The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence — or SETI — goes beyond hunting for E.T. and habitable planets. Scientists in the field are using telescopes and satellites looking for signs of outright civilizational intelligence. One of the founding pioneers in this search is astronomer Jill Tarter. She is a co-founder of the SETI Institute and was an inspiration for Jodie Foster’s character in the movie Contact, based on the novel by Carl Sagan. To speak with Tarter is to begin to grasp the creative majesty of SETI and what’s relevant now in the ancient question: “Are we alone in the universe?”
Jill Tarter — is the co-founder and chair emeritus for SETI Research at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California. She currently serves on the management board for the Allen Telescope Array. She has been awarded two Exceptional Public Service medals from NASA and the Women in Aerospace Lifetime Achievement Award. In April of 2021, she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Find the transcript for this show at onbeing.org.
This show originally aired on February 27, 2020.
[Unedited] Annette Gordon-Reed and Titus Kaphar with Krista Tippett
Indigo Girls — No Separation: On Music and Transcendence
[Unedited] Amy Ray and Emily Saliers of the Indigo Girls with Krista Tippett
Jerry Colonna — Can You Really Bring Your Whole Self to Work?
[Unedited] Jerry Colonna with Krista Tippett
Richard Rohr — Growing Up Men
[Unedited] Richard Rohr with Krista Tippett
Abraham Verghese and Denise Pope — How Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?
[Unedited] Denise Pope and Abraham Verghese with Krista Tippett
Rami Nashashibi and Lucas Johnson — Community Organizing as a Spiritual Practice
[Unedited] Rami Nashashibi and Lucas Johnson with Krista Tippett
Joanna Macy — A Wild Love for the World
[Unedited] Joanna Macy with Krista Tippett
Wangari Maathai — Marching with Trees
[Unedited] Wangari Maathai with Krista Tippett
Maya Angelou, Elizabeth Alexander, and Arnold Rampersad — W.E.B. Du Bois and the American Soul
[Unedited] Maya Angelou with Krista Tippett
[Unedited] Elizabeth Alexander with Krista Tippett
[Unedited] Whitney Battle-Baptiste with Krista Tippett
[Unedited] Arnold Rampersad with Krista Tippett
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Daily
Baseball Tonight with Buster Olney
Selected Shorts
This American Life
The Frank Skinner Show