Kurzgesagt - In a Nutshell: 2020
Season 8 Lore Primer
Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.
- Directly follows the overarching narrative developments of Kurzgesagt - In a Nutshell Season 7.
- Faction dynamics and core character alliances shift under escalating external stakes.
- Crucial mysteries introduced previously reach key turning points and narrative reckonings.
- Sets up serialized story arcs that build directly toward the climactic season finale.
Episode Guide
Season 8 Progress Shield
Milk. White Poison or Healthy Drink?
Jan 26, 2020 · 10 min
Over the last decade milk has become a bit controversial. Some people say it’s a necessary and nutritious food, vital for healthy bones, but others say it can cause cancer and lead
How to Make a Kurzgesagt Video in 1200 Hours
Feb 16, 2020 · 7 min
For years, you have been asking us how we make our videos. So let’s finally talk about it! From research, writing the script, illustrating, to animating, narrating and composing mu
Why Blue Whales Don't Get Cancer - Peto's Paradox
Mar 1, 2020 · 8 min
Cancer is a creepy and mysterious thing. While we tried to understand it, to get better at killing it, we discovered a biological paradox that remains unsolved to this day: large a
The Coronavirus Explained & What You Should Do
Mar 19, 2020 · 8 min
A huge thanks to the experts who helped us on short notice with the video. Especially “Our World in Data”, the online publication for research and data on the world’s largest probl
Why Are You Alive – Life, Energy & ATP
May 10, 2020 · 12 min
At this very second, you are on a narrow ledge between life and death. You probably don’t feel it, but there is an incredible amount of activity going on inside you. And this activ
The Past We Can Never Return To – The Anthropocene Reviewed
May 24, 2020 · 9 min
In September of 1940, an 18-year-old mechanic named Marcel Ravidat was walking his dog, Robot, in the countryside of Southwestern France when the dog disappeared down a hole. Robot
Could Solar Storms Destroy Civilization? Solar Flares & Coronal Mass Ejections
Jun 7, 2020 · 10 min
The sun. Smooth and round and peaceful. Except when it suddenly vomits radiation and plasma in random directions. These solar flares and coronal mass ejections, or CMEs can hit ear
Who Is Responsible For Climate Change? – Who Needs To Fix It?
Jun 21, 2020 · 11 min
Since the Industrial Revolution, humans have released over 1.5 trillion tonnes of carbon dioxide or CO2 into the earth's atmosphere. In the year 2019 we were still pumping out arou
What Is Intelligence? Where Does it Begin?
Jul 12, 2020 · 10 min
Humans are proud of a lot of things, from particle accelerators, to poetry to pokemon. All of them made possible because of something humans value extremely highly: intelligence.
What Do Alien Civilizations Look Like? The Kardashev Scale
Aug 2, 2020 · 12 min
The observable universe is a big place that has been around for more than 13 billion years. Up to two trillion galaxies made up of something like 20,000 billion billion stars surro
Unlimited Resources From Space – Asteroid Mining
Aug 16, 2020 · 8 min
Getting rare materials from the ground into your phone is ugly. The mining industry is responsible for air and water pollution and the destruction of entire landscapes. But what if
The Warrior Kingdoms of the Weaver Ant
Aug 30, 2020 · 9 min
Deep in tropical jungles lie floating kingdoms ruled by beautiful and deadly masters: They are sort of the high elves of the ant kingdoms: Talented architects that create castles a
The Largest Star in the Universe – Size Comparison
Sep 22, 2020 · 12 min
What is the largest star in the Universe? And why is it that large? And what ARE stars anyway?
Is It Too Late To Stop Climate Change? Well, it's Complicated.
Sep 29, 2020 · 10 min
Climate Change is just too much. There is never any good news. Only graphs that get more and more red and angry. Almost every year breaks some horrible record, from the harshest he
When Time Became History - The Human Era
Oct 6, 2020 · 11 min
For the fifth time, we present to you the Human Era Calendar for the year 12,021 – this time it is all about the journey of humanity, beginning tens of thousands of years ago, lead
Geoengineering: A Horrible Idea We Might Have to Do
Oct 27, 2020 · 9 min
By the end of the 21st century, humanity is becoming desperate. Decades of heatwaves and droughts have led to unusually poor harvests, while the warming oceans yield fewer fish eac
How Large Can a Bacteria get? Life & Size 3
Nov 10, 2020 · 11 min
In and out, in and out. Staying alive is about doing things. This very second, your cells are combusting glucose molecules with oxygen to make energy available, which keeps you ali
What If Earth got Kicked Out of the Solar System? Rogue Earth
Dec 1, 2020 · 10 min
The night sky seems peaceful and orderly. But in reality, stars are careening through the galaxy at speeds of hundreds of thousands of kilometres per hour. Not bound by static form
Can You Upload Your Mind & Live Forever?
Dec 10, 2020 · 14 min
The desire to be free from the limits of the human experience is as old as our first stories. We exist in an endless universe, only bound by the laws of physics and yet, our consci
What if We Nuke the Moon?
Dec 15, 2020 · 9 min
What would happen if we were to detonate a very very powerful nuclear weapon on the moon? Would the explosion knock its orbit towards earth, causing tidal waves and misery? Could t