The recent disintegration and crash of a Virgin Galactic suborbital space plane raised questions about the safety and viability of space tourism. On today’s show, we consider another issue for commercial spaceflight: the psychological effects of leaving earth.
Then, touted as the world’s most advanced ship, Royal Caribbean’s cruise-liner Quantum of the Seas is outfitted with virtual balconies, robot bartenders, Bladerunner-esque elevators, and smart apps. While the ship’s technology is impressive, we’ll find out where it all falls short.
Listen to the full show and click Read more for individual segments.
The Mental Effects of Space Travel
- Sydney Brownstone is a staff writer at Fast Company’s Co-Exist, where she wrote about the often-ignored mental side of space travel. You can read her article here: "The Break-Off Effect."
Cruise...OF THE FUTURE!
- Adam Clark Estesis a senior writer at Gizmodo, and he recently traveled on a brand new cruise ship which featured virtual balconies and robot bartenders. You can read his article and see photos and videos from his trip here: "The World's Most Futuristic Cruise Ship Made Me Miss the Past."
New Hampshire Made Liquor
- These days you won't have much trouble finding a locally-made beer or wine at your neighborhood bar or restaurant. But what about a New Hampshire made whiskey or vodka? As NHPR's Sean Hurley recently discovered when he visited the Tamworth Distillery, the hard spirits movement is fast underway in The Granite State.
- You can find photos and a transcript of this segment at this link.
Billboard's New Way to Rank Albums
- Silvio Pietro-Longo is VP of Charts and Data Development at Billboard, and talked to Taylor about what’s changing, starting tomorrow, and what those changes means for artists and consumers.
- You can read more about the changes as Billboard's website: The Billboard 200 Gets An Upgrade. NPR music also covered the changes and you can read about them here: Commerce Vs. Consumption: A Revolutionary Rethink Of Billboard's Album Chart.
Song Exploder - Episode #16
- Each episode of Song Exploder takes a piece of music and interviews the songwriters or composers to break it down into its separate parts, the process in which it was created, and the influences that helped shape the piece. Song Exploder is produced by Hrishikesh Hirway, and is part o the Maximum Fun Podcast Network. Episode #16 features the band Spoon.
- You can listen to more Song Exploder and Episode #16 in its entirety at songexploder.net. You can also subscribe to the podcast atiTunes or at maximumfun.org.