Planetary Radio
Each week, Planetary Radio visits with a scientist, engineer, project manager, astronaut, advocate or writer who provides a unique and exciting perspective on the exploration of our solar system and beyond. We also showcase regular features that raise your space IQ while they put a smile on your face. Host Mat Kaplan is joined by Planetary Society colleagues Bill Nye the Science Guy, Bruce Betts, and Emily Lakdawalla. We hit the road now and then to produce a Planetary Radio Live show in front of an audience. Drop us a line or enter the weekly space trivia contest at planetaryradio@planetary.org.
Please support your local public radio station that airs the show! Check the station's online schedule or review our online list of affiliates. Satellite radio listeners can hear us Sunday evenings on the Sirius XM Public Radio channel. Want to hear Planetary Radio on your local station? Ask them to contact us or review our radio affiliate information page.
iTunes and other podcast aggregators like Stitcher make it easy to listen and subscribe. Just search for "Planetary Radio." or click the links below.
Parsec Awards
2011 Parsec Award Logo Icon
Planetary Radio won as the "Best Fact Behind the Fiction" podcast at the 2011 Dragon*Con in Atlanta, Georgia.| Subscribe: | ![]() |
Standard RSS Feed |
Recent Shows
Touring Mt. Wilson with George Ellery Hale's Descendants
07/15/2013 | 28:50
Guests
- David Jurasevich, Superintendent, Mount Wilson Observatory
On this special vacation edition of the show, we climb to the Mount Wilson Observatory to join a special tour for the descendants of the facility’s fascinating founder, George Ellery Hale.
Saving Science Education With Pamela Gay AND Creating the Blackest Black
06/10/2013 | 35:12
Guests
- David Carnahan, President and Co-Founder, NanoLab
- Pamela Gay, Astronomer, Astronomy Cast Co-host and CosmoQuest Principal, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
A Planetary Radio double header includes a visit with CosmoQuest’s Pamela Gay. She and colleagues are working to replace vital federal funds for science education and citizen science programs. We also go to the dark side with David Carnahan of NanoLab, developer of carbon nanotubes that may help us discover Earth-like planets.
Tasting the Air of Distant Worlds
06/03/2013 | 31:50
Guests
- Ben R. Oppenheimer, Associate Curator/Astrophysics Department Chair, American Museum of Natural History, Division of Physical Sciences
There will soon be one thousand confirmed exoplanets, but how do we learn more about such distant worlds? We talk to the leader of a team that has recently developed technology capable of revealing the spectra of these planets, which allows us to tease apart their composition. Emily Lakdawalla invites you to find the next “face” on Mars, while Bill Nye says another asteroid flyby is good news. Our special What’s Up space trivia contest prize will put your picture in orbit!
A Conversation With Telescope Inventor John Dobson
09/10/2012 | 28:50
Guests
When John Dobson invented the Dobsonian telescope he changed the face of amateur astronomy. The 96-year old pioneer talks with Mat Kaplan. Emily Lakdawalla loves Curiosity’s self-portraits. Bill Nye the Science Guy is in London to host a youth webcast with International Space Station astronaut Sunita Williams. Bruce Betts keeps us from getting Lost in Space and helps Mat give away a cool Curiosity bumper sticker in What’s Up.
Section Highlights
Support Planetary Radio!
Help Planetary Radio grow and become even better. Plus get your own Planetary Radio t-shirt for helping.












