Guest: Prof. Lisa Kaltenegger 

Professor Lisa Kaltenegger, Director of the Carl Sagan Institute at Cornell University, beams aboard to talk about her book, Alien Earths, the search for life in the cosmos, what exoplanets teach us about our home world, and her love for Star Trek.

Alien Earths: The New Science of Planet Hunting in the Cosmos, by Lisa Kaltenegger: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250283641/alienearths/

Episode 183: Alien Earths

Guest: Dr. Una McCormack 

New York Times bestselling Star Trek author Dr. Una McCormack beams aboard to discuss the development of and themes within her latest Trek novel, "Strange New Worlds: Asylum."

"Asylum" by Una McCormack: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Star-Trek-Strange-New-Worlds-Asylum/Una-McCormack/Star-Trek-Strange-New-Worlds/9781668051368

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Episode 184: Hope in the Face of Grief

Guest: Dr. Shi En Kim 

Science journalist Dr. Shi En Kim joins Mike to unpack his op-ed about how impending cuts to federal science funding will impact astrobiology—the search for life in the universe.

"Federal Budget Cuts Would Sabotage NASA’s Plans to Find Alien Life" by Mike Wong: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/trumps-budget-cuts-would-sabotage-nasas-plans-to-find-alien-life/

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Episode 185: An Astrobiology Op-Ed

Guest: Emilie Lafleche 

Astrobiologist Emilie Lafleche beams aboard to introduce us to the Habitable Worlds Observatory, a next-generation space-based telescope that will be designed specifically to seek out new life in the cosmos. Then, she and Mike discuss two collaborations at the intersection of science and society: principles of astrobioethics and the PortAL Linking Artists and Scientists (PALLAS).

Learn more about the Habitable Worlds Observatory: https://habitableworldsobservatory.org/home

Emilie & Mike's paper "How to chart a moral future for space exploration": https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-02070-3

Join the PALLAS mailing list: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScocUP4sZ9S4CF3BUnC85Tm2QPKLe39qE6cN5hFp5q7kep0rg/viewform

Episode 186: The Habitable Worlds Observatory

Mike beams aboard Deep Space Love—a podcast that explores love, in all its forms, throughout the final frontier—to discuss the relationship between D'Vanna Tendi and Samanthan Rutherford on Star Trek: Lower Decks.

Check out more Deep Space Love: https://www.podpage.com/deep-space-love/

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Episode 187: Love in a Jefferies Tube

Mike reads his Noema Magazine essay "What Searching For Aliens Reveals About Ourselves."

Read the essay: https://www.noemamag.com/what-searching-for-aliens-reveals-about-ourselves/

Watch Mike's Royal Astronomical Society of Canada talk that inspired the essay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bewJxOCdM5I


Episode 188: What Searching for Aliens Reveals About Ourselves

Guest: Bob Picardo 

Legendary Star Trek actor Bob Picardo beams aboard to talk about his decades-long work with The Planetary Society and his involvement in this October's Day of Action, where over 200 space advocates gathered in D.C. to speak to members of Congress about the importance of funding NASA science.

Learn more about The Planetary Society: https://www.planetary.org/

Read about October's Day of Action: https://www.planetary.org/articles/second-2025-day-of-action-retrospective

Watch Caltech's "Boldly Go!" musical: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdtBArmWHdY

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Bob: https://bsky.app/profile/robertpicardo.bsky.social
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Episode 189: Bob Picardo Wants to Save NASA Science

Guest: Prof. Jason Kaufman 

Professor Jason Kaufman beams aboard to chat about a trio of papers he wrote exploring the themes of human space exploration, sustainable futures, and our relationships to nature.

"An Interplanetary Land Ethic" by Kaufman et al. (2022): https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/scc.2021.0068

"Artemis and an environmentally sustainable future beyond earth" by Kaufman et al. (2023): https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0265964623000425?via%3Dihub

"A Case for Nature in Long-Haul Space Exploration" by Kaufman et al. (2023): https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0265964623000425

"Second Star to the Right: Essays on Leadership and Star Trek": https://vernonpress.com/book/2348?srsltid=AfmBOoryKvMaSjTZ6mTVevEgwGA2dg9LiHWD7Y8Jt1WpR-r05UoA4Imh

Episode 190: Relating to Nature in Space and on Earth

Mike beams aboard Sean Carroll's Mindscape Podcast to talk about astrobiology, the origins of life, complexity, and the proposal for a "law of increasing functional information."

Pre-order your copy of "Time's Second Arrow: Evolution, Order, and a New Law of Nature" by Robert M. Hazen & Michael L. Wong: https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324105480

Mike's 2023 paper "On the roles of function and selection in evolving systems": https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2310223120

Learn more about Mindscape: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/

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Episode 191: Mike on Sean Carroll's Mindscape

Guest: Dr. Anirudh Prabhu 

Mike brings aboard Dr. Anirudh Prabhu to discuss an exciting new study of theirs that uses machine learning trained on organic chemical data to detect the "whispers" of life—including photosynthetic life—in ancient rocks. This exciting technique could one day be used to seek out new life on strange new worlds.

Mike & Anirudh's paper, "Organic geochemical evidence for life in Archean rocks identified by pyrolysis–GC–MS and supervised machine learning": https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2514534122

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Episode 192: Whispers of Life in Ancient Rocks

Hosted by planetary scientist and astrobiologist Dr. Michael L. Wong, Strange New Worlds examines science, technology, and culture through the lens of Star Trek!