Into the Unknown
The Quest to Understand the Mysteries of the Cosmos
Hey everybody, welcome back to next episode of Reckoning with Jason Herbert. Most weeks we’ll just release pods on Tuesdays but I wanted to give you guys a taste early of what we are up to.
In a lot of ways, this episode is the very definition of what I want to do with Reckoning— find someone cool doing really cool work. And folks, that’s exactly what happened here. One small problem: this is a book on astrophysics. How in the hell am I supposed to understand it?
Thank god for Dr. Kelsey Johnson, Professor of Astronomy at the University of Virginia. She wrote this book with all of us in mind, opening up questions about the universe in ways that are approachable and engaging for nonexperts. You’re probably not expecting references to Nietzche or turtles in your astrophysics book, but really, how many of those have you read anyway?
Lemme let you in on a little secret. Often times when we are reading books before a pod, we’re really skimming and looking for big arguments and talking points. That’s all fine and good. What we’re really trying to do is learn enough to let the guest shine. But with Kelsey’s book, I picked it up and COULD. NOT. PUT. IT. DOWN. It’s just so good.
And here’s the best thing: not only is Dr. Johnson brilliant, she’s absolutely wonderful. I will tell you that I was worried about having the intellectual chops to keep up with her. But she’s so kind and is so good at leading you through her ideas that all you can do is be jealous of the astronomy students at the University of Virginia. I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed talking to her. In the video below, Dr. Johnson talks about the value of curiosity in the world:
About our guest:
First of all, y’all need to visit her website to see how we should be talking about our work. It’s so cool. That said, here’s Kelsey in her words:
Kelsey Johnson teaches students both inside and outside of the classroom, using astronomy as a gateway science to nurture curiosity and support science literacy. As a child, Johnson spent countless nights outside under the stars, where she developed a love for "big picture" questions about the nature of reality and the universe. Johnson's curiosity about the cosmos - and everything in it - has been the primary driver of her career, leading her to devote her life to learning, exploration, and teaching.
She is a professor at the University of Virginia and founding director of the award-winning Dark Skies Bright Kids program. She has won numerous awards for her research, teaching, and promotion of science literacy. Her TED talk on the importance of dark skies has more than 2 million views, and her writing has appeared in nationwide publications, including the New York Times, Scientific American, and Washington Post. Her children’s book Constellations for Kids in consistently in the top 10 children’s astronomy books. Johnson is the past-president of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, and president-elect of the American Astronomical Society.
She earned her BA in physics from Carleton College, and her MS and PhD in astrophysics from the University of Colorado. She lives in rural Virginia with her family, including three cats and two very large dogs.
Follow her on Blue Sky right here: https://bsky.app/profile/profkelsey.bsky.social
This book is awesome and will look great on your shelves:
Find it on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/3AKE7QK
Talking to Dr. Johnson is the exact reason I created Reckoning. I want to wrestle with questions about why we are here and what this all means. And I want to have these discussions with friends. I hope you like it. And if you do, please subscribe and share on Blue Sky and elsewhere. Without further ado:
Hope you like the pod. I’m really proud of it.
Jason