Journalists in Residence

The Berlin-based Dutch journalist 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” was published, which he presented at the Institute as part of his 2024 book tour.