“That’s the hardest thing maiLab-Video ever” – Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim begins her farewell video on YouTube with this sentence. As usual, the science journalist sits down in front of the camera with a cup of tea – at least on YouTube.
Stress, pressure and family as the main reason
More than 1.4 million people have subscribed to the moderator and chemist on YouTube. And: “With a great number of subscriptions, comes great responsibility,” she says in her video. With the steadily growing reach, the respect for responsibility has also increased, but so has the ambition to deliver “premium content”. For Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim and her team, the channel has become a “sacred cow”.
In 2020, the multiple award-winning scientist became a mother – and is now pregnant with her second child. Added to this is her work at ZDF with TerraX and her own show “MaiThinkX”, which she has been moderating since October 2021. There she breaks down complex scientific topics and explains, among other things, the “effectiveness” of globules.
In the video, Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim explains how difficult it is to reconcile all areas. With the departure of a long-time employee, the decision to end “maiLab” was finally made.
“Friends of the sun don’t be sad”
After a baby break, Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim, who was also awarded the German Federal Cross of Merit in 2020, wants to come back – but with new, different projects. “TerraX” and “MaiThinkX” will also go further. So the “friends of the sun”, as they call their community, should not be sad. There will definitely be a cup or two of tea in the future.