The Urban Astronomer Podcast

Impossible exoplanets and Rhetoric

This is episode 62 of the Urban Astronomer Podcast, our first release of 2022. Happy New year! In this episode, we're doing something a little different. Traditionally w

Interview with Dr Julia Healy

This episode features an interview with Dr Julia Healy, a post-doctoral fellow at Astron, working on the MHONGOOSE survey

How do we know what things in space are made from?

This is episode 60 of the Urban Astronomer podcast! Is that a milestone? Sure, but we'll save the party hats for episode 75. Today we'll just get on with the job at hand,

Interview with Imogen Whittam

This episode of the Urban Astronomer Podcast features an interview with Dr Imogen Whittam, an astrophysicist at Oxford University

Southern skies and Northern skies

It's another Science Explainy Bit episode, and today we answer a question asked by another podcaster while interviewing us for their show. The host wanted to know how the

Interview with Carol Botha

In this episode we interview Carol Botha, an amateur astronomer from South Africa who remembers seeing Sputnik as a little girl in a small town, and who currently serves

What’s the deal with Leap Years?

Today's episode is the first Science Explainy Bit of the season, and it's another basic, classic topic: Leap Years. As a reminder, I love looking at the questions that se

Interview with Dr Tony Lelliott

At long last, the third season of the Urban Astronomer Podcast has kicked off! We thought the last season went so well that we've decided to keep things much as they are,

Season 3 launching next week

This is just a short note to let you know that we're still here, and that the new season launches next week! Long-time listeners have been waiting for this since February

Season Three coming soon…

A quick update for loyal fans who have been asking when they can expect season three: It's nearly here!

Star colours and what space is like

The Urban Astronomer Podcast's season 2 finale examines the colours of stars, and ponders what it's actually like out in space

Interview with Nicole Thomas

In this episode, we interview Nicole Thomas, a PhD student at the University of the Western Cape with an interest in the evolution of galaxies, and the super-massive blac

Guns in Space and Why Venus is so Hot

Episode 10 of Season Two answers listener questions: What happens when a spaceship shoots its gun in space, and why is Venus so hot?

Interview with Dr Tana Joseph

This is episode 9 of the 2nd season of the Urban Astronomer Podcast, featuring an interview with Dr Tana Joseph.  It's been an interesting two weeks since the last episod

Why did I defend the geocentric model?

In this eighth episode of the second season, I defend my defense of the Ptolemaic geocentric system of crystal spheres! I hadn't even realized till I started recording th

Interview with Dr Jarita Holbrook

In Episode 7 of the second season of the Urban Astronomer Podcast, I chat with Dr Jarita Holbrook of the University of the Western Cape about her interest in cultural ast

Why do planets orbit in the same plane?

In episode 48 of the Urban Astronomer Podcast, we're doing another Science Explainy bit! These segments are where you get to hear my droning voice explain some fundamenta

Interview with Dr Rosalind Skelton

This is episode five of this season of the Urban Astronomer Podcast. As usual, this being the 4th show of the month, we have an Interview episode today, and this is the o

How do orbits work?

Welcome to another Science Explainy Bit episode of the Urban Astronomer Podcast. Today we try to figure out just what an "orbit" actually is. Is it really as simple as th

Interview with Dr Daniel Cunnama

Welcome to the 3rd episode of the Urban Astronomer Podcast, season 2, featuring Dr Daniel Cunnama. We almost didn't make it this week, thanks to a major technical hitch,