It's Monday, December 24th, 2018, and you're listening to Inquiring Minds. I'm Andravis

Gantis. Each week, we bring you a new, in-depth exploration of the space where science, politics, and

society collide. We endeavor to find out what's true, what's left to discover, and why it all

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Now, I never turned out an opportunity to talk to an astronaut, and especially not one with which I feel a really, well, as far as astronauts go, a tight connection.

This particular astronaut is Canadian.

He was selected at the same time as Julie Payette,

who was the astronaut for which the scholarship that put me through grad school was named.

And his wife even flew out of the airport where my dad learned to fly. So I had a great time

reading his memoir, Defying Limits, Lessons from the Edge of the Universe. Dr. Dave Williams

is not only an astronaut, and he's not only Canadian, but he is also a physician and a neuroscientist, and now the CEO of a hospital.

Oh, and also he spent a bunch of time underwater doing missions, too, but we didn't even get a chance to talk about that.

And before you think to yourself, oh, here's another interview with a kind of superhero

that seems untouchable.

Dave is exactly the opposite of that, because in his book he details the fact that for him

failures have been just as important, in fact, if not more important, than successes.

And he is very honest about how circuitous the route for him to get to space was.

So let's take a short break and we'll be back with my interview with Dr. Dave Williams.

Dave Williams, welcome to inquiring minds.

Thrilled to be here.

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