auburncom's collective on Huffduffer

How the right words can have the wrong meanings, and the best translations lead us to an understanding that's way deeper than language. 

https://radiolab.org/podcast/translation

Can the crew rescue the million-dollar space satellite lost in orbit? Two car-sized satellites, worth $75 million each, are stranded in space. Five astronauts have been selected to bring them back. It’s something that has never been attempted before.

In outer space, even the simplest of tasks can be a challenge, let alone trying to snatch a satellite from orbit. And right when the crew think they’ve got it all under control, they discover a problem they’re not prepared for. It’s time to improvise.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct80bp

President Ronald Reagan declares the space shuttle open for business. It’s Independence Day 1982. And we’re in the sweltering Mojave desert of California.

Carrying commercial satellites into orbit is one of the shuttle’s jobs. But things start to go wrong for the astronauts when a $75-million satellite is lost in space.

And that’s just the start of a series of unfortunate events. Can they fix it and prove the space shuttle’s worth?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct80bn

Former teacher and Oideas Gael founder Liam Ó Cuinneagáin shares the story of how he grew the Irish language and cultural learning centre into one of the most successful and well-attended institutions in any of Ireland’s Gaeltacht regions. Part one centres largely around the amazing partnership between Fr. McDyer and Liam’s father Willie Ó Cuinneagáin formed which transformed the area.

Conversation includes: introductions; early life; education; studying psychology in UCD; Máirtín Ó Muilleoir; Seosamh Watson; connecting his Uncle Mickey and other family members in USA; Prof. Breandán MacSuibhne; Gleann Cholm Cille; Fr. James McDyer; Tory Island; McDyer bringing a weaving market into the area in 1950s; Willie Ó Cuinneagáin; Glencolmcille Folk Village; debating teams; Mansholt Plan; The Ireland House; Tom O’Donnell; Dean Charles Gray-Stack; Michael John Sweetman; Irish Press vs. Irish Independent; Éamon de Valera and other topics.

Music in the background from Eibhlis Farrell and Ray McManus in rehearsal as well as the sean-nós singing class of Gearóidín Breathnach which were happening in two classrooms concurrently.

Recorded on Tuesday 29th July 2025 - 2 days after Donegal competed against Kerry in the All-Ireland football final.

https://castbox.fm/episode/188.-Liam-%C3%93-Cuinneag%C3%A1in%3A-Oideas-Gael---Part-1-id5571938-id835903469?country=gb

For our fifth episode of Starship Alexandra, Emma puts forward the short story collection The Golden Apples of the Sun by Ray Bradbury to read and consider. 

 

Other talking points: 

Stories specifically talked about: A Sound of Thunder, The Foghorn, The Golden Apples of the Sun (short story), The Garbage Collector, The Fruit at the Bottom of the Bowl, I See You Never, Sun and Shadow, The Wilderness, The Black and White Game,  

The butterfly effect (not the film) 

Poetic and commercial prose 

Lawsuits! 

History, repeating itself 

The prevalence of the nuclear apocalypse in fiction. 

Amazing Obstructive Asshole Stories! 

The Time Machine Factory Problem 

The prevalence of psychic powers in fiction 

 

Media Mentions: 

Star Trek:

the Next Generation, TV series (specifically the episode ‘The Survivors’) 

The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms film directed by Eugéne Lourié 

Pavane, novel by Keith Roberts 

Oppenheimer, film directed by Christopher Nolan 

Dune, novel by Frank Herbert 

Zen in the Art of Writing, book by Ray Bradbury 

Peter Pan, novel/play by JM Barrie 

The Police, band 

 

Our next episode will look at the film Battle Beyond the Stars directed by Roger Corman. 

 

Emma’s music recommendation: the album Anticlines by Lucrecia Dalt  

 

Emma’s latest book: The Vengeance

and also a short story in the ‘Lesbians in Space’ anthology published by Space Wizard press   

 

Adrian’s most recent book: Bee Speaker  

 

Follow us at: 

Emma: @[email protected] and   

Adrian: @aptshadow.bsky.social and  

https://starshipalexandria.com/episode-5-the-golden-apples-of-the-sun

For our third episode of Starship Alexandra, Emma puts forward Ursula K le Guin’s fascinating SF novel The Lathe of Heaven for Adrian to read and consider. 

Other talking points: 

Reality-bending in SF 

Unusual power relationships 

Tech billionaire problem solving 

The perils of having superpowers 

Inadvertent puns 

 

Media Mentions: 

The Fifth Element, film, dir. Luc Besson 

Eye in the Sky, novel, Phillip K Dick 

It’s a Good Life, short story, Jerome Bixby 

Young Americans, film, dir. Danny Cannon 

Dancer in the Dark, film, dir. Lars von Trier 

 

Our next episode will look at: Top Ten volumes 1 and 2, graphic novels by Alan Moore, Gene Ha and Zander Cannon. 

 

Emma’s music recommendation: Play Dead by Björk 

 

Emma’s latest book: The Vengeance  

Adrian’s most recent book: Bee Speaker

 

Follow us at: 

Emma: @[email protected] and

Adrian: @aptshadow.bsky.social and  

https://starshipalexandria.com/episode-3-the-lathe-of-heaven

Nasa recruits women and ethnic minorities for the first time to its astronaut class. In the beginning of American spaceflight, all astronauts selected for the programme came from the same background. They were all male, all white – all test pilots.

But now, with a revolutionary new spacecraft, and changing views in society, Nasa needs to change. They’re not just looking for people to pilot the shuttle, but engineers, scientists, and medical doctors.

Can Nasa change its culture?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct80bm

Columbia reaches orbit. But astronaut Bob Crippen discovers that the shuttle has been damaged – can he and John Young make it home safely?

Parts of the heatshield to protect the shuttle from searing temperatures on re-entry to Earth have fallen off during the journey into space. This new heatshield has never been tested before in orbit. Could more tiles be missing?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct80bl

The astronauts count down to flying a brand-new spacecraft for the very first time. If they pull it off, they will earn a place in space history.

The rocket is built. The astronauts are trained. Mission control is ready. Space Shuttle Columbia is about to attempt the unheard of. A crewed test flight.

It's 12 April 1981. The morning of launch for the very first space shuttle mission. The shuttle is sitting on the launchpad at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. And strapped into their seats on the flight deck of orbiter Columbia are commander John Young and pilot Bob Crippen.

Everyone at Nasa has been waiting almost a decade for this day. It’s taken an army of designers, engineers, ground crew, flight controllers, and backroom staff to get to this point. To bring this vehicle to life. Will this new machine fly?

This episode contains scenes some listeners may find upsetting.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct80bk

Can Nasa build the most complex flying machine in space history? The plan is to create a permanent human presence in space.

It’s Spring 1969 - two months before the launch of Apollo 11 – the first US mission to land humans on the moon. But meanwhile, hidden away from public view, Nasa is thinking the unthinkable.

Maverick engineer Dr Max Faget is already a legend within Nasa. He’s fascinated by what could be next for human spaceflight. In a backroom, of Building 36 at Johnson Space Center, he invites a handful of engineers to a meeting. One of them is Ivy Hooks, a mathematician and engineer. And one of the first female engineers at Nasa.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct80bj