Space Midrash: Recent Episodes
Jacob Sager
This podcast is on a mission to probe and report back on the intersection of Jewish Civilization and the Space Age. From ancient discussions to sci-fi, from conspiracy theories to scientific discoveries to astronauts to ethics, host Jacob Sager irreverently inspires awe and curiosity about space. He's fulfilling a vision for an ethical, artful, and inclusive humanity thriving among the cosmos and he's starting with his own tribe.
This page includes, Summary, Questions Asked, Main Points, Timeline, and Trasncript. Scroll down to find what you seek. Episode Summary 🌠 Stargazing meets social change in this eye-opening episode! Mike Simmons, founder of Astronomers 4 Equity and creator of the upcoming “Big Impact Astronomy” podcast, takes us on a celestial journey from Iran to Ukraine. […]
In this fascinating episode of Space Midrash, host Jacob Sager sits down with Deana Weibel, a distinguished professor and anthropologist of religion. They explore the intersection of faith, anthropology, and human spaceflight. 🚀✨Deana shares her unique insights on how religion adapts to the challenges and opportunities of space exploration, revealing the unexpected item she would bring to space. 🌠📚 This conversation delves into the ethical questions of space travel, the transformative experiences of astronauts, and the future of religious practices in off-world societies. 🌍🪐
Join Jacob Sager on "Space Midrash" with guests Yifat Feffer, Dr. Kathy Laurini, Professor Dan Blumberg, and Yigal Harel as they discuss WeSpace Technologies' lunar hoppers, the evolving space economy, and the future of lunar missions. This episode explores the intersection of art and space, the potential of cislunar economies, and the ethical implications of space exploration. Tune in for insights on international collaboration and the visionary projects shaping the future of space exploration.
Honored to have had Inara on this episode because she is authentic and has a pro-human , pro-future perspective which has come to blend heritage, entertainment, and industry into real communities, projects, and happenings in our current moment of the space age. I know Inara from the Overview Roundtable where she welcomes lots of brilliant other folks into the community, highlighting and connecting us all. Our conversation together on Space Midrash delightfully explores many ideas from the words we use to describe the space age to the words we use when interacting with AI. We discuss futurism and how not to other enduring cultural heritages when trying to bring us all forward into something greater. She brings in some rabinnic wisdom spun into great advice to all of us wanting to get in on space communities and industry but are plagued by imposter syndrome. In Space Midrash fashion, I close by asking Inara what she’d bring to space, her two-fold answer is an inclusive and exciting future that she is leading. It’s the kind of space age leadership we value on Space Midrash. The conversation was as deep as it was wide and will hopefully be the first of many.
Keisha Shahaf, an astronaut who went to space last year, shares her perspective on the meaning of space and the impact it has had on her life. She sees space as a part of exploration and self-discovery, a place of peace and connection. Her experience in space has deepened her appreciation and understanding of the human body and the work she does as an energy and self-development wellness coach. Keisha won a lottery to go to space and brought her daughter with her, strengthening their bond and inspiring her daughter's studies into astrobiology. The experience of seeing Earth from space has shifted Keisha's spirituality, deepening her trust and acceptance. She emphasizes the importance of saying yes to oneself and embracing opportunities. Keisha brought crystals and pictures of her family with her to space as keepsakes.
Glad to interview Paul Levinson about Robots, AI, and the history of Science Fiction. Paul is lucky to have his novelette “Robinson Calculator,” included in a volume of sci-fi about Robots spanning over 100 years. In our conversation we talk about the famous RUR story from Prague ~ 100 years ago. We discuss the different […]
🚀 Welcome to Space Midrash! Today’s episode is all about my interview with the legendary sci-fi author, Paul Levinson. 😍 In this interview, we covered everything from religion to space travel, and of course, his latest project, an alternate history of The Beatles. 🎶 One of the most interesting moments was when Paul talked about […]
This episode’s guest is Professor Avi Loeb, Astronomy chair at Harvard. He has done more than 2000 interviews since publishing his book, Extraterrestrial, about his conclusion that the interstellar object called ua’muamua was of alien origin. To add to the pile, our interview was fresh and deeply Jewish. Dr. Loeb may be known worldwide now […]
Rachel Raz is the executive producer of the Space Torah documentary about Dr.Jeffrey Hoffman, an astronaut who brought a dreidel and a Torah with him to space.
The Great American Eclipse will take place on April 8, 2024 in the afternoon. In this episode Jacob Offers his vision of organizing Jewish organizations together to see the Eclipse on April 8, 2024. Transcript Jacob Sager 00:00:01 You are listening to space midrash. The space age has arrived, and our culture, our civilization, is […]
Looking back at 1 year of episodes, Jacob recounts 5 highlights of producing the show including his favorite episode.
In this episode, Jacob defines the three types of Jewish tourism, outlines the current and expected modes of Space tourism, and finally mashes them together to explain how Jewish Space Tourism will start out.
In this episode, Jacob defines a narrative collapse, explores how the space age will bring more narrative collapse, and how he believes Jewish civilization can embrace narrative collapse, once again.
In this episode Jacob reviews Frank White’s philosophy from his book “The Overview Effect,” and how this phenomena/effect can be positively embraced by a forward-thinking Jewish Civilization.
Jewish people who have lived are immortalized not just by streets and libraries on earth but on objects and landscapes in space that may or may not ever experience human occupation. If you’ve played Jewish geography with friends or feel a joyful affinity when learning that a historic figure such as scientist is Jewish then […]
Camp allows us to think bigger, so what's bigger than space? This episode offers program ideas for bringing outer space to your Summer Camp. Outer Space + Summer Camp = 7 ideas for Space Programming at Jewish Summer Camps.
Many Jewish objects have crossed the Karmen line into space - religious, cultural, and personally meaningful items. This episode is a quick overview of those items.
the Space Shuttle Columbia was the first to carry passengers. Across 22 years, it spent more than 300 days in Orbit. Among it's payloads were two different Torahs. One at the beginning of it's saga and the other, tragically at the end. This episode chronicles the Torahs brought aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia by Jeffrey Hoffman in 1996 and Ilan Ramon in 2003.
Before the inaugural Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic flights, there had been 16 Jewish astronauts, all professional. Since last year, 3 more Jews have ventured into space. These new Jewish Astronauts embody the intersection of Jewish and Space Age values. This Episode briefly recaps the missions of Jared Issacman (SpaceX), William Shatner (Blue Origin), and […]
In the beginning there were two space programs: The United States and the Soviet Union. Now that private companies and highschoolers can participate, Jacob considers how and why a Jewish Space Program can take shape.
Passover and The Space Age go together. Before this podcast, Jacob began considering the impact of the Overview Effect on Jewish communities Worldwide. The Overview Effect being the cognition or experience of viewing the earth from space or in space. He wrote his original thoughts in an essay on Times of Israel blogs in 2021. […]
This episode explores anti-semitism as it can occur in the Space Age. Beginning with Mel Brooks’ famous “Jews in Space” skit and continuing into the last years’ headlines of wildfire-starting Jewish Space Lasers, Jacob explores how anti-semitism can emerge socially through propaganda, as well how the space age could empower genocide. There’s some jokes but […]
Havdalah begins with counting stars and ends with extinguishing a candle into wine. Space Midrash will explore how this weekly ritual enriches the human perception of time, on earth or anywhere in the cosmos...
Episode 7 turns inward: Jacob's daughter asked him to make an episode explaining what Space Midrash means. He describes the intersection of Jewish Civilization and the Space Age as well as defines the title: Space Midrash.
Among the 16 early Jewish astronauts, 2 died in the respective Shuttle disasters. This episode recalls the missions of the space shuttles Challenger and Columbia as well as the lives and accomplishments of fallen Jewish crew members Judith Resnick and Ilan Ramon.
Discussion on the Jewish people and objects who made meaningful space headlines in 2021.
In this episode of Space Midrash, Jacob discusses the death of Spock in the Start Trek movie, Start Trek Two, Wrath of Kahn. In unpacking some of the plot and motif, Jacob explores how Spock’s funeral scene relates to the Jewish pracitces of Kaddish and Shiva. From there, Jacob probes why he thinks we need […]
In episode 3 of Space Midrash, Jacob probes the Overview Effect, its implications on Jewish civilization, and what that means about narrative collapse. The Overview Effect is a philosophy of social evolution in the space age by Frank White inspired by his interviews with astronauts about their experience. In his opening monologue, Jacob jests on […]
In Episode 2 of Space Midrash, Jacob introduces the first 16 Jewish Astronauts and the Jewish objects they brought into space. In his opening monologue, he probes why there’s a higher percentage of Jewish astronauts than Jews from the general population as well as confront the misconception that there were only 2 Jewish astronauts. [2:04] […]
In episode one of Space Midrash, Jacob introduces himself, presents the space-related headlines which inspired this show, and provides his commentary on why those news headlines matter. Links: Jewish Space Lasers is just the most recent incarnation of anti-Semitic stories Space Court would be more than an international trade court, it’d be interplanetary Orthodox religion […]
What is space midrash? It’s a podcast by me, Jacob Sager. I have a vision for an ethical, artful, and inclusive humanity thriving among the cosmos. I’m on a mission to probe the intersection of Jewish civilization and the space age at our present juncture. Space Midrash is the mission log. Join me as I […]