🎙️ The Giant Leap: Is Space the Future of Life on Earth?

🎙️The Giant Leap: Is Space the Future of Life on Earth?

The Not Old Better Show, Smithsonian Associates Interview Series

Welcome to the Smithsonian Associates series on The Not Old Better Show. I'm your host, award-winning journalist Paul Vogelzang.

Today's conversation is as big as it gets. We're talking about the future of life—not just on Earth, but beyond it.

Our guest is Smithsonian Associate, Dr. Caleb Scharf—NASA astrobiologist, acclaimed author, and one of the boldest thinkers about the place of life in the universe. Dr. Caleb Scharf will be appearing at Smithsonian Associates coming up! Please check out THIS link for more details. But we have Dr. Scharf briefly today and in his new book The Giant Leap, Dr. Scharf makes a provocative case: that our expansion into space may not just be a technological milestone—it might be the next phase of evolution itself.

He calls this moment a "disruption in the story of life" as profound as when creatures first crawled out of the sea. He's spent his career studying black holes, exoplanets, and the fingerprints of life across the cosmos. He's also a storyteller who blends science with wonder, and reminds us that the night sky isn't just something to look at—it's something we're becoming part of.

If you've ever stared up at the stars and asked, Where are we going next?—this episode is for you.

Remember, Dr. Caleb Scharf will be appearing at Smithsonian Associates coming up! Please check out THIS link for more details.