Born in 1954, Matthias Matussek studied literature and US English in Berlin, and worked as a journalist for the Berlin newspaper ›Abend‹ and for ›Tip-Magazin‹. In 1982 he joined ›Stern‹, and for five years wrote articles from all over the world for the magazine, most of them on cultural topics. Since 1987 Matthias Matussek has been working for ›Spiegel‹ magazine, whose New York office he has headed since the beginning of 1992. He is the author of numerous radio and television features. In 1992 he was awarded the Egon-Erwin-Kisch prize for a report from former East Germany.