Planetary Radio

Series produced by Mat Kaplan

Series image

The Planetary Society's travel show that takes you to the final frontier, featuring commentary by Society CEO Bill Nye the Science Guy.

For over 20 years, we've been proud to bring Planetary Radio to our dedicated listeners. However, after careful consideration, we discontinued our traditional broadcast distribution on Aug. 2, 2023. We invite Radio stations to continue airing the extended podcast version of the show, along with any of our previous episodes. You can find the extensive archive of our broadcasts and our new podcast MP3s here: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/radio-episodes-files For more information about Planetary Radio, visit our website at https://www.planetary.org/radio. For inquiries or support, contact Sarah Al-Ahmed, the host and producer of Planetary Radio, at planetaryradio@planetary.org. Thank you again for being an integral part of the Planetary Radio family. We look forward to continuing our cosmic journey together through the wonders of our podcast and beyond. Hide full description

For over 20 years, we've been proud to bring Planetary Radio to our dedicated listeners. However, after careful consideration, we discontinued our traditional broadcast distribution on Aug. 2, 2023. We invite Radio stations to continue airing the extended podcast version of the show, along with any of our previous episodes. You can find the extensive archive of our broadcasts and our new podcast MP3s here: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/radio-episodes-files For more information about Planetary Radio, visit our website at https://www.planetary.org/radio. For inquiries or support, contact Sarah Al-Ahmed, the host and producer of Planetary Radio, at planetaryradio@planetary.org. Thank you again for being an integral part of the Planetary Radio family. We look forward to... Show full description


519 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Caption: “Universal Harmonies” (released on Mar 10, 2023) is an album comprised of sonified observations from the Chandra X-ray Observatory. This collection hopes to make space images more accessible to those with vision loss by allowing them to listen to images r, Credit: Chandra Labs
Kim Arcand from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory joins Planetary Radio to share her team’s new album “Universal Harmonies.”

Bought by KVSC, Key Radio KEYK 89.3 FM, C89.5 - KNHC Seattle, KIYU-FM, KWMR and more


  • Added: Mar 14, 2023
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 14
Caption: With the full size Voyager spacecraft mockup behind them in JPL's von Karman Auditorium, host Mat Kaplan is joined by Project Manager Suzanne Dodd, NASA Heliophysics Divison leader Nicola Fox, and Voyager Deputy Project Scientist Linda Spilker., Credit: Mat Kaplan/The Planetary Society
Planetary Radio’s creator Mat Kaplan guest hosts for this look back at the Jet Propulsion Lab’s celebration of the 45th anniversary of the Voyager ...

Bought by Key Radio KEYK 89.3 FM, C89.5 - KNHC Seattle, RadioStPete Florida, KIYU-FM, KBUT Crested Butte, Colo. and more


  • Added: Mar 07, 2023
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 13
Caption: Canada's lunar rover will head for the Moon's south polar region as soon as 2026. , Credit: Canadensys Aerospace
Director of Canadensys West Peter Visscher fills us in on the upcoming Canadian lunar rover. Visscher has been working on the rover for years.

Bought by Key Radio KEYK 89.3 FM, KIYU-FM, RadioStPete Florida, WJCU, WMUU-LP and more


  • Added: Mar 01, 2023
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 13
Caption: This illustration shows a concept for multiple robots that would team up to ferry to Earth samples collected from the Mars surface by NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover., Credit: NASA/ESA/JPL-CalTech
Meenakshi Wadhwa, principal scientist for Mars Sample Return at NASA JPL, updates us on the missions that will bring bits of the red planet back to...

Bought by Key Radio KEYK 89.3 FM, KIYU-FM, KWMR, KBUT Crested Butte, Colo., WJCU and more


  • Added: Feb 21, 2023
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 12
Caption: Data from the 100-meter Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope is analyzed by volunteers in the new Are We Alone in the Universe project., Credit: NRAO Green Bank Observatory
A new volunteer SETI science project to search for alien technosignatures has launched! Two of its creators tell you how to sign up.

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  • Added: Feb 14, 2023
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 12
Caption: This color image of the Martian surface in the Chryse area was taken by Viking Lander 1, looking southwest, about 15 minutes before sunset., Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Mars expert Tanya Harrison shares the details on some of the newest discoveries about Mars’ history, including potential megatsunamis and the disco...

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  • Added: Feb 07, 2023
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 14
Caption: An illustration of LHS 475 b based on our current understanding of the planet from JWST spectroscopy., Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Leah Hustak (STScI)
We celebrate the James Webb Space Telescope's first confirmed exoplanet discovery this week on Planetary Radio. Jacob Lustig-Yaeger, one of the lea...

Bought by C89.5 - KNHC Seattle, KIYU-FM, KBUT Crested Butte, Colo., KCNP, KWMR and more


  • Added: Feb 01, 2023
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 12
Caption: An image of Ganymede obtained by the JunoCam imager during Juno’s June 7, 2021, flyby of Jupiter's icy moon., Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS
Dive into the latest discoveries about Jupiter’s moons, Ganymede, Europa, and Io, with Scott Bolton, the principal investigator for NASA’s Juno mis...

Bought by C89.5 - KNHC Seattle, KIYU-FM, KBUT Crested Butte, Colo., KWMR, WJCU and more


  • Added: Jan 24, 2023
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 12
Piece image
Jason Achilles, a musician who partnered with NASA’s JPL to help put one of the first microphones on Mars, shares his journey and the joy of listen...

Bought by KIYU-FM, KWMR, WMUU-LP, WJCU, KRZA and more


  • Added: Jan 17, 2023
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 13
Caption: Artemis 1 begins its successful lunar mission.
Jeremy Graeber, the assistant launch director at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, joins Planetary Radio to recount his experience on the night of A...

Bought by C89.5 - KNHC Seattle, KIYU-FM, KWMR, WMUU-LP, WJCU and more


  • Added: Jan 11, 2023
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 13
Caption: Sarah Al-Ahmed, the new host of Planetary Radio, shaking hands with Mat, creator and former host of the show after their last in-person recording on Dec. 22, 2022., Credit: Bruce Betts/The Planetary Society
New host Sarah Al-Ahmed bids a fond farewell to Mat Kaplan, Planetary Radio’s former host, in a special interview as Mat shares stories from his tw...

Bought by C89.5 - KNHC Seattle, KIYU-FM, KBUT Crested Butte, Colo., KWMR, WJCU and more


  • Added: Jan 03, 2023
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 11
Caption: NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope reveals emerging stellar nurseries and individual stars in the Carina Nebula that were previously obscured., Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI
For his last episode as host, Mat Kaplan welcomes many of his Planetary Society colleagues for a review of a spectacular year of space exploration.

Bought by KIYU-FM, KWMR, KBUT Crested Butte, Colo., KCNP, WXAV 88.3FM Chicago and more


  • Added: Dec 28, 2022
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 9
Caption: The Artemis 1 Orion spacecraft on board the USS Portland after its historic journey around the Moon., Credit: Mat Kaplan
Host Mat Kaplan greets the Orion capsule that has just returned from the Moon.

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  • Added: Dec 20, 2022
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 11
Caption: Host Mat Kaplan with bestselling author Andy Weir and Jet Propulsion Lab chief engineer Rob Manning., Credit: The Planetary Society
Outgoing Planetary Radio host Mat Kaplan shares a few minutes of his very entertaining conversation with bestselling author Andy Weir and Jet Propu...

Bought by KIYU-FM, KWMR, KBUT Crested Butte, Colo., WMUU-LP, WJCU and more


  • Added: Dec 14, 2022
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 11
Caption: A Mars Exploration Rover crosses the Red Planet in this artist's concept., Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Bill Nye and Planetary Society members join Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity scientists at a screening of the excellent new documentary about the...

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  • Added: Dec 07, 2022
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 13
Caption: Host Mat Kaplan reports from the Red Planet on Planetary Radio's 20th anniversary.
Join the Planetary Society’s CEO and others as we mark Planetary Radio’s entry into its third decade.

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  • Added: Nov 30, 2022
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 12
Caption: Planetary Radio host and his Mirror Lab tour guide Buell Jannuzi with one of the seven huge mirrors for the Giant Magellan Telescope. , Credit: Mat Kaplan
Join us for a tour of the University of Arizona’s Mirror Lab where they use a giant, spinning oven filled with molten glass to create the primary m...

Bought by C89.5 - KNHC Seattle, KIYU-FM, WXAV 88.3FM Chicago, WMUU-LP, KICI Iowa City and more


  • Added: Nov 21, 2022
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 12
Caption: Linda Spilker and Planetary Radio host Mat Kaplan check out the geysers emanating from a model of Saturn's moon Enceladus at JPL., Credit: Mat Kaplan
Cassini Mission Project Scientist Linda Spilker has now taken on the same job for the Voyager Interstellar Mission.

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  • Added: Nov 16, 2022
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 12
Caption: Carl Sagan was a co-founder of The Planetary Society., Credit: The Planetary Society
Celebrate Carl Sagan’s birthday with his longtime collaborator and life partner Ann Druyan.

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  • Added: Nov 09, 2022
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 12
Caption: This artist's concept shows the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE spacecraft, in its orbit around Earth. In 2013, the mission was brought out of hibernation to hunt for more asteroids and comets in a project called NEOWISE., Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The Double Asteroid Redirection Test was a brilliant success. The leaders of NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office tell us what’s next in th...

Bought by C89.5 - KNHC Seattle, KIYU-FM, Key Radio KEYK 89.3 FM, KWMR, WJCU and more


  • Added: Nov 01, 2022
  • Length: 28:50
  • Purchases: 14