Lars Rutz grew up in the East Berlin bohemian scene in communist Germany in the 80s. Like a lot of people in the East, he wanted to leave. But East Germany was a police state, with an ever-present spy agency, the Stasi.

What is it like to try to escape a place like that? And what is it like to read what the spies wrote about you, years later?

Links from this episode:

The Stasi really did have a library of smells.

Snowden really did have a statue in Berlin, along with Chelsea Manning and Julian Assange. Though they started in Berlin, the three statues are part of an art project, Anything to Say, which is touring the world.

Lars' lawyer was Wolfgang Vogel, who was the other lawyer in Bridge of Spies. (Not the one played by Tom Hanks.)

Lars was suggested, accidentally, by Cassie Findlay. Much of this story was originally presented by Lars at a talk for the Australian Society of Archivists.

Songs in this episode:
Love is Blindness — Jack White (Great Gatsby soundtrack)
Brain Retractor — Nick Cave & Warren Ellis
10 Sola Gratia (Part 2) — SQÜRL (Only Lovers Left Alive soundtrack)
La Valse Des Vieux Os — Yann Tiersan (Amelia soundtrack)
Engel — Laurent Pettigrand (Faraway, So Close! soundtrack)
Martha's Dream — Nick Cave & Warren Ellis
Oily Night — Tom Waits
Chasing Down Sadness — Michael Giacchino (Inside Out soundtrack)
Song For Jesse — Nick Cave & Warren Ellis
Os Quindins De Ya Ya — Stanley Black (Strictly Ballroom soundtrack)
Drive Away — Thomas Newman (Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events soundtrack)