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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.
Dennis Stone, president and co-founder of the World Space Week Association, shares how the largest annual space event on Earth came to be and how you can join the celebration this October. Plus, Science Editor Asa Stahl walks us through the final chapter of the Swift space telescope.
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is preparing to launch, promising to transform our understanding of dark energy and exoplanets. We talk with Julie McEnery, senior project scientist for Roman at NASA Goddard, and Jason Rhodes, project scientist for Roman at JPL, about what's ahead.
Research Scientist Tiffany Kataria of NASA JPL and Assistant Professor Lisa Dang of the University of Waterloo talk about two extreme hot Jupiters from the American Astronomical Society meeting.
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.
JWST has uncovered silicate clouds and a dusty circumplanetary disk in the YSES-1 system. Kielan Hoch and Emily Rickman from the Space Telescope Science Institute join us to explore what these surprising findings reveal about young giant exoplanets.
The Rubin Observatory releases its first public images, revealing millions of celestial objects. We explore the science with Stephanie Deppe, astronomy content strategist at Rubin Observatory.
Explore the atmosphere of TOI-270 d with planetary geochemist Chris Glein as he unravels the secrets of this distant sub-Neptune using JWST data and geochemical modeling.
Astrokobi joins Sarah Al-Ahmed to explore the rise of a new generation of space communicators. Plus, updates on NASA’s science budget and the confirmation process for the next NASA administrator.
NASA's science programs face a proposed 47% budget cut. We break down what's at risk and how you can take action to help protect space exploration.
Knicole Colón, the deputy project scientist for exoplanet science for JWST, joins Planetary Radio to discuss the detection of methane and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of K2-18 b.
We celebrate the second anniversary of the James Webb Space Telescope's (JWST) science operations with Christine Chen, associate astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute.
We dive into the stunning variety of exoplanets beyond our Solar System with Jessie Christiansen, the project scientist for the NASA Exoplanet Archive.
We observe Asteroid Day with an update on NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission with the Asteroid Foundation’s Markus Payer and JHUAPL’s Terik Daly.
We discuss the delightfully unpredictable nature of space discoveries with Chris Lintott, author of the upcoming book Accidental Astronomy.
We explore NASA's first tabletop role-playing game with senior multimedia specialist Christina Mitchell and a new way to find water worlds with Amaury Triaud from the University of Birmingham.
Knicole Colón, the deputy project scientist for exoplanet science for JWST, joins Planetary Radio to discuss the detection of methane and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of K2-18 b.
Members of The Planetary Society staff revisit some of 2023's most exhilarating moments and groundbreaking discoveries in space this week on Planetary Radio.
Nathaniel Kahn, an Oscar-nominated filmmaker and the director of Deep Sky, joins Planetary Radio this week to discuss the film's decade-long creation process and the magic of JWST images on the big screen.
Justin Spilker joins Planetary Radio to talk about his team’s detection of the oldest organic molecules in the known Universe.
Shubham Kanodia, the lead on a paper about a so-called forbidden planet, TOI 5202 b, joins us to talk about this strange world and why it's upending our understanding of planetary formation.