Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Aliens: Are we closer to finding intelligent life beyond Earth?
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Aliens: Are we closer to finding intelligent life beyond Earth?
Aliens are back on the radar after a US Congressional hearing in the summer that featured former intelligence officer, David Grusch. The US Air Force veteran was once part of a task force created to look into what used to be called UFOs. Mr Grusch gave evidence that caused a sensation in America, claiming that the US military had, for decades, been in possession of crashed UFOs and 'non-human biologics'.
His shocking claims were evidence that, whatever their accuracy, both created and reflected a growing and serious debate - from astrophysicists and astrobiologists to policymakers about what if anything, is out there. Anything alive and anything civilised.
So, as 2023 turns into 2024, what is the state of our understanding about whether or not we are alone in space? David Aaronovitch explores the history of UFOs stretching back to the 1940s and discusses whether intelligent life exists beyond Earth.
David Aaronovitch talks to:
Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, British space scientist and science educator
Garrett Graff, Journalist and historian. Author of ‘UFO: The Inside Story of the U.S. Government's Search for Alien Life Here ― and Out There’.
Avi Loeb, Astrophysicist and Baird Professor of Science at Harvard University
Monica Grady, Professor of Planetary and Space Science at the Open University.
Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producer: Sally Abrahams
Sound: James Beard and Neil Churchill
Editor: Richard Vadon
Archive Credits: Congressional Hearing on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, 26 July 2023 courtesy of C-Span
View all episodes
By BBC Radio 4
4.8
5353 ratings
Aliens are back on the radar after a US Congressional hearing in the summer that featured former intelligence officer, David Grusch. The US Air Force veteran was once part of a task force created to look into what used to be called UFOs. Mr Grusch gave evidence that caused a sensation in America, claiming that the US military had, for decades, been in possession of crashed UFOs and 'non-human biologics'.
His shocking claims were evidence that, whatever their accuracy, both created and reflected a growing and serious debate - from astrophysicists and astrobiologists to policymakers about what if anything, is out there. Anything alive and anything civilised.
So, as 2023 turns into 2024, what is the state of our understanding about whether or not we are alone in space? David Aaronovitch explores the history of UFOs stretching back to the 1940s and discusses whether intelligent life exists beyond Earth.
David Aaronovitch talks to:
Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, British space scientist and science educator
Garrett Graff, Journalist and historian. Author of ‘UFO: The Inside Story of the U.S. Government's Search for Alien Life Here ― and Out There’.
Avi Loeb, Astrophysicist and Baird Professor of Science at Harvard University
Monica Grady, Professor of Planetary and Space Science at the Open University.
Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producer: Sally Abrahams
Sound: James Beard and Neil Churchill
Editor: Richard Vadon
Archive Credits: Congressional Hearing on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, 26 July 2023 courtesy of C-Span
More shows like The Briefing Room
View all
Global News Podcast
7,601 Listeners
From Our Own Correspondent
377 Listeners
More or Less
895 Listeners
Newshour
1,054 Listeners
In Our Time
5,455 Listeners
The Documentary Podcast
1,798 Listeners
6 Minute English
1,745 Listeners
Learning English Conversations
1,039 Listeners
The Infinite Monkey Cage
2,091 Listeners
Profile
106 Listeners
The Week in Westminster
32 Listeners
The Bottom Line
35 Listeners
Moral Maze
70 Listeners
Political Fix
151 Listeners
Daily Politics from the New Statesman
141 Listeners
Political Thinking with Nick Robinson
106 Listeners
Newscast
617 Listeners
You're Dead to Me
3,197 Listeners
Inside Briefing with the Institute for Government
22 Listeners
Americast
719 Listeners
The Bomb
1,026 Listeners
The Rest Is Politics
2,879 Listeners
The Rest Is Politics: Leading
788 Listeners
Radical with Amol Rajan
51 Listeners