Astrophysics for All is a student-led podcast that brings astrophysics down to Earth for curious young people everywhere. Each episode features conversations with professional astronomers and researchers, breaking down big ideas about the universe in a way that’s clear and engaging; no jargon required. At a time when astronomy is often missing from classrooms, this podcast invites young people to ask questions and see their place in the cosmos.
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Can a Star’s Spin Tell Us Where to Find Earth 2.0? | Prof. Marcel Agüeros
How do you tell the age of a star that barely seems to age? And could the answer help us find another Earth?
In this episode, I sit down with Professor Marcel Agüeros, astronomer at Columbia University and President of the American Astronomical Society, to explore how the spin and magnetic activity of stars can reveal their ages—and why that matters in the search for life beyond our Solar System.
We also dive into time-domain astronomy, how the Vera C. Rubin Observatory is essentially creating a ten-year movie of the night sky, and why white dwarfs give astronomers a natural laboratory for physics we can’t recreate on Earth.
And then there’s the big question: how close are we to finding Earth 2.0? Professor Agüeros explains why finding an Earth-like planet may be only half the challenge—and why the age and activity of its star could determine whether life ever had a chance to emerge.
We finish with his advice for young people interested in astronomy, why there’s no need to have your entire career mapped out, and what it means to find a community in science that you genuinely want to be part of.
24 Aug 2026
How Did the First Galaxies Transform the Universe? | Dr Anshuman Acharya
What did the universe look like before the first galaxies - and how can we reconstruct an era we can barely observe?
I speak with Dr Anshuman Acharya, a postdoctoral fellow at the Berkeley Center for Cosmological Physics at UC Berkeley, about the epoch of reionization, when the first galaxies began transforming the early universe.
Dr Acharya explains how astrophysicists build cosmological simulations to recreate the evolution of the universe, how machine learning can help researchers compare thousands of possible models with telescope observations, and why the incredibly faint 21-cm signal from neutral hydrogen could provide a new window into the formation of the earliest galaxies.
The conversation also explores international collaboration in astrophysics, Dr Acharya’s move from the Max Planck Institute to UC Berkeley, and his advice for students: explore widely, build transferable skills, and don’t feel pressured to have your entire scientific path figured out from the beginning.
18 Jul 2026
The Best Discoveries Are the Ones You Never Expect | Dr. Kishalay De
Have you ever wondered how astronomers discover something they've never seen before?
In this episode of Astrophysics for All, I'm joined by Dr. Kishalay De, Assistant Professor of Astronomy at Columbia University, whose research explores some of the universe's most spectacular "cosmic fireworks"—from exploding stars and stellar mergers to the first convincing evidence of a star swallowing one of its own planets.
We talk about what it's like to stumble across a discovery no one was expecting, why astronomers use everything from infrared light to gravitational waves to study the universe, and how the next generation of observatories could uncover phenomena we've never even imagined. We also discuss the growing role of AI in astronomy, the importance of strong foundations in physics, and why some of the biggest scientific breakthroughs begin with curiosity rather than certainty.
Whether you're interested in astronomy, physics, or simply curious about how discoveries are made, I hope you enjoy the conversation!
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4.9 / 5
25 ratings
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