256 | Kelly and Zach Weinersmith on Building Cities on the Moon and Mars

<p>There is an undeniable romance in the idea of traveling to, and even living in, outer space. In recent years, a pragmatic justification has become increasingly popular: the Earth is vulnerable to threats both natural and human-made, and it seems only prudent to spread life to other locations in case a disaster befalls our home planet. But how realistic is such a grand ambition? The wife-and-husband team of Kelly and Zack Weinersmith have tackled this question from a dizzying number of angles, from aeronautics and biology to law and psychology. The result is their new book,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/639449/a-city-on-mars-by-kelly-and-zach-weinersmith/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>A City on Mars: Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have We Really Thought This Through?</em></a><em>&nbsp;</em>It provides an exceptionally clear-eyed view of the challenges and opportunities ahead.</p><p>Blog post with transcript: <a href="https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2023/11/13/256-kelly-and-zach-weinersmith-on-building-cities-on-the-moon-and-mars/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2023/11/13/256-kelly-and-zach-weinersmith-on-building-cities-on-the-moon-and-mars/</a></p><p><em>Support Mindscape on&nbsp;</em><a href="https://www.patreon.com/seanmcarroll" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Patreon</em></a><em>.</em></p><p>Kelly Weinersmith received a Ph.D. in ecology from the University of California, Davis. She is currently an adjunct professor in the department of biosciences at Rice University. Zack Weinersmith received a B.S. in English from Pfizer College. He is the creator of the popular webcomic&nbsp;<a href="https://www.smbc-comics.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal</em></a>, as well as the author and co-author of several books, including&nbsp;<a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250776297/beawolf" rel="noopener noreferrer