...with Alex Amon

For this episode we were at New Scientist Live 2019 as their “performance stage”, hosting workshops, talks and interviews with some of the UK’s leading scientists and researchers. One of the (many) highlights was hosting an interview and Q&A with astronaut Al Worden who piloted the Apollo 15 command module to The Moon in 1971. We’re releasing this episode for International Podcast Day to celebrate Al’s life after he passed away earlier this year. 2020 really hasn’t pulled any punches, eh? In this episode Al and Jon chat about: • his astronaut training • his Guinness World record • his favourite sci-fi films • his relationships with other Apollo astronauts • why at 87 years old he still considered himself the best crew member for a mission to Mars and he answers questions from the New Scientist Live audience LINKS Al’s legacy feed on Twitter @WordenAlfred   Website alworden.com The Al Worden “Endeavour” Scholarship unspaceagency.earth Credits Presenter: Jon Spooner Sound Engineer & Editor: Andy Wood Music: Public Service Broadcasting Ground Crew: Anna Turzyknski, Sarah Readman, Sarah Webb Producers: Jon Spooner, Alice Massey, Sarah Webb, Javairya Khan for Unlimited Graphic Design: Lee Goater The Unlimited Space Agency and The Space Shed are projects of Unlimited Theatre Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this episode we were on campus at the University of Warwick’s Family Day for the British Science Festival with Maddie Moate - a YouTube filmmaker, BAFTA winning presenter and the host of the BAFTA nominated CBeebies series “Do You Know?”, BBC Earth’s “Earth Unplugged”and CNBC’s technology series “The Cloud Challenge”. Maddie and Jon know each other from the CBeebies Christmas Show that Jon directs and in this episode we chat about: the CBeebies Christmas show how Maddie started out on YouTube why ‘Curiosity’ is so important Maddie’s favourite episodes of ‘Do You Know’ her travelling adventures across the world elephant poo Maddie also does a live biscuit review and answers questions including: where do you live? how do you choose what to make episodes of Do You Know about? which factories are your favourites? do you ever get tired? what is your favourite book? what is your favourite planet? what is your favourite giraffe?   LINKS Maddie on Instagram @maddiemoate Maddie on Twitter @maddiemoate Website maddiemoate.com   Credits Presenters: Jon Spooner & Mini Jon Sound Engineer & Editor: Andy Wood Additional sound design: Elena Pena Music: Public Service Broadcasting Producers: Jon Spooner, Alice Massey, Sarah Webb for Unlimited Consultancy: Storythings Graphic Design: Lee Goater The Unlimited Space Agency and The Space Shed are projects of Unlimited Theatre Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jacqueline is currently a professor at Gresham College, University College London and the Maasai Mara University in Kenya where she also lives having married a Maasai chief. Previously chief scientist of the United Nations environment programme and executive director of the European Environment Agency, Jacqueline is passionate about community science and natural prosperity, open data and earth observation. She is one of the most extraordinary humans I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. In this episode we chat about: how to get politicians and governments to “do the right thing” her sustainable life with the Maasai Mara in rural Kenya how we can all, like the Maasai Mara, adapt our lives to cope with the effects of climate change and Jacqueline answers questions including: is climate change going to make humans extinct by 2100 how much rain do you get in the village where you live? what advice would you give to any young people wanting to get involved in fighting climate change? how badly will climate change affect the Earth? how does climate change affect plants? how many trees do we need to plant to stop climate change? should we all go vegan? what can we all do to get governments to ACT on climate change?   LINKS Jacqueline on Twitter @jacquelineMcgl8 Jacqueline on Facebook jacqueline.mcglade.1   Credits Presenters: Jon Spooner & Mini Jon Sound Engineer & Editor: Andy Wood Additional sound design: Elena Pena Music: Public Service Broadcasting Producers: Jon Spooner, Alice Massey, Sarah Webb for Unlimited Consultancy: Storythings Graphic Design: Lee Goater The Unlimited Space Agency and The Space Shed are projects of Unlimited Theatre Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this episode we’re back in the Faraway Forest at Latitude Festival with poet, lawyer, international human rights activist and founding member of Unlimited Theatre Dr Louisa Ashley. In this episode Louisa and Jon chat about: Louisa’s ‘career journey’ from experimental theatre maker to Head of Law at Leeds Beckett University chocolate’s relationship to climate change “Ecofeminism” and what it is poetry and conflict resolution how art can help us deal with the emotional responses to climate change Louisa also reads some of her poems and answers questions including: how can chocolate be good for the environment? what is *the* answer? what is going on in Yemen? are there any countries in the world that are shining examples for human rights? LINKS Louisa on Twitter @LouisaAshley16   Credits Presenters: Jon Spooner & Mini Jon Sound Engineer & Editor: Andy Wood Additional sound design: Elena Pena Music: Public Service Broadcasting Producers: Jon Spooner, Alice Massey, Sarah Webb for Unlimited Consultancy: Storythings Graphic Design: Lee Goater The Unlimited Space Agency and The Space Shed are projects of Unlimited Theatre Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this episode we were on campus at the University of Warwick as part of the British Science Festival with lawyer and climate justice activist Harpreet Kaur Paul. In this episode Harpreet and Jon chat about: what “climate justice” is what the real effects of climate change are right now how human rights laws can help with fighting climate change why direct action (protest) is important what can we best do as individuals? and answers questions including: should my school start selling bottled water? how did you get into this line of work? what are the best ways to do “carbon offsetting”?   LINKS Harpreet on Twitter @HarpreetKPaul   Credits Presenters: Jon Spooner & Mini Jon Sound Engineer & Editor: Andy Wood Additional sound design: Elena Pena Music: Public Service Broadcasting Producers: Jon Spooner, Alice Massey, Sarah Webb for Unlimited Consultancy: Storythings Graphic Design: Lee Goater The Unlimited Space Agency and The Space Shed are projects of Unlimited Theatre Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this episode we were in The Faraway Forest at Latitude Festival with Dr Alice Bell - a climate activist and historian and the co-director of climate charity 10:10 (recently rebranded as Possible). In this episode Alice and Jon chat about: the best words to describe the climate crisis/breakdown/emergency why keeping global heating to 1.5degrees is so important why it’s good to talk about how scary this all is what we can all do to combat climate change why individual (as well as collective) action is useful and answers questions including: do we have to STOP flying entirely? will it get so hot in the UK that we will have to close schools how can we reduce food waste? what is the most important thing that we should all do? is it true that LED lights are bad for you? is it bad for wildlife if we build solar and wind farms in fields? should we do meat free Mondays? should we eat the rich? Alice also came back later that day to DJ a ‘climate inspired’ set. Spotify playlist here: songs for a changing climate - Space Shed edit (67 minutes) and the 200 minute ‘long train journey edit’ is here   LINKS Alice on Twitter @alicebell 1010uk.org   Credits Presenters: Jon Spooner & Mini Jon Sound Engineer & Editor: Andy Wood Additional sound design: Elena Pena Music: Public Service Broadcasting Producers: Jon Spooner, Alice Massey, Sarah Webb for Unlimited Consultancy: Storythings Graphic Design: Lee Goater The Unlimited Space Agency and The Space Shed are projects of Unlimited Theatre Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this episode we were in London at the Great Exhibition Road Festival with Chaitanya Kumar - a climate activist and senior policy advisor for the Green Alliance and previously with 350.org - on one of the hottest days of 2019. In this episode Chaitanya explains: why climate change is such a huge problem what the UK is doing to combat climate change what we as a society (rather than individuals) need to do to fight climate change what a positive (rather than ‘doom and gloom’) future could be like if we all act and answers questions including: apart from planting trees, what else can we do to use our land better and suck carbon out of the atmosphere? how will we heat our homes without gas boilers? is it true that if we don’t fix this problem the planet will go into the thermal runaway? why haven’t I heard these facts before?! Enjoy!   LINKS Chaitanya on Twitter @chaitanyakumar globalclimatestrike.net Green Alliance website green-alliance.org.uk 350.org   Credits Presenters: Jon Spooner & Mini Jon Sound Engineer & Editor: Andy Wood Additional sound design: Elena Pena Music: Public Service Broadcasting Producers: Jon Spooner, Alice Massey, Sarah Webb for Unlimited Consultancy: Storythings Graphic Design: Lee Goater The Unlimited Space Agency and The Space Shed are projects of Unlimited Theatre Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this episode we're back in the Faraway Forest at Latitude Festival with Rupert Read representing for Extinction Rebellion. Rupert is an Associated Professor of Philosophy at the University of East Anglia, an author, a blogger, and – most passionately – a climate and environmental campaigner. Throughout 2019 he has frequently been a spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion and is a member of their political liaison team, meeting with senior politicians from across the political spectrum. He has represented Extinction Rebellion on national radio and television, including on Radio 4's Today Program and on the BBC's Politics Live. On this occasion, Rupert found himself in a Shed, in a forest, being interviewed by a man wearing an orange spacesuit and too much glittery eyeliner. In this episode Rupert explains: why space travel is terrible for the planet how space travel and science fiction can help us save the planet why civilisation is likely to collapse because of climate breakdown what ‘civilisation collapse’ even is how Extinction Rebellion is leading the fight to prevent climate breakdown and civilisation collapse what each of us can do to get involved and fight climate breakdown and answers questions including: what should corporations be doing to prevent climate breakdown? isn’t the UK doing loads already? Isn’t it other countries that need to step up? how do we fight this while we have powerful leaders like Donald Trump who don’t believe in climate change? why does the UK media not highlight this problem ALL THE TIME? how do you talk to people who aren’t yet committed to fighting climate breakdown? what is your view on whether or not Extinction Rebellion should target Heathrow? when will I be able to afford to change my boiler? All of which was excellently stimulating (and occasionally terrifying) fun. Enjoy!   LINKS Rupert on Twitter @GreenRupertRead Rupert’s website rupertread.net Rupert’s viral video with more than 250,000 views This Civilisation is Finished: so what is to be done?   Credits Presenters: Jon Spooner & Mini Jon Sound Engineer & Editor: Andy Wood Additional sound design: Elena Pena Music: Public Service Broadcasting Producers: Jon Spooner, Alice Massey, Sarah Webb for Unlimited Consultancy: Storythings Graphic Design: Lee Goater The Unlimited Space Agency and The Space Shed are projects of Unlimited Theatre Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this episode we were outside the Great North Museum: Hancock as part of the Great Exhibition of the North with cosmologist and dark matter explorer Dr Alex Amon. At the time, Alex was just completing her PhD at the Institute for Astronomy in Edinburgh and has recently been awarded the prestigious Royal Astronomical Society thesis prize. She is super cool. In this episode Alex explains: what dark energy and dark matter are and how you find it what “gravitational lensing” is how space telescopes work how to get a job looking at galaxies her new project looking for “killer asteroids” and answers questions including: what will happen when the Milky Way and the Andromeda galaxies collide? what even is the Milky Way anyway? and Alex tells us why stars are boring…   Enjoy!   LINKS Alex on Twitter @astroalexamon Alex’s excellent article Shedding Light on the Dark Universe   CREDITS Presenters: Jon Spooner & Mini Jon Sound Engineer & Editor: Andy Wood Additional sound design: Elena Pena Music: Public Service Broadcasting Producers: Jon Spooner, Alice Massey, Sarah Webb for Unlimited Consultancy: Storythings Graphic Design: Lee Goater The Unlimited Space Agency and The Space Shed are projects of Unlimited Theatre Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this episode we’re back in the Faraway Forest at Latitude Festival with space engineer Abbie Hutty. For the last seven years she has been working as the lead structures engineer on the European Space Agency’s ExoMars rover that is scheduled for launch to the red planet in 2020. Also, Jon makes an utter hash of trying to launch the Space Shed. Bear with him! In this episode Abbie and UNSA’s Director of Human Spaceflight Jon Spooner talk about how she became a space engineer why she’s building a rover to go to Mars why she’s confident about finding new life forms on Mars and answers questions on what sort of life she’s expecting to find there what her favourite planet is and why what inspired her to work in the space industry how she responds to people who believe the Earth is flat Enjoy!   LINKS Abbie on Twitter @a_hutty ExoMars website   CREDITS Presenters: Jon Spooner & Mini Jon Sound Engineer & Editor: Andy Wood Additional sound design: Elena Pena Music: Public Service Broadcasting Producers: Jon Spooner, Alice Massey, Sarah Webb for Unlimited Consultancy: Storythings Graphic Design: Lee Goater The Unlimited Space Agency and The Space Shed are projects of Unlimited Theatre Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.