PODCAST INTERVIEWS

Picturing the universe with Lois Rosson

Critical Currents is a collaborative production of the Wende Museum, Thomas Mann House, and dublab, with episodes airing from the heart of Downtown Los Angeles at the dublab studio. New episodes release monthly throughout the spring and fall, available on all podcast platforms. In this episode of Critical Currents, Student Council Members Stella Horns and Ziyan Xie speak with space historian and writer Lois Rosson.

Artful Politics of Picturing the cosmos

Futurology explores the possible and illuminates the preferable paths forward for our planet in the 21st century. In this episode, space historian Lois Rosson joins Claire Webb to examine the hidden politics of how we picture the universe. What we see in the stars is never just out there. It’s also a projection of what we’re going through here on Earth. From frontier nostalgia to government propaganda and corporate branding to the increasing role of AI in depicting the unknown, space imagery dictates what destiny humanity will manifest.

Text reading 'Ministry of Ideas' in stylized white font on a blue background with geometric pattern, and a small white bicycle icon in the bottom right corner.

Illuminations Ep. 6: Manifest Mars

Ministry of Ideas is hosted by Zachary Davis and produced at Harvard Divinity School. A sense of divine destiny drove Americans to expand West. A similar spirit is behind the modern quest to conquer space.

The Moon landing

Each episode, guests must find and interview an eyewitness to a specific moment in history, in under 48 hours. Comedian Naomi Karavani searches for someone who was in NASA's Mission Control when Apollo 11 landed on the moon in 1969. Historian Lois Rosson discusses the NASA Art Program, and puts naomi in touch with legendary space artists Rick Sternbach and Jon Lomberg.