Patient answers for enormous space questions.
Spacepod is a clear, generous astronomy show built around real curiosity. It pairs childlike questions about rainbows, craters, smells, and speed with scientists who explain the solar system in concrete, memorable terms.
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Spacepod is a thoughtful astronomy show with a rare gift for taking simple questions seriously. Its best moments start with wonder. A child asks whether there are rainbows on other planets, and the answer becomes a tour through optics, raindrops, ice crystals, Titan, exoplanets, and the limits of what has been observed. Another asks how many potholes are on an asteroid, and the conversation turns craters into evidence of collisions, hidden material, and billions of years of impact history. The show is especially good at making scale feel physical. Space is not merely described as big; listeners hear how long spacecraft take to cross the solar system and how small Earth feels beside a galaxy of a hundred billion stars. It also keeps returning to asteroids, meteorites, planetary surfaces, and the practical realities of studying distant worlds. Some episodes lean into the Questions from Kids format. Others bring in specialists for broader conversations about Martian volcanoes, aurora borealis, noisy astronomy data, computer science, and generative AI. The register stays friendly and precise. Technical ideas are explained with cookies, cars, cloudy skies, spacecraft, and everyday sensory limits, but the science is never treated as decoration. Guests are allowed to be careful, uncertain, and specific. That matters. Spacepod does not force every topic into a grand revelation; it often finds interest in what scientists do not yet know. The show also has a human texture, from recording-date notes and personal drinks to fieldwork anecdotes and candid references to events affecting space scientists. Those details make the research community feel real without pulling focus from the astronomy. The pacing is unhurried, the explanations are clean, and the curiosity is durable. Spacepod suits listeners who want space science that is welcoming, rigorous, and quietly imaginative.
Made for: Spacepod is for curious adults, science-minded families, and listeners who enjoy astronomy explained without hype. It especially suits people who like children's questions, planetary science, and expert conversations that stay approachable.
What sets it apart: The show stands out by treating childlike questions as serious scientific prompts, then following them into real planetary science. It balances warmth, uncertainty, and technical accuracy better than many space shows built only around headlines.
Hear stories about the alien moons orbiting our Sun, of cold stars, and the future of space exploration. Every week, scientist Dr. Carrie Nugent chats about an amazing part of our universe with an expert guest. Spacepod is the podcast that gives you an inside look into space exploration. Learn more: http://listentospacepod.com
Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Spacepod turns specialist conversations into clear accounts of how space science moves from observation and simulation to cautious interpretation.
Keri Nugent builds Spacepod around patient conversations with specialists, moving easily from an accessible question to the technical reasoning behind an answer.
A pink Mountain Dew precedes Martian volcanism, because your cosmic education deserves a beverage check.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A grounded astronomy interview about messy data and practical computation.
Carrie Nugent and Jeremy Kubica treat astronomy as a plain problem of working with messy data. Kubica keeps the advice practical: use real datasets, not toy examples, and expect the algorithm to shift once missing values and noisy signals show up.
A Mars volcano story that keeps the evidence front and center.
Dr. Pascal Lee makes the case for Noctis Volcano plainly and without fuss. The episode works best when it stays with the volcano itself: lava, pyroclastics, and ice folded into one feature that is easy to miss until someone points it out.
Practical northern lights advice, with just enough personality to keep it lively.
Spacepod treats the aurora borealis as a practical travel question, with Keri Nugent speaking to Tina Ibsen, an astrophysicist from the University of Copenhagen and a co-host of Rumsnack. The episode keeps its focus on what actually helps: northern parts of the U.S.
A grounded look at preparing analysis tools before the first real telescope data arrive.
Dr. Keri Holt comes across as an LSST Catalyst Postdoctoral Fellow at Las Cumbres Observatory in Santa Barbara, California, with a clear focus on readiness before the first real telescope data land.
A beer-led tour of gravitational waves, neutron stars, and the physics behind mergers.
The episode starts with Danish beer and then opens into gravitational-wave astronomy, with Professor Thomas Torres walking through the physics of neutron stars, black holes, and the signals their mergers leave behind.
Rotating StarTalk scientist-hosts and a comedian co-host tackle listener-submitted cosmic questions.
Patient space coverage with real mission context.
A scientist answers a child's question about whether rainbows exist on other planets, explaining the conditions needed and exploring possibilities in our solar system.
Scientists answer a child's question about counting potholes (craters) on asteroids, explaining their formation and significance.
A kid asks how big space is, and an astronomer explains it's unimaginably vast, from our solar system to the entire universe.
A kid asks if Earth is the fastest planet, and scientists explain planetary speeds in the solar system.
A professor answers a child's question about what asteroids smell like, explaining why we can't smell them in space and how meteorites' smell changes when they enter Earth's atmosphere.
Spacepod episode 226 centers on Carrie Nugent and Jeremy Kubica discussing how computer science methods shape astronomy work around the Legacy Survey of Space and Time on Rubin Observatory.
Pascal Lee says eastern Noctis Labyrinthus on Mars hides a 450-kilometer shield volcano that orbiters have imaged since 1971 without recognizing it as a volcano.
["Spacepod's \"Aurora borealis with Tina Ibsen\" explains how solar particles make Earth's atmosphere glow green around 90 to 150 kilometers up.", "Keri Nugent, an Olin College professor who studies asteroids, interviews Tina Ibsen, a University of Copenhagen astrophysicist, space-book author, and co-host of Rumsnack.", "Ibsen breaks down red and violet aurora, the Sun's corona and heliosphere, and the magnetic reconnection that makes aurora forecasts harder around equinoxes.", "She also gives viewing advice using NOAA, spaceweather.com, clouds, full moon, new moon, and her COMCEP work with 15 spacecraft such as NEAR and Voyager."]
Spacepod's interview with Dr.
Spacepod's May 2, 2024 episode with Kerry Nugent and Thomas Torres centers on gravitational waves from neutron stars and black holes.
Professor Keri Nugent interviews planetary scientist Dr.
Professor Keri Nugent interviews planetary scientist Bill McKinnon about his career and contributions to the field.
Dr.
Dr.