About Savannah Mandel

Author & Anthropologist

I am an anthropologist, author and PhD student whose research primarily focuses on space exploration and tech ethics. You might have seen my debut non-fiction book, Ground Control: An Argument for the End of Human Space Exploration at bookstores near you. Ground Control asks, should we go? Is it worth it to send humans to space? What cultural outcomes will result from continued human space exploration and the colonization of other worlds? And lastly, what can we learn about our present selves by studying our most extreme visions of the future?

I’m currently working on two other forthcoming projects. The first, based on my doctoral dissertation, is about history and economics of asteroid mining. The second, is a study of how apocalypse has been used to accomplish political goals throughout history.

When I’m not writing, I love to play Magic The Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons, and can often be found working in my local ceramics studio. My writing is fueled by coffee and tea of all varieties!