You Are Not So Smart

258 - Under Alien Skies - Phil Plait

Apr 30, 2023

01:08:34

Creator website

Episode guests

Phil Plait

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Introduction

2min

Under Alien Skies: A Sightseer's Guide to the Universe

3min

Johnny Geller and the Broken Spoon

2min

The Fateteelers

2min

The Amazing Randy

2min

The Skeptics Movement With a Capital S

4min

How to Be Nice Until It's Time to Not Be Nice

2min

The Resurrection of Interest in UFOs

4min

The Power of UFOs

3min

10.

Under Alien Skies: A Sightsee's Guide to the Universe

4min

11.

The Importance of Telescopes in Science Communication

2min

12.

The Rise of the Web Telescope

2min

13.

The Goals of Skepticism

2min

14.

The History of Hubble

2min

15.

Saturn: A Brief History

5min

16.

The Gateway Planet

6min

17.

The Mystery of Ravioli Moons of Saturn

2min

18.

The Only Moons of Saturn

3min

19.

Saturn's Rings

5min

20.

The Awe of Saturn

4min

21.

The Moon and the Moon

5min

22.

The Effects of the Moon on Our View of the World

3min

23.

Phil Plates New Book Is Under Aliens

2min

Astronomer Phil Plait joins us to discuss his new book, Under Alien Skies, in which he describes what it would be like (through human eyes and real physical experiences) to actually travel to Saturn, Mars, asteroids, and distant stars. Also, we discuss the recent surge in UFO sighting as well as his famous talk at The Amazing Meeting more than a decade ago in which he asked all science communicators and critical thinkers to approach those who believe in pseudoscience with empathy and respect instead of scorn and vitriol. And, we run through the history of James Randi's popularization of the big-S Skeptic movement.

- Phil Plait’s Substack: https://badastronomy.substack.com/

- How Minds Change: www.davidmcraney.com/howmindschangehome

- David McRaney’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/davidmcraney

- YANSS Twitter: https://twitter.com/notsmartblog

- Show Notes: www.youarenotsosmart.com

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