Marmor, Quecksilber, Nebel. Woraus die Welt gemacht ist. Mit Judith Schalansky

In her new book Marmor, Quecksilber, Nebel,Judith Schalansky embarks on a journey through the material conditions of our world. Starting with a block of marble weighing almost 17 tons, which she cannot let go of after a ferry trip off Thassos, she follows the traces of the stone: in marble quarries and sculptors' studios, in the dark, often violent history of material extraction and world appropriation. As usual with Schalansky, it's about everything: the nutritional value of marble pigs, the weight of the earth, the occupancy plan of Noah's Ark, the truthfulness of Mexican wrestling or the Brocken ghost - phenomena in which the unruly reality is reflected and multiplied. With playful precision, she looks at what the world is made of - and not least at her own writing. Moderator: Wolfgang M. Schmitt