, René Freudenthal & Sabine Pawletta, Carl-Schurz-Haus | As part of "Televisionary Talk Club"

Ice hockey is the sport of tough guys, of teeth shattered by flying pucks, and of the highest testosterone levels in the arena. No place for (passionate) love between two fit young men—or so you’d think! But while the U.S. National Hockey League (NHL) is still mulling over its outdated image of masculinity, the internet has long since stormed the locker room. On “Televisionary Talk Club,” hosts Sabine Pawletta and René Freudenthal tackle the global phenomenon “Heated Rivalry”—the hit series of the moment about a gay romance on ice. What drives millions of spellbound viewers around the world to collectively hold their breath during the (very) intimate, ongoing feud between two top Canadian athletes? Is it the longing for a world where the hardest “check” ends in tender devotion, or simply the (very) impressive physiques of the lead actors Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams—both instant shooting stars? Deutschlandfunk Kultur critic Kais Harrabi, who reviewed the series for the station as a cultural journalist, and romance expert and bookseller Lena Frey dissect the literal on-screen chemistry with the hosts. We ask ourselves: Why is the ice, of all places, the setting where masculine masks fall so sensually? Harrabi and Frey know that the hottest dynamics arise when sparks fly under the helmet. The motto of the “Televisionary Talk Club”: Sophisticated? Certainly. Serious? Only, where necessary.