In the colonial courtrooms of the Amazon, Indigenous voices did more than defend. They redefined the meaning of freedom. André Luís Bezerra Ferreira uncovers how Native communities used memory, kinship, and oral tradition as powerful legal tools to challenge colonial rule. Drawing from overlooked archives like the Livro de Assentos of the Junta das Missões, his work shows that Indigenous peoples were not passive subjects but active negotiators of law and status. Courts became spaces of struggle where terms like ‚captive‘, ‚slave‘, and ‚free‘ were constantly reinterpreted through Indigenous knowledge systems. Oral histories, rituals, and relational ties anchored claims to liberty and protection in a legal world built to exclude them.

Grey files, cold rules? Think again. In the Systemfragen podcast from Deutschlandfunk, our director Marietta Auer reveals a surprising truth: bureaucracy is anything but emotionless. It shapes how we feel - sometimes soothing, often infuriating. From the quiet satisfaction of a smooth process to the rage of a confusing form, our emotional response says more about society than we think.

Earthquakes, floods, industrial accidents – environmental disasters are not just natural events. They can put pressure on political systems and reshape political agendas. But under what conditions do they trigger real political change? And why do some disasters lead to swift action, while others leave barely a trace?
Jan-Henrik Meyer explores these dynamics from a historical perspective in the Deutschlandfunk Nova podcast Eine Stunde History. His research shows that the political impact of environmental disasters depends largely on their societal and political context.