During the Eclipse, Don't Just Look Up

Radio Atlantic

The Atlantic

News, Society & Culture, Politics

4.3 • 2.3K Ratings

🗓️ 4 April 2024

⏱️ 18 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Where were you for the 2017 total eclipse? Where will you be this year? And where will you be for the next one in 2045? Hanna talks to Atlantic staff writer Marina Koren about the eclipse as a peculiar event: a beautiful if not slightly unsettling moment that is also a strange marker of time. And we hear from retired astrophysicist Fred Espenak who's seen more than 20 total eclipses in his life and wonders which eclipse might end up being his last. Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/podsub. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	So in 2017, I was in a park in Tennessee and it was having an eclipse event and everyone had their
0:10.4	eclipse glasses.
0:12.1	This is Atlantic Staff writer Marina Corin.
0:15.0	On Slack, she goes by Outer Space Bureau Chief.
0:20.0	And so you could put them on and then you could see the moon eating away at the sun kind of like a little
0:26.8	pack man. And then there was no sun. It was just this silver, milky white ring that kind of looked like an engagement ring, like hanging in the sky.
0:38.0	Like there was a tiny little speck on the corner that looked like the diamond.
0:42.0	Mm-hmm. corner that looked like the diamond. And inside the ring and outside of it it was all the same color, like the same deep evening purple.
0:52.0	And I remember looking evening purple.
0:59.0	And I remember looking at the grass beneath me and the light was just shimmering.
1:21.3	What do you mean shimmering? I wish I knew I've never seen anything like it before but I think like the very edges of the sun that were visible and we could see this glowing ring, they were just doing something to like the way they were radiating was creating these weird like shimmering waves on the grass. Which you hadn't seen before. No. Or since. And I remember when the
1:27.0	moon finally slid right in front of the sun, like people screamed and to hear people
1:32.4	cheer and laugh and cry out it was like so
1:35.8	weird to have that collective reaction. Obviously we have those types of reactions
1:40.8	regularly but this felt different. This is Radio Atlantic. I'm Hanar Rosen. In August 2017,
2:00.7	Corin and millions of other people witnessed the great American eclipse.
2:07.3	The Path of Totality touched 14 states spanning from Oregon to South Carolina and lasted all but a couple of minutes from the ground.
2:16.3	Those minutes go real, real fast.
2:20.0	I would know because I missed it. Now seven years later I and all of you have another chance to see one.
2:30.8	Lots of spots in the US will fall in what's called The Path of Totality Monday, April 8th.
2:37.0	An eclipse is many things, but one of them is a measure of time.
2:42.0	During the last eclipse, my youngest... is a measure of time.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Atlantic, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Atlantic and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.