To kick off the new season of the podcast, Alina Utrata and Shikha Srinivas discuss space colonization and the tech billionaires in outer space. Why are Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk obsessed with getting to the moon and Mars? How are climate change and the quest to become an interplanetary species related? Who will unaccountable private corporations in space ultimately harm? Should we be afraid of cascading satellites and colliding space junk? And how can indigenous principles and knowledge-holders lead us in understanding our obligations to earth and space, and caring for our shared celestial commons? 

Since we talked a lot about indigenous communities on this episode, we want to highlight the work and knowledge of indigenous scholars, activists and communities:

Sense of Place Series: Indigenous Perspectives on Earth and Sky

All My Relations: a podcast by three native women, as well as the specific episode about the fight to protect Mauna Kea

The Polynesian Voyaging Society, Hokule’a and more on Polynesian navigation practices.

Native Appropriations, a blog by Dr. Adrienne Keene

More Indigenous Scholars and Scholarly Work

Dr Mark Rifkin

Elizabeth Reese

Professor Linda Smith

Dr. Sarah Deer

Native science : natural laws of interdependence

More about indigenous communities, colonialism and space:

The impact of satellite constellations on space as an ancestral global commons

Anger after Indonesia offers Elon Musk Papuan island for SpaceX launchpad

Astronomers May Not Like It but Astronomy and Colonialism Have a Shared History

The legacy of colonialism on public lands created the Mauna Kea conflict

Other articles:

Mars is a hellhole.

New York Times article about the social life of forests

The myth of the tragedy of the commons

What if Space Junk and Climate Change Become the Same Problem?

A rough sketch on some advanced carbon capture technology

Astronomers are very frustrated with Elon Musk’s satellites

Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos’s space ideology:

Billionaire battles are shaping our future in space

Elon Musk, once again the world's richest person, is selling all his possessions so people know he's serious about colonizing Mars

Elon Musk’s Satellite Internet Project Is Too Risky, Rivals Say

Elon Musk’s War on Regulators:The Tesla and SpaceX chief courts conflict with an alphabet soup of government agencies—and generally gets away with it

Elon Musk’s SpaceX violated its launch license in explosive Starship test, triggering an FAA probe

Jeff Bezos’ Rocket Company Challenges NASA Over SpaceX Moon Lander Deal

Jeff Bezos Lifts Veil on His Rocket Company, Blue Origin

Nowhere Land by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4148-nowhere-land

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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