Celestial Citizen

On this week's episode, we're joined by Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein to discuss her book The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey into Dark Matter, Spacetime, & Dreams Deferred, what it means to be a Black feminist physicist in an academic realm that has always and continues today to be dominated by Western, white, cis-gendered male perspectives, and what we can do to move toward a future where all humans have a fundamental right as Dr. Prescod-Weinstein puts it to “know and love the night sky.”

Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein is an assistant professor of physics and astronomy and core faculty in women’s and gender studies at the University of New Hampshire.  She is also a columnist for New Scientist and Physics World.  Her research in theoretical physics focuses on cosmology, neutron stars, and dark matter, and she is active in Black feminist science, technology, and society studies.  Essence magazine recognized her as one of “15 Black Women Who Are Paving the Way in STEM and Breaking Barriers.”  She has been profiled in several venues, including TechCrunch, Ms. Magazine, Huffington Post, Gizmodo, Nylon, and the African American Intellectual History Society’s Black Perspectives.  A cofounder of the Particles for Justice movement, she has received the 2017 LGBT+ Physicists Acknowledgement of Excellence Award for her contributions to improving conditions for marginalized people in physics, as well as the 2021 American Physical Society Edward A. Bouchet Award for her contributions to particle cosmology.

Be sure to pre-order a paperback copy of The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey into Dark Matter, Spacetime, & Dreams Deferred  - releasing May 10th, 2022!

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On this week's episode, we're joined by Billy Almon to discuss what it means to be an astrobiofuturist, how nature can inform design both on and off this planet, and maybe even a little bit about the infamous lunar tardigrade incident.

Billy is an astrobiofuturist, exploring biology-inspired solutions to improve the human condition for those of us on Earth and those who will travel to the stars.  He speaks to multiple generations of inventors, designers, scientists, and engineers on designing the future they wish to see.  Previously, Billy was a creative director at Walt Disney Imagineering, leading efforts to develop immersive experiences and environments around the world.

Billy is an inventor and holds a master's degree in Biomimicry from Arizona State University and a bachelor's degree in Architecture from Howard University.  Billy sits on the Board of Directors for the Biomimicry Institute, the world’s leading authority on nature’s solutions to design challenges.  He also teaches biomimetic design at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.

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Welcome to Season 3 of Celestial Citizen Podcast!  We’re excited to kick things off with Dylan Taylor, Chairman & CEO of Voyager Space and commercial astronaut aboard Blue Origin’s NS-19 mission this past December.

We’ll discuss Dylan’s experience with the Overview Effect after becoming the 606th person to go to space, as well as, the latest updates on Voyager Space and Space for Humanity as we head into an exciting new era of human spaceflight.

My guest on today’s show, Dylan Taylor, is a global business leader and philanthropist.  He holds many roles within the space exploration industry as a CEO, investor, commercial astronaut, thought leader and futurist.  Currently, Dylan serves as Chairman & CEO of Voyager Space, a multi-national space exploration firm that acquires and integrates leading space exploration enterprises globally.

As an early-stage investor in more than 50 emerging ventures, including Accion, Kepler, York, Astrobotic, LeoLabs, Relativity, and Planet, as well as, Celestial Citizen.  Dylan is widely considered the most active private space investor in the world.

On December 11th, 2021, Dylan flew to space as part of the crew of Blue Origin’s New Shepard Mission 19.  And also earned his commercial astronaut wings with the FAA.

Dylan has also had an extensive philanthropic impact on the space industry.  In 2017, Dylan founded the nonprofit and social movement, Space for Humanity, which seeks to democratize space exploration and develop solutions to global issues through the scope of human awareness to help solve the world’s most intractable problems.  Additionally, Dylan is the Co-Founding Patron of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, which seeks to promote the growth of commercial space activity.  Dylan also serves as a strategic advisor for both the Archmission and the Human Spaceflight Program.

Dylan is the founder and Chairman of Multiverse Media, parent company of the popular space philosophy website 2211.world as well as the Ad Astra Dinners, and Multiverse Publishing, which publishes books by leading authors including Frank White, Isaac Asimov and Gerard K. O’Neill.  It is also the executive producer of the documentary film, The High Frontier.

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Celestial Citizen Podcast is back for another season and ready to cover all the social and cultural issues of space that are too often ignored.  Season 3 will continue with all the content you love but also add in a much wider variety of topics, so that we can truly start planning humanity’s collective future in space.

I’m your host, Britt Duffy Adkins, founder of Celestial Citizen, a space media and technology company that emerged from a desire to see more urban planning strategy and action applied to the future of space exploration - in the hopes that we could approach the hard topics of society-building off-Earth in a more equitable and inclusive way.  Join us as we dive into all that it will take to help humanity scale to a spacefaring species while still remaining grounded in our commitment to saving this planet.

On this season of Celestial Citizen Podcast, we'll talk about human spaceflight, lunar surface waste, space resource management, sustainable rocket fuels, supporting Indigenous communities hoping to enter the space community, astrobiofuturism, how race and astronomy intersect, and so much more that we can’t wait to share with you this season!

In the words of Mae Jemison…

"Never limit yourself because of others’ limited imagination; never limit others because of your own limited imagination."

Let’s imagine a better space future together.  We, who are bursting with stardust, can become Celestial Citizens.

www.celestialcitizen.com

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On this week’s bonus episode, we’re joined by Van Espahbodi for our special 2022 Space Industry Outlook episode.  We’ll discuss Van’s experience as an investor in aerospace and space technology, recap some of the trends we saw play out in 2021, as well as his predictions for what is sure to be a busy year ahead for the commercial space industry.

As Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Starburst, Van is championing today’s aerospace renaissance, uniting early-stage technology innovators with private investment to modernize infrastructure in mobility, communications and intelligence.  Van launched Starburst in the U.S. in 2015, which operates globally today with offices in Los Angeles, Paris, London, Munich, Madrid, Mumbai, Seoul, Singapore, Tel Aviv, and Montreal.  His team works alongside hundreds of technology startups developing new aircraft, spacecraft, satellites, drones, sensors, autonomy, robotics and much more.

An entrepreneurial futurist, Van has over 18 years of experience in aerospace, identifying future trends, shaping product strategy and investment trade policies.  Having worked in Government and Corporate strategy positions in both defense and commercial aviation markets, Van started his career as a congressional aide before joining Raytheon and later UK NATS, the British airspace operator.  Following graduate studies at George Mason University, Van participated in executive programs at Thunderbird School of Management in AZ and Cranfield School of Management in the UK.  He currently serves as an advisor to the U.S. Space Force, NASA, both the Mayors of Los Angeles and the City of El Segundo, and sits on the Advisory Boards of the Alliance for Southern California Innovation and the MIT Enterprise Forum.

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On this week’s episode, we’ll celebrate the wrap of Season 2 and reflect back on some of the highlights of past interviews and favorite moments on Celestial Citizen Podcast!

Thank you to all our wonderful guests that joined this season of Celestial Citizen and shared their insights and unique perspectives on the future of space exploration.  Season 2 more than exceeded even the highest expectations and provided some incredibly memorable conversations.

A big shoutout and thank you to the wonderful and growing community of Celestial Citizens that tune in every week to this podcast and have been an amazing and engaging group of listeners.  Your loyalty, curiosity, and passion for space is the motivating force behind all the work at Celestial Citizen Podcast.

Until next season...don't be afraid to take up space!

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On this week's bonus episode, we're joined by Glenton Richards, a writer on the hit tv show and Celestial Citizen community favorite, The Expanse.

In this special, bonus episode of Celestial Citizen Podcast we’ll discuss the release of the final season of The Expanse, some teasers for what to expect, as well as, another big announcement for fans of the show!

Glenton Richards, is a television and film writer living in Los Angeles.  During his time in LA, he has had the opportunity to work as a writers assistant on the Emmy award-winning show Fargo under the supervision of Showrunner Noah Hawley and later on the Emmy-nominated show American Crime, under the supervision of Oscar-winning screenwriter John Ridley.

Glenton attended Texas Christian University where he received a B.S. in Radio, Television, & Film and a minor in English.  During this time, Glenton got an unusual start in the entertainment industry when he worked on the Dallas-based production Barney & Friends as a Dinosaur Wrangler (seriously).

After graduating, Glenton began pursuing his dream in Los Angeles where he worked his way up in the industry as a mailroom assistant at CAA before branching out into television production.  Glenton most recently served as the Staff Writer on the Amazon Prime series, The Expanse.

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On this week's episode, we're joined by Dr. Moriba Jah to discuss space environmentalism and provide the latest update on our shared orbital domain.

Moriba joined us here on Celestial Citizen Podcast in Season 1 and he is back again to discuss the recent Russian anti-satellite test as an update to our space sustainability conversation from this past spring, as well as, share more about his new role as the Chief Scientific Advisor at the new space startup, Privateer.

My guest on today’s show, Dr. Moriba Jah, joined the Oden Institute core faculty in 2018 at the University of Texas at Austin, and is currently serving as an Associate Professor at the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics.  As previously stated, Moriba is also the Chief Scientific Advisor at Privateer, a much-anticipated space startup that aims to tackle humanity’s ever-increasing space debris problem.  He is also the Program Lead of Space Security, Safety, and Sustainability at the Robert Strauss Center for International Security and Law, as well as, a research affiliate with the Space Enabled Group at MIT Media Lab.

You can check out the first episode of Shifted Space (mentioned in this episode) which is part of a documentary series featuring Dr. Moriba Jah and focusing on the interconnectedness between land, sea, and sky.

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Welcome to our special bonus episode, Celestial Causes, in which we will highlight some of our favorite non-profits and organizations that are creating positive impact in STEM and space fields by living up to a message we hold dear here at Celestial Citizen, that space is for EVERYONE!

However you plan to celebrate this holiday season, we wanted to send off our community of listeners with a fun, festive, and fundraising episode by encouraging everyone tuning in to donate to some or all of these great causes!  Even if you aren’t able to make a financial donation, this episode will also share other ways in which you can contribute your time and energy – and most importantly spread the word about these amazing non-profits to others in your community.

So let’s kick of the holiday season with a call to action – and support those that embody the values we’d like to see more of on this planet and off!

We also hope you will enjoy some festive space holiday music sprinkled throughout this episode and provided by our favorite celestial musician, Graham Clark.

So grab a mug of hot cocoa, cozy up, and enjoy our 2021 edition and inaugural episode of Celestial Causes!

Organizations & Speakers Featured

AstroAccess:

• Special Guests: Eric Ingram and Sina Bahram
• Please use the following links to directly donate to AstroAccess through either their fiscal sponsor, Yuri's Night, and also collaborative partner, People Love Art.
  • Yuri's Night (the fiscal sponsor of AstroAccess): https://astroaccess.org/donate/
  • People Love Art: https://peopleloveart.com/astroaccess/

Space for Humanity:

• Special Guest: Rachel Lyons
• Please use the following link to directly donate to Space for Humanity this holiday season: https://spaceforhumanity.org/donate

Black in Astro:

• Special Guest: Dakotah Tyler
• Please use the following link to directly donate to Black in Astro this holiday season: https://www.blackinastro.com/donate

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On this week's episode, we're joined by Maynard Okereke to discuss his work as a science communicator, the importance of engaging minorities and youth in science and S.T.E.M. fields, and how to create content that brings together education and entertainment in ways that resonate with a wider audience.

Maynard, better known as the Hip Hop M.D and creator of the Hip Hop Science platform, graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in civil engineering.  He is an award-winning science communicator, having received both the Asteroid Award for "Best Streaming Content" and the People of Change Award for his community outreach efforts.  His passion for science and entertainment, along with his curiosity for new innovation has taken him through an incredible life journey.

Noticing a lack of minority involvement in the S.T.E.M. fields, Maynard created Hip Hop Science with the goal of encouraging minorities and youth to pursue more advanced career paths.  His background in engineering, acting, business, and credible work within the music industry as an artist, make him uniquely qualified to engage on a wide variety of topics from an entertaining perspective.  This is highly reflected in his weekly vlogs and daily social media posts which provide both humorous and informative #SciComm content.

Maynard's distinct personality, energy, and enthusiasm for science have made him a key contributor to the educational understanding of a wide range of communities.

His creative storytelling and ability to host, moderate, and engage with audiences has sparked collaborations with the Natural History Museum, the La Brea Tar Pits, as well as, tech companies like Not Impossible Labs, ICVR, and Scan Truck.

He looks to continue his work with universities, students, and communities doing more S.T.E.M. outreach and diversity initiatives to help propel the next generation into the scientific frontier.

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