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EPISODE · Aug 26, 2026 · 18 MIN

How GPS shaped our world

from Science Friday · host Ira Flatow, Shoshannah Buxbaum, Katherine Dunn

GPS is such an essential part of our lives that it’s easy to forget there was once a world without it. But, like many tech advancements of the 20th century, GPS was originally created by the U.S. military. So how did it become a part of daily civilian life? And how vulnerable is it to manipulation? Katherine Dunn has written all about this and more in her book, “Little Blue Dot: How GPS Shaped the Modern World.” Guest: Katherine Dunn is a science journalist and author of “Little Blue Dot: How GPS Shaped the Modern World.” Transcript will be available after the show airs on sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Follow our show on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Bluesky @scifri and sign up for our newsletters. Got a science question that’s keeping you up at night? Call us: 877-472-4374 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Aug 26, 2026

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How GPS transformed from a niche military technology to one we rely on every day.

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How GPS shaped our world

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