The New Space Race

The New Space Race

From Interesting Times with Ross Douthat by New York Times Opinion

February 26, 2026 · 57 min

About this episode

Ross Douthat interviews billionaire Jared Isaacman about the upcoming Artemis II mission and the future of human space exploration.

We’re going back to the moon for the first time in more than 50 years. That is, if Artemis II can get off the ground. I sat down with Jared Isaacman, the billionaire leading NASA, to hear his perspective on everything from extraterrestrial life to the timeline for sending humans to Mars. This interview was recorded before NASA announced the delay of Artemis II’s launch.

People in this episode

Host: Ross Douthat

Guest: Jared Isaacman

Topics covered

  • space exploration
  • moon landing
  • NASA
  • Artemis program
  • extraterrestrial life
  • human spaceflight

Keywords

  • space race
  • Artemis II
  • moon
  • Mars
  • Jared Isaacman
  • NASA
  • extraterrestrial life

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: NASA

Places: moon, Mars

More episodes of Interesting Times with Ross Douthat

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Interesting Times with Ross Douthat podcast page.