Video and Audio

Episode 1 features Dr. Patrick Roberts and Dr. Yoshi Maezumi on a recent trip to Sri Lanka discussing how they use novel methods to study the emergence of past cities in tropical environments. This includes a discussion of how past populations honed food production strategies, water management systems, and the use of fire to support large populations in these dynamic landscapes and what this might teach us about tropical urban sustainability in the present.

Caption image on the left: Systems researcher Antje Boetius investigates survival strategies in the extreme natural environment of the rainforest.
Copyright: ZDF/ZDF/UFA documentary more

What do Antarctic glaciers and extreme weather, retail chains and political role-playing games have in common? Ricarda Winkelmann is researching the Anthropocene in Jena. By Petra Pinzler and Stefan Schmidt via Zeit Online. (Audio in German) more

The Thuringian Research Prizes have been awarded for scientific excellence since 1995. This year, one prize went to the University of Jena and another to the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology in Jena. Audio in German. more

Fuel-forage-food. This is the common rule of three describing the conflict over the distribution of agricultural production: Fuel for machines, feed for animals, or food for people. Facing the social debate about ways out of the energy crisis, the Werkleitz Festival 2024 (Fuel or Food) aims to take a fresh look at this conflict. On Friday May 31 the festival and the respecitive exhibition was opened with quite some publicity at the center of Halle (Saale). MPI GEA researcher Dr. Benjamin Steininger is one of the co-curators of the exhibition and got interviewed by Deutschlandfunk-Kultur about "The nitrogen conspiracy.”

Image info: Themeninsel 2 Bilder der Landwirtschaft, Ausstellungsansicht Tank oder Teller © Werkleitz 2024, Foto: Falk Wenzel more

An open society and a strong democracy - that is what the leading science organizations are calling for. According to a statement, the challenges of our time require a diversity of talents. Video from MDR in German. more

Podcast: “Networking with plants in the Anthropocene”. Interview with Prof. Patrícia Vieira from the MPI-GEA project RESILIENT: Forest Cities - Utopia and Development in the Modern Amazon. more

From the Leakey Foundation’s “Origin Stories”  Podcast: Travel through 50,000 years of human history following clues hidden inside beads made from ostrich eggshells. In this episode, researchers Jennifer Miller and Yiming Wang share how these tiny artifacts reveal a sweeping story of ancient social networks, cultural connections, and human adaptability. more

Deutschlandfunk Kultur podcast episode with Jürgen Renn (audio in German) more

Anyone who has a dog is convinced that the relationship between dog and human is something unique. A close bond, unshakeable, perhaps even love. Dogs are the most popular pets worldwide. But why does the relationship between humans and dogs feel so special? Do dogs really love us? And if so, why? (Audio in German) more

How political should science be? A conversation with Jürgen Renn about research into the Anthropocene and responsibility in the climate crisis. (Audio in German) more

Wissen Was News (Video in German) - Researchers from MPI-GEA have now analyzed the fragrances of a mummy for the first time and recreated the smell. These are the richest and most complex balsams identified so far for this period of Egyptian history. more

Deutschlandfunk Kultur interview with Jürgen Renn (audio in German) more

SRF interview with Jürgen Renn on the beginnings of the Anthropocene (audio in German) more

Dr. Jennifer Miller and Dr. Yiming Wang discuss how their research into ostrich eggshell beads reveals symbolic behavior and social networks in the distant past more