1 00:00:15,436 --> 00:00:15,876 Speaker 1: Pushkin. 2 00:00:20,556 --> 00:00:23,716 Speaker 2: You are looking at a live view of the Falcon Heavy. 3 00:00:24,596 --> 00:00:29,036 Speaker 3: In twenty eighteen, Elon Musk's company SpaceX launched a rocket 4 00:00:29,036 --> 00:00:32,356 Speaker 3: from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida under blue skies 5 00:00:32,556 --> 00:00:36,596 Speaker 3: streaked with clouds. A giant white rocket attached to two 6 00:00:36,636 --> 00:00:40,036 Speaker 3: smaller white boosters stood perched on the launch pad. 7 00:00:40,356 --> 00:00:42,756 Speaker 4: All systems are Golfer launch. 8 00:00:43,036 --> 00:00:46,556 Speaker 3: A crowd assembled at mission control giddy and loud. This 9 00:00:46,716 --> 00:00:50,236 Speaker 3: was the company's splashiest launch yet of its biggest rocket 10 00:00:50,756 --> 00:00:52,796 Speaker 3: built for a Mars crossing orbit. 11 00:00:53,236 --> 00:00:56,916 Speaker 2: Stacked inside the firing is Elon's cherry red Tesla Roadster. 12 00:00:57,436 --> 00:01:00,436 Speaker 3: Then there was the payload described by SpaceX in its 13 00:01:00,476 --> 00:01:01,956 Speaker 3: live broadcast. 14 00:01:01,436 --> 00:01:04,236 Speaker 2: And inside of it a passenger. His name is Starman, 15 00:01:04,436 --> 00:01:05,716 Speaker 2: but don't worry, he's not human. 16 00:01:06,436 --> 00:01:09,076 Speaker 3: There was also an arc, a sort of Noah's ar 17 00:01:09,156 --> 00:01:13,316 Speaker 3: Ark of an archive on a space Proof Courts compact disc. 18 00:01:13,756 --> 00:01:16,036 Speaker 2: On the arc that's being launched today. The Foundation has 19 00:01:16,036 --> 00:01:19,836 Speaker 2: stored Isaac Asimov's classic sci fi series, the Foundation Trilogy. 20 00:01:20,396 --> 00:01:22,716 Speaker 3: One objective of this test flight was to put a 21 00:01:22,836 --> 00:01:26,716 Speaker 3: Tesla Roadster carrying the works of Isaac Asimov into orbit 22 00:01:27,076 --> 00:01:28,596 Speaker 3: for a billion years. 23 00:01:28,636 --> 00:01:57,716 Speaker 5: Three two. 24 00:01:46,836 --> 00:01:49,876 Speaker 3: Welcome to x Man The Elon Musk origin story. 25 00:01:50,556 --> 00:01:51,396 Speaker 5: I'm Jill Lapour. 26 00:01:51,716 --> 00:01:54,916 Speaker 3: I'm a professor at Harvard. I'm a US political historian, 27 00:01:55,116 --> 00:01:57,636 Speaker 3: and for a long time I've been studying the relationship 28 00:01:57,676 --> 00:02:02,716 Speaker 3: between technological and political change. I'm fascinated by visions of 29 00:02:02,756 --> 00:02:07,996 Speaker 3: the future in political discourse, in literature and science fiction, and. 30 00:02:07,916 --> 00:02:08,876 Speaker 6: Even comic books. 31 00:02:11,956 --> 00:02:15,556 Speaker 3: The series, I'm exploring a new kind of capitalism, call 32 00:02:15,596 --> 00:02:22,076 Speaker 3: it Muskism, extravagant extreme capitalism, extra terrestrial capitalism, where stock 33 00:02:22,156 --> 00:02:25,396 Speaker 3: prices can be driven by dreams and fantasies that come 34 00:02:25,836 --> 00:02:32,836 Speaker 3: from science fiction. Last episode, I looked at Musk's early 35 00:02:32,876 --> 00:02:36,076 Speaker 3: life in South Africa, growing up rereading The Hitchhiker's Guide 36 00:02:36,116 --> 00:02:39,196 Speaker 3: to the Galaxy. He ended up in Silicon Valley in 37 00:02:39,236 --> 00:02:42,556 Speaker 3: the nineteen nineties, founding a company called x dot com 38 00:02:42,796 --> 00:02:46,836 Speaker 3: that merged with PayPal. eBay bought PayPal for one point 39 00:02:46,876 --> 00:02:50,956 Speaker 3: five billion dollars. Musk use that money to start SpaceX. 40 00:02:51,876 --> 00:02:55,396 Speaker 3: He also started talking about very big plans for the 41 00:02:55,436 --> 00:02:56,956 Speaker 3: future of humanity. 42 00:02:57,396 --> 00:03:00,276 Speaker 7: When I was in the university, I thought about what 43 00:03:00,516 --> 00:03:03,556 Speaker 7: would most affect the future of the world, and the 44 00:03:03,596 --> 00:03:06,756 Speaker 7: three areas that I came up with the Internet, sustainable energy, 45 00:03:06,916 --> 00:03:08,836 Speaker 7: and making life multiplanetary. 46 00:03:09,356 --> 00:03:12,396 Speaker 3: Musk began to argue that his plan was to save 47 00:03:12,556 --> 00:03:17,076 Speaker 3: the human race, including by going to Mars. But why 48 00:03:17,836 --> 00:03:21,556 Speaker 3: future of humanity questions used to belong to religion and philosophy. 49 00:03:22,076 --> 00:03:27,156 Speaker 3: Under Muskism, they belonged to engineering an entrepreneurship. How did 50 00:03:27,196 --> 00:03:33,076 Speaker 3: that happen? This episode of X Man is called Planet 51 00:03:33,196 --> 00:03:36,636 Speaker 3: b strap in to head to Mars, which is where 52 00:03:36,636 --> 00:03:39,636 Speaker 3: Elon Musk was headed before he took a detour to 53 00:03:39,716 --> 00:03:43,236 Speaker 3: the White House. In twenty sixteen, the year Donald Trump 54 00:03:43,276 --> 00:03:46,516 Speaker 3: was elected president for the first time, Musk spoke to 55 00:03:46,596 --> 00:03:49,556 Speaker 3: an audience at a SpaceX event about the ship he'd 56 00:03:49,596 --> 00:03:50,556 Speaker 3: like to take to Mars. 57 00:03:50,956 --> 00:03:53,196 Speaker 7: I think like maybe the name of the first ship 58 00:03:53,396 --> 00:03:56,116 Speaker 7: that goes to Mars. My current favorite is Heart of 59 00:03:56,156 --> 00:04:00,116 Speaker 7: Gold from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and I 60 00:04:00,196 --> 00:04:03,836 Speaker 7: like the fact that it's driven by infinite improbability. I 61 00:04:03,916 --> 00:04:06,556 Speaker 7: think ourship is also extremely improbable. 62 00:04:07,156 --> 00:04:10,636 Speaker 3: One pretty useful way of understanding Tusk's vision for SpaceX 63 00:04:10,716 --> 00:04:14,196 Speaker 3: is that it's Douglas Adams fan fiction. Or you could 64 00:04:14,196 --> 00:04:18,916 Speaker 3: make a fair argument that SpaceX's inspiration comes from the Foundation. 65 00:04:18,636 --> 00:04:29,516 Speaker 8: Series titlely Foundation author Isaac Asimov Encyclopedia Galactica one hundred 66 00:04:29,556 --> 00:04:30,356 Speaker 8: and sixteenth edition. 67 00:04:32,156 --> 00:04:36,676 Speaker 3: This Encyclopedia Galactica runs through all the Foundation Series, and 68 00:04:36,756 --> 00:04:40,436 Speaker 3: if that sounds familiar, that's because the Hitchhiker's Guide is 69 00:04:40,436 --> 00:04:41,396 Speaker 3: a lampoon of it. 70 00:04:41,876 --> 00:04:46,556 Speaker 6: The Hitchhiker's Guide has already supplanted the Great Encyclopedic Galactica 71 00:04:46,596 --> 00:04:50,516 Speaker 6: as the standard repository of all knowledge and wisdom because, 72 00:04:50,556 --> 00:04:54,196 Speaker 6: although it has many omissions contains much that is apocryphal 73 00:04:54,396 --> 00:04:57,956 Speaker 6: or at least wildly inaccurate, it scores over the older, 74 00:04:58,236 --> 00:05:02,716 Speaker 6: more pedestrian work in two important ways. First, it is 75 00:05:02,836 --> 00:05:07,316 Speaker 6: slightly cheaper, and second, it has the words don't Panic 76 00:05:07,436 --> 00:05:10,276 Speaker 6: inscribed in large friends letters on the cover. 77 00:05:11,196 --> 00:05:13,796 Speaker 3: That Tesla roadster that must send up into space had 78 00:05:13,836 --> 00:05:17,436 Speaker 3: a copy of Asimov inside, and it also had don't 79 00:05:17,476 --> 00:05:22,636 Speaker 3: Panic on its dashboard. Asimov's Foundation Series revolves around a 80 00:05:22,676 --> 00:05:25,996 Speaker 3: scholar named Harry Selden on. 81 00:05:26,676 --> 00:05:28,836 Speaker 8: Nine hundred and eighty eight years of the Galactic Ealing 82 00:05:29,436 --> 00:05:34,796 Speaker 8: died twelve thousand and sixty nine. Birthplace heliconnor of TOWARDUS sector. 83 00:05:36,196 --> 00:05:40,156 Speaker 3: Harry Selden is responsible for the future of humanity. His 84 00:05:40,316 --> 00:05:44,716 Speaker 3: plan engineers will save us. Selden knows that the Galactic 85 00:05:44,756 --> 00:05:47,956 Speaker 3: Empire will soon collapse, after which the galaxy will endure 86 00:05:47,996 --> 00:05:50,436 Speaker 3: a dark age. He's got a plan to hide away 87 00:05:50,516 --> 00:05:53,516 Speaker 3: two sets of experts, one at each end of the galaxy, 88 00:05:53,676 --> 00:05:58,356 Speaker 3: the two Foundations, to store the knowledge of civilization. Elon 89 00:05:58,476 --> 00:06:00,876 Speaker 3: Musk read the story as a kid, and later said 90 00:06:00,876 --> 00:06:03,236 Speaker 3: that the lesson he drew from it was that you 91 00:06:03,276 --> 00:06:05,316 Speaker 3: should try to take the set of actions that are 92 00:06:05,476 --> 00:06:09,036 Speaker 3: likely to prolong civilization, to minimize the probability of a 93 00:06:09,196 --> 00:06:11,956 Speaker 3: dark age, and reduce the length of a dark age. 94 00:06:12,156 --> 00:06:23,196 Speaker 3: If there is one anxiety about the imminent end of civilization. 95 00:06:24,076 --> 00:06:30,596 Speaker 3: Existential catastrophism is an essential feature of Muskism. Humanity, in 96 00:06:30,636 --> 00:06:34,076 Speaker 3: this understanding of the world, is always at risk of extinction. 97 00:06:35,196 --> 00:06:39,036 Speaker 3: Entrepreneurs and engineers are trying to save us all. I 98 00:06:39,116 --> 00:06:41,836 Speaker 3: got to wondering where this idea came from. When did 99 00:06:41,876 --> 00:06:44,876 Speaker 3: people begin worrying about human extinction? 100 00:06:45,636 --> 00:06:48,236 Speaker 9: That's a good question, So it depends on what you 101 00:06:48,436 --> 00:06:49,756 Speaker 9: mean by worrying. 102 00:06:50,436 --> 00:06:54,116 Speaker 3: That's Thomas moynihan, author of the twenty twenty book X Risk, 103 00:06:54,356 --> 00:06:58,436 Speaker 3: How Humanity Discovered its own extinction. I called it Moynihan 104 00:06:58,476 --> 00:07:00,556 Speaker 3: to ask him about the history of the panic. Don't 105 00:07:00,596 --> 00:07:04,356 Speaker 3: panic about human extinction, which is different from a religious 106 00:07:04,356 --> 00:07:06,156 Speaker 3: worry about the coming apocalypse. 107 00:07:06,356 --> 00:07:10,516 Speaker 9: The apocalypse occures a senseiment ending, whereas extinct anticipates the 108 00:07:10,596 --> 00:07:11,396 Speaker 9: ending of sense. 109 00:07:11,876 --> 00:07:15,756 Speaker 3: According to Moynan, people started worrying about human extinction sometime 110 00:07:15,796 --> 00:07:20,116 Speaker 3: in the eighteenth century during the Enlightenment, partly because scientists 111 00:07:20,356 --> 00:07:24,516 Speaker 3: studying fossils had begun to observe and to document the 112 00:07:24,636 --> 00:07:30,036 Speaker 3: extinction of other species, like dinosaurs. This fascinated romantic poets. 113 00:07:30,516 --> 00:07:35,396 Speaker 9: Byron himself refers to using steam engines to deflect incoming 114 00:07:35,436 --> 00:07:38,356 Speaker 9: asteroids and stop them from wiping out humanity. 115 00:07:38,996 --> 00:07:42,636 Speaker 3: Mary Shelley, a decade after she wrote Frankenstein, wrote The 116 00:07:42,756 --> 00:07:46,916 Speaker 3: Last Man, the first novel in English that imagines human 117 00:07:46,916 --> 00:07:51,076 Speaker 3: extinction by way of a global pandemic. By the end 118 00:07:51,116 --> 00:07:54,076 Speaker 3: of the nineteenth century, you get science fiction that imagines 119 00:07:54,076 --> 00:07:57,116 Speaker 3: a risk coming from other planets. 120 00:07:57,156 --> 00:07:59,316 Speaker 9: Nothing out of the shadow, like a gray snake. 121 00:07:59,996 --> 00:08:02,716 Speaker 3: Martians came to Earth in H. G. Wells's eighteen ninety 122 00:08:02,756 --> 00:08:05,996 Speaker 3: eight novel War of the World, But as morning Hand 123 00:08:05,996 --> 00:08:09,076 Speaker 3: points out, Wells also thought of other planets as a 124 00:08:09,276 --> 00:08:10,716 Speaker 3: way to avoid human extinction. 125 00:08:11,036 --> 00:08:13,316 Speaker 10: Thankies a gentleman, saind describers, I can highly force myself 126 00:08:13,356 --> 00:08:14,116 Speaker 10: to keep working at it. 127 00:08:14,516 --> 00:08:18,196 Speaker 9: At the end of War of the World's he mentions 128 00:08:18,276 --> 00:08:22,636 Speaker 9: that humanity might be able to migrate to Venus in 129 00:08:22,636 --> 00:08:26,836 Speaker 9: the long term, and that would somehow prolong the lifespan 130 00:08:26,876 --> 00:08:27,716 Speaker 9: of civilization. 131 00:08:28,436 --> 00:08:31,556 Speaker 3: But of course, early science fiction emerged during an era 132 00:08:31,796 --> 00:08:36,876 Speaker 3: of imperialism. After all, as Cecil Rhodes himself said, I 133 00:08:36,876 --> 00:08:38,716 Speaker 3: would annex the planets if I could. 134 00:08:43,796 --> 00:08:44,076 Speaker 10: HG. 135 00:08:44,116 --> 00:08:47,596 Speaker 3: Wells wasn't actually promoting a colony on Venus. He was 136 00:08:47,636 --> 00:08:51,036 Speaker 3: opposing British colonies on Earth. He began War of the 137 00:08:51,076 --> 00:08:55,556 Speaker 3: Worlds by talking about British colonial expansion into Tasmania, writing 138 00:08:55,556 --> 00:08:58,916 Speaker 3: that the Tasmanians, in spite of their human likeness, were 139 00:08:59,076 --> 00:09:02,036 Speaker 3: entirely swept out of existence in a war of extermination 140 00:09:02,476 --> 00:09:05,676 Speaker 3: waged by European immigrants in the space of fifty years. 141 00:09:05,996 --> 00:09:08,596 Speaker 3: Are we such apostles of mercy as to complain if 142 00:09:08,636 --> 00:09:13,036 Speaker 3: the Martians ward in the same spirit, The line from 143 00:09:13,116 --> 00:09:16,876 Speaker 3: Welles to Musk is a line of rupture to recycle 144 00:09:16,996 --> 00:09:21,276 Speaker 3: age of imperialism. Science fiction absent the criticism of imperialism 145 00:09:21,876 --> 00:09:27,876 Speaker 3: is to erase history. Moynan argues that in the middle 146 00:09:27,916 --> 00:09:31,436 Speaker 3: decades of the twentieth century, fears of human extinction got 147 00:09:31,516 --> 00:09:35,396 Speaker 3: ratcheted up after Harshima and during the Cold War, with 148 00:09:35,516 --> 00:09:40,716 Speaker 3: its concern about nuclear armageddon. The danger was an alien invasion, 149 00:09:41,636 --> 00:09:45,436 Speaker 3: the danger was us. By the nineteen eighties, people concerned 150 00:09:45,436 --> 00:09:49,276 Speaker 3: about what's come to be called existential risk, especially people 151 00:09:49,276 --> 00:09:53,396 Speaker 3: fighting for arms control, came up with some fancy calculations 152 00:09:53,596 --> 00:09:54,796 Speaker 3: to try to win the argument. 153 00:09:55,316 --> 00:09:58,396 Speaker 9: We shouldn't be thinking about human extinction as just the 154 00:09:58,396 --> 00:10:00,996 Speaker 9: death of the seven billion people that are currently alive. 155 00:10:01,476 --> 00:10:05,116 Speaker 9: We need to think about it more as the foreclosure 156 00:10:05,236 --> 00:10:08,316 Speaker 9: of all the future generations of people that could have been, 157 00:10:08,356 --> 00:10:10,076 Speaker 9: who could have had work while lives. 158 00:10:10,476 --> 00:10:15,396 Speaker 3: This idea really took off. This to me strange calculation 159 00:10:16,036 --> 00:10:18,876 Speaker 3: by which our lives, the lives of everyone here on Earth, 160 00:10:19,396 --> 00:10:21,756 Speaker 3: just don't amount too much compared to the lives of 161 00:10:21,836 --> 00:10:24,796 Speaker 3: all the future beings who won't live if we don't 162 00:10:24,916 --> 00:10:29,156 Speaker 3: establish colonies on other planets. Then, in the nineteen nineties, 163 00:10:29,276 --> 00:10:32,316 Speaker 3: moynihan says, a lot of tech people involved in early 164 00:10:32,356 --> 00:10:36,556 Speaker 3: message boards came together to really panic about a long 165 00:10:36,716 --> 00:10:38,436 Speaker 3: list of existential risks. 166 00:10:38,836 --> 00:10:44,676 Speaker 9: Asteroid or comet impact, super volcanic eruptions, stellar explosions, nuclear war, 167 00:10:45,116 --> 00:10:47,956 Speaker 9: climate degradation, and then one that also gets a lot 168 00:10:47,956 --> 00:10:50,276 Speaker 9: of attention as well is artificial intelligence. 169 00:10:50,876 --> 00:10:53,436 Speaker 3: At the time this list was growing on tech message boards, 170 00:10:53,796 --> 00:10:56,516 Speaker 3: Elon Musk was in college and then in Silicon Valley 171 00:10:56,796 --> 00:11:03,556 Speaker 3: developing his sense of mission. A few years back, Bernie 172 00:11:03,596 --> 00:11:06,956 Speaker 3: Sanders tweeted, We're in a moment in history where two guys, 173 00:11:06,996 --> 00:11:09,956 Speaker 3: Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, own more wealth than the 174 00:11:09,956 --> 00:11:14,076 Speaker 3: bottom forty percent of people in this country. Musk tweeted back, 175 00:11:14,716 --> 00:11:18,036 Speaker 3: I am accumulating resources to help make life interplanetary and 176 00:11:18,116 --> 00:11:22,596 Speaker 3: extend the light of consciousness to the stars. Not everyone 177 00:11:22,636 --> 00:11:26,276 Speaker 3: thinks Musk and Bezos are heroically saving humanity from extinction. 178 00:11:26,956 --> 00:11:29,236 Speaker 3: My question is why do they think. 179 00:11:29,116 --> 00:11:29,676 Speaker 5: They're doing that. 180 00:11:31,556 --> 00:11:34,996 Speaker 3: Jeff Bezos was born in New Mexico in nineteen sixty four. 181 00:11:35,956 --> 00:11:39,516 Speaker 3: Both he and Elon Musk grew up on stories about 182 00:11:39,556 --> 00:11:43,356 Speaker 3: the Apollo eleven moon landing. The US ended its moon 183 00:11:43,396 --> 00:11:47,276 Speaker 3: program in nineteen seventy two, Bezos, a Star Trek fan, 184 00:11:47,676 --> 00:11:50,956 Speaker 3: always wanted to go back to the moon. Musk tells 185 00:11:50,956 --> 00:11:53,196 Speaker 3: a story about how, as a kid he went to 186 00:11:53,196 --> 00:11:55,996 Speaker 3: the NASA website to look up the schedule for going 187 00:11:56,036 --> 00:12:01,596 Speaker 3: to Mars, and was disappointed to find there wasn't one. 188 00:12:01,636 --> 00:12:05,396 Speaker 3: In nineteen sixty four, NASA had launched the Mariner for Probe, 189 00:12:05,756 --> 00:12:08,396 Speaker 3: the first spacecraft to fly by Mars. 190 00:12:09,236 --> 00:12:10,876 Speaker 7: Question is what will matter? 191 00:12:10,916 --> 00:12:11,476 Speaker 11: No reveal? 192 00:12:11,956 --> 00:12:14,876 Speaker 6: Of course, the possibility of life on Mars has been 193 00:12:14,916 --> 00:12:16,116 Speaker 6: debated for many years. 194 00:12:16,476 --> 00:12:20,076 Speaker 11: Faint lines seen on the surface have led to the 195 00:12:20,156 --> 00:12:21,476 Speaker 11: idea that these were. 196 00:12:21,316 --> 00:12:23,076 Speaker 6: Canals dug by the Martians. 197 00:12:23,116 --> 00:12:25,676 Speaker 11: But I don't think anybody goes that far these days. 198 00:12:25,876 --> 00:12:28,636 Speaker 3: The Probe sent back twenty one photographs unveiled at the 199 00:12:28,676 --> 00:12:32,916 Speaker 3: White House before Lyndon Johnson, but the photographs revealed a barren, 200 00:12:33,236 --> 00:12:37,436 Speaker 3: dusty wasteland, all but crushing any hope. As Johnson said 201 00:12:37,956 --> 00:12:40,316 Speaker 3: that there was life on Mars. 202 00:12:40,156 --> 00:12:45,836 Speaker 10: It may be. It may just be that life as 203 00:12:45,876 --> 00:12:54,516 Speaker 10: we know it, with its humanity, is more unique than 204 00:12:54,596 --> 00:12:55,516 Speaker 10: many have thought. 205 00:12:56,836 --> 00:12:59,836 Speaker 3: That view of Mars started to change in the nineteen nineties, 206 00:13:00,396 --> 00:13:04,436 Speaker 3: which marked a convergence. Tech types had become consumed with 207 00:13:04,476 --> 00:13:08,996 Speaker 3: the possibility of human extinction. Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, 208 00:13:09,116 --> 00:13:12,556 Speaker 3: We're starting to make millions, even billions of dollars, and 209 00:13:12,636 --> 00:13:15,956 Speaker 3: writers and scientists had begun to imagine ways Mars could 210 00:13:15,996 --> 00:13:19,836 Speaker 3: be made habitable. The science fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson 211 00:13:19,876 --> 00:13:23,436 Speaker 3: published the Mars Trilogy, in which scientists from Earth have 212 00:13:23,716 --> 00:13:27,956 Speaker 3: terraformed Mars. In nineteen ninety eight, an aerospace engineer named 213 00:13:28,036 --> 00:13:31,276 Speaker 3: Robert Zubrin published a book called The Case for Mars. 214 00:13:31,796 --> 00:13:37,196 Speaker 12: There's three reasons why Mars should be the goal of 215 00:13:37,236 --> 00:13:40,356 Speaker 12: our space program, and in short, it's because Mars is 216 00:13:40,396 --> 00:13:42,516 Speaker 12: where the sciences, it's where the challenges, and it's where 217 00:13:42,516 --> 00:13:43,156 Speaker 12: the future is. 218 00:13:43,596 --> 00:13:46,956 Speaker 3: Bezos founded his space company Blue Origin in the year 219 00:13:47,036 --> 00:13:51,836 Speaker 3: two thousand. Musk started SpaceX two years later. In the 220 00:13:51,876 --> 00:13:56,356 Speaker 3: two and a half decades since, despite painful setbacks, SpaceX 221 00:13:56,396 --> 00:14:01,236 Speaker 3: has been an engineering wonder, a juggernaut revitalizing space exploration. 222 00:14:02,076 --> 00:14:04,396 Speaker 3: But even as the richest men on this planet were 223 00:14:04,396 --> 00:14:07,956 Speaker 3: thinking about traveling to other planets, more and more Earthlings 224 00:14:08,036 --> 00:14:10,476 Speaker 3: were worried about life here on Earth. 225 00:14:11,116 --> 00:14:14,036 Speaker 9: Five million students around the world took to the streets 226 00:14:14,036 --> 00:14:17,476 Speaker 9: and a climate strike last Friday, students flood of the 227 00:14:17,516 --> 00:14:21,236 Speaker 9: streets with a clear message, there is no planet B. 228 00:14:22,116 --> 00:14:25,196 Speaker 3: Well, Musk and Bezos were building rockets. There is no 229 00:14:25,396 --> 00:14:29,636 Speaker 3: planet B became the motto of the environmental movement, a 230 00:14:29,676 --> 00:14:33,756 Speaker 3: way for people to say that space exploration not only 231 00:14:33,836 --> 00:14:37,236 Speaker 3: fails to address the risk of human extinction, but is 232 00:14:37,276 --> 00:14:41,196 Speaker 3: instead part of the problem. Even Kim Stanley Robinson took 233 00:14:41,236 --> 00:14:41,876 Speaker 3: this line. 234 00:14:42,076 --> 00:14:44,836 Speaker 4: I still speak positively about us going to Mars and 235 00:14:44,876 --> 00:14:48,316 Speaker 4: even perhaps some day terraforming Mars, but it's a project 236 00:14:48,356 --> 00:14:52,356 Speaker 4: for like the year three thousand a d. What I 237 00:14:52,436 --> 00:14:55,196 Speaker 4: feel I have to say now is to remind people 238 00:14:55,476 --> 00:14:58,476 Speaker 4: there is no planet b It's not simple, it's not fast, 239 00:14:58,556 --> 00:15:01,036 Speaker 4: it isn't going to happen anytime soon, and so we 240 00:15:01,076 --> 00:15:03,116 Speaker 4: can't be thinking that Earth is disposable. 241 00:15:03,556 --> 00:15:06,836 Speaker 3: About twenty years ago Elon must began to change the 242 00:15:06,876 --> 00:15:08,956 Speaker 3: way he talked about going to Mars. 243 00:15:09,636 --> 00:15:11,996 Speaker 13: Have we screwed it up so badly here on this 244 00:15:12,076 --> 00:15:15,316 Speaker 13: planet that our only hope is to build a new 245 00:15:15,636 --> 00:15:17,316 Speaker 13: civilization out there? 246 00:15:17,516 --> 00:15:18,036 Speaker 4: No, not at all. 247 00:15:18,036 --> 00:15:20,356 Speaker 7: I actually I'm quite optimistic about the future of humanity 248 00:15:20,356 --> 00:15:20,716 Speaker 7: on Earth. 249 00:15:20,836 --> 00:15:24,076 Speaker 1: So what is the benefit to humanity then to inhabit Mars. 250 00:15:24,516 --> 00:15:26,476 Speaker 7: Well, I think if you consider two paths, one where 251 00:15:26,476 --> 00:15:28,476 Speaker 7: we're forever confined to Earth, and the other where we 252 00:15:28,516 --> 00:15:31,476 Speaker 7: are space frank civilization out exploring the stars. I think 253 00:15:31,516 --> 00:15:32,956 Speaker 7: the latter is far more exciting. 254 00:15:33,436 --> 00:15:36,596 Speaker 3: SpaceX is about taking science fiction stories and turning them 255 00:15:36,636 --> 00:15:39,836 Speaker 3: into fact. But what if SpaceX is actually fulfilling the 256 00:15:39,956 --> 00:15:43,316 Speaker 3: vision of dystopian science fiction by way of Muskism, not 257 00:15:43,356 --> 00:15:48,196 Speaker 3: only as extraterrestrial capitalism, but as a new political order. 258 00:15:54,916 --> 00:15:58,116 Speaker 3: Isaac Asimov's Foundation series first appeared as a book in 259 00:15:58,236 --> 00:16:01,996 Speaker 3: nineteen fifty one, but a more prophetic science fiction story 260 00:16:02,036 --> 00:16:05,596 Speaker 3: about money and politics and the future of humanity came 261 00:16:05,596 --> 00:16:06,796 Speaker 3: out in nineteen fifty two. 262 00:16:07,956 --> 00:16:12,276 Speaker 11: The Space Merchants, Frederick Poles and C. M. Cornbliss's modern 263 00:16:12,356 --> 00:16:15,716 Speaker 11: classic about the future when the wizards of high pressure 264 00:16:15,836 --> 00:16:17,196 Speaker 11: salesmanship take over. 265 00:16:19,676 --> 00:16:23,796 Speaker 3: The Space Merchants is dystopian science fiction, later made into 266 00:16:23,796 --> 00:16:27,476 Speaker 3: a radio drama. The story opens on a blighted, depleted, 267 00:16:27,636 --> 00:16:31,236 Speaker 3: overcrowded Earth had a board meeting of an advertising agency 268 00:16:31,436 --> 00:16:33,596 Speaker 3: called Fouler shockun. 269 00:16:33,316 --> 00:16:38,716 Speaker 11: Associates, gentlemen, Good morning, Good morning, that's the shogun. Now 270 00:16:38,956 --> 00:16:41,356 Speaker 11: sit down, sit down. I'm going to stand for a moment. 271 00:16:41,556 --> 00:16:43,476 Speaker 11: I have just come back on the Moon rocket, as 272 00:16:43,516 --> 00:16:47,836 Speaker 11: you know. Want to stretch my legs. How alright, there's 273 00:16:47,876 --> 00:16:52,076 Speaker 11: a shockun gentlemen. I am proud and I'm humble when 274 00:16:52,116 --> 00:16:54,956 Speaker 11: I say it's successful. The mining ventures are bringing the 275 00:16:54,956 --> 00:16:57,556 Speaker 11: people here on Earth many of the metals our forefathers 276 00:16:57,596 --> 00:17:00,836 Speaker 11: exhausted long ago. The colonist seemed quite untouched by the 277 00:17:00,916 --> 00:17:04,716 Speaker 11: Kanci revolutionists. Only six instances of Kanci' sabitaged in the 278 00:17:04,756 --> 00:17:05,476 Speaker 11: past week. 279 00:17:06,876 --> 00:17:10,556 Speaker 3: On this desperate, dying earth, po Shakun is worried about 280 00:17:10,756 --> 00:17:15,676 Speaker 3: Conci's conservationists, or what we'd call environmentalists gentlemen. 281 00:17:15,756 --> 00:17:18,076 Speaker 11: On my trip back from the Moon, I begin to 282 00:17:18,236 --> 00:17:23,356 Speaker 11: wonder are we getting soft? But now I've decided Fowler 283 00:17:23,436 --> 00:17:26,876 Speaker 11: Shotgun Associates is not soft, that it's ready to meet 284 00:17:26,916 --> 00:17:29,676 Speaker 11: a challenge greater than our development of the Moon, the 285 00:17:29,796 --> 00:17:32,876 Speaker 11: greatest challenge the world of advertising and promotion has ever met. 286 00:17:33,236 --> 00:17:34,756 Speaker 11: The colonizing of Beatus. 287 00:17:37,396 --> 00:17:40,636 Speaker 3: The Space Merchants wasn't the first version of this dystopian vision. 288 00:17:41,316 --> 00:17:43,836 Speaker 3: In his story from nineteen oh one with the excellent 289 00:17:43,916 --> 00:17:47,676 Speaker 3: title to Mars with Tesla, that is, with Nikola Tesla, 290 00:17:48,236 --> 00:17:50,956 Speaker 3: a guy advertising a rocket trip to Mars turns out 291 00:17:50,956 --> 00:17:54,036 Speaker 3: to be a con man. In twenty twenty two, in 292 00:17:54,116 --> 00:17:58,396 Speaker 3: Fowler Shokun Fashion, SpaceX was involved in the first fully 293 00:17:58,476 --> 00:18:02,596 Speaker 3: private entirely for profit mission to the International Space Station. 294 00:18:03,316 --> 00:18:07,396 Speaker 3: It carried three space tourists, paying fifty five million dollars 295 00:18:07,436 --> 00:18:11,196 Speaker 3: each for a seventeen days trip. The Washington Post has 296 00:18:11,236 --> 00:18:13,916 Speaker 3: reported that SpaceX might be involved in a project to 297 00:18:13,956 --> 00:18:17,876 Speaker 3: build the first hotel in space. Next up, the Red 298 00:18:17,956 --> 00:18:25,156 Speaker 3: Planet blussed back to the past to the US presidential 299 00:18:25,196 --> 00:18:28,956 Speaker 3: election year of twenty twelve. During that year's contest for 300 00:18:28,996 --> 00:18:33,316 Speaker 3: the Republican nomination, moderates like Mitt Romney said a plan 301 00:18:33,396 --> 00:18:35,396 Speaker 3: to go to the Moon was crazy. 302 00:18:35,756 --> 00:18:38,596 Speaker 1: I spent twenty five years in business. If I had 303 00:18:38,596 --> 00:18:40,596 Speaker 1: a business executive come to me and say they want 304 00:18:40,636 --> 00:18:42,916 Speaker 1: to spend a few hundred billion dollars to put a 305 00:18:42,956 --> 00:18:46,836 Speaker 1: colony on the Moon, I'd say, you're fired. The idea 306 00:18:46,836 --> 00:18:49,196 Speaker 1: that corporate America wants to go off to the Moon 307 00:18:49,236 --> 00:18:51,636 Speaker 1: and build a colony there. It may be a big idea, 308 00:18:51,676 --> 00:18:52,596 Speaker 1: but it's not a good idea. 309 00:18:52,996 --> 00:18:57,036 Speaker 3: But far right Republicans like Newt Gingrich endorse this idea. 310 00:18:57,316 --> 00:18:59,396 Speaker 13: I'll tell you, I do not want to be the 311 00:18:59,436 --> 00:19:02,556 Speaker 13: country that, having gotten to the moon, first turned around 312 00:19:02,636 --> 00:19:04,076 Speaker 13: and said it doesn't really matter. 313 00:19:04,396 --> 00:19:07,116 Speaker 11: Let the Chinese dominate space. What do we care. 314 00:19:07,596 --> 00:19:11,876 Speaker 3: During the US presidential electtionction year of twenty sixteen, Gingrich 315 00:19:12,116 --> 00:19:15,796 Speaker 3: was one of Trump's closest advisors. Then, in the weeks 316 00:19:15,796 --> 00:19:19,716 Speaker 3: between Trump's election and his inauguration, Elon Musk and Jeff 317 00:19:19,756 --> 00:19:22,876 Speaker 3: Bezos both went to see him in Trump Tower. In 318 00:19:22,956 --> 00:19:26,756 Speaker 3: twenty seventeen, after Trump took office, people started talking about 319 00:19:26,836 --> 00:19:30,316 Speaker 3: moon fever. As one commentator put it, Trump wanted to 320 00:19:30,356 --> 00:19:34,916 Speaker 3: make the Moon American again. Americans, though, weren't much behind 321 00:19:34,956 --> 00:19:38,036 Speaker 3: this project. A poll found that sixty three percent of 322 00:19:38,076 --> 00:19:42,596 Speaker 3: Americans wanted NASA to focus instead on climate research. Only 323 00:19:42,636 --> 00:19:46,036 Speaker 3: thirteen percent favored another trip to the Moon. But this 324 00:19:46,076 --> 00:19:47,036 Speaker 3: didn't stop Trump. 325 00:19:47,436 --> 00:19:51,596 Speaker 13: Thank you very much, Vice President Pence for helping. Where's 326 00:19:51,596 --> 00:19:52,876 Speaker 13: our vice president? 327 00:19:53,516 --> 00:19:53,996 Speaker 10: Great job? 328 00:19:54,596 --> 00:19:57,236 Speaker 13: To restore American leadership in space. 329 00:19:57,596 --> 00:20:00,396 Speaker 3: Trump directed NASA to alter its schedule and make a 330 00:20:00,476 --> 00:20:02,636 Speaker 3: priority of sending Americans to the Moon. 331 00:20:03,036 --> 00:20:05,716 Speaker 13: Our journey into space will not only make us stronger 332 00:20:05,756 --> 00:20:10,236 Speaker 13: and more prosperous, but will unite us behind rand ambitions 333 00:20:10,276 --> 00:20:13,116 Speaker 13: and bring us all closer together. 334 00:20:13,276 --> 00:20:14,556 Speaker 4: Wouldn't that be nice? 335 00:20:14,956 --> 00:20:17,236 Speaker 13: Can you believe that space is going to do that? 336 00:20:17,636 --> 00:20:19,836 Speaker 3: At the end of twenty seventeen, at the White House, 337 00:20:20,316 --> 00:20:23,196 Speaker 3: Trump made a formal announcement of a new destination. 338 00:20:23,556 --> 00:20:26,996 Speaker 13: This time, we will not only plant our flag and 339 00:20:27,076 --> 00:20:30,836 Speaker 13: leave our footprint, we will establish a foundation for an 340 00:20:30,876 --> 00:20:36,756 Speaker 13: eventual mission to Mars and perhaps someday to many worlds beyond. 341 00:20:37,196 --> 00:20:39,356 Speaker 3: It wasn't only about science, he said. 342 00:20:39,276 --> 00:20:42,676 Speaker 13: Space has so much to do with so many other applications, 343 00:20:42,716 --> 00:20:44,716 Speaker 13: including a military application. 344 00:20:45,276 --> 00:20:47,236 Speaker 3: What he meant by that became clear. A year and 345 00:20:47,276 --> 00:20:47,996 Speaker 3: a half later. 346 00:20:48,436 --> 00:20:51,436 Speaker 13: We're gathered here in the Rose Garden to establish the 347 00:20:51,516 --> 00:20:54,316 Speaker 13: United States Space Command. 348 00:20:54,676 --> 00:20:55,476 Speaker 10: It's a big deal. 349 00:20:56,476 --> 00:21:01,596 Speaker 13: Spacecom will soon be followed very importantly by the establishment 350 00:21:01,676 --> 00:21:07,316 Speaker 13: of the United States Space Force as the sixth branch 351 00:21:07,996 --> 00:21:09,996 Speaker 13: of the United States Armed Forces. 352 00:21:12,876 --> 00:21:17,276 Speaker 3: Space isn't so much the next frontier as the next battleground, 353 00:21:17,796 --> 00:21:21,236 Speaker 3: and Elon Musk and his dream of a multiplanetary civilization 354 00:21:22,076 --> 00:21:26,836 Speaker 3: that is being funded by American taxpayers. SpaceX and Space 355 00:21:26,916 --> 00:21:32,076 Speaker 3: Force are two sides of the same bitcoin. SpaceX's military 356 00:21:32,116 --> 00:21:36,436 Speaker 3: projects have included manufacturing missile tracking satellites and new rockets 357 00:21:36,436 --> 00:21:40,236 Speaker 3: for Space Force, and developing a rocket capable of delivering 358 00:21:40,276 --> 00:21:45,516 Speaker 3: weapons anywhere in the world. By twenty twenty four, SpaceX 359 00:21:45,556 --> 00:21:50,316 Speaker 3: had received nearly twenty billion dollars in government contracts. Trump 360 00:21:50,396 --> 00:21:55,076 Speaker 3: vowed to increase that funding. We approached SpaceX for a response, 361 00:21:55,356 --> 00:21:57,956 Speaker 3: but at the time of recording we hadn't received a reply. 362 00:22:01,036 --> 00:22:05,556 Speaker 3: There is a politics of space lately, it looks less 363 00:22:05,596 --> 00:22:08,916 Speaker 3: like the politics of star Trek, a JFK style new 364 00:22:09,276 --> 00:22:12,796 Speaker 3: tier of exciting science and good government, then like the 365 00:22:12,836 --> 00:22:17,596 Speaker 3: politics of star wars, of swaggering generals and imperial death stars. 366 00:22:18,396 --> 00:22:22,316 Speaker 3: There's also something of a party politics of space, and 367 00:22:22,396 --> 00:22:26,436 Speaker 3: in the US it's been generally Republican and conservative. This 368 00:22:26,636 --> 00:22:29,316 Speaker 3: was true long before Musk became a Trump supporter and 369 00:22:29,396 --> 00:22:33,196 Speaker 3: the GOP's most generous donor in the Senate. The race 370 00:22:33,236 --> 00:22:35,956 Speaker 3: to space was, for a long time most fiercely endorsed 371 00:22:35,996 --> 00:22:40,876 Speaker 3: by the Texas Senator and one time presidential aspirant Ted Cruz. 372 00:22:41,556 --> 00:22:44,636 Speaker 14: No longer is space just an uninhabited void or a 373 00:22:44,676 --> 00:22:45,716 Speaker 14: scientific novelty. 374 00:22:46,116 --> 00:22:49,076 Speaker 3: That's Cruz in twenty nineteen, sharing a hearing on the 375 00:22:49,116 --> 00:22:53,476 Speaker 3: emerging space environment. Cruz grew up reading the science fiction 376 00:22:53,676 --> 00:22:57,436 Speaker 3: of Robert Heinlein, a noted libertarian and author of The 377 00:22:57,516 --> 00:23:01,476 Speaker 3: Man Who Sold the Moon. Heindline's estate awards the Heinland 378 00:23:01,516 --> 00:23:05,676 Speaker 3: Prize for Space commercialization. Both Musk and Bezos have won it. 379 00:23:06,236 --> 00:23:10,636 Speaker 14: By some estimates, the space sector grow to nearly three 380 00:23:10,916 --> 00:23:16,436 Speaker 14: trillion dollars in value in the next three decades alone. 381 00:23:16,716 --> 00:23:19,996 Speaker 14: It is also my belief that the world's first trillionaire 382 00:23:20,996 --> 00:23:21,996 Speaker 14: will be made in space. 383 00:23:22,876 --> 00:23:26,516 Speaker 3: One purpose of Space Force is to protect the space merchants. 384 00:23:26,996 --> 00:23:29,676 Speaker 3: Bernie Sanders wasn't the only person on the left to 385 00:23:29,756 --> 00:23:34,636 Speaker 3: notice the ironies here this daggering inequalities. In twenty nineteen, 386 00:23:35,116 --> 00:23:37,836 Speaker 3: Trevor Noah, the mixed race South African who hosts the 387 00:23:37,916 --> 00:23:41,156 Speaker 3: Daily Show on Comedy Central in the US, pictured Elon 388 00:23:41,276 --> 00:23:43,396 Speaker 3: Musk bringing colonists to Mars. 389 00:23:43,756 --> 00:23:45,396 Speaker 8: You gotta admit it would have been kind of funny 390 00:23:45,436 --> 00:23:48,236 Speaker 8: if Elon Musk waited until they landed on Mars to 391 00:23:48,316 --> 00:23:50,516 Speaker 8: be like, oh, I forgot to mention you are my 392 00:23:50,636 --> 00:23:51,596 Speaker 8: space slaves. 393 00:23:51,716 --> 00:23:55,516 Speaker 11: Now get to work building my base, because then uralize 394 00:23:55,516 --> 00:23:58,596 Speaker 11: all those rich white people would be slaving away on 395 00:23:58,676 --> 00:23:59,716 Speaker 11: the Martian fields. 396 00:23:59,836 --> 00:24:01,956 Speaker 4: They'll be singing their old Caucasians virtuals. 397 00:24:02,156 --> 00:24:06,236 Speaker 3: Trevor Noah tied race to space, but they got tied 398 00:24:06,276 --> 00:24:09,636 Speaker 3: together again in twenty twenty, After George Floyd was killed 399 00:24:09,676 --> 00:24:14,196 Speaker 3: in Minneapolis on May twenty fifth, a Monday, protests began 400 00:24:14,276 --> 00:24:17,916 Speaker 3: in Minneapolis that night. By Wednesday, they'd begun to spread 401 00:24:17,956 --> 00:24:21,756 Speaker 3: across the country. On Thursday, the governor of Minnesota called 402 00:24:21,756 --> 00:24:26,956 Speaker 3: in the National Guard. On Friday, Trump delivered an ultimatum, 403 00:24:27,076 --> 00:24:31,436 Speaker 3: tweeting when the looting starts, the shooting starts. That night, 404 00:24:31,556 --> 00:24:34,836 Speaker 3: as protesters gathered near the White House, the Secret Service 405 00:24:34,916 --> 00:24:38,756 Speaker 3: rushed the President to an underground bunker. The next day, 406 00:24:39,076 --> 00:24:43,036 Speaker 3: May thirtieth, twenty twenty, Trump boarded Air Force one. But 407 00:24:43,156 --> 00:24:43,516 Speaker 3: where to? 408 00:24:44,436 --> 00:24:47,796 Speaker 15: And now it's my high honor and distinct privilege to 409 00:24:47,876 --> 00:24:52,916 Speaker 15: introduce to you the man whose vision and relentless leadership 410 00:24:52,996 --> 00:24:57,596 Speaker 15: brought us to this historic day, the forty fifth President 411 00:24:57,876 --> 00:25:01,436 Speaker 15: of the United States of America, President Donald Trump. 412 00:25:02,076 --> 00:25:05,396 Speaker 3: Trump hadn't flown to Minneapolis to talk to protesters. He'd 413 00:25:05,396 --> 00:25:08,436 Speaker 3: flown to Florida to the Kennedy Space Center to watch 414 00:25:08,476 --> 00:25:11,596 Speaker 3: the long scale juel launch of SpaceX's first manned mission, 415 00:25:11,916 --> 00:25:16,356 Speaker 3: the first time a commercial space corporation carried people into space. 416 00:25:16,796 --> 00:25:20,196 Speaker 1: Ignition liptot at the Balcon nine. 417 00:25:19,916 --> 00:25:23,636 Speaker 11: And got. 418 00:25:24,956 --> 00:25:25,076 Speaker 15: It. 419 00:25:25,156 --> 00:25:28,356 Speaker 3: Was a weird freak of timing this history making moment. 420 00:25:28,716 --> 00:25:32,756 Speaker 3: Nearly four years ago, the George Floyd protests and SpaceX's 421 00:25:33,116 --> 00:25:34,996 Speaker 3: triumphant launch Big day. 422 00:25:35,076 --> 00:25:36,636 Speaker 6: Is a big day. 423 00:25:36,916 --> 00:25:40,236 Speaker 3: It wasn't unfortunate freak of timing. Trump took to the 424 00:25:40,276 --> 00:25:43,076 Speaker 3: stage to his trademark walk on music at the Space 425 00:25:43,076 --> 00:25:46,156 Speaker 3: Center and started out talking about the protests. 426 00:25:46,716 --> 00:25:51,996 Speaker 13: My administration will always stand against violence, mayhem, and disorder. 427 00:25:52,556 --> 00:25:54,596 Speaker 3: And it was a hard turn to get to the rocket, 428 00:25:54,996 --> 00:25:58,956 Speaker 3: but Trump tied the two together. He said, raceso's division, 429 00:25:59,556 --> 00:26:00,796 Speaker 3: Space brings unity. 430 00:26:01,276 --> 00:26:05,276 Speaker 13: Moments ago, as we witnessed the launch of two great 431 00:26:05,316 --> 00:26:09,916 Speaker 13: American astronauts into space, we were filled with the sense 432 00:26:09,956 --> 00:26:15,316 Speaker 13: of pride and unity that brings us together as Americans. 433 00:26:16,236 --> 00:26:20,996 Speaker 3: For Trump, SpaceX meant America first. Then he introduced an 434 00:26:21,036 --> 00:26:22,156 Speaker 3: American entrepreneur. 435 00:26:22,476 --> 00:26:24,396 Speaker 13: He's a little different than a lot of other people. 436 00:26:25,356 --> 00:26:26,316 Speaker 4: He liked rockets. 437 00:26:27,556 --> 00:26:31,476 Speaker 13: Elon Musk, Congratulations. Congratulations. 438 00:26:31,876 --> 00:26:37,916 Speaker 3: That's Trump basking in Musk's space glow. Since then, SpaceX 439 00:26:37,916 --> 00:26:41,836 Speaker 3: has created the largest and most powerful spacecraft ever built. 440 00:26:42,156 --> 00:26:46,796 Speaker 3: It's become the world leader in space exploration, and Trump, 441 00:26:47,276 --> 00:26:50,356 Speaker 3: after his defeat in twenty twenty and his failed attempt 442 00:26:50,476 --> 00:26:53,476 Speaker 3: to overturn the election, has come back to power to 443 00:26:54,116 --> 00:26:58,836 Speaker 3: winning re election decisively, this time with Musk at his side, 444 00:26:59,276 --> 00:27:06,516 Speaker 3: his own rocketman. SpaceX's engineering accomplishments are incredible, but what 445 00:27:06,636 --> 00:27:11,356 Speaker 3: about the costs? What about the risks? Not the existential ones, 446 00:27:11,716 --> 00:27:17,756 Speaker 3: but the ordinary ones. Watching the SpaceX launch that day 447 00:27:18,236 --> 00:27:21,316 Speaker 3: almost five years ago, now, all I could think about 448 00:27:21,596 --> 00:27:24,996 Speaker 3: was a poem by Gil scott Heron from nineteen seventy 449 00:27:25,676 --> 00:27:29,356 Speaker 3: about the Apollo mission. It's called Whitey on the Moon. 450 00:27:30,516 --> 00:27:33,316 Speaker 11: One such poem concerned the fact that millions and millions of. 451 00:27:33,236 --> 00:27:36,156 Speaker 10: Dollars are continually sent into out of space while we 452 00:27:36,276 --> 00:27:39,476 Speaker 10: continue to face the same problems here on the ground. 453 00:27:40,356 --> 00:27:43,636 Speaker 3: Scott Heron was writing about everyone left behind, the poor, 454 00:27:43,796 --> 00:27:48,236 Speaker 3: the needy, and their suffering. His sister bit by a rat, 455 00:27:48,396 --> 00:27:50,956 Speaker 3: getting sicker and sicker, and him with no money to 456 00:27:50,996 --> 00:27:55,276 Speaker 3: pay the doctor's bill while Whitey's on the Moon. I 457 00:27:55,356 --> 00:27:58,276 Speaker 3: listened to that poem that day, while Trump and Musk 458 00:27:58,556 --> 00:28:01,676 Speaker 3: watched that launch. It's still ringing in my ears all 459 00:28:01,716 --> 00:28:06,996 Speaker 3: these years later. As Trump and Musk dismantle USAID, ending 460 00:28:06,996 --> 00:28:11,036 Speaker 3: American aid programs around the world while ratcheting up the 461 00:28:11,076 --> 00:28:15,116 Speaker 3: Mars program. People have been trying to escape to Planet 462 00:28:15,156 --> 00:28:18,756 Speaker 3: B for a long time. That doesn't make it the 463 00:28:18,796 --> 00:28:26,916 Speaker 3: right thing for Planet A. Next time on x Man 464 00:28:27,276 --> 00:28:30,356 Speaker 3: Muscism here on Earth and the story of how the 465 00:28:30,396 --> 00:28:33,356 Speaker 3: man who sold the Moon became Iron Man.