Skip to content
Sign in
Artwork for Planetary Radio: Space Policy Edition
ScienceNewsPolitics

Planetary Radio: Space Policy Edition

The Planetary Society

The politics, policy, and history behind space exploration.

Play
Open in
  • 21 episodes
  • monthly
  • Avg 1 hr 8 min
  • English

Episodes 21

NewestOldestLongest
All20Unplayed20In progress0Played0
Counted on this page — what you have heard stays on this device, so it is not something the list can be paged by.
  • Friday · 1 hr 7 min

    The Long Space Age with Alex MacDonald

    Alex MacDonald, former Chief Economist at NASA and author of "The Long Space Age," joins Casey Dreier to explore more than two centuries of privately funded space exploration in America.

  • August 7 · 1 hr 10 min

    “Science: A New Golden Age” - Reimagining U.S. science policy

    Casey Dreier is joined by Zach Pirtle, deputy director of the Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes at Arizona State University, and the Planetary Society's Chief of Advocacy Jack Kiraly to dissect the White House's "Science: A New Golden Age" report, which calls for a sweeping reimagining of how the U.S. funds and conducts science.

  • July 3 · 57 min

    What's going on with commercial space stations?

    Clayton Swope, deputy director of the Aerospace Security Project and senior fellow at CSIS, joins the show to break down NASA's rocky path toward a commercial replacement for the International Space Station.

  • June 5 · 52 min

    A proposal to stifle American science

    Casey Dreier is joined by Liz Ginexi, a former Program Officer at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, to break down a 400-page proposed rule change from the U.S. Office of Management and Budget that could fundamentally reshape how the federal government manages scientific grants.

  • May 1 · 1 hr 18 min

    Why humans matter — The philosophy of Artemis II

    Casey Dreier, chief of space policy at The Planetary Society, sits down with Rebecca Lowe, philosophy senior fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, to explore why human presence in space is so different from robotic missions, and why that difference matters.

  • April 3 · 1 hr 13 min

    Return to Launch — Cape Canaveral's unlikely history

    Casey Dreier, chief of space policy at The Planetary Society, sits down with Stephen C. Smith, author of Return to Launch and Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex communicator, to explore how a remote Florida peninsula became the heart of U.S. spaceflight.

  • March 6 · 1 hr 8 min

    Is there really a space race between the US and China?

    Casey Dreier, chief of space policy at The Planetary Society, speaks with former NASA strategic advisor on China, Patrick Besha, about China’s long-term space strategy and what real competition in space may look like in the decades ahead.

  • February 6 · 1 hr

    What a NASA Authorization bill actually does

    Chief of Space Policy Casey Dreier and Director of Government Relations Jack Kiraly break down what NASA authorization bills actually do and why these laws matter for long-term U.S. space policy, from science missions to human spaceflight and planetary defense.

  • January 2 · 1 hr 11 min

    Change for the Sake of Disruption at NASA

    After DOGE cuts, mass staff departures, and a blink-and-you-missed-it pivot to Mars, how much did NASA actually change in 2025? Space Policy Online founder Marcia Smith returns to assess a turbulent year.

  • Dec 12, 2025 · 1 hr 8 min

    The Moral Case for Space Science

    Why do we explore space? In this Space Policy Edition rerun, Casey Dreier speaks with philosopher Dr. J. S. Johnson-Schwartz about why space science is a moral obligation, beyond economics or prestige.

  • Nov 7, 2025 · 1 hr 21 min

    Should a (potential) biosignature revive Mars Sample Return?

    In 1996, a controversial claim of fossilized life in a Martian meteorite ignited a golden age of Mars exploration. Nearly 30 years later, a potential biosignature detected by the Perseverance rover at Jezero Crater has sparked… no major policy changes. Why? Lou Friedman joins the show to present his view.

  • Oct 3, 2025 · 48 min

    China’s growing space science ambitions

    If the United States is indeed in a space race with China, why are we abandoning space science programs across the Solar System? This question, posed by guest Maxwell Zhu in a recent op-ed co-authored by The Planetary Society’s chief of space policy, reveals the current myopia around human spaceflight and the missing focus on a growing and ambitious new entrant into space science in the 21st century.

  • Aug 1, 2025 · 1 hr 10 min

    Is this the moment for in-space nuclear power?

    Dr. Bhavya Lal argues that the 2020s are a decisive decade for in-space nuclear power. Without nuclear, humans may never be more than visitors on Mars or the Moon.

  • Jul 4, 2025 · 59 min

    Are Democrats falling behind on space policy?

    Our guest, Mary Guenther, argues that the Democratic Party is ceding leadership in space policy, and how linking space to jobs, supply chains, and climate could help refocus the party’s relationship with the Cosmos.

  • Jun 27, 2025 · 1 hr 7 min

    NASA’s 2026 budget

    Alicia Brown from the Commercial Space Federation and Brittany Webster from the American Geophysical Union join the show to discuss NASA’s fiscal year 2026 budget proposal.

  • Jun 6, 2025 · 1 hr 15 min

    What does NASA need with an economist?

    Former NASA chief economist Akhil Rao explains why NASA needs economic expertise to navigate the complex — and often misunderstood — market forces that will determine the success or failure of its private partnerships.

  • May 2, 2025 · 1 hr 18 min

    How NASA remembers—and forgets

    No one person knows how to build a spaceship. What happens to NASA’s collective knowledge when thousands of employees lose their jobs?

  • Apr 4, 2025 · 1 hr 9 min

    Lies, damned lies, and space data

    The space sector is data-rich but insight-poor. Jack Kuhr of Payload talks about how he turns raw numbers into real narratives.

Showing 1–20 of 21 episodes