Podcast / Tech Won’t Save Us / May 15, 2025

Elon Musk Is Remaking the US Space Program

On this episode of Tech Won’t Save Us, Tim Fernholz on Elon Musk’s influence in the White House and, consequently, the US space program.

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Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.

Elon Musk is Remaking the US Space Program w/ Tim Fernholz | Tech Won’t Save Us
byThe Nation Magazine

On this episode of Tech Won't Save Us,Paris Marx is joined by Tim Fernholz to discuss how Elon Musk’s influence in the White House is shaping the US Space Program, why he’s pushing NASA toward Mars instead of the Moon, and whether the Starship rocket is in trouble.

Tim Fernholz is a senior reporter at Payload Space and the author of Rocket Billionaires: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the New Space Race.

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White House senior adviser and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk attends a cabinet meeting at the White House on April 30, 2025, in Washington, DC.

White House senior adviser and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk attends a cabinet meeting at the White House on April 30, 2025, in Washington, DC.

(Andrew Harnik / Getty Images)

On this episode of Tech Won’t Save Us, I am joined by Tim Fernholz to discuss how Elon Musk’s influence in the White House is shaping the US Space Program, why he’s pushing NASA toward Mars instead of the moon, and whether the Starship rocket is in trouble.

Tim Fernholz is a senior reporter at Payload Space and the author of Rocket Billionaires: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the New Space Race.

Subscribe to The Nation to support all of our podcasts: thenation.com/podcastsubscribe.

The Nation Podcasts
The Nation Podcasts

Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.

Cybertrucks Are a Safety Disaster With Dara Kerr | Tech Won’t Save Us
byThe Nation Magazine

Paris Marx is joined by Dara Kerr to discuss how Elon’s decision to prioritize aesthetics over safety has created a safety crisis, causing people to burn alive in their Cybertrucks and other Tesla vehicles.

Dara Kerr is a technology reporter at Guardian US.

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Paris Marx

Paris Marx is a tech critic and host of the Tech Won’t Save Us podcast. He writes the Disconnect newsletter and is the author of Road to Nowhere: What Silicon Valley Gets Wrong about the Future of Transportation.

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