Topic: New Shepard

Chris Knowles analyzes Katy Perry’s flight on Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin New Shepard rocket as a ritual dedicated to the goddess Ishtar. The discussion highlights the mission patch's eight-pointed star and the name "New Shepard" as references to the Babylonian deity Dumuzi. Knowles argues that private space programs are less about exploration and more about clandestine missile testing and performing obligations to "sky gods" through symbolic timing and iconography.

Host Greg Carlwood introduces Mark Shepard, CEO of Forest Agriculture Enterprises and founder of Restoration Agriculture Development. Shepard is the author of Restoration Agriculture and established New Forest Farm, a 106-acre perennial agricultural savanna in southwestern Wisconsin. The discussion frames modern industrial agriculture as a system of dependence and contrasts it with Shepard's model of profitable, nature-aligned food sovereignty.