Deana Weibel's guest appearances

Deana Weibel

The Space Show

What People Do

Tom McCarthy

Tom Olson

Mary Roach

Ryan Reynolds

Martine Rothblatt

Bruce Damer

David Brin

Martin Rees

Dylan Taylor

John Hunter

Andrew Chanin

Jeff Smith

Dana Andrews

Kelly Weinersmith

Michael Schmidt

OwlTail

Two things everywhere around us: Religion. Space.  But most people don’t bring them together. Scientists unhappy with religion shake their head at our species’ small-minded tribal violence that bubbles up in religious conflict or old-fashioned “sky daddy” thinking. Religionists unhappy with science shake their head at scientism’s obsessive materialism and lack of answers and responses to our very human needs to understand, to be comforted, to be awed.  Now that the two strawmen/women are out of the way, most of us can acknowledge religion doesn’t end at the atmosphere, and space is as even more of a wild testimony to the universe’s wonder and the necessity of the “why?” questions that, sometimes, are best discussed and studied in the social sciences.  Blah blah blah, from me. Let’s talk Deana Weibel, PhD (DEE-nuh WHY-bull). She’s a professor in both the Anthropology and Religious Studies departments at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan. She studies sacred spaces, including sacred spaces and people’s relationships to those places. She came up to me at Spaceport America as a visiting anthropologist observing and asking questions of folks like me there, who were waiting to see if their friends’ and family members’ remains would go up on a rocket. They didn’t. She wanted to ask me a few questions about Judaism and space (I didn’t have good answers). But I snuck her my card to interview her for my podcast, because when you’re confronted with an anthropologist who studies religion and space, you want to know more.  Cool claim to fame: Dr. Weibel wrote a paper about what she calls the ultraview effect. The Overview Effect is one name for what astronauts say they experience when they look out at Earth from above and get a new, powerful perspective on humanity and our small planet. Weibel heard another astronaut talk about an experience of fear and awe that came with looking out at the stars in the other direction, causing “a transformative sense of incomprehension and a feeling or shrinking or self-diminution.” Anyway, the Brit-rock band Kasabian recorded a song called “T.U.E. (The Ultraview Effect),” which appears on their 2022 album. And the lyrics do talk about perspective, so it sounds like song and idea are intertwined. We get into the ultraview effect, but not the song, in this podcast.  So, settle back and let’s study the stars … or strap in, we’re going for a rocket ride … whatever metaphor you like … where does religious yearning meet with space exploration … ?  P.S. There’s a tinny vibration in some of the audio here. Apologies. Don’t hate me. I can’t afford this genius for every podcast, alright? 

Two things everywhere around us: Religion. Space. But most people don’t bring them together. Scientists unhappy with religion shake their head at our species’ small-minded tribal violence that bubbles up in religious conflict or <a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/sky-daddy" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">old-fashioned “sky daddy” thinking</a>. Religionists unhappy with science shake their head at <a href="https://blog.apaonline.org/2018/01/25/the-problem-with-scientism/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">scientism</a>’s obsessive materialism and lack of answers and responses to our very human needs to understand, to be comforted, to be awed. Now that the two strawmen/women are out of the way, most of us can acknowledge religion doesn’t end at the atmosphere, and space is as even more of a wild testimony to the universe’s wonder and the necessity of the “why?” questions that, sometimes, are best discussed and studied in the social sciences.  Blah blah blah, from me. Let’s talk <a href="https://www.deanaweibel.space/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Deana Weibel, PhD</a> (DEE-nuh WHY-bull). She’s a professor in both the Anthropology and Religious Studies departments at <a href="https://www.gvsu.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Grand Valley State University</a> in Allendale, Michigan. She studies sacred spaces, including sacred spaces and people’s relationships to those places. She came up to me at <a href="https://www.spaceportamerica.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Spaceport America</a> as a visiting anthropologist observing and asking questions of folks like me there, who were waiting to see if their friends’ and family members’ remains would go up on a rocket. They didn’t. She wanted to ask me a few questions about Judaism and space (I didn’t have good answers). But I snuck her my card to interview her for my podcast, because when you’re confronted with an anthropologist who studies religion and space, you want to know more.  Cool claim to fame: Dr. Weibel wrote a paper about what she calls <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overview_effect#Related_effects" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the ultraview effect</a>. The Overview Effect is one name for what astronauts say they experience when they look out at Earth from above and get a new, powerful perspective on humanity and our small planet. Weibel heard another astronaut talk about an experience of fear and awe that came with looking out at the stars in the other direction, causing “a transformative sense of incomprehension and a feeling or shrinking or self-diminution.” Anyway, the Brit-rock band Kasabian recorded a song called “T.U.E. (The Ultraview Effect),” which appears on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Alchemist%27s_Euphoria" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">their 2022 album</a>. And the <a href="https://genius.com/Kasabian-tue-the-ultraview-effect-lyrics" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">lyrics</a> do talk about perspective, so it sounds like song and idea are intertwined. We get into the ultraview effect, but not the song, in this podcast.  So, settle back and let’s study the stars … or strap in, we’re going for a rocket ride … whatever metaphor you like … where does religious yearning meet with space exploration … ?  P.S. There’s a tinny vibration in some of the audio here. Apologies. Don’t hate me. I can’t afford <a href="http://www.plasticaudio.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this genius</a> for every podcast, alright?

Episode 46: Deana Weibel, PhD, studies space and religion

We welcomed Dr. Weibel back to discuss religion, space tourism, astronauts, policy, faith, space exploration and more.  Read the full summary of this program at www.thespaceshow.com for this date Tuesday, Jan. 19,2021.

We welcomed Dr. Weibel back to discuss religion, space tourism, astronauts, policy, faith, space exploration and more. Read the full summary of this program at <a href="http://www.thespaceshow.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.thespaceshow.com</a> for this date Tuesday, Jan. 19,2021.

Dr. Deana Weibel, Tuesday, 1-19-21

Dr. Weibel returned as our guest to discuss her latest paper re the Overview Effec, the Ultraview Effect, and astronaut religious beliefs regarding space.  Please read the full summary of this program at www.thespaceshow.com for this date, Friday, Oct. 16, 2020.

Dr. Weibel returned as our guest to discuss her latest paper re the Overview Effec, the Ultraview Effect, and astronaut religious beliefs regarding space. Please read the full summary of this program at <a href="http://www.thespaceshow.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.thespaceshow.com</a> for this date, Friday, Oct. 16, 2020.