Listen to Star Trek actor Robert Picardo read a poem by Pablo Neruda, in the latest episode of Planetary Radio, from The Planetary Society
Robert Picardo for The Planetary Society
OCTOBER 19, 2020 - Who’s up for a bit of space poetry?
Robert Picardo, known for his role as the Doctor in Star Trek: Voyager, has joined an illustrious group of space celebrities for the latest episode of Planetary Radio, the weekly podcast by The Planetary Society. In the episode, called “Beyond Earth’s Edge: A Celebrity Space Poetry Jam!”, Picardo, along with Bill Nye, Sasha Sagan, astronauts Nicole Stott and Leland Melvin, and others, read poems based on outer space.
The poems come from the new poetry anthology Beyond Earth’s Edge: The Poetry of Spaceflight, compiled by Julie Swarstad Johnson and Christopher Cokinos. According to the authors, “The anthology offers a fascinating record of both national mindsets and private perspectives as poets grapple with the promise and peril of U.S. space exploration across decades and into the present.” It features works by a diverse group of poets such as Robert Hayden, Adrienne Rich and Ray Bradbury, among others.
In the episode of Planetary Radio, Picardo, who serves on the Board of Directors for The Planetary Society, reads an untitled poem by Pablo Neruda, and translated by Forrest Gander. To listen to his reading (and the others) for yourself, head to www.planetary.org, or subscribe to the Planetary Radio podcast, wherever you get your podcasts.
