January 11, 2017 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast
Readers!
Every February I run a fund-raising drive during my birthday month. This year I celebrate my 72nd birthday, and hope and plan to continue writing and posting on Behind the Black for as long as I am able.
I hope my readers will support this effort. As I did in my November fund-raising drive, I am offering autographed copies of my books for large donations. Donate $250 and you can have a choice of the hardback of either Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8 or Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space. Donate $200 and you can get an autographed paperback copy of either.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Readers!
Every February I run a fund-raising drive during my birthday month. This year I celebrate my 72nd birthday, and hope and plan to continue writing and posting on Behind the Black for as long as I am able.
I hope my readers will support this effort. As I did in my November fund-raising drive, I am offering autographed copies of my books for large donations. Donate $250 and you can have a choice of the hardback of either Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8 or Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space. Donate $200 and you can get an autographed paperback copy of either.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Robert, we should spend more time on this site on industry news. I pretty much consume most of the space news on aggregate sites, and it wasn’t until I hit Parabolic Arc that it hit me that everyone seems to have become an aggregation site not unlike reader’s digest – safe, bland, etc (anesthetized in other words). Just for s&g I went to the aerospace Corp’s site and YouTube channel, and I gotta tell you, there is a lot of exciting info there, if anyone bothers to report on it.
Whaddyathink?
Maurice
Bob here is a special blogger because he creates original content with his comments and analysis, much more than most others in the public space community. The “outreach” guys are boringly predictable. (Fraser Cain is great, but he’s aiming for children, which is good but not for me. Have you seen TMRO podcast by a couple working for SpaceX? In spite of some prominent guests, what a clown shop!) Some bloggers have a narrow obsession. Parabolic Arc is great but niched in another way than BTB. Most of its blog posts are easily available earlier on other sites and the commentary is often not very elaborate when it is not about Virgin Galactic or a few other subjects near to his heart, and then the reporting is really great.
To drive home my point about a blogger who cares about every post, and one who doesn’t so as much. This below is from Parabolic Arc. Without a comment. It is inexplicable as it is, still just thoughtlessly copy-pasted, as if by a bot.
http://www.parabolicarc.com/2017/01/11/starliner-simulator-arrives-nasa-johnson
Bob Z here wouldn’t post that story without asking the obvious questions. Add some content and analysis by himself.
Well, then I might as well do it myself. The difference is, I never intend for this to be my sole source of income. If you look at folks making their living from new media, you have to produce something worth reading every day, or you lose the “eyeballs”. Newspapers have subscribers that foot part of the bill even if the contents is “man bites dog”.