“Are we above them or are we like them?”

by Jenny Friedrich-Freksa

Our editor-in-chief takes a look at the current issue.

The Thar Desert in Rajasthan

by Maximilian Mann

About the deeply rooted tradition of nature conservation among the Bishnoi in the middle of the Indian desert.

The saiga antelope

By Elena Bykowa, Olya Esipowa

About a special animal from Uzbekistan

Short-lived art

by Francisco Méndez

About a special Easter tradition in Antigua.

The lucky penny

By Francis Healy

The musician tells of a Scottish tradition.

In a strong voice

By Auma Obama

Auma Obama is a German scholar, sociologist, author - and Barack Obama's sister. She doesn't like to discuss her famous brother, preferring to talk about her life and her work between Germany and Kenya.

A house in Auckland

By Todd Henry

A little piece of home away from home

“Humans think that animals are slaves to their emotions”

In conversation with Frans de Waal

Behavioural scientist Frans de Waal talks about emotional animals and how we humans have become alienated from nature. A conversation.

Meat on legs

By Corine Pelluchon

The mass production of animals inoculates us to their suffering. Our insensitivity is coming back to haunt us.

“We are bringing species too close to one another”

In conversation with Donal Bisanzio

Zoonotic diseases are pathogens transmitted between humans and animals. How can they be kept under control? A conversation with the epidemiologist Donal Bisanzio.

Evil cats and egg-laying roosters

By Douglas O. Linder

How our relationship to the animal world has shaped us humans. A cultural history.

Moving towards spring

By Francesca Buoninconti

Whales, turtles, migratory birds: many animals migrate around the world every year but their ancient routes are increasingly at risk.

Not without my sheep

By Ajsalkyn Jessenbajewa, Asel Shabdanova

Every summer is spent with her animals in the mountains: The life of a shepherdess in Kyrgyzstan.

On deer mountain

By Luis Montesinos Césped

How do you study an almost unknown species of deer? And how can it be protected? A park ranger from Chile reports.

“Uganda produces 2.4 billion litres of of milk a year”

In conversation with Paul Ssuna

The vet Paul Ssuna explains why booming agriculture in his homeland has encouraged factory farming and how it impacts animal welfare. A conversation.

“I talk to them like with a baby”

In conversation with T.C. Boyle

The writer T.C. Boyle explains why he writes about animals and how he communicates with them. An interview.

Hugging horses

By Sean Riley

Many US soldiers suffer severe trauma during wars. Undergoing therapy with horses helps them return to their everyday lives. A veteran explains.

Sweet pandas and rats with wings

By Jane C. Desmond

How our culture colours our relationship to animals.

Captive in the snow

By Andrej Kurkow

A short story.

The bat - El murciélago

By Claribel Alegría

A poem from Nicaragua.

Far from the front

By Noémi Kiss

For years the remote villages in the Caucasus have served as recruiting grounds for militias fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh. Notes from a journey through the Azerbaijani hinterlands.

The great tea revolution

By Brian Hioe

Under the hashtag #MilkTeaAlliance, more and more people in Southeast Asia are rising up against autocracy and censorship. What’s behind the online movement?

The empty lunch box

By Susanna Krüger

For many children, school provides not just education but a healthy meal. The United Nations report “State of School Feeding Worldwide 2020” reveals how the pandemic has hit those who have the least the hardest.

On a collision course

By Shihoko Goto

Under Donald Trump, the US turned its back on its Asian allies and openly challenged Peking. Now it is up to Joe Biden to pick up the pieces. 

A hotel for women writers

By Leonie Düngefeld

The German-French collective “Réseau des Autrices” offers female authors a virtual home for their ideas - and a space for political debate.

We think that graffiti should be legalised

Commented by Katya Assaf, Tim Schnetgöke

A lawyer and a photographer explain why we should not let the ability to shape public space be taken out of our hands.

The end of the uprising

By Amira El Ahl

Ten years ago, the world watched the Arab Spring with bated breath. In his new book, journalist Jörg Armbruster chronicles what is left of the revolution.

Second-class people

By Sabine Scholl

In her novel, author Cho Nam-Joo tells of a South Korean woman who is caught between tradition and hypermodernity.

The Soviet lockdown

By Michail Schischkin

At the end of the 1930s, a plague epidemic was averted in Russia. Lyudmila Ulitskaya's novel about the era reads as a parable of our time.

What the state tells us

By Kurt-Jürgen Maaß

Robert Winder has analysed the history of soft power - and how governments can best use it.