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a montage featuring Scott Solomon, a white man with a short beard wearing a navy bowling shirt with gold accents, sitting in front of bookcases and next to the binocular eyepieces of a telescope; the cover of
Portrait: Jeff Fitlow/Rice University • Book: MIT Press • Background: NASA

The 21st Show

Do humans have a future on Mars?

It’s the official policy of the U.S. government to work toward putting people on Mars. Debates about that usually focus on cost and national priorities. Less considered is what life on Mars would do to the people who go there.

That, however, is the subject of a new book by scientist Scott Solomon. It’s called Becoming Martian: How Living in Space Will Change Our Bodies and Minds. Solomon was raised in Champaign, attended University High in Urbana, and earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

a collage including the book cover and author Kevin Schultz, a white man with salt-and-pepper hair wearing brown glasses, a white and blue dress shirt open at the collar, and a suit jacket with a white pocket square
Portrait by Katie Klema/UIC • Book jacket by Rae Ganci Hammers/University of Chicago Press

The 21st Show

Why does everyone hate white liberals?

There are deep divides in American politics, but one thing a lot of people agree on is their distaste for white liberals. Conservatives think they’re left-wing nut jobs, progressives think they’re corporate shills, and many people of color are suspicious that they’re at best tepid allies. All this is the subject of a recent book by UIC historian Kevin M. Schultz: Why Everyone Hates White Liberals (Including White Liberals).