"Can't go on like this"

Science YouTuber wants to “stir up” politics

The chemist Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim reached a large audience on her YouTube channel "maiLab".(Bild: instagram.com/maithink)

The scientist Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim became famous with her YouTube channel "maiLab" - ten months ago, she surprisingly announced the end of her popular channel. Now there is news: The chemist wants to go into politics because she is worried about Germany. "It can't go on like this," she explained in a video statement.

During the coronavirus pandemic, Nguyen-Kim provided information about current developments in an understandable and popular scientific way and inspired an ever-growing audience. Later, she also presented numerous ZDF formats. Now she wants to turn her attention to another field of activity and become politically active.

Nguyen-Kim: "Then you'll just have to do it yourself"
"I'm worried about the future of our country and I'm no longer just watching it," she explained in a statement on YouTube. "If you want it to be good, you have to do it yourself," she added, before listing various issues that bother her in current politics.

Wants to take up the fight against a "catastrophic" discussion climate
She speaks of an information and a discussion climate crisis: "It's not what is most important or informative that gets the most attention, but what is most outrageous or emotionalizing," said Nguyen-Kim. The "catastrophic" climate of discussion would exacerbate crises: "Black and white, under-complex, unobjective, agitated, full of bogus arguments and insults" is the current discourse in Germany.

"In any case", populist politicians are part of the problem, but also "all of us", "because we are so outraged and because we click and spread", says the journalist. The fight against this crisis is not easy, but courage in communicating problems and crises as well as objectivity would help the government in her opinion.

"Stirring up entrenched operations with an outsider's perspective"
Her expertise is science and you can't make policy with science alone, she explained. "But firstly, sometimes it's not so bad to shake up an entrenched business with an outsider's perspective. And secondly, of course I'm not alone," said the chemist. Over the past few months in Berlin, she has been able to build up a strong team and continue her training.