Tag Archives: History

Why did I defend the geocentric model?

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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 that this is our 50th ever episode. I really should be so blown away that I’ve kept things going this long, but I’m not, somehow? Perhaps it’s just become a habit, and I stopped noticing milestones! But anyway, 50 episodes, I think that’s pretty amazing and I’m very proud to have made … Continue reading →

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Interview with Dr Jarita Holbrook

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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 astronomy. This was one of the longer and more interesting interviews of my career, and our conversation continued for some time after the microphones were turned off! Unfortunately, the audio quality isn’t as good as I’d hoped. There’s a terrible echo on my voice which comes and goes as the … Continue reading →

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Interview with Dr Daniel Cunnama

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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, but we worked around it and here we are. If you listened to the last episode, then you’re probably expecting this to be an interview episode, featuring Dr Rosalind Skelton of the South African Astronomical Observatory. I spoke to her in June last year and we recorded an interview specifically for … Continue reading →

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Podcast #27: Tides and Flerfers

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Welcome to the 27th episode of the Urban Astronomer Podcast!  This is a special episode where I break from tradition and try for something completely new: Unscripted content, delivered solo, with just a few notes to guide me!  In the first segment, I explain how tides work, and in the second I muse on what makes Flat Earther’s reject established scientific knowledge. I recently got back from the 2018 Symposium of the South African Astronomical Society, where I plugged this … Continue reading →

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Podcast #25: Clyde Foster at ScopeX 2017

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Welcome to the 25th episode of the Urban Astronomer Podcast, which is also the 1st episode of 2018. Happy New Year!  Over the past few episodes, I’ve been running a series of public lectures that I recorded at ScopeX 2017.  ScopeX is an annual telescope and astronomy expo held every year at the Military History museum in Johannesburg.  This is the last lecture in the series, on the topic of the Apollo Program. Clyde Foster was the speaker. News Next … Continue reading →

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