Never in human history has life changed so dramatically in such a short time for so many people as it has in China over the past 30 years. Under the command of state president and party leader Xi Jinping, China is storming its way into the top tier of global powers. Raimund Löw and Kerstin Witt-Löw have first-hand experience of the material rise of the Chinese middle classes and the country’s strict boundaries specified through censorship and political patronization. Raimund Löw has also reported from Peking and Hong Kong for the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation ORF. What remains of Mao? How does Peking intend to deal with the smog and the poisoning of the environment? How does China view its role in the world? These are some of the issues discussed in this analytical reportage on the 21st century’s greatest emerging superpower.

Around the world, decisions were made in 1999 that transpired to be highly incendiary. Laczynski delivers a surprising analysis. Financial bubbles and debt crises, Wladimir Putin and Donald Trump, the rise of China and the demise of Europe, talent shows and "Game of Thrones". Smart phones and social networks, populists and self-promoters, internet billionaires and Me Incs, 9/11 and the endless wars in the Near East – many of the developments that have shaped our era of crises and conflicts have their roots in 1999. It was a time when the future seemed within reach and the hope for world peace and prosperity for all seemed justified rather than naive. "Future's last year. How 1999 changed the world" details how the carnival of optimism came to an end and the course was set for the return of a past we thought had long been overcome.

Her voice often attracts attention for its distinctiveness, so she might as well be heard in another sense – as the voice of an author and the 'person of public interest' that Erika Pluhar has become in the course of her life. Pluhar is a prolific writer of speeches, essays and articles, declaring her personal stance on political and socio-political issues, paying tribute to contemporaries or saying farewell to people she cherished. Her opinion is both sought and provided, and she speaks out when she feels it is necessary.