Who dresses the astronauts for flight? Why are the suits orange? And how are they cared for? Sharon Caples McDougle joins us to talk about her work as a modern day hidden figure, a space suit technician responsible for processing the orange launch and re-entry pressure suit assemblies worn by all NASA space shuttle astronauts. She explains how she became one ... Show More
Yesterday
Susannah Wilson, "A Most Quiet Murder: Maternity, Affliction, and Violence in Late Nineteenth-Century France" (Cornell UP, 2025)
Susannah Wilson joins Jana Byars to talk about A Most Quiet Murder: Maternity, Affliction, and Violence in Late Nineteenth-Century France (Cornell UP, 2025). The monograph examines the death of a five-year-old girl in late nineteenth-century France, unfolding the mystery through ... Show More
46m 35s
Jan 22
Abortion and Reproductive Justice: An Essential Guide for Resistance
Overturning Roe unleashed a wave of urgent threats to abortion and bodily autonomy, fueled by overt white supremacy, racial and anti-immigrant hatred, and support for traditional gender roles and sexual identities. But the resistance is fierce, led by a new generation of activist ... Show More
1h 1m
Jan 22
Lauren D. Sawyer, "Growing Up Pure: White Girls, Queer Teens, and the Racial Foundations of Purity Culture" (NYU Press, 2025)
Gaining mass popularity in the mid-1990s with the True Love Waits rally on the Washington Mall, purity culture began as an urge from evangelical conservatives for Christian adolescents to publicly commit to practicing abstinence until marriage. Throughout this decade and the next ... Show More
44m 5s
Feb 2024
The Space Race: Honoring the first African-American space explorers
<p>This week on Planetary Radio, we take a peek behind the scenes at National Geographic's new documentary, “The Space Race,” which celebrates the triumphs and struggles of the first African-American space pioneers and astronauts. Co-directors Diego Hurtado de Mendoza and Lisa Co ... Show More
1h 3m
Apr 2021
A NASA astronaut’s lessons on fear, confidence and preparing for spaceflight | Megan McArthur
How does an astronaut prepare physically and mentally to launch into space? NASA astronaut Megan McArthur, who will take part in the SpaceX Crew-2 mission later this month, shares stellar life lessons on how to cultivate the resolve to do incredible things through preparation -- ... Show More
11m 7s
Jan 2020
Scientist, Astronaut, Explorer | Kathryn Sullivan
<p>Dr. Kathryn Sullivan is a distinguished scientist, astronaut, leader and teacher. She was one of the first six women to join the NASA astronaut corps in 1978 and is the first American woman to walk in space. Sullivan flew on three space shuttle missions during her 15-year NASA ... Show More
1h 21m
Sep 2021
The Next Astronauts Part III: What It Takes
Axios space reporter Miriam Kramer goes inside SpaceX's headquarters in Hawthorne, California, to see the factory floor, the Inspiration4 crew's training regimen and how this mission fits into SpaceX's broader goals.
Kramer speaks with SpaceX senior leadership and tours the facil ... Show More
24m 38s