Hey, what's up? This is Ramses Job. And I go by the name, Q Ward. And we'd like you to join us each week for our show Civic Cipher. That's right. We discuss social issues, especially those that affect black and brown people, but in a way that informs and empowers all people. We discuss everything from prejudice to politics to police violence, and we try to give you the tools to create positive change in your home, workplace, and social circle.

We're going to learn how to become better allies to each other.

So join us each Saturday for Civic Cipher on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever

you get your podcast.

Welcome to Brain Stuff, a production of IHeartRadio.

Hey, Brain Stuff. Lauren Vogelbaum here. You've probably noticed that

when you look up at the moon, you always see the same features. You can see craters and patches of

lighter and darker areas. With a pair of binoculars or a telescope, you can make out even more detail. But no matter how you look at the moon, you're always seeing the same landscape. But the moon is a sphere. If we're only seeing one hemisphere, then what's on the other side. This is the so-called dark side of the moon, the side we never see because it always

faces away from Earth.

For this reason, people also use the phrase the dark side of the moon to describe something

mysterious or unknown.

This side of the moon faces the cold, black, expansive space. What could be on this side of the moon?

And is it really always dark? We actually know what it looks like, and no, it is not permanently dark.

We have lots of images from various lunar missions. And in 1968, astronauts aboard the Apollo 8

spacecraft were the first humans to set eyes on it in person. But the popularity of the phrase

means that there is ample opportunity for people to jump to the wrong conclusion, especially

since we only ever see that one hemisphere. And it's easy to misunderstand the cause of the faces of the moon that we see from Earth.

But mostly, this is a problem with terminology.

The descriptor dark side suggests that shadows perpetually cloak the surface of the side of the moon that faces away from us. It's fun to imagine a

dividing line between the light side and the dark side, but that's not how it works. While it is true

that some part of the moon is dark at any particular time, it's not always the same part. That's because,

like Earth, the moon rotates on its

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