The last time we interviewed the physicist Meganne Christian, she was working on the French-Italian research base on Antarctica. Now she has her eye on outer space. We ring her up to find out more about her new life as a reserve astronaut for the European Space Agency, and Europe's role in the new commercial space era. We're also talking about Pedro Sánchez's Spanish election gamble and a hopeful court verdict for same-sex Romanian couples.

FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT HERE: https://europeanspodcast.com/episodes/europes-place-in-outer-space

Thanks for listening! If you enjoy our podcast and would like to help us keep making it, we'd love it if you'd consider chipping in a few bucks a month at ⁠patreon.com/europeanspodcast⁠ (many currencies are available). You can also help new listeners find the show by ⁠leaving us a review⁠ or giving us five stars on Spotify. 

You can follow Meganne here on Twitter and Instagram, and the ESA here and here. The report on Europe's future role in space exploration can be found here, and you can find out more about the ESA astronaut selection process here. Some other links you might want to check out:

• ESA Space Ambition book
• ESA Terrae Novae 2030+ Strategy Roadmap
• International Space Station Benefits for Humanity 2022
• ESA Human Spaceflight on Twitter

This week's Isolation Inspiration: 'The [Queer] Politics of Eurovision' from verilybitchie, and This Is Love: The Museum of Broken Relationships.

00:22 Welcome to the western-most peninsulas of Eurasia
03:28 Bad Week: Spain's Socialists
11:36 Good Week: LGBT couples in Romania
20:53 Interview: Meganne Christian on life as a reserve astronaut and what Europe is up to in space
32:53 Isolation Inspiration: The Queer Politics of Eurovision and The Museum of Broken Relationships
35:09 Happy Ending: Cheers to you, Gert-Jan

Producers: Katy Lee and Wojciech Oleksiak

Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak

Music: Jim Barne and Mariska Martina

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