Welcome to the 2020 National Book festival. And our conversation with two distinguished guests who join us in honor of the centennial celebrations of american author and space age visionary rate bradberry a master storyteller whose legacy exemplifies the festivals theme of american ingenuity. I am john, director of the center for bradberry studies at Indiana University school of liberal arts. Red berries encouragement led to the creation of the center will re preserve his entire home office, a lifetime of words and mementos of the papers correspondence and working library that remained in his home at the time of his passing in 2012 part his remarkable career spans seven decades. He grew up in the great depression. His family, his father had to take the family all the way from illinois to los angeles to find work in rate bradberry was never able to go to college. He developed a great style, his own unique lyric, metaphor rich style. In his own kind of subjects writing fantasy, weird tales and eventually talent as a sign fiction writer with his own subjects talking often about otherness about how lonely and ailing the challenges to go into outer space. Also wrote quite a bit about the need to have empathy in our lives with others. That comes to very much in his writing. His subjects transition finally into even without college a lifetime of awards including Pulitzer Prize and National Book foundation metals for lifetime achievement. The titles, we all know them even after 60 or 70 years prayed that martian chronicles illustrated man, the golden apples of the sun, fahrenheit 451, the october country, dandelion wine in of course something wicked this way comes. All written and collected into these books as novelist story cycles or story collections between 1950 and 1962. And yet he continued to produce throughout his career. The significance of any writer of our time, he is responsible for the space age visions that we all have, the dreams he had became our dreams. Science fiction spoke to young people who would go on to create our space age achievements. We are fortunate to have two guests who truly understand ray bradburys dreams. Author and producer has already traveled through the cosmos, often in creating partnership with her late husband the visionary astrophysicist and astronomer. She was creative director on message project for golden records. Note voyager one and two have truly passed out of the solar system boundaries and are in interstellar space, very exciting legacy. Her cowriter she was on the pioneer 1980 television miniseries, cosmos a personal voice which one emmy and Peabody Awards. She coauthored six bestsellers with karl including shadows of forgotten ancestors. After his passing, by 2014, she was able to cowrite and coproduce cosmos, a space time odyssey series for us all. Which one emmy and Peabody Awards again. Just this year 2020, she and others have produced cosmos possible worlds. In may her book with the same title came out. And that book is a rich tapestry from which the new series was born. Like rate bradbury, melva knew how to work effectively toward distant goals and a life full of the unexpected. Academic allamerican recognition College Football led to the National Football league. He fought off injuries to nfl teams while also beginning graduate studies in material science and engineering. In 1989 with that masters degree in hand, leland began work at Nasa Langley Research center in his home state of virginia. He entered asked her not treading in 1998 and pushed through a challenging longterm training injury before is finally cleared too join the crew of Space Shuttle missions sts 122 and 2008 and sts 129 in the following year in 2009. Both of these missions had vital structures to the International Space station. In 2010 we live became nasas associate administrator for education and he retired in 2014 after 24 years of nasa service. Today he motivates and provide resources for children too fulfill their dreams through media and educational ventures. Leland, im going to start with conversation with you. In the pages of your book, chasing space, you tell readers that art, music and literature have a place in the stem world of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. How does fiction writers like ray bradbury, how did that fiction fire your mind as you were growing up and entering the Space Program . Stupid to you know, ray wrote was such a lyrical view that made you think of all kinds of things. The martian chronicles, these places on the martian service in these other beings, these martians that we encountered from a got there. I think any time you can add the age of stem to make it seem the arts, every thing we do and since science, technology, mathematics and engineering has the arts fused in it. When i was in space our member quincy jones. He called me, we had a little conversation. Quincy jones is incredible composer and musician. He said with her math, funeral music at math theyre using that right and left side of the brai brain. I think what ray has sent in his of work is inspired us was incited this creativity, this innovation that will help us. In his fantasy talks about the martian chronicles were a fantasy. We talk about Science Fiction to science fact, this ingenuity, creativity and the written word and the poetry it is inspiring you to do things bigger than your present self. I think that is why its so important in getting people thinking about future worlds and what is the rocket equation we have to used to get there . What are we going too see wilma get there . All of this is driven with fantasy writing and that peace i think thats white so important what ray some of his writings. I think he actually intended for the generations of readers even though he cannot go to college he could certainly fire and calibrate many of us, generations to do so. You and your husband, new ray for many years. Tell us about those times and raise relationship to the dream you and karl articulated for all of us . First of all thank you john for that lovely introduction. And yes, that is true. I believe that karl first met ray in 1971 for the symposium called mars in the mind of man. That was i believe Arthur Clarke and bruce murray of the Planetary Society get to be formed. Got together to traverse all of those borders. We were on the eve of getting our first real close up look at mars. And beginning to have, instead of a point of light in the sky , a world that was a real place. It was ray made it, tremendous contribution to that conversation. I met him later on in the context of voyager when there was a symposium in that tradition called jupiter. In the mind of man. This man business i dont really get, that was the kind of time it was. Im glad we have left that behind. [laughter] and that is my first recollection of actually spending some time in conversation with ray. And what i recall is luminous personality, open, friendly, that wonderful beautiful silver hair. And you know, when i think of karl and ray together in conversation, i think they are very similar figures. They did not want that wall between art and science. Between wonder and skepticism. They wanted all of that and my recollections of the times i met ray, he in his unfailing warmth. And also, in his works, there is a music with his use of languag language. I think its a creative descendent of Emily Dickinson and walt whitman, ive seen the body electric, clearly influenced. Those american writers who wanted to set language for loos loose. And to use poetry and prose, not to make it flowery. But instead, to surprise and disarm the reader so that these great new worlds would be open before them. Host wow. We can almost see you all three together like that. You know karl, once pointed out some of the finer points in raise poetry. I dont know if you remember this, we have not yet seen the stars. They have not yet seen the stars, the animals of our planet do not look at the stars the way we do. Kara pointed out to me once, will the birds do. Ray actually wrote that. Im so glad. To make some say the birds they see and he went on with the poem that way. I was wonder. [inaudible] i think also there is a general awakening to how much more attuned to the world, the stars and each other. The other living things with whom we share this planet really are. But yeah, think there is a lot of creatures are actually, even admiring the stars. I think they are a nonhuman primate can be inspired by sunset. Definitely, definitely. Host you know, about 70 years ago in an introduction, ray bradbury said to note kindness does the workings of the human heart. But writers can imagine it far better. We can discuss for a few minutes if you would like ideas between imagination and science. Leland you want to lead on that . Guest sure. When i think of us leaving the planet and science base in looking back and you talk about the blue dots from voyager seeing this tiny little blue dot all of these millions of miles away. And having this view of our planets, and thinking of all of the people that have been involved in helping with very small subset of people get off the planet, live and Work Together in the space station, this spaceship. Looking back at the spaceship earth. Think about the colors of the ocean, the new definitions too describe the colors of the ocean. I established all the colors i know when i see all of these different cues. That tapestry of color and shape and form, it is making you need to be an artist or a poet too describe it. That is why writers going to space are so needed too ensure we can capture what we see. We did this perspective shift, we have the orbital perspective. We look back at the planet and see no political borders and we are all on this planet working and living together as one. One civilization. Think if we have more people working and living in space together, knowing that it i scrub, if you scrub we are all dead. We need to bring that mentality, that mindset down your tour planet earth with all the colors in the cues in the cultures and the taste, this tapestry of life too ensure that we all get it and we stop the wars in the fighting think about exploration as a family of humans. Maybe needing other beings one day as a group of people looking too explore and accept other cultures and other races and other beings. Like in the martian chronicles. I think thats what living a purposeful life is all about. Host is simply a shared vision with ray bradbury thats for sure for it and unit pickup on anything there . Guest yes. When you mentioned his interest, the many different ways in which he expressed and conveyed to the reader how critical that is. Not only to our personal happiness, but it is an adaptive advantage that you need to dig deeply into especially right now. And so i was so moved by what you said leland, because i envy your experience. I have mastered it countless times. Its an juno, for ray it was the poetry, it was the romance. He was a romantic. Not in a distractive, juvenile way. But he was very auteur sense of the great romance of life in the cosmos. It was also someone who understood preciousness of freedom of expression. And of course fahrenheit 451 is really the bible of that concep concept. How you have to be willing too protect the right too speak and to write in such a way. Because it is sacred. There is a sacred two books coming cosmos the original series, we had a sequence in the New York Public Library that we filmed at midnight. And the idea was that books are perhaps the greatest magic that humans have ever created. Because they make possible a person dead, 2500 years to be able too speak inside your own head. And to be touched by their experience. I remember writing that with karl and steve soto very late at the New York Public Library. I know that each of us had been touched by ray bradburys vision in his writings. And i considered that another great bequest of his. School and that is a wonderful observation. It ties in with everything weve been talking about here. You know ray had that sense of trying to safeguard freedom of the imagination. And he is doing that early in the time of the climate of fear. People like ray and Edward R Murrow were the few that stood up for that kind of thing. The thing for empathy how to live in someone elses skin was important. He stood up against and tolerance or anyone who said and intolerance does not exist. And i know what you bring i see similar sediment and leland, and your book as well, chasing spac space. Yeah, growing up in a southern town in the 60s you know, actually i was born when the Civil Rights Act was passed. But even after that act was passed, there were still some uncivil rights that were happening where i lived. I saw the way people were treated by saw people were intolerant and not sure the empathy ray has talked about. He has put through his writings too ensure we all respect others whether its humans or other beings. I think it is so important that as we go forward, i was talking earlier about jonathan about during this covid moment now, during covid what is after covid look like . How do we go past the civil rights or civil violations are happening now around the country to a future where everyone feels they are part of the same team and their working together . I think that empathy that you mentioned is just so important as we educate our young kids. I think we just lost in icon, john lewis who said we need to make young kids see that there is a mission. And in that mission there is the possible from the impossible. That i think is what a lot of praise writing illustrates. The things you are capable of doing with fantasy and science 50 to make it science fact. So we can greet people on mars someday or get to another galaxy and develop warp drive in tractor beams and all these things that have grown out of Science Fiction. The cell phones we use now are like little communicators from star trek. In the division of science. Youll have that created empathy and vision for a future that involves everyone, all cultures, races, creeds and ovens part of the same team. Host reminds them something and chasing space when you quoted the legendary astronaut john young. And you know full well his legacy. But one of only three astronauts to go to the moon twice, landing once. I believe he is also the first Shuttle Mission commander later. You said he once said to you, once we stop exploring, we will fail. Guest you know john again was such visionary. He wanted to make sure that everyone knows we have to keep exploring. I was in an interview to become an astronaut pretty took me to the side of his talking about you know, when a plume of smoke or sediment or something comes from blows up in china that eventually it makes it to the u. S. So we are all connected and the things we do. And if we do not explore as a civilization, we will falter, we will perish, we will die. And knowing cosmos and all the work you have done, this movement about looking past where we are to find signs of other life. And knowing there is life out there prayed the drake equation, you worked with fb drake. It is just incredible how many people now do not believe that exploration is important, that science is important. Too get so myopic thinking about the problems right now versus future solutions to the problems we have right now through expiration of science. Guest yes i think it is so true it is a metric of our despair. We all know that as a civilization, we have lost our way. And our survival, the survival of our civilization depends upon exactly those values that i really think rape red berry embodied for the openness to the future, not afraid of the future as so many of us are. That openness to science, that respect for science. In the tremendously epic dream that only science can make possible. You know, you cannot get to mars without science. And you cant lie your way to mars. Because you know better than any of us. Think about all the steps through every Single Mission of exploration. If anybody is fudging and lying along the way, i will likely go awry. So to me, these missions are likely great cathedrals that are ancestors built. Knowing that if you put the cornerstone in, you will not see that speier poked through the clouds because its a multigenerational enterprise. The community of minds stretching back tragically and forward to the stars. And to me, i think the notion of preserving, of changing our ways than the sum of the drip very dramatic steps we have to take to ensure our descendents, a planet as least as lovely as the one we inherited. All of these things are themes that i find in ray bradburys work. That sense that he counts on freedom of expression. Counts on 20 think of ray from those moments we spent together im thinking about that smile that open smile that is welcoming all questions. That never gets impatient with the child, adult that comes after him too ask a question, i was coral too. Karl used to say about his science communication. He would say when you are in love you want to tell the world. I think of ray and carltons and very special other people of that time who were in love. They were in love with the future. They were in love with the spectrum of possibilities. But they were mindful of the hard work we all have to do. In making the future possible. When you can show that love for something, and it brings people on board. It is so authentic and so real. People want to be involved with the that the testament to karl in ray and you and i really appreciate the beautiful poetic words about love for something that can take us to a better future. So thank you. And may i just postscript that say that john lewis had that same quality. I met him at comiccon of all places. [laughter] so were talking about. I he had that same flowing vibrant sense of goodness. There is nothing in him had been poisoned by bitterness all of us every single one of us that potential in us and try to find new ways too inspire stomach a childlike enthusiasm that constantly goes as long as we continue to grow. We still have that childlike enthusiasm and wonder of a future better. Guest and we call it childlike. Because by the time most of us are adults, it has been beaten out of us through childrearing, through bad experiences. But its really human. Mr. Some of us have been lucky enough to be loved so deeply in childhood and thereafter. That we can take it with us wherever we go. Rate, fantastic. Its what youve bo