Program 736: The Swiss; Sightseer's Guide to the Solar System; Winter in Anchorage

A former US ambassador to Switzerland shares her insights into what makes the Swiss tick — and what their society gets right. Then an astronomer helps us imagine what sort of views we'd enjoy if we could travel to planets in our solar system. And a guidebook author from Anchorage tells us why south-central Alaska can be a fun place for a winter visit.

• Suzi LeVine, former U.S. ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein
• Astronomer Philip Plait, author of "Under Alien Skies" (W. W. Norton)
• Lisa Maloney, author of "Moon Alaska" guidebook (Avalon Travel) and "Day Hiking Southcentral Alaska" (Mountaineers Books)

• Suzan G. LeVine was the United States ambassador to Switzerland from 2014–2017.
• Suzi hosted a TED talk in Bern on what we can learn from the Swiss.
• Switzerland tops the list, once again, of U.S. News and World Report's "Best Countries, 2023."
• Astronomer Philip Plait is the author of "Under Alien Skies." He also writes frequent updates for his subscription-based "Bad Astronomy" newsletter on Substack, and posts weekly articles at Scientific American.
• Phil hosted a TED talk on how to defend the earth from asteroids.
• The head of NASA's New Horizons project spoke with Rick about what they found on Pluto, on Travel with Rick Steves program #571 in July 2019.
• Lisa Maloney writes the Moon Alaska guidebook, out in its third edition. Lisa also posts articles on hiking in greater Anchorage, even in winter, on her Hiking Alaska website, and is the author of "Day Hiking South Central Alaska."