"Whoever controls oil can prevent progress"

On 12 January, 2026, German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung published a large interview with MPI-GEA and SusMax-Postdoc Dr. Benjamin Steininger on the enduring legacy of oil in the Anthropocene

'Oil' is once more at the center of global geopolitics at the very beginning of 2026 - even if we might have thought to have overcome the bizarre relevance of the 20th century's 'black gold. What does that mean from the standpoint of geoanthropology? What can we learn from petromodernity-research on todays challenges? What narratives and strategies are new, what are just old and reactionary? How do these moves interfere with the challanges of the Anthropocene, of energy, chemistry, and other transformations? 

On 12 January, 2026, leading German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung published a large interview with MPI-GEA and SusMax-Postdoc Dr. Benjamin Steininger on these questions, and we are happy to give access to the interview. Click here for the full interview (in German).