E16: E16: Andrew Heaton & Liz Wolfe on UFOs and if an alien landing would unite us or tear us apart

Right Now with Stephen Kent

If UFOs land on Earth carrying aliens, would they be peaceful, or would we need to call Sigourney Weaver to come defend the planet?

On a new "Right Now with Stephen Kent," Stephen sits down with Andrew Heaton of The Political Orphanage podcast and journalist Liz Wolfe at Reason magazine to discuss the media's skyrocketing interest in UFOs, whether UFOs are alien spaceships or top-secret military technology, if an alien discovery would unite humankind or set up another World War, the religious implications of visitors from far beyond Venus, and much more.
Subscribe to Rightly and check out more details about the episode below.
---- Content of This Episode ----
00:00 Episode Start
00:05 Welcome Andrew Heaton & Liz Wolfe
01:33 Aliens are taking over the news cycle
06:58 What Blink 182’s Tom DeLonge has to do with it
12:12 What if UFOs are a U.S. government creation?
19:03 An alien discovery will unite us as humans or set off WWIII
26:00 UFOs & the coronavirus lab-leak theory in the Overton window
28:32 Libertarians are missing an opportunity
35:00 Ossified libertarianism
41:15 Are aliens God’s creation & do they need redemption?
46:50 Plugs for our guests
---- Reading List ----
How UFOs went from joke to national security issue in Washington (Washington Post)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/05/23/ufo-report-sightings-search/?
Pentagon's UFO footage — and Obama's curiosity — ratchet up expectations for a big reveal (NBC News)
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/pentagon-s-ufo-footage-obama-s-curiosity-ratchet-expectations-big-ncna1268222
There are strange things in our skies. Many can be explained, but some can’t. (National Review)
https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/05/the-ufos-might-be-aliens-or-something-else-we-cant-explain/
Harry Reid: What We Believe About U.F.O.s (The New York Times) https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/21/special-series/harry-reid-ufo.html
Speaking of Psychology: Why people believe in conspiracy theories, with Karen Douglas, PhD (American Psychological Association)
https://www.apa.org/research/action/speaking-of-psychology/conspiracy-theories
Why we want to believe in aliens (BBC Science Focus) https://www.sciencefocus.com/science/why-we-want-to-believe-in-aliens/
The American Obsession With Conspiracy Theories, Explained (The New Republic) https://newrepublic.com/article/158380/american-obsession-conspiracy-theories-explained
Public Trust in Government: 1958-2021 (Pew Research Center) https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2021/05/17/public-trust-in-government-1958-2021/
Even If It's 'Bonkers,' Poll Finds Many Believe QAnon And Other Conspiracy Theories (NPR)
https://www.npr.org/2020/12/30/951095644/even-if-its-bonkers-poll-finds-many-believe-qanon-and-other-conspiracy-theories
Over half of Republicans believe Donald Trump is the actual President of the United States (Ipsos) https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/news_and_polls/over-half-republicans-believe-donald-trump-actual-president-united-states
---- Plugs for our guests ----
Andrew Heaton:
Website: https://mightyheaton.com/
The Political Orphanage podcast: https://mightyheaton.com/the-political-orphanage
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/tsarandrew/videos
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mightyheaton
Liz Wolfe:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lizzywol
Reason magazine: https://reason.com/people/liz-wolfe/