The Turbina is the first cultural centre in Hungary to build a regular series of events around the Kurzgesagt episodes, creating a new format for the collaborative exploration of scientific, philosophical and social issues. Although Kurzgesagt is known worldwide and reaches millions on YouTube, the consumption of the videos is typically an individual experience – Turbina aims to generate an active dialogue rather than passive reception, and thus community engagement and questioning are central to its events.

Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell is a German animation and design studio founded by Philipp Dettmer. The studio has become known worldwide for its YouTube channel, which produces minimalist animated educational videos on science, technology, politics, philosophy and psychology. They have more than 23.4 million subscribers and their videos have reached more than 3 billion views. The channel aims to make complex topics understandable and accessible to the general public, while encouraging critical thinking and curiosity. Kurzgesagt’s videos are popular worldwide and are available in multiple languages, including German, Spanish, French, Hindi, Arabic, Brazilian Portuguese, Japanese and Korean.

Since September 2024, the Turbina Cultural Centre has been hosting a monthly series of Kurzgesagt Talk events, which aim to bring thought-provoking topics of science, philosophy and social issues to the level of personal dialogue through videos in an accessible format. At the heart of the events, the topic of the selected video is discussed by three experts with different viewer perspectives. Guests such as Rabbi Dr. Tamás Verő, Baptist pastor Attila Meláth and Buddhist teacher László Cser have already discussed on the stage of the 8th District Art Space, sharing their views on religion with each other and with participants. Turbina has also explored the social impact and psychological aspects of loneliness, inviting sociologist Fruzsi Albert, behavioural analyst Samu Czabán and content producer Samu Seres. Later on, the future of AI was discussed by Péter Halácsy, co-founder of Prezi, András Lányi, philosopher, and Balázs Koren, mathematician, while in January the topic of optimistic nihilism was discussed by Oszkár Horváth, host of the show, Gergely Nagy, Reformed theologian, and Zsolt Boldogkői, molecular biologist.

On 25 February, the series will continue, with Péter Buda, a national security analyst, András Földes, who will report from conflict zones, and Ákos Szilágyi, an aesthete and Russia researcher, exploring the historical and contemporary aspects of war and violence. The moderator this time will be Levi Passed, who is the founder of the Klementin collective, one of Hungary’s most supportive music production communities.

Armed conflicts around the world and their portrayal through the media are topics of anxiety for many, while lack of information, distorted understanding of history and personal involvement can all cloud the public discourse. A debate aims to provide participants with a broader perspective on the dynamics of war and its impact on individuals and society.

Turbina attaches great importance to community dialogue and social responsibility. They regularly organise free psychological and art therapy programmes, as well as cooking and clothing drives for the homeless shelter opposite the building. At Christmas, they raised over 2 million for the Drop Stone Children’s Shelter in a techno charity party together with the Chaos organising team.

Details of the upcoming Kurzgesagt talk can be found here: https://turbinabudapest.hu/events/v-kurzgesagt-talk-is-the-world-getting-more-violent