Astronomers typically study distant stars and planets. This in fact seems something like the definition of what an astronomer is. However, studying other parts of the universe might also give us insight into the nature of planet Earth and our time on it, brief though it is compared with the history of our small galaxy. These are some of topics I'll chat with Dr Adam Frank about, who is an astronomer doing some very interesting work on distant stars, but who also has keen interests in life on Earth.