Meet the Board: Kirk Stambler
An interview with Planetary Sunshade Foundation Board Member, Kirk Stambler - lawyer, film producer, and storytelling expert. Kirk became a space enthusiast as a kid, before applying his science mind to the world of entertainment. Kirk moved to Los Angeles in 1993 to work as a lawyer at Warner Brothers. Since then he’s produced and developed content across the industry bringing his unique skill set to communication.
“Narrative is incredibly important to shaping outcomes in any endeavor”
What were the formative science fiction books or films in your youth that sparked your interest in space and planetary systems?
The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet was a crazy kid’s book that had a huge impact on me growing up. As did Walter Cronkite's “The 21st Century” - Walter would come on TV and talk about the future in the late 1960s. He was really the face of the rocket launches back then. I Dream of Jeannie was a sci-fi sitcom I liked. Star Trek is bound up with the idea of humans overcoming destructive tendencies and building a better world. I loved all of those.
In terms of movies, 2001 Space Odyssey.
What books are on your nightstand right now?
Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari, Lion by Sonya Walger, The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday
How do you see the relationship between speculative fiction and real-world space policy development?
Speculative science fiction allows us to dream of possibilities and treat them as if they are real.
What inspires you about the planetary Sunshade project?
“It’s a generational challenge that can give people meaning at a time when many feel powerless and hopeless.”
-Kirk Stambler
It’s a bold and audacious attempt to save our world through science, technology and cooperation. It’s a generational challenge that can give people meaning at a time when many feel powerless and hopeless.
How do you approach the challenge of translating a concept often found in science fiction into a scientifically and politically feasible initiative?
There's been a great deal of a rise in people's feeling of hopelessness and helplessness and that we just can't solve any problems and nothing ever gets done and things only get worse. There have been times in history you can point to - anything from the World War II or the Apollo program, where you mobilized an entire country behind an idea and those ideas were not fully formed at the start.
But to make those ideas real, people made films. They made printed media. They went out and talked to others, they convinced people that it was a good idea to do these things, to mobilize, and to make all that sacrifice. And even though there was a tremendous amount of loss and challenge through that, a lot of people that lived through it remember it as being the most important and meaningful part of their lives.
“The Planetary sunshade can overcome the cynicism and resignation people feel today”
We've been searching for that collective element in our society. I think the planetary sunshade can overcome the cynicism and resignation. Overcoming cynicism, resignation and hopelessness is a fundamental part of the project's success.
What values do you want to bring to the board of Sunshade foundation?
One of the values I’ve carried with me comes from the latin phrase “non sibi” or “not for self”. To me this is one of the highest ideals, the highest level of excellence in what we try to do in life. So to me, this [planetary sunshade] project is about that. The mission is not about your personal glory. You really are trying to do something that you believe is going to help a lot of people and potentially save the whole planet.
The next is perspective. Almost 45 years ago I took a biology class that had a textbook by EO Wilson, a Nobel laureate. At the end of the book the author writes about an idea called “defeat by default”. It means, we have all this knowledge and we have technological ability to solve many of our problems, but doing so would require a level of cooperation among human beings that has never been seen before in the history of the human race.
That's the core issue. That's the problem. It is how to overcome the “defeat by default”. That's where I think storytelling, narrative, and making sure this project reaches people on an emotional level is so important. The Planetary Sunshade Foundation can be a kind of repository or a place where we collect knowledge and, and try to make sense of it and then put it out into the world.
Lightning Round:
Mars or Moon? Moon - mostly because we need the Moon to do the planetary sunshade.
Dune or Star wars? Star Wars but I love Dune too.
More likely: net zero or asteroid mining? Both are absolutely necessary
Favorite Space Movie(s)? Galaxy Quest… Starman, The Empire Strikes Back, Guardians of the Galaxy and The Wrath of Khan.
What Space technology do want to mature immediately (not including the sunshade)
Warp drive. A device that allow you to actually go the speed of light, unlocking ability to travel the galaxy
Favorite space related show, podcast, or YouTube channel?
The Mandalorian… This is the way.
Tim Dougherty is an ambassador for the Planetary Sunshade Foundation. He is the author of Timelapse (Ten Speed Press, 2020) and is currently developing a new book exploring the next era of space infrastructure. He runs Lagrange Points, a media project focused on defining the geography of space and humanity’s future beyond Earth.