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Planetary Radio • Sep 18, 2026
Book Club Edition: Alien Oceans by Kevin Hand
On This Episode
Kevin Hand
Author and Director of the NASA/JPL Ocean Worlds Lab
Mat Kaplan
Senior Communications Adviser and former Host of Planetary Radio for The Planetary Society
Where are we most likely to find evidence of life, past or living, in the Solar System? Planetary scientist and author Kevin Hand looks to warm, salty ocean depths beneath protective layers of ice on worlds such as Europa and Enceladus. His enthralling book became a popular selection in The Planetary Society’s member book club. He recently joined the Society’s Mat Kaplan for a deep exploration of the best science. Kevin also shared tales of his own harrowing, revealing journeys through Earth’s undersea world.
The Planetary Society Book Club: Alien Oceans with author Kevin Hand What if we find life elsewhere in our Solar System, not on Mars, but deep under a thick blanket of ice in the warm, salty ocean of Jupiter's moon Europa or Saturn's Enceladus? JPL scientist Kevin Hand has helped lead the search for many years. Host Mat Kaplan welcomes Dr. Hand to the Society's book club for a mind-blowing conversation about our progress. They close with some of Kevin's wilder speculations. Could there be intelligent life building a civilization in the deep dark of that undersea world?