Planetary Radio: Space Policy Edition

Alex MacDonald, former Chief Economist at NASA and author of "The Long Space Age," joins Casey Dreier to explore more than two centuries of privately funded space exploration in America.

Casey Dreier is joined by Zach Pirtle, deputy director of the Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes at Arizona State University, and the Planetary Society's Chief of Advocacy Jack Kiraly to dissect the White House's "Science: A New Golden Age" report, which calls for a sweeping reimagining of how the U.S. funds and conducts science.

Clayton Swope, deputy director of the Aerospace Security Project and senior fellow at CSIS, joins the show to break down NASA's rocky path toward a commercial replacement for the International Space Station.

Casey Dreier is joined by Liz Ginexi, a former Program Officer at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, to break down a 400-page proposed rule change from the U.S. Office of Management and Budget that could fundamentally reshape how the federal government manages scientific grants.

Casey Dreier, chief of space policy at The Planetary Society, sits down with Rebecca Lowe, philosophy senior fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, to explore why human presence in space is so different from robotic missions, and why that difference matters.

Casey Dreier, chief of space policy at The Planetary Society, sits down with Stephen C. Smith, author of Return to Launch and Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex communicator, to explore how a remote Florida peninsula became the heart of U.S. spaceflight.

Casey Dreier, chief of space policy at The Planetary Society, speaks with former NASA strategic advisor on China, Patrick Besha, about China’s long-term space strategy and what real competition in space may look like in the decades ahead.

Chief of Space Policy Casey Dreier and Director of Government Relations Jack Kiraly break down what NASA authorization bills actually do and why these laws matter for long-term U.S. space policy, from science missions to human spaceflight and planetary defense.

After DOGE cuts, mass staff departures, and a blink-and-you-missed-it pivot to Mars, how much did NASA actually change in 2025? Space Policy Online founder Marcia Smith returns to assess a turbulent year.

Why do we explore space? In this Space Policy Edition rerun, Casey Dreier speaks with philosopher Dr. J. S. Johnson-Schwartz about why space science is a moral obligation, beyond economics or prestige.

In 1996, a controversial claim of fossilized life in a Martian meteorite ignited a golden age of Mars exploration. Nearly 30 years later, a potential biosignature detected by the Perseverance rover at Jezero Crater has sparked… no major policy changes. Why? Lou Friedman joins the show to present his view.

If the United States is indeed in a space race with China, why are we abandoning space science programs across the Solar System? This question, posed by guest Maxwell Zhu in a recent op-ed co-authored by The Planetary Society’s chief of space policy, reveals the current myopia around human spaceflight and the missing focus on a growing and ambitious new entrant into space science in the 21st century.

Atlantic writer Franklin Foer joins the show to discuss how NASA enabled the rise of Elon Musk, and, in doing so, sowed the seeds of its own decline.

Dr. Bhavya Lal argues that the 2020s are a decisive decade for in-space nuclear power. Without nuclear, humans may never be more than visitors on Mars or the Moon.

Our guest, Mary Guenther, argues that the Democratic Party is ceding leadership in space policy, and how linking space to jobs, supply chains, and climate could help refocus the party’s relationship with the Cosmos.

Alicia Brown from the Commercial Space Federation and Brittany Webster from the American Geophysical Union join the show to discuss NASA’s fiscal year 2026 budget proposal.

Former NASA chief economist Akhil Rao explains why NASA needs economic expertise to navigate the complex — and often misunderstood — market forces that will determine the success or failure of its private partnerships.

No one person knows how to build a spaceship. What happens to NASA’s collective knowledge when thousands of employees lose their jobs?

The space sector is data-rich but insight-poor. Jack Kuhr of Payload talks about how he turns raw numbers into real narratives.

Can classical liberalism provide fresh insights to guide humanity’s activities in space? Philosopher Rebecca Lowe explains how it can.