Episode 6: Mythology, with Moiya McTier

[instrumental music] Welcome back to Dreaming Against the Machine. I'm your host, Adam Becker. Today's guest is an astrophysicist, and author, and host of a podcast here on Multitude, and is also not me, despite the fact that all those things are also true of me. This is my friend Moya McTier. She is really fantastic. I've known her for, oh, God, it must be almost 10 years now. And she is also an expert on mythology, and that's a lot of why I wanted to bring her on the show because not only did I think we'd have a great conversation, but also our ideas about the future are really tightly connected to the way that we view our past. And that, in turn, is gonna be connected to mythology. We talk about a lot of other things, too, but let's get to it. Moya, welcome to Dreaming Against the Machine.

Thank you. It's a dream to be here.

Aw, thank you. It's great to have you here.

[laughs] Here.

I mean, this show is partly your fault, in a way.

You're welcome, world.

Yeah, exactly. Yes, everyone should blame you for the wonder that is Dreaming Against the Machine. No, you, uh, it's- it's partly your fault that we are a proud and happy member of Multitude Productions.

Mm-hmm. I'm ha- That's an influence that I'm happy to have.

What influences aren't you happy to have?

None that I can say on mic here-

Awesome

... probably.

Yes. Good. No, making you uncomfortable is exactly what I wanna do here on this show. [laughs]

[laughs] Can I swear?

Oh, yes.

Is this one of those podcasts?

Yes, you are allowed to swear on this podcast. It is one of those podcasts, yes.

Fucking A.

Yeah.

All right, let's go.

Awesome. Yeah, no, I'm the host. That means you have to be able to swear because I, I won't say that I swear like a sailor. I swear like a man from New Jersey.

W- I wonder why.

Yeah. [laughs]

[laughs]

Yeah, exactly. Well, let me explain to our guests who you are, uh, and then I'm gonna get it wrong, and you're gonna correct me. Moya, uh, is delightful person who is also an astrophysicist and also has a degree in storytelling, myth-making, mythology.

Hm, yes, mythol- yeah, folklore and mythology.

Folklore and mythology, yes, and consequently has a tattoo of Orion. Uh.

[laughs] Yes.

Well, because, well, this is, this is where, you know, uh, myth-making and, and astronomy come together is constellations, yeah?

Yes. That's, that's one of the places. Uh, I also have a moon phase tattoo.

Mm-hmm.

There are many myths about that. I have the old alchemical symbols that became the planetary symbols-

Oh, shit

... uh, in the, in the solar system. I have that tattooed. Uh, there are many, uh, around that are hard to see in this-

[laughs]

... uh, in this camera box, but they're there.

Yeah, no.

I-

I was just saying the ones that I could see here.

[laughs] Yes.

In any event, yes, so Moya is also a science communicator and podcast host, host of Pale Blue Pod, and, which is also a member of Multitude Productions.

[laughs]

Uh, and the author of The Milky Way.

The Milky Way, yes, An Autobiography of Our Galaxy.

Yes, and also the author of the upcoming book...

Mothers of Invention: A History of Creativity from the Greek Muses.

Yeah.

I hate writing things from my own point of view.

[laughs] Yeah. Um, wait, so but that's a good