Journalists in Residence

The freelance journalist Jannik Jürgens writes for the renowned German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel and the acclaimed German national weekly newspaper Zeit Online as well as for brand eins, Greenpeace Magazin, and Spektrum der Wissenschaft, to name but a few. The studied political scientist also completed a traineeship at the Freiburg-based German newspaper Badische Zeitung and additional journalistic training at Die Reportageschule in Reutlingen. During his six-week stay at the Max Planck Institute in late summer/fall 2024, he used the time for research on alternatives to prison and on the resocialization of offenders.

The Berlin-based Dutch journalist Nynke van Verschuer is a correspondent for the Netherlands' national newspaper NRC Handelsblad. Van Verschuer reports on political, economic, and cultural affairs. She also works as a freelance journalist for a variety of international media. During her six-week stay at the Max Planck Institute in spring 2024, the focus of her intensive research was on drug crime. As part of her in-depth investigations, she spoke extensively with researchers from the Department of Criminology.

Jacob Kushner is an American journalist who writes for a number of leading US media outlets including The New York Times, The Atlantic, and National Geographic. He covers a wide range of topics such as migration, human rights, ex­trem­ism, and terrorism. During his two-month residency at the Max Planck Institute in the summer of 2022, he collected material for his narrative investigation into the National Socialist Underground (NSU) trial by analyzing documents from the Institute's library and interviewing researchers in the law departments. Two years later, Kushner’s highly acclaimed book “Look Away: A True Story of Murders, Bombings, and a Far-Right Campaign to Rid Germany of Immigrants” was published, which he presented at the Institute as part of his 2024 book tour.