Ulrich Harmes-Liedtke and Frank Waeltring interview Jorg Meyer-Stamer on the first part of his career, when he was working in academia and policy research. This is the first of two LEDcasts which come as a companion to a book that Ulrich and Frank edited on the occasion of Jorg's 50th birthday. This "birthday anthology" with contributions from a number of renowned researchers and practitioners is available here.