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Planetary Radio Episodes
Since 2002, Planetary Radio has visited with a scientist, engineer, project manager, advocate, or writer who provides a unique perspective on the quest for knowledge about our Solar System and beyond. The full show archive is available for free.
Congress has passed a budget that restores near-full funding for NASA science after months of uncertainty. We break down what was saved, what was lost, and what comes next.
Host Sarah Al-Ahmed speaks with David McComas, principal investigator of IMAP and IBEX, and Matina Gkioulidou, IMAP project scientist, about how energetic neutral atoms let us map the heliosphere.
Linda Spilker, project scientist for the Voyager mission, explains what Voyager has revealed about the heliopause and the Solar System’s outer edge.
Planetary Radio looks back at the biggest space exploration stories of 2025, from stunning images and major missions to hard lessons about how science moves forward. Host Sarah Al-Ahmed is joined by members of The Planetary Society’s communications team to reflect on what defined the year, and what they’re most excited to see in 2026.
As NASA faces unprecedented proposed cuts to its science programs, Planetary Radio looks back at a pivotal year for U.S. space policy and advocacy. The Planetary Society’s space policy team unpacks what happened, why funding uncertainty matters, and what comes next for space science.
Thirty years after NASA’s Galileo spacecraft became the first to orbit Jupiter, scientists and engineers gathered to reflect on the mission that transformed how we see the giant planet and its moons.
Mat Kaplan brings us to USC for the 2025 Mars Society Convention, where leaders in science, engineering, AI, biology, architecture, and advocacy share bold visions for humanity’s future on Mars.
NASA’s ESCAPADE mission is on its way to Mars to study how the solar wind interacts with the planet’s magnetic fields and atmosphere. This week, we talk with Ari Koeppel and PI Rob Lillis about the mission’s launch and science goals, and examine Martian aurora in What’s Up.
Planetary Radio shares Casey Dreier’s appearance on Smart Girl Dumb Questions, where he and host Nayeema Raza explore why space exploration matters and whether NASA’s budget is worth the cost.
This week, Planetary Radio explores how Epic Spaceman uses visual effects and everyday metaphors to make the vast scale of the Universe feel human and understandable.
The Planetary Society visits TwitchCon 2025 to explore how livestreamers like Moohoodles are bringing space science to new audiences. The episode also features a Space Policy Update on Jared Isaacman’s renomination as NASA Administrator and celebrates the third anniversary of the LightSail 2 mission with Bruce Betts.
Physicist Daniel Whiteson and cartoonist Andy Warner join Sarah Al-Ahmed to explore their new book, “Do Aliens Speak Physics?”
Historian Dagomar Degroot joins Planetary Radio to discuss his new book, “Ripples on the Cosmic Ocean: An Environmental History of Our Place in the Solar System,” which reveals how events across the Solar System have shaped life on Earth.
Planetary Radio continues its coverage from the 2025 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Symposium in Philadelphia, highlighting technologies that could shape future missions, from detecting exoplanet magnetospheres to exploring Venus and Saturn’s moon Enceladus with innovative robots.
Planetary Radio explores visionary ideas from NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts Symposium. In this first of two episodes, discover how researchers are turning science fiction into reality, from glass habitats on the Moon to starshades that could reveal new Earths.
NASA’s Perseverance rover has found potential biosignatures in Jezero Crater’s Bright Angel formation. Host Sarah Al-Ahmed speaks with Joel Hurowitz, associate professor of geosciences at Stony Brook University and lead author of the new Nature paper, about this remarkable discovery.
Bill Nye, CEO of The Planetary Society, celebrates his new star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and joins us to reflect on its meaning. We also receive the latest space policy updates as NASA faces significant budget challenges.
Join host Sarah Al-Ahmed and Mark McCaughrean, adjunct scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, for a tour of “111 Places in Space That You Must Not Miss”, a cosmic travel guide to the Universe.
Host Sarah Al-Ahmed speaks with Staci Horvath, outreach coordinator at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and director of International Observe the Moon Night, and Theresa Summer, astronomy educator at the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, about the history and global impact of International Observe the Moon Night.
Michael Roman, assistant professor at the Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez in Chile, joins Sarah Al-Ahmed to discuss new research confirming that Uranus radiates excess heat, finally resolving a decades-long mystery first sparked by Voyager 2.