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Is it Actually a Good Idea to Colonize Mars?

Zach Weinersmith
/
Zack and Kelly Weinersmith / Penguin Random House

Life on earth is for the dogs. There’s too much regulation, too few resources and it’s burning up besides. Better to pack up and leave for Mars. Or is it?

There’s a contingent of people — Elon Musk among them — who are obsessed by the idea of pulling up our planetary stakes and settling on Mars, or maybe the moon. It’s hard not to get pulled in; who hasn’t imagined what it would be like to live in outer space? But the husband and wife research team Zach and Kelly Weinersmith want us to pump the breaks on this space race. They say that life on Mars could very well be, frankly, terrible — especially for your bone health, for those of you who might want to get pregnant, and for a bunch of other reasons, too. They’re joining us to explain.

GUESTS — 

Kelly Weinersmith | Adjunct Professor of biological sciences at Rice University and Coauthor of the book: “A City on Mars: Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space and Have We Really Thought This Through?” [Amazon | Bookshop]

Zach Weinersmith | Cartoonist and coauthor of the book: “A City on Mars: Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have We Really Thought This Through?” [Amazon | Bookshop]

Air date: March 27, 2024, at 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. Rebroadcast: Thursday, June 20, 2024 at 9 a.m. and Saturday, June 22, at 11 a.m.

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