Br. Guy Consolmagno chats with Cliff Stoll - astronomer, teacher and author of the book The Cuckoo’s Egg, which tells the story of how he tracked down a group of German hackers working for the Soviet KGB in 1986. Cliff is also a long-time buddy of Br. Guy.

Co-Hosts:
Br. Guy Consolmagno SJ: Director of Vatican Observatory and President of the Vatican Observatory Foundation.
Bob Trembley: Factotum for the Vatican Observatory Foundation.

Guest:
Cliff Stoll is an astronomer, author, and teacher known for tracking down a group of German hackers working for the Soviet KGB in 1986.

As a systems administrator at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, while working on the development of the Keck Telescope, Stoll pursued a 75-cent accounting hiccup, ultimately uncovering a major security breach. His book, The Cuckoo’s Egg, details this investigation and became a bestseller.

The 1990 PBS NOVA video: The KGB, The Computer and Me – The Cuckoo’s Egg Story is available on a couple channels on YouTube – it’s hilarious!

Stoll’s work significantly contributed to early cybersecurity awareness.

Stoll is also known for creating and selling glass Klein bottles

Vatican Observatory website: https://www.vaticanobservatory.org/

Intro music: Irreducible by ComaStudio
Finale music: Cinematic Documentary by Lexin_Music

Br. Guy Consolmagno chats with Rev. Richard A. D'Souza - the incoming Director of the Vatican Observatory! He takes the reins from Br. Guy on September 19, 2025.

Co-Hosts:
Br. Guy Consolmagno SJ: Director of Vatican Observatory and President of the Vatican Observatory Foundation.
Bob Trembley: Factotum for the Vatican Observatory Foundation.

Guest:
Rev. Richard A. D'Souza, Sj was born in 1978 in Pune, India and hails from Goa, India. His initial school years were spent in Kuwait. From 1990, he moved back to his home state of Goa, India and joined a Jesuit school.

After finishing his schooling, he entered the Society of Jesus in 1996, and finished his two years novitiate in Belgaum, India. This was followed by a year of study of the humanities (Juniorate) in Pune. In 2002, he completed his graduation in Physics at St.Xaviers' college in Mumbai and proceeded for his Masters in Physics to the University of Heidelberg, where he worked at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy for his thesis work.

He returned to Pune in 2005 to complete a Bachelors degree in Philosophy. In 2007, he founded and ran the St. Paul's Community College in Belgaum to help school dropouts find gainful employment. After finishing his Bachelors in Theology in 2011 in Pune, he retuned to Goa and ran a popular theology programme for the laity called "Deepen Your Faith".

In 2012, he started his doctoral studies in Astronomy at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, in Garching, Munich, graduating in 2016. In 2016, he formally joined the staff of the Vatican Observatory as well started at the same time a postdoc at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. In 2019, he moved to the headquarters of the Vatican Observatory in Castel Gandolfo. Since 2022, he has been serving as the Superior of the Jesuit community attached to the Vatican Observatory.

Vatican Observatory website: https://www.vaticanobservatory.org/
Follow Rev. D'Souza on Bluesky.

Intro music: Irreducible by ComaStudio
Finale music: Cinematic Documentary by Lexin_Music

Br. Guy Consolmagno chats with Dr. Deana L. Weibel - a cultural anthropologist whose work focuses primarily on religion, especially the topics of pilgrimage, sacred space, the mutual influence of scientific and religious ideas on each other, and religion and space exploration.

She spoke to us on those topics… and science fiction movies, as well!

Co-Hosts:
Br. Guy Consolmagno SJ: Director of Vatican Observatory and President of the Vatican Observatory Foundation.
Bob Trembley: Factotum for the Vatican Observatory Foundation.

Guest:
Dr. Deana L. Weibel: A Space Anthropologist and Anthropologist of Religion.

She spent a month in 2019 at the Vatican Observatory, studying "the Pope's Astronomers;" from mid-March to mid-April 2019, where she conducted ethnographic research including interviews, attended daily activities and events, and got to know the astronomers and staff.

Vatican Observatory website: https://www.vaticanobservatory.org/
Follow Deana on: Facebook, Twitter, Linked-In and Bluesky.

Intro music: Irreducible by ComaStudio
Finale music: Cinematic Documentary by Lexin_Music