Our Obsession with Aliens

This week I'm talking to Becky Ferreira about her book 'First Contact: The Story of Our Obsession with Aliens' A narrative and visual exploration of humanity’s age-old search for and fixation with extraterrestrials. First Contact explores the ancient idea—and epic quest to prove—that we are not alone in the universe. Presented in a heavily illustrated cabinet of curiosities format, the book explores our fascination with aliens from early history to present day, including chapters on alien conspiracy theories, aliens in science fiction, the actual science behind our search for aliens, and what happens if and when they come…or, if we are in fact descended from them. Each chapter is filled with bite-sized explainers and longer sections on meatier topics such as habitable zones, xenolinguistics, and UFO religions. Smaller topics include alien abductions, ancient astronauts, exodinosaurs, Project Cyclops, and the Great Moon Hoax. Bio Becky is a science writer based in Ithaca, New York. She is a regular contributor to the journalist-founded site 404 Media, where she writes the weekly science newsletter the Abstract. ​She has her own newsletter, The BeX Files, which covers science, culture, and more. I have bylines in The New York Times, WIRED, MIT Technology Review, National Geographic, Motherboard, Supercluster, and many more. I have appeared as an expert guest on the Science Channel and hosted the Motherboard video series "Space Show." https://www.beckyferreira.com/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DSFLYV6V https://bexfiles.ghost.io/ https://www.patreon.com/alienufopodcast https://simonbown.com/ My new book, Aspects of Alien Abduction https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GRRPCT9Y Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.