“Was wir wissen” – the FWF Magazine Scilog’s New Podcast

The first season of the FWF podcast, which will be broadcast in German starting November 12, tackles a really big topic. It is about nothing less than us: humanity. What do we know about being human? Good question – and not so easy to answer. That’s why in six episodes, the two hosts Francesca Grandolfo and Thomas Zauner will be visiting researchers at work and gathering as much knowledge as possible. Episodes will focus on a wide range of topics, like the origin of life four billion years ago, the history of civilization, the development of language and cognition, artificial intelligence, and humans’ influence on the environment in the Anthropocene age. Speaking of the Anthropocene – does it even exist?

Bringing science to life

In labs, institutes, and out in the field, the two journalists Francesca and Thomas talk to researchers throughout Austria about what they are currently working on, about basic research, curiosity, and interdisciplinary collaboration that opens up new perspectives; about creativity and about the moment when new knowledge is revealed – or not.

Featuring plenty of background information, the new scilog podcast puts content, studies, and perhaps even previously unnoticed connections into context. The hosts talk to experts from the field and draw their own conclusions based on what they have learned.

From curiosity to evidence

“Was wir wissen” asks science-related questions and shows how research works, where its limits are, and how it benefits society. With this new podcast, the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) is making an important contribution at a time when many people see science as abstract, unreliable, and elitist.

Working in research can be quite hard and often thankless. It takes a lot of staying power to pursue an idea, raise funding, develop new methods, and gain the insights that finally lead to a breakthrough.

Is tackling the big questions still worth it? Where are we still feeling around in the dark, how can we all expand our knowledge on a daily basis, and why do we even need science? These are the issues the science podcase “Was wir wissen” will try to answer.

Podcast “Was wir wissen”