A long read introduction to the topic - from We Want to Believe: How Aliens Went Mainstream and Why It Matters
“The search for exoplanets is radically expanding our understanding of the cosmos. “We have learned that the universe is teeming with a fascinating variety of planets, more types than we could have imagined,” writes the astrobiologist Lisa Kaltenegger. But so far, it has found exactly as many extraterrestrials as radio astronomy has: zero. The more we learn about the universe, the more acute the Fermi paradox becomes.”
The alien races travel around the galaxy (anti-spinwise), collecting promising species along the way and helping them evolve into space faring races like themselves. Humanity evolved too fast, or wasn’t noticed the last time around, but they’ll be here “soon” - within 10 million years.