The Story of the Challenger Space Shuttle Disaster, with Adam Higginbotham

Intelligence Squared

Arts, News, Society & Culture, News Commentary

4.2 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 9 June 2024

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The voyage of the space shuttle Challenger on the morning of January 28th, 1986, lasted just minutes before it broke up mid-flight. The tragic outcome for its lost crew has cast a shadow over space travel for decades since. But how did that disaster unfold? And what is its legacy for space exploration today? These are some of the questions being asked in journalist and author Adam Higginbotham’s new book, Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space. Higginbotham’s previous book was Midnight in Chernobyl, which covered the synonymous nuclear disaster and was one of the the New York Times’ Ten Best Books of 2019. His writing has appeared in magazines including The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, Wired and more. He’s also the former US correspondent for The Sunday Telegraph Magazine and former Editor-in-Chief of The Face. Joining Higginbotham in conversation for this episode is the technology researcher, author and co-founder of the Centre for the Analysis of Social Media at Demos, Carl Miller. We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/IS for £100 sponsored credit. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all of our longer form interviews and Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events - Our member-only newsletter The Monthly Read, sent straight to your inbox ... Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series ... Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. ... Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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1:00.0	hello and welcome to Intelligence Squared where great minds meet. I'm head of programming
1:06.2	Connor Boyle. Coming up the story of the Space Shuttle Challenger, the space voyage that lasted
1:11.8	merely minutes but for which the tragic legacy of its lost crew has been imprinted on space exploration for decades since.
1:19.6	Let's hear more from our host, the Technology researcher, author and co-founder of the
1:24.3	Center for the Analysis of Social Media at Demos Carl Miller. Now there aren't many
1:29.2	journeys of exploration that can unite the public imagination like the prospect of human beings going into space.
1:35.3	Today there are still only a small handful of individuals who have made that journey and on the
1:40.5	morning of the 28th of January 1986, seven more were due to join their ranks,
1:45.7	including a teacher, Krista McAuliffe, enrolled thanks to NASA's teacher in space program.
	...

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