Today we "talk" with Eric Shear, a remarkable Ph.D. student with the unique distinction of being the first deaf person to experience microgravity since the Galludet 11, a group of deaf men who were instrumental in developing the Apollo program. View his writing here.

Note: this episode has periods of silence as Eric signs to Justin. I have left them in to maintain the integrity of the experience of interviewing a deaf person.

Today we have a special guest with a deep connection to history. Peter Laitin joins me to talk about his father, Joe Laitin, a war correspondent turned trusted member of several administrations in the 1960s and 1970s. Notably, he and his wife Christine Laitin wrote the speech read by Apollo 8 astronauts on Christmas Eve, 1968 from Earth orbit after being the first human beings to see the whole Earth at once from space. See this short CNN clip from the 90s. https://youtu.be/VFzZ2yHHq9c?si=GLszGyvrsn7kAu9h

Justin Kugler shares his story of finding a pathway from a Texas neighborhood to the surface of the moon. Coincidentally also with the CIA in his background like Tim Chrisman of episode 2, Justin followed a winding path from a chance high school opportunity. He and I also share the challenge of building personally meaningful space careers while our wives built their own medical careers. We end the episode with a fascinating new perspective on human space exploration that I had not previously considered.