New Podcast: Kapteina on Business & Democracy

With the upcoming federal election and the political challenges of our time, businesses are playing an increasingly important role in strengthening democracy. In the latest episode of the Das Neue Berlin podcast, Dr. Benedikt Kapteina, Postdoctoral Researcher at IHI Zittau, discusses with Jan Wetzel and Leo Schwarz how businesses can take on societal responsibility and respond to populist tendencies. The conversation focuses on what concrete measures can be taken to strengthen democratic values.

Dr. Kapteina also explores what drives businesses to engage politically – whether through public actions like Spotify's EU election playlist, McDonald's Burger Dialog, or calls to action from entrepreneurs like Reinhold Würth. What motivations lie behind these initiatives? Is it about economic interests, or is there a genuine desire to strengthen democracy? Or might these two goals go hand in hand?

🎧 Listen here: https://dasneue.berlin/2025/02/10/unternehmen-gegen-rechts-mit-benedikt-kapteina/

The conversation also introduces the study “Companies, Populism, and Responsibility”, recently conducted by Dr. Kapteina together with Markus Scholz, Burkatzki Eckhard, Anna Schöndube, and Maria Schwerdtner. The study investigates how German businesses perceive populist challenges and what strategic steps they are taking to fulfill their responsibilities and promote democracy.

👉 Learn more about the study: https://tu-dresden.de/ihi-zittau/rm/forschung/unsere-forschungsprojekte?set_language=en

Das Neue Berlin is the leading social and cultural science podcast in the German-speaking world, addressing the most pressing questions of the present – such as how society functions, the significance of politics, and the systems of knowledge that shape our world. The podcast is available on all major platforms including Spotify, Apple Music, and directly on the Das Neue Berlin website.

A heartfelt thank you to the team of Das Neue Berlin for the wonderful opportunity to give this important topic and our research a platform!