Roger Highfield x Jörg Matthias Determann | Aliens, AI, and Humanity’s Destiny in Space
In this episode of Curiosity Entangled, science writer Roger Highfield and historian Jörg Matthias Determann explore how science fiction, religion, and culture shape our visions of the future—and what they reveal about our present. From Islamic cosmology and the search for extraterrestrial life to the forgotten knowledge of the Apollo era and the ethical frontiers of AI, this conversation journeys across disciplines and centuries.
Roger and Matthias reflect on the narratives that propel human space exploration, the surprising theological roots of science fiction, and the profound entanglement between mythology, science, and society. They ask: what do our imagined futures say about who we are today? And how can curiosity help us think more clearly—and skeptically—about the world we’re building?
5 Questions This Episode Might Leave You With
1. Can religion and science fiction help us prepare for alien contact?
2. What will it take to build a sustainable human presence beyond Earth?
3. What do ancient texts reveal about our place in the cosmos?
4. Are today’s space missions modern-day myths of destiny and conquest?
5. How can we balance wonder with skepticism in the age of AI?
Learn more about the guests
Roger Highfield – https://www.rogerhighfield.com/ Author of Stephen Hawking: Genius at Work – https://www.amazon.com/Stephen-Hawking-Genius-at-Work/dp/0744084555
Jörg Matthias Determann – https://qatar.vcu.edu/news/our-faculty/dr-jorg-matthias-determann/ https://vcu.academia.edu/Determann Author of Islam, Science Fiction and Extraterrestrial Life – https://www.amazon.com/Islam-Science-Fiction-Extraterrestrial-Life/dp/0755601270
Timestamps
00:01:12 – From neutron experiments to Chernobyl: how Roger became a science writer
00:08:03 – Santa Claus, Harry Potter, and the physics of myth
00:09:18 – Connecting the Quran and extraterrestrial life
00:17:21 – Dune as a mirror for Middle Eastern history and geopolitics
00:25:10 – The romantic origins of Soviet space dreams
00:28:25 – Manifest destiny and religious language in modern space exploration
00:35:22 – Should science fiction ideas be patentable?
00:41:10 – Why we imagined Moon colonies by now—and what we missed
00:45:39 – The lost knowledge of Apollo and the challenge of returning to the Moon
00:49:35 – Space colonization as a spiritual and imperial narrative
00:54:56 – Are we likely to find robotic alien life first?
01:00:35 – AI and the unraveling of the scientific method
01:05:09 – A fake news vaccine, and what it means for future communication
01:08:38 – Skepticism, wonder, and why the future is still wide open
