the cooperative's Big Little Issues Podcast

Episode 1: Space Odyssey

Dr Janice McRandal talks with Dr Luke A. Barnes, Prof David Clough and Prof Mary-Jane Rubenstein about aliens, the multiverse and the billionaire space race.

Show Notes:

Dr Luke A. Barnes

Luke A. Barnes is a Lecturer in astronomy and cosmology. With PhD at the University of Cambridge, he has published papers in the field of galaxy formation and on the fine-tuning of the Universe for life. He is the author, with Geraint Lewis, of A Fortunate Universe: Life in a Finely Tuned Cosmos and The Cosmic Revolutionary's Handbook: (Or: How to Beat the Big Bang), published by Cambridge University Press.

Prof David Clough

David Clough is Chair in Theology and Applied Sciences at the University of Aberdeen.  He is the author of a number of books on animals in Christian theology and ethics including his two-volume monograph entitled On Animals Volume 1, Systematic Theology (2012) and On Animals Volume 2, Systematic Theology (2019). He is also co-founder and co-president of CreatureKind which focuses on the welfare of farmed animals as a faith issue.

Prof Mary-Jane Rubenstein

Mary-Jane Rubenstein is Professor of Religion and Science in Society at Wesleyan University, and is affiliated with the Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program. She holds a B.A. from Williams College, an M.Phil. from Cambridge University, and a Ph.D. in from Columbia University. Her research unearths the philosophies and histories of religion and science, especially in relation to cosmology, ecology, and space travel. She is the author of Pantheologies: Gods, Worlds, Monsters (2018), Worlds without End: The Many Lives of the Multiverse (2014), and Strange Wonder: The Closure of Metaphysics and the Opening of Awe (2009). She is also co-editor with Catherine Keller of Entangled Worlds: Religion, Science, and New Materialisms (2017) and co-author with Thomas A. Carlson and Mark C. Taylor of Image: Three Inquiries in Technology and Imagination (2021). Her book in progress is called Astrotopia: The Dangerous Religion of the Corporate Space Race.