Making sense of it All
Making Sense of It All (Verden forsøgt forklaret) is a series of conversations about what shapes our shared world.
The guest of the week contributes with research- based perspectives on themes from the public conversation – what we talk about, vote about, argue about and gather about.
Get smarter together with some of the country´s leading researchers when they give their take on what is up and down in current discussions from the intimate scene in the historic Copenhagen University Library in Fiolstræde.
‘Verden forsøgt forklaret’ is supported by the Novo Nordisk Foundation.
Upcoming talks
Programme
Friday 26 September 2025 CANCELED!
17:30
Door opens
and Copenhagen University serves a glass of wine or water as part of the ticket price.
18.00-19.00
Science Talk (app. 45 minutes) followed by questions from the audience (no break).
19:00-19:15
Have a walk in the Library
19:15 – 22.00
Library Bar
The talk
Why Evolution Made Us Fat: The Science Explained
Are you really predestined to be overweight, even though you’re always dieting and exercising more than your best friend?
If so, is there really nothing you can do about it—except take expensive, lifelong medication? And why did evolution think it was a good idea to make anyone fat when everyone in our society wants to be slim… or even skinny? Furthermore, is fat the same as being unhealthy, or is it possible to be fat and healthy?
These are some of the controversial questions that Professor Ruth Loos will address in this conversation with journalist and writer Alberte Clement Meldal.
Ruth Loos has been researching our genetic predispositions to obesity for over 25 years. In the beginning, no one was particularly interested in her research. Today, however, everyone is – since the topic has become one of the most controversial and important when it comes to health policies all over the world.
The talk is in English.
On Stage
Ruth Loos
Ruth Loos is a professor at The Faculty of Health and Medical Science at University of Copenhagen and Professor and Vice Executive Director at Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research.
She is interviewed by Alberte Clement Meldal.
Alberte Clement Meldal
Alberte Clement Meldal is journalist and author of Weightless – How I Stopped the War on My Body (Vægtløs – Hvordan jeg stoppede krigen mod min krop), published in 2022.
Meldal also hosted several podcasts on DR P1, including Skinny and Happy? and I Am Naked. She is currently hosting That’s a Classic – a show that talks about what the guests’ favorite literature says about their lives.
Tidligere talks
Programme
Friday 14. March 2025
17:30
Door opens
and the university offers a glass of wine, nonalcoholic cider or water (included in the ticket price).
18:00-19.00
The Fall of Monuments
Talk with Mathias Danbolt & Marc-Christoph Wagner
+ questions (no break)
19.15-22.00
Library bar hosted by UCAPS and byStudents. Join young researchers from all over the world for a drink (not included in ticket).
The talk
The Fall of Monuments
Statues are pictures of the past and reflect a history handed on to us. But neither monuments or our view of the past are static. Far from it.
People and their recollection are moving things, nothing last forever, and suddenly we look at the world through different eyes.
Meet professor Mathias Danbolt from Department of Arts and Cultural Studies, University of Copenhagen. Mathias´ research investigates where art history and colonial history intersects with a special focus on the political aspects of our common recollection, our relationship with monuments and art in the public space. Does it make sense to protect and even refurbish monuments that have outlived themselves? Why are we still creating statues? And which stories are forgotten when we tell them through monuments – then and now?
The talk is in English.
On Stage
Mathias Danbolt
Mathias Danbolt is professor from Department of Arts and Cultural Studies, University of Copenhagen. Mathias´ research investigates where art history and colonial history intersects with a special focus on the political aspects of our common recollection, our relationship with monuments and art in the public space.
Mathias Danbolt is interviewed by Marc-Christoph Wagner
Marc-Christoph Wagner
Marc-Christoph Wagner is editor of Louisiana Channel and former correspondent of Northern Europe for German radio and television.
Love & Lies – “The Real Reasons We Lie To Our Partners”
Join us at the old library for an exciting talk with Rachele Mazzini & drinks with peers.
This special edition of “Trying to explain the world” on Valentines Day is especially for University of Copenhagen staff and students, but you are welcome to invite peers from other universities.
After the event, the University of Copenhagen Ph.D. Association UCAPS will host an informal evening; turning the Library into a Library Bar where you will meet researchers and students.
Programme
Friday 14th February 2025
17:00
Doors open
We serve a glass of wine or non-alkoholic cider (included in ticket price)
17:30 – 18.30
LOVE & LIES – “The Real Reasons We Lie To Our Partners”
Talk with Rachele Mazzini & Torben Sangild
+ questions (no break)
18.45 -22.00
Library Bar and icebreaker with UCAPS
The Talk
A romantic relationship is based on trust and fidelity. So why do we taint it with lies?
You want to be able to trust your partner, and you want your partner to trust you as well. Still, there is no relationship without a degree of dishonesty – from withholding information and white lies to systematic betrayal. Why is one of the most important trust-based relations infected with small and sometimes big lies? And how do these lies affect the relationship?
Rachele Mazzini´s research on dishonesty in romantic relationships seeks to uncover how, and how often we are dishonest. The answer to the latter is: much more often than we think. The reasons are, however, also often more noble than we might assume.
Understand the science of dishonesty, when we explore the innocent, the bad, and the ugly types of lies, the motives behind them, and their effect on the relationships in this talk.
On Stage
Rachele Mazzini
Rachele Mazzini is a PhD candidate in psychology at University of Copenhagen, where she researches social, cross-cultural, and interpersonal relationship psychology.
She is interviewed by Torben Sangild.
Torben Sangild
Torben Sangild is a writer for Zetland, radio and poscast host, and the author of the recent book Følelsernes bog.
He is also a former scholar in aesthetic culture at University of Copenhagen.
