I Want To Believe

Jonah's asteroid paranoia makes an appearance.

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The truth is out there, and Jonah may uncover it on today’s Remnant. To boldly go where no pundit has gone before, he’s joined by Avi Loeb—Harvard astrophysicist and author of the recent book, Interstellar: The Search for Extraterrestrial Life and Our Future in the Stars—to discuss UFOs and our place in the universe. Together, they endeavor to answer all of the most pressing questions about alien life: How should we approach the study of interstellar objects? What role does the government play in scientific inquiry? And most importantly, when can we expect the sweet meteor of death to strike?

Show Notes:

-WATCH: Jonah Goldberg interviews Avi Loeb

– Avi’s webpage

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  1. Avatar photo
    AndreaLeane75

    This was so much fun. What an interesting and informative guest!

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  2. Grandymitchell

    I was mentally chuckling through the podcast: in guest episodes, the usual mix is about 40% guest and 60% Jonah. In this one, Jonah was lucky to get a word in edgewise! Good topic and interesting guest!

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    Faraday

    Thank you Jonah. Really enjoyed this Remnant. Always like to hear from Dr. Loeb. I thik I'm going to have to review his letter, re. Oumuamua.

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    Mkapnick

    I loved this Remnant. More of this please

    Also, I loved the one with Paul Bloom.

    Anything that relates to the nature of consciousness or the possible existence of extraterrestrial life. I am all in favor of those topics hijacking the remnant for a brief interlude from today’s politics.

    Although, I guess the two could be intermixed. I’m open to the idea that the current republican party is really an army of space aliens aimed at destroying the Earth.

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    Calvin.Siler

    I have to admit I was somewhat disappointed when I realized that this wasn't going to be an episode on the political relevance of the X files, similar to the episode on Dune or lengthy discussions on Star Trek or the Simpsons. I think the X Files actually has a lot to say to our current political and cultural situation, such as the rise of the alt-right, generational conflict between Boomers and Gen X, paranoid fears about a deep state, and so on.

    Also weird that it was never mentioned that Dr. Loeb was on the niche legal podcast two years ago covering similar ground.

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    Paul Beltman

    If I had a chance to ask him one question, it's not about the science. At one point he said that if we discuvered evidence of ET life, it would fundamentally change our world. Really? How? Why? What would change about human life here? It seems that the only people who are committed to this idea are the hardcore atheists who pray for ET life to finally put an end religion once and for all. (An apocalyptic revelation in its own right.) Just how does he imagine that the evidence he is seeking would actually change anything?

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      Todd T

      Just how? That’s a really existential question. But dismissing that it wouldn’t change things drastically is foolish.

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      C C Writer

      It could do the opposite. It's all in C.S. Lewis.

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    Paul Beltman

    Dr. Loeb puts me in mind of Nikola Tesla. A brilliant man with many unorthodox ideas, and something of an obsessive crank. Now, I don't begrudge him his research. More power to him. Even if he never uncovers evidence of extraterrestrial life, science itself will benefit, and we may make new discoveries. I'll pay attention to him as along as he produces actual science.

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      Todd T

      Yet we will listen to any dumb politician behind a mic. I say more obsessive cranks. Far more interesting.

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  8. Drbill3000

    Thanks for having Dr. Loeb on the podcast!!! It was such a welcome change of pace from punditry and philosophical wonkishness. I think Dr. Loeb has exactly the right attitude about UFOs... just admit that we don't know what they are and that we need more evidence. Likewise, even though he has put forward the "piece of extraterrestrial intelligence technology" argument for Oumuamua, he doesn't seem to be dogmatic about it and is open to a well argued case for a natural explanation. I would push back a bit on the extrasolar meteorite story since I think he said it was harder than natural materials? Nickel-iron meteorites (basically the remnants of cores of differentiated planetesimals from the early history of the Solar System) are pretty darn tough.

    We need more space and science! If you ever want someone to talk about Mars exploration, here you have a Dispatch subscriber who was on the science team of the Spirit and Opportunity rovers and is currently on the Curiosity rover science team. Just saying...

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  9. PKirch

    Wow I've never heard Jonah speak so little in an hour. Loved the topic actually, but the Prof was a bit tough to listen to - it's like he was doing a lecture one-way, not a lot of room for dialogue.

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  10. Lentulus

    Love it, do more of this.

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