Episode 12: Viola Neu

Reality is confusing and complex. Science tries to capture it in observations and models. In political counselling, this naturally also includes looking at social trends, opinions and attitudes.
As head of the Electoral and Social Research Department at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Dr Viola Neu has been studying the political ideas, opinions and hopes of people in Germany for many years. She talks to us about her view of social change processes and how these are reflected in voting behaviour, for example. And we also talk about the need for translation between advances in scientific knowledge and political or public debates.

She has always wanted to be a scientist. But she is also passionate about great epics and heroic journeys such as “Star Wars”, “The Lord of the Rings”, the “Ring of the Nibelungs” – and “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”.