Philip Bethge

Category: Stories

The Dark Brew: Starbucks Faces Landmark Lawsuit Over Alleged Slavery in Brazil

Brazilian plantation workers are suing the world’s largest coffee chain in a Washington, D.C. court, alleging forced labor and trafficking. The case could fundamentally change the coffee industry.

by Philip Bethge

–> continue reading at substack

December 4, 2025
The Future of Electric: Tesla Joins the Race for the Next-Gen Battery

China, Japan and South Korea have long been in the lead when it comes to car battery technology. With new technologies and better production methods, Tesla now wants to change that. Germany is falling behind.

By Philip Bethge

Continue reading at SPIEGEL International

September 28, 2020
Is Nuclear Power the Solution to Climate Change?

Paul Dorfman and Staffan Qvist both want to save the climate. But one of them wants to rid the world of nuclear reactors while the other wants to build more of them. We brought them together for a debate.

Interview Conducted by Philip Bethge und Rafaela von Bredow

continue reading at DER SPIEGEL International

August 16, 2020
The Changing Virus

Scientists are suspiciously tracking every change in SARS-CoV-2, with dangerous looking mutations regularly appearing. On the long term, though, experts hope that the pathogen could prove less aggressive.

—-> read at DER SPIEGEL International

August 7, 2020
Coronavirus Heaven: Why Meatpacking Plants Are Superspreaders

As the recent outbreak in Germany shows, meat processing facilities offer perfect conditions for the transmission of coronaviruses, with cool temperatures and people cramped in close quarters. Additional changes are needed to protect workers – and theoretically even consumers.

—-> Continue reading at DER SPIEGEL

June 27, 2020
What the Coronavirus Does Inside the Body

SARS-CoV-2 does much more damage to the human body than initially assumed. It can attack any number of organs and even penetrates the brain. But why do some people experience worse symptoms than others?

—> Continue reading at DER SPIEGEL

May 15, 2020
Can Nuclear Power Offer a Way Out of the Climate Crisis?

Billionaires and leading researchers in the United States are developing next-generation nuclear reactors that are small, reputedly safe and suitable to modern power grids. They could be part of the climate change solution.

—> Continue reading at DER SPIEGEL

January 8, 2020
A Former Military Operative Sets Sights on Poachers

Faye Cuevas worked in U.S. military intelligence for 17 years and has hunted terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now, as part of a conservation program, she’s turning her skills to fighting poachers in Kenya and saving protected species in the region.

By Philip Bethge

How do you kill an elephant without a gun, if all you’ve got is a spear, and your 20 centimeters (8 inches) of sharpened metal is going up against five tons of thick-skinned beast?

January 8, 2020