This interview began in Hamburg and Berlin and continued virtually, as an active email exchange, between November 2017 and April 2018. Our conversation was sparked by the recent and ongoing turn to the right in global politics. It departs from exploring ‘affective modes of inquiry’, which our interview partners have applied in recent articles. We then move on to discuss the events of Brexit in the UK and the return of the far right to German Parliament in 2017, as well as recent terms such as ‘techlash’ and ‘fake news’. Against this background, we tackle the core concern of this special issue by asking for the locations of affect in the concepts of ‘affective resonance’ and ‘(atmo)spheres’. Finally, we ponder the potential of ‘affective counterpolitics’ and the challenges this brings for an academic engagement with realpolitik.