A Conversation With Avi Loeb

Avi Loeb is probably the most famous practicing astronomer in the country. He’s the founding director of Harvard University’s Black Hole Initiative and was the longest-serving chair of Harvard’s Department of Astronomy. Now, Loeb is also one of the most controversial astronomers in the country. In 2018, he proposed that an object named Oumuamua that had been detected by a telescope in Maui may have been a probe from an alien civilization. Earlier this year, Loeb claimed to have recovered material from an interstellar meteor that could be evidence of an alien starship. Some of Loeb’s colleagues accuse him of making wild and sensational claims. So, what do you think? “Now What?” is produced with help from Steve Zimmer, Lucy Little and Patrick McAndrew. Audio production is by Nick Ciavatta.