You know, the SpaceX launch was remarkable in a number of ways, but the reason it wasn't this great unifying moment is because it was actually a demonstration of what a white supremacist approach to the cosmos looks like.

Hello. Hello and welcome to Tech Won't Save Us, a podcast that really doesn't think any of these private space mining companies are going to save us from anything.

I'm your host, Paris Marks, and today I'm speaking with Julie Michelle Klinger.

Julie is an assistant professor of geography and spatial sciences at the University of Delaware and part of the Mineral, Materials, and Society

Program. She's also the author of Rare Earth Frontiers, from territorial subsoils to lunar landscapes.

The book won the 2017 Meridian Book Award for outstanding scholarly work in geography.

In the interview, we talk about the myths around rare earth minerals and how that's fueling

a new interest in space mining by private companies and certain governments around the world.

But we also talk about what a more positive future of space and resource management might look like,

and how the Global South is really key to that vision.

If you like our conversation, please leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts

and make sure to share it with any friends or colleagues you think would be interested in our conversation.

And if you want to support the work that I put into the show,

you can go to patreon.com slash tech won't save us and become a contributor.

Thanks so much and enjoy the conversation.

Julie, welcome to Tech Won't Save Us.

Thank you for having me.

Happy to be here, Paris.

It's great to speak with you.

For people to understand where this discussion is coming from, I was hoping that you could

start by talking a bit

about rare earth minerals, what they are, what they're used for, and why they're really important

...