Humans have often turned to the night sky for both practical matters, like direction and orientation, as well as philosophical matters, like making sense of our place in the world and communicating with the ethereal. Despite this ancestral connection, many of us either know very little about the space above us and the galaxies around us, or we don’t even have the privilege of being able to develop this connection. Did you know 85% of matter in the universe is considered intangible “dark” matter? Have you ever wondered why it’s even called dark matter? Did you know some nation-states are still considering what it would take to mine the moon? Or that we are radically altering what the night sky looks like through the increasing presence of satellites? In this week’s episode, we explore these curiosities with Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein. Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein is an assistant professor of physics and core faculty in women’s and gender studies at the University of New Hampshire. Dr. Prescod-Weinstein’s book The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred will be published in the US and Canada in March 2021. Music by Harrison Foster, Amaara, and Jahnavi Veronica. Visit our website at forthewild.world for the full episode description, references, and action points.

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