Mathematics Meets Morality: The Trolley Problem discussed in a Podcast

During the DMV Topic Days Felix Klein 2025, a live recording was made for the detektor.fm podcast "Geschichten aus der Mathematik" which was released at the end of the year. Demian Nahuel Goos, Anna Wienhard, and Jürgen Richter-Gebert discussed the trolley problem.

The audience experienced a full and varied program at last year's DMV Topic Days Felix Klein.

To mark the 100th anniversary of Felix Klein's death, we jointly organized a two-day program with the Deutsche Mathematiker-Vereinigung (DMV), featuring various school workshops, multiple lectures, and a lively evening program. It also included a live recording in front of an audience for the detektor.fm podcast "Geschichten aus der Mathematik". Demian Nahuel Goos was the host and challenged our director Anna Wienhard and Jürgen Richter-Gebert from the Technical University of Munich to a mathematical game about the trolley problem.

There were two different mathematical concepts, each on a separate track. An unbraked tram ("trolley") races toward one concept and can only be redirected to the other track by switching the lever. Find out which mathematical concepts were saved and which had to be sacrificed in the new podcast episode.

The live recording was published in the annual review of "Geschichten aus der Mathematik“ and is only available in German. The podcast episode can be played directly on detektor.fm or on podcast platforms like Apple Podcast, YouTube Music, Spotify, RTL+, Podimo and RSS.