The Dangerous Religion of the Corporate Space Race w/ Mary-Jane Rubenstein
Episode description
Paris Marx is joined by Mary-Jane Rubenstein to discuss how ideas that underpinned colonization and Manifest Destiny are now setting the foundation for the billionaire space race and the plan to colonize the cosmos.
Mary-Jane Rubenstein is the author of Astrotopia: The Dangerous Religion of the Corporate Space Race. She’s also a Professor of Religion and Science in Society at Wesleyan University.
Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.
The podcast is produced by Eric Wickham and part of the Harbinger Media Network.
Also mentioned in this episode:
- An excerpt of Mary-Jane’s book was published in Metapolis.
- Paris wrote about the business behind the billionaire space race and the problem with Starlink.
- Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin recently got a contract to build a moon lander for NASA.
- One of Barack Obama’s legacies is pushing for the privatization of space flight.
- The US Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act of 2015 and Artemis Accords are attempts to unilaterally rewrite space law for US commercial interest.
- Catherine L. Newell wrote Destined for the Stars: Faith, the Future, and America's Final Frontier.