Marie Meimberg and Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim in Conversation: I Love People. A Plea for All of Us

Marie Meimberg counters this narrative and undermines its power with her unique style, which bridges the gap between art and science. In an accessible, witty, and compelling way, she translates in-depth research into text and drawings.

Imagine you go outside and see a pigeon reading a book. A book made of paper, because pigeons figured out that they could chop a big tree into tiny wooden pieces, boil them with chemicals (which the pigeons mixed themselves, of course) into a mushy goo (they can make fire, too?!), and then use a sieve, rollers, and hot cylinders to turn it into sheets of paper that can be cut into pieces and bound together.

Of course, they also invented writing and ink, which a pigeon can use to write “I LOVE PIGEONS” on the paper—a story that proves pigeons are awesome and which pigeon science (Pigeon University, whatever) backs that up. How we’d celebrate these pigeons. Why don’t we do that with us humans?

“I LOVE HUMANS” is a powerful, moving, and artistic-scientific plea for all of us. With her blend of evidence and empathy, Meimberg paints a portrait of humanity that rebels against hatred in a surprising, intelligent, and emotional way—and is thoroughly convincing. The award-winning storyteller combines science with stories from her own life: pigeons, neuroscience, the fight against Nazis at the kitchen table, and the freedom to jump naked into the sea. It’s captivating, fun, and inspiring.

Marie Meimberg is a beacon of hope. The writer, cultural scholar, and artist has received numerous awards for her work spanning art, politics, science, and media, including Grimme Prize nominations and an International Emmy Award. As a producer and activist, this interdisciplinary expert in emotional storytelling shaped the German internet scene with her commitment to quality and her principled stance—until she created the bestselling series “BiBiBiber hat da mal ’ne Frage.” Since then, she has been writing and illustrating the non-fiction picture books and producing music for the audiobook versions, which she also directs. Together with her friend and co-author Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim, she received, among other honors, the “Nonfiction Book of the Year 2024” award for this work.

Dr. Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim is a chemist and science journalist. She hosts “Terra X” on ZDF and presents her show “MAITHINK X” on ZDFneo. She has received numerous prestigious awards for her work, including the Federal Cross of Merit, the Leibniz Medal, and, in 2026, the Grimme Prize.