Spacefaring, Quarantine, Air Travel

Aspirational rendering of Mars base, (c) SpaceX

I've been thinking a lot about the narratives and fantasies that fuel space travel, and how these stories often draw from or align with things happening already on Earth—especially regarding our recent quarantine experience as well as everyday commercial air travel. So I wrote a new piece for Slate called "The Spacefaring Paradox" in which I try to think through some of these things. 

I touched on a few related topics toward the end of my book Searching for the Anthropocene, and I continue to ponder this nexus as SpaceX and other companies make real advances toward extraterrestrial journeys.

Recent writings

 Julien riding his bike up in Michigan

 

I wrote about teaching my kids to ride bicycles during quarantine, for Transformations. 

I wrote a review of Christine Harold's new book Things Worth Keeping: The Value of Attachment in a Disposable World for ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment.

I wrote about the benefits of focusing a class on a single text for a whole semester, for Inside Higher Ed. 

I wrote a brief op-ed about the importance of tenure, for the Loyola Maroon. 

I wrote about The Mandalorian with my student Andres Castro, for Avidly. 

I did an interview for the site Advice to Writers. 

And my contemporary nonfiction students and I collaborated on two pieces this semester, one for 433 and another for Essay Daily.