• Deutsch
  • English
Log in

Christian Schwägerl

author journalist biologist RiffReporter

Projects
  • Journalism
  • Articles
  • The Analogue Revolution
  • Anthropocene
  • 11 Wars
  • Nature studies
  • About Me
  • Matter

    Sensors

  • Matter

    Natural Zen

  • Nature studies

    On their way

  • Nature studies

    Let’s revitalize the landscape

  • Matter

    New perspectives

  • Nature studies

    Isonzo

  • Nature studies

    Human mass

  • Nature studies

    Naked Truth

  • Anthropocene

    The geometry of mankind

  • Nature studies

    Frozen in time

  • Nature studies

    Tech River Main

  • Nature studies

    The geology of mankind

  • Journalism

    Traces of creativity

  • Nature studies

    I want the real thing

  • Nature studies

    Network administrator

  • Nature studies

    Maastricht sunrise

  • Anthropocene

    Mannheim: Brutalism

  • Nature studies

    Bird’s view

  • Nature studies

    Kapotasana

  • Anthropocene

    Being a cactus in the Anthropocene

  • Nature studies

    Multiplication

  • Nature studies

    Ultra Autumn

  • Nature studies

    State in a lab

  • Anthropocene

    The Smartphone Kiln

  • The Analogue Revolution

    Real Internet

  • 11 Wars

    Summer 2015

  • Nature studies

    17 million years deep

  • The Analogue Revolution

    Towards Googlonia

  • Matter

    Multitude

  • Nature studies

    Same same, but different

  • Matter

    Rabbit

  • Nature studies

    The continuum

  • Anthropocene

    Postromantic Landscape

  • Nature studies

    Naturetrial

  • Nature studies

    Plant breeding

  • The Analogue Revolution

    Sense and sensors

  • Nature studies

    Ticino, 2015

  • Matter

    Arnold Leissler, Pastorale, 1963/64

  • Anthropocene

    Google Hill

  • Nature studies

    Warning signals

  • Anthropocene

    Longing

  • Nature studies

    002015

  • Nature studies

    Magnolia

  • Matter

    Near Googleplex

  • Allgemein

    Artificial Intelligence

  • Matter

    Downtown SF

  • Matter

    Earth’s crust

  • Matter

    Real virtuality

  • Matter

    From the analogue Net

  • Nature studies

    Burrowing Owl

  • Anthropocene

    Anthropocene birds

  • Matter

    Homeland

  • Matter

    Afterwards

  • Matter

    FabLab

  • Matter

    Scales of time

  • Matter

    Berlin’s Stonehenge

  • Matter

    Transient space

  • Matter

    The Net

  • Matter

    Geology of mankind

  • Matter

    Intimate relationship

  • Matter

    Metabolism

  • Matter

    Neo-wilderness

  • Matter

    The nature within

  • Matter

    Skyfall

  • Matter

    Pure Nature

  • Matter

    Dance!

  • Anthropocene

    The colours
    of neo-nature

  • Nature studies

    Asphalt jungle

  • Anthropocene

    Connection

  • Anthropocene

    The finite Sea

  • Nature studies

    Interface

  • Anthropocene

    Man on the street

  • The Analogue Revolution

    Let it sprout, Seattle, 2014

  • Nature studies

    Kew Gardens, London, 2014

  • The Analogue Revolution

    Connection, Seattle, 2014

  • Matter

    The missing link, London, April 2014

  • Matter

    Elective affinity

  • Nature studies

    Neo-Nature

  • The Analogue Revolution

    Mind meets geology

  • Matter

    Boards, Uckermark 2014

  • Nature studies

    The Thinker

  • Matter

    Carbonized house, May 2014

  • Project X

    The Reef

  • Matter

    Solar mass

  • Matter

    Crystall clear

  • Matter

    Earth System Modelling

  • Matter

    White Holes

  • Matter

    Karwendel 2

  • Matter

    Karwendel 1

  • Matter

    Antonioniland

<
>
Journalism
We’re “Science Journalists of the Year”
17. March 2018

We’re “Science Journalists of the Year”

“What Christian Schwägerl and Tanja Krämer have created with RiffReporter is unparalleled: a cooperative with a platform for science journalists. So that they can network, initiate new projects together, as well as advice and start-up support. Above all, the project embodies the impetus to bring the evidence-based core of journalism to the fore – in times in which “postfactual” trends are becoming stronger”.

  • RiffReporter receives major award for digital journalism innovation
    17. November 2017
    RiffReporter receives major award for digital journalism innovation
  • A media ecosystem
    21. February 2017
    A media ecosystem
  • Masterclass #2 on its way – with great mentors
    20. August 2016
    Masterclass #2 on its way – with great mentors
  • Heading new Science JournalismMasterclass for innovative projects
    1. April 2016
    Heading new Science Journalism
    Masterclass for innovative projects
  • Bosch Masterclass #1: Results
    10. December 2015
    Bosch Masterclass #1: Results
Articles
New articles (mainly in German)
2. February 2018

New articles (mainly in German)

ZEIT Magazin Wissen, Januar/Februar 2018
The power of our conscience

ZEIT Magazin Wissen, Januar/Februar 2018
Interview with former UNEP director Klaus Töpfer, led jointly with Max Rauner

GEO, December 2017
How good are we really? Report on moral research

Yale E360, November 14,2017
In Drive to Cut Emissions, Germany Confronts Its Car Culture

  • Listen, observe, think, check,write, talk, listen…
    22. February 2017
    Listen, observe, think, check,
    write, talk, listen…
  • DIE ZEIT: The power of “Now”
    1. December 2015
    DIE ZEIT: The power of “Now”
  • …collected works since ’88
    2. October 2015
    …collected works
    since ’88
  • FAZ: Germany is growing!
    29. September 2015
    FAZ: Germany is growing!
  • Alexa Clay: Thepower of misfits
    7. September 2015
    Alexa Clay: The
    power of misfits
Books
Global upheavals,underrated risks
19. August 2016

Global upheavals,
underrated risks

In August 2016, scientists from the “Anthropocene Working Group”have officially confirmed what they had written earlier in a “Science” paper: the Anthropocene is a global geological reality. This new epoch is the topic of my book “The Anthropocene”, published in 2014. What we do on and with Earth does not only change nature and our daily lives today. It has a fundamental impact on the course of evolution and natural history. When I wrote the German version of the book between 2008 and 2010, Anthropocene was an exotic term. Now it is discussed globally, with museums and cultural institutions starting to reflect it in their work. My second book, “11 Looming Wars” (2012), co-written with Andreas Rinke, Reuter’s chief political correspondent in Berlin, couldn’t be more up to date – unfortunately. In our conflict scenarios, we anticipated the current “refugee crisis” and recent maritime conflicts and describe other dangerous developments which receive too little public attention. An updated paperback edition came out in November 2015. My latest book, which came out in autumn 2014, is called “The Analogue Revolution”. Analogue, not digital? Exactly.

  • Scientific American recommends“The Anthropocene”
    16. August 2016
    Scientific American recommends
    “The Anthropocene”
  • Correctiv talk about“11 Looming Wars”
    13. January 2016
    Correctiv talk about
    “11 Looming Wars”
  • 11 Looming Wars –an outlook into the future
    9. November 2015
    11 Looming Wars –
    an outlook into the future
  • (Deutsch) Steinmeier: “Wiegt euch nicht in falscher Sicherheit”
    9. November 2015
    (Deutsch) Steinmeier: “Wiegt euch nicht
    in falscher Sicherheit”
  • Book launch with Hertie and Böll Foundations
    16. October 2015
    Book launch with
    Hertie and Böll Foundations
Anthropocene
Journey into a man-made epoch
20. August 2016

Journey into a man-made epoch

In my work as a journalist, I have witnessed burning rainforests, visited uranium mines and hiked on smelting glaciers. I have seen human ingenuity at work in some of the world’s leading research labs. I have interviewed top politicians, managers and scientists. I have participated in many UN climate conferences since “COP1” in Berlin 1995 and have covered German federal ministers for environment, energy and research. All these experiences helped me to grasp the significance of the Anthropocene idea. In my book on the Anthropocene, which came out in German in 2010, I have tried to relate my experiences to this grand new idea of humanity’s place in Earth history. The book has brought me in close contact with Paul J. Crutzen, the Nobel laureate who helped to coin the word and shape the Anthropocene idea.It also has inspired the “Anthropocene Project 2012-14” by Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Deutsches Museum and IASS Potsdam as well as the special exhibition about the Anthropocene at Deutsches Museum (German Technology Museum) Munich, for which I have served as a co-leader (HKW) and co-curator (DM). In 2015, I was part of a group of scientists to write a review paper called “The Anthropocene Biosphere“. The Anthropocene idea is gaining ground and critical attention world-wide. I support the critical and careful enquiry of this far-reaching hypothesis and will contribute to it with new publications and projects.

  • Seminar for German NationalAcademic Foundation
    19. April 2016
    Seminar for German National
    Academic Foundation
  • A short summary of recentAnthropocene activities
    11. April 2016
    A short summary of recent
    Anthropocene activities
  • If it was a brand
    26. March 2016
    If it was a brand
  • Great Anthropocene explainers on video
    1. March 2016
    Great Anthropocene explainers on video
  • Anthropocene Intro:Next Nature Talk 2012
    19. February 2016
    Anthropocene Intro:
    Next Nature Talk 2012
Talks
In touch with audiences
20. August 2016

In touch with audiences

Since the public presentation of my Anthropocene book at Berlin’s Natural History museum in September 2010 with UNEP director Achim Steiner (photo) and my first public talk about the Anthropocene at Urania in Berlin I had the chance to talk to many audiences and interact with them. I have shared great days with organizers of events, like the “Zooetics” series in Lithuania and Steirischer Herbst in Graz/Austria. The different perspectives of people in the audience, like pupils at Berlin’s Nelson Mandela School, plant oil producers at their anniversary celebration and design students at the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Karlsruhe, were enriching for me as well. In March 2015 I was invited to present at the Royal Institution and the Royal Society of Arts in London. For 2016 a number of talks are already lined up and I look forward to getting in touch with the audiences.

  • Talks at Cologne philosophy festival
    20. June 2016
    Talks at Cologne philosophy festival
  • Recent talks
    19. February 2016
    Recent talks
  • Helmholtz-Focus: Mensch-Maschine
    11. June 2015
    Helmholtz-Focus:
    Mensch-Maschine
  • IP Forum 2015: Democratization of the digital sphere?
    27. May 2015
    IP Forum 2015: Democratization
    of the digital sphere?
  • My Anthropocene talk at the RSA London
    5. May 2015
    My Anthropocene talk at the RSA London
Nature studies
Ultra-urban birdwatching in Berlin
20. May 2016

Ultra-urban birdwatching in Berlin

Zabriskie is a great little bookstore in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district. Their focus is on books at the intersection of nature and culture. A great place to start a birding trip. Interest was great – 80 people registered, I could only do the birding walk with two groups of ten each. We’ve heard only a few species, like swifts and robins, but it was a wonderful experience nevertheless to direct our attention away from human to bird sounds.

  • Anthropocene birdwatching:seeing what should be but isn’t
    24. February 2016
    Anthropocene birdwatching:
    seeing what should be but isn’t
  • From bogs to technature
    11. December 2015
    From bogs to technature
  • Who’s calling?
    30. May 2015
    Who’s calling?
  • Humanalia
    30. May 2015
    Humanalia
  • The Cloud
    8. February 2015
    The Cloud
The Analogue Revolution
The Analogue Revolution is nigh
24. February 2016

The Analogue Revolution is nigh

A humanoid robot walking through a forest, stumbling, but he keeps going. Where? This is what I explore in my most recent book, “The Analogue Revolution”. Analogue is the opposite of digital. It’s everything that is not binary but connected on fluid scales. Life is analogue. But increasingly, digital products also become analogue. They leave the screens and become…swarm-like drones, animal- or human-like robots, tangible things. Even beings? These technological changes will cause many dramatic upheavals in our societies. But where will thsi development lead us, too? I am not a techno-pessimist. But in order to move this huge tech revolution into a good direction, a lot has to happen in society. That’s why I wrote this book.

  • Book launch with Hertie and Böll Foundations
    16. October 2015
    Book launch with
    Hertie and Böll Foundations
  • Technature @Steirischer Herbst
    12. October 2015
    Technature @Steirischer Herbst
  • Great typo
    7. October 2015
    Great typo
  • Helmholtz-Focus: Mensch-Maschine
    11. June 2015
    Helmholtz-Focus:
    Mensch-Maschine
  • IP Forum 2015: Democratization of the digital sphere?
    27. May 2015
    IP Forum 2015: Democratization
    of the digital sphere?
About me

My center of activity is www.riffreporter.de, so this page is only updated irregularly.

Contact: christianschwaegerl@gmail.com
Twitter: @chrschwaegerl @riffreporter
+49-172-5750719

► Co-founder of RiffReporter eG – the Cooperative for Free Journalism and Riff freie Medien gGmbH
► Co-founder of “Die Flugbegleiter” (The Flight Attendants)
► Freelance journalist for GEO, FAZ, ZEIT Wissen Magazine, Yale E360 and other media
► Books: “Menschenzeit” about the anthropocene, “11 threatening wars” (with A. Rinke) about conflict risks, “The analog revolution” about the future of digital technologies
► Head of Masterclass “Science Journalism” of Bosch Foundation and Reporter Forum
► I frequently give lectures, for example at universities and cultural festivals.
► Co-founder and co-director of the “Anthropozene Project” at the House of World Cultures, co-founder and co-curator of the Anthropozene Exhibition at the Deutsches Museum.
► 2001-2008 FAZ cultural and science correspondent and 2008-2012 SPIEGEL political correspondent.

Suche
Christian Schwägerl © 2014 All Rights Reserved
Contact | Legal | Privacy Policy