# 258 - Under Alien Skies - Phil Plait

An episode of [You Are Not So Smart](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/521594713), 30 Apr 2023, 1 h 09 min.

Audio: https://stitcher.simplecastaudio.com/aa9f2648-25e9-472a-af42-4e5017da38cf/episodes/dfd44108-c78f-4d8c-aeb2-44785bd50b74/audio/128/default.mp3?aid=rss_feed&awCollectionId=aa9f2648-25e9-472a-af42-4e5017da38cf&awEpisodeId=dfd44108-c78f-4d8c-aeb2-44785bd50b74&feed=N5eKDxJI

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 - Newsletter: https://davidmcraney.substack.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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