FIGURE 4.30 Berlin’s “bear pit” karaoke. Every Sunday afternoon in Berlin, an event that many visitors describe as magical and heartwarming occurs. In the Mauerpark, or “wall park,” a green space established after the dismantling of the Berlin Wall in 1989, a crowd of thousands gathers in a stone amphitheater to cheer on total strangers performing karaoke. Singers almost always get a huge round of applause—whether they’re good or whether they just come across as a nice person. Gareth Lennon, an Irish bike messenger and karaoke enthusiast, started the event in 2009 as he rode around Berlin with a bike-mounted, battery-powered karaoke system and filmed people as they performed. He happened on the amphitheater one Sunday afternoon; within months, hundreds and then thousands began to show up every weekend. Courtesy Carsten Koall/Getty Images