To read this post please scroll down.

 

Readers! A November fund-raising drive!

 

It is unfortunately time for another November fund-raising campaign to support my work here at Behind the Black. I really dislike doing these, but 2025 is so far turning out to be a very poor year for donations and subscriptions, the worst since 2020. I very much need your support for this webpage to survive.

 

And I think I provide real value. Fifteen years ago I said SLS was garbage and should be cancelled. Almost a decade ago I said Orion was a lie and a bad idea. As early as 1998, long before almost anyone else, I predicted in my first book, Genesis: The Story of Apollo 8, that private enterprise and freedom would conquer the solar system, not government. Very early in the COVID panic and continuing throughout I noted that every policy put forth by the government (masks, social distancing, lockdowns, jab mandates) was wrong, misguided, and did more harm than good. In planetary science, while everyone else in the media still thinks Mars has no water, I have been reporting the real results from the orbiters now for more than five years, that Mars is in fact a planet largely covered with ice.

 

I could continue with numerous other examples. If you want to know what others will discover a decade hence, read what I write here at Behind the Black. And if you read my most recent book, Conscious Choice, you will find out what is going to happen in space in the next century.

 

 

This last claim might sound like hubris on my part, but I base it on my overall track record.

 

So please consider donating or subscribing to Behind the Black, either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. I could really use the support at this time. There are five 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. Takes about a 10% cut.
 

3. A Paypal Donation or subscription, which takes about a 15% cut:

 

4. Donate by check. I get whatever you donate. Make the check payable to Robert Zimmerman and mail it 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.


August 13, 2021 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast

Embedded below the fold in two parts. (Note, the second segment is now correct!)

Genesis cover

On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

 

The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.


The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
 

"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News

6 comments

  • Willi

    Duplicate ‘casts…

  • Mark

    Bob, does this issue of multiple handoffs also occur in Space Industry subcontracting?

    I checked the john batchelor show, and this is not a Bob problem. My best guess this is a cbs/ audioboom / john batchelor show problem. So either Audioboom as the subcontractor made a mistake grabbing the same audio file twice , or the Batchelor Show made a mistake supplying the same audio file twice. In any case, I do appreciate that these are on your site – otherwise I would have to listen to pesky advertising at the beginning of each segment.

  • Mark: This happens sometimes. John Batchelor does the podcast all on his own. Sometimes he uploads incorrectly. I have emailed him. He will get to it, but it is the weekend. Allow him his free time to garden.

  • Mark

    Bob, I really enjoy the John Batchelor Show, and think he is among the most underrated radio broadcasters of the last two decades. I recommend his show to all on your site. It would be interesting at some time if you could write a post about how you first started your weekly segments with John. Cheers!

  • Mark: The story is simple: I wrote an article for Natural History magazine back in 2004 about the recent discovery that the Earth’s core appears to rotate at a slightly different speed as the rest of the planet. Batchelor contacted me to see if I’d come on to talk about it.

    I knew he liked to report on space stuff, so after that appearance I then proceeded to email him a story list every few days, asking if he “wanted to talk.” He repeatedly did. He soon made it a regular thing, because he knew he could always depend on me to give him good stuff and be there when needed.

  • Gary

    Robert,

    Thanks for sharing that info about the Batchelor Show. I had been wondering how he was putting it together after the departure from NYC. Hope he continues as long as he wants. That show really is a wonderful, eclectic collection of world news, history, archaeology, culture and, of course, astronomy and space exploration.

    FYI, the link was updated as of today for the Bennu part of the cast.

    Also, I have a nomination for an “Evening Pause” if you need more. Please let me know if you wish.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *