This is the first episode of a series on life in the universe. Looking for life in the universe isn't like looking for your car keys. It's hard to know where to even start. The best place to start is probably by NOT trying to find alien civilizations, but rather ANY kind of life we can.
The problem is, civilizations live and die in the blink of an eye compared to the lifecycles stars. They could come and go and we'd never know it.