AaS! 135: Why Aren't There More Black Physicists?

Ask a Spaceman!

Paul M. Sutter

Astrophysics, Science, Cosmos, Holes, Black, Astronomy, Natural Sciences, Universe, Cosmology, Space, Physics

4.8 • 853 Ratings

🗓️ 1 September 2020

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What are the accomplishments of black astronomers and physicists? Why does diversity remain so low in higher education, especially physics? What can we do to prevent bias and discrimination? I discuss these questions and more in today’s Ask a Spaceman!

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Music by Jason Grady and Nick Bain. Thanks to Cathy Rinella for editing.

Hosted by Paul M. Sutter, astrophysicist and the one and only Agent to the Stars (http://www.pmsutter.com).

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is definitely going to be a different kind of episode.
0:14.0	Almost all the episodes I do aren't tied to a specific time or place. Either I'm describing the development of some
0:23.3	new cool idea in physics or astronomy or describing something, you know, suitably awesome out
0:29.5	there in the cosmos. And most likely when you listen to this episode, it will be far removed
0:35.3	in both time and space from the events that sparked me to create it.
0:42.2	Part of that is the production schedule of the show. For various and unimportant reasons, episodes
0:46.8	usually get released about two months after I record them. So I suspect that when this episode
0:52.1	comes out, the national and global attention on this topic will fade.
0:56.8	The great media eye of Soron will be pointed somewhere else.
1:01.9	But that doesn't make the issue and the problems go away or make the responses any less vital.
1:09.5	And what I'm talking about, what I'm going to talk about
1:11.9	in this episode is to a large degree in American problem. It is a fracture in American society
1:17.4	due to our history. And this is a very international podcast. And it may not be particularly
1:24.1	relevant to you. And I'm sure most of you had heard about the events that
1:29.2	happened over here and you might be wondering how this podcast is in any way of interest to you.
1:34.2	And I don't want to paint with too broad of a brush, but the issues that Americans are facing
1:39.8	in 2020, while unique to this country and this time and this history, represent issues that
1:47.0	societies of all forms have faced throughout the, you know, entirety of human civilization.
1:52.8	I'm talking about racism, bias, discrimination, hate.
1:59.4	If you've been living under a rock since the beginning of 2020, first of all, I don't
2:03.8	blame you. That isn't the worst of ideas. But to fill you in and give some context to this episode,
2:10.0	recently many cities and communities, in fact, almost every major city in the United States
	...

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