In space, no one can hear you scream; but the aliens can apparently pick up your virtue signals on their scanners. CBS Mornings co-host Vlad Duthiers was sending out distress calls during Monday’s show after he was scolded by Dr. Mae Jemison (the first black woman in space) because he used the highly offensive term “mankind” to refer to the entire human species.
As they were sitting the West Texas desert, awaiting the launch of the Blue Origin rocket that would take their friend and co-host Gayle King to “space,” Duthiers received his first scolding by Jemison when he tried to tee her up to rebuke those who were supposedly downplaying the launch because the passengers were all women:
DUTHIERS: You heard Amanda Nguyen tell me in the interview that she's conducting science experiments on this voyage, which I don't think a lot of people knew. They thought it was just six women going up into space for a joyride.
JEMISON: Wait, what do you mean just six women?
DUTHIERS: Well, that's what I mean! That was the criticism!
JEMISON: It is six women.
DUTHIERS: That’s right!
BURLESON: Right. Right. Right.
“But he's speaking to the perspective and some of the narrative that's are out there,” co-host Nate Burleson added, trying to defend Duthiers, who added: “The narratives that are out there, that I was hoping to correct with this interview. And I'm glad you're here to help me correct that narrative.”
While trying to put that flub behind him, Duthiers immediately stepped in it again with his comments about space travel being a benefit to “mankind.” Again, he drew a swift scolding from Jemison:
DUTHIERS: So, explain to our audience why even a trip like this one, all the trips that we take into space, benefit mankind.
JEMISON: Um, so, it benefits humankind.
“Humankind, I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” Duthiers pleaded.
She then proclaimed that she was, “going to keep correcting the mankind and the man-made, and the man-missions because this is exactly what this mission is about, is expanding the perspective of who does space.”
Jemison’s high horse had legs that stretched up past the Karman line (international line that denotes where outer space begins). Earlier in the interview she stated that her reaction to being in space wasn’t to have an eye-opening revelation that made her feel small as a human, but rather: “I felt more connected with the rest of the universe. My connection wasn't back down here to Earth, it was with the rest of the universe.”
Adding: “And sometimes people say seeing the Earth makes you feel small. But it didn't make me feel small it made me feel bigger because I was connected to something that was so much bigger than where we think we are.”
Jemison also seemed disappointed that “we get so human centric that we forget that we're part of this greater universe.”
She also bizarrely claimed that Earth already “no longer has an atmosphere that supports our life form.”
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
CBS Mornings
April 14, 2025
7:35:21 a.m. Eastern(…)
DR. MAE C. JEMISON: Going up in space, it was – Believe it or not, I felt more connected with the rest of the universe. My connection wasn't back down here to Earth, it was with the rest of the universe.
And sometimes people say seeing the Earth makes you feel small. But it didn't make me feel small it made me feel bigger because I was connected to something that was so much bigger than where we think we are.
There's one other thing that happened -- you know how people always say “and save the Earth?” The Earth will be here.
NATE BURLESON: Oh.
JEMISON: But we might not. See, there's a difference --
VLAD DUTHIERS: Because of how we're treating it.
BURLESON: Right.
JEMISON: Yeah. Well, it doesn't -- no longer has an atmosphere that supports our life form. So, I think that perspective was really important too, because we get so human centric that we forget that we're part of this greater universe.
DUTHIERS: So, one of the things we talked about yesterday, when we were preparing to speak with you live on the air, is the importance of space travel and the importance of the work that astronauts do when they are in space. You heard Amanda Nguyen tell me in the interview that she's conducting science experiments on this voyage, which I don't think a lot of people knew. They thought it was just six women going up into space for a joyride.
JEMISON: Wait, what do you mean just six women?
DUTHIERS: Well, that's what I mean! That was the criticism!
JEMISON: It is six women.
DUTHIERS: That’s right!
BURLESON: Right. Right. Right.
JEMISON: I know.
BURLESON: But he's speaking to the perspective and some of the narrative that's are out there.
DUTHIERS: The narratives that are out there, that I was hoping to correct with this interview. And I'm glad you're here to help me correct that narrative.
So, explain to our audience why even a trip like this one, all the trips that we take into space, benefit mankind.
JEMISON: Um, so, it benefits humankind.
DUTHIERS: Humankind, I’m sorry. I’m sorry.
JEMISON: And I'm going to keep correcting the mankind and the man-made, and the man-missions because this is exactly what this mission is about, is expanding the perspective of who does space.
Why is space important? When you just look at it, when you go up, you get a perspective on this world that you can't get from looking down on the ground, and you can get it much faster. So, whether it's looking at roads, mapping, whether it's looking at weather formations, we use space every day. Right? With our cellphones. We -- I live in Houston, Texas, we like weather satellites, right?
BURLESON: Right.
JEMISON: Because all of those things are happening, and people sometimes forget that. From materials to the accuracy that I was talking about before with the precision of the engineering, the safety, it permeates our world in ways that we don't -- that we don't realize every day.
(…)
