Reconnecting with the night sky and reining in light pollution
· 18 min · Episode 1342
Episode Reconnecting with the night sky and reining in light pollution
What happens when the skies are no longer dark at night? Writer Craig Childs biked from the brightest night sky, to the darkest, to find out what we lose when the lights don’t go out. He joins Host Ira Flatow to talk about his book “The Wild Dark,” our SciFri Book Club pick for July and August.
Plus, astronomer John Barentine fills us in on DarkSky International’s latest report, “Artificial Light at Night: State of the Science 2026.”
Read an excerpt from “The Wild Dark: Finding the Night Sky in the Age of Light.”
Guests:
Craig Childs is the author of “The Wild Dark: Finding the Night Sky in the Age of Light.”
Dr. John Barentine is an astronomer and principal consultant at Dark Sky Consulting, LLC
Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com.
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Links in the notes 13
- https://www.sciencefriday.com/sf-books/the-wild-dark/?utm_source=wnyc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=scifri
- https://darksky.org/news/state-of-the-science-2026/
- https://www.sciencefriday.com/articles/finding-wonder-night-sky-wild-dark/
- https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/light-pollution-night-sky?utm_source=wnyc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=scifri?
- https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/parenting-tips-from-the-animal-kingdom/?utm_source=wnyc&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=scifri
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