The Artemis Accords and the US's Ambition to Commercialize Space

Paris Marx is joined by Mary-Jane Rubenstein to discuss how ideas that underpinned colonization and Manifest Destiny are now setting the foundation for the billionaire space race and the plan to colonize the cosmos.
 
Mary-Jane Rubenstein is the author of Astrotopia: The Dangerous Religion of the Corporate Space Race. She’s also a Professor of Religion and Science in Society at Wesleyan University.

Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.

The podcast is produced by Eric Wickham and part of the Harbinger Media Network.

Also mentioned in this episode:

• An excerpt of Mary-Jane’s book was published in Metapolis.
• Paris wrote about the business behind the billionaire space race and the problem with Starlink.
• Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin recently got a contract to build a moon lander for NASA.
• One of Barack Obama’s legacies is pushing for the privatization of space flight.
• The US Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act of 2015 and Artemis Accords are attempts to unilaterally rewrite space law for US commercial interest.
• Catherine L. Newell wrote Destined for the Stars: Faith, the Future, and America's Final Frontier.

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