Scott Turner Letter

Dear Guide, I have no idea whether you check out reader recommendations for Podcast of the Week – if so, can I recommend a podcast which occupies such an obscure niche within a niche you are reasonably certain not to stumble on it by accident– The “Building a Home Planetarium Podcast” https://homeplanetariumassociation.podbean.com/ The narrator, Gary Likert, podcasts from a chicken coup in Tennessee and each daily 5-minute episode, of which there are about 170 to date, meanders through part of his long experimentation with making planetarium projectors and domes (mostly from everyday objects) and running home-made planetarium shows. He rolls in astronomical stories, classical poetry, 1960s ephemera, 1970s music amongst other odd tangents. The podcast is hypnotic, Mr Likert is hugely knowledgeable in planetarium folklore but remains an affable amateur (amateur in the best possible sense) who has managed not to let modern life wrestle his child-like sense of wonder away. Favourite episode: Series 4 Episode 9 –a reverie about world where having a backyard planetarium becomes the norm and the size of the planetarium becomes a key consideration for house buyers. After a while you will find yourself humming the ear-worm theme tune (which is explained in episode 1) waiting for the next instalment to pop up. I have no financial motive or connection to the podcast - it is a work of pure enthusiasm and an important documentary record of a little known activity which deserves a far wider audience than its obscure genre is likely to deliver – go on, put it in podcast of the week.