Amy Shira Teitel

Writer

Amy Shira Teitel is a native of Toronto.^[4] She has written for The Daily Beast, National Geographic, Discovery News, Scientific American, Ars Technica, and Al Jazeera English.^[5][6]

Teitel's first book was based on research for her master's degree thesis. Breaking the Chains of Gravity (2015) tells the story of America's nascent space program.^[7][8] The book describes the early pioneers of rockets in the late 1920s, up to the formation of NASA.^[9]

Teitel's Fighting for Space (2020) is a dual biography of female pilots Jacqueline Cochran and Jerrie Cobb.^[10][11]

In August 2025, Teitel announced she was working on a book about the history of the atomic bomb, with an expected publication of 2027.^[12]

Video and other media

In 2012, Teitel created a YouTube channel, The Vintage Space,^[13] in which she delves into the history of space flight. The channel took a hiatus from 2021 to 2024, with Teitel taking time away after the publication of her second book, alongside challenges with YouTube comments and copyright-related demonetization.^[14] Upon returning in July 2024, she stating that the channel's focus would expand to the space age rather than strictly spaceflight.

Teitel was a co-host for the Discovery Channel's online DNews channel, which later became Seeker.^[15] She has also appeared on Ancient Aliens, NASA's Unexplained Files, and other cable documentary shows.^[16]