Ai Weiwei, Schools News, Space Archaeology, International Space Station

Artist and activist Ai Weiwei joins us to discuss his new book, Human Flow: Stories from the Global Refugee Crisis, which features some of the interviews he and his team conducted with over 600 refugees while making the 2017 documentary of the same name.

WNYC planning editor Kate Hinds and WNYC education reporter Jessica Gould join us to discuss schools news and other stories the newsroom is following this week.

Who knew that we could learn more about Earth’s history by going to space? Archaeologist Sarah Parcak joins us to discuss the field of space archaeology, which uses images of Earth taken from outer space to reveal the ancient structures that past civilizations built. Her book on the subject, Archaeology from Space: How the Future Shapes Our Past, is now out in paperback.

Since the first ISS Crew boarded the International Space Station 20 years ago, humankind has been in continuous orbit around the earth. Astronaut Michael Barratt has been there since the beginning, serving first on design teams, then active ground crew, and finally spending 7 months on the ISS in 2009. Now he's working on keeping astronauts safe from cosmic radiation for a future mission to Mars. Barratt joins us to talk about the history of the ISS, his experiences in orbit, and what's next for human spaceflight.

This episode is guest-hosted by Matt Katz.