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The Best Thing About Watching COSMOS
Post Date: 12 March 2014
Photo of Carl Sagan's autographed book for Neil deGrasse Tyson
“For Neil Tyson, With all good wishes to a future astronomer, Carl Sagan”
Confession: I didn’t watch COSMOS: A Spacetime Odyssey on Sunday night when millions of people around the world did.
That’s because I promised my 9-year-old daughter that we would watch it together as a family, and we didn’t get that opportunity until Tuesday night. You see, my daughter is a big fan of Neil’s, and ever since she got the chance to meet him in his office at the Hayden Planetarium (where he signed a book for her), she’s been anxious to watch him on TV.
So last night, while my daughter watched the screen and oohed and aahed, I watched my daughter. Sure, I watched the show, too, but I can always watch that again on demand. But how many times do I get to watch the lights go on in my daughter’s brain as she watches COSMOS for the first time?
My parents never got that chance. I was off in college when Carl Sagan’s original series, Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, ran in 1980, and I watched it alone, in my dorm room, hundreds of miles from my parents at home. And while I enjoyed the series, it didn’t change my life. I was dead set on becoming a rich, powerful corporate lawyer, and nothing as non-commercial as science had any shot of distracting me.
But that was just me. There are many scientists out there who decided to become scientists after watching Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, or hearing Carl Sagan on Johnny Carson, or reading his books. Carl evangelized science, and he inspired a generation.
At one point during the show, my daughter asked me if my name would be on the credits for COSMOS, and I had to clarify to her that I only worked with Neil on StarTalk Radio, not COSMOS. But she thought that was still cool. (Whew!)
Which brings me to the point of this blog post. Believe it or not, this post isn’t about COSMOS: A Spacetime Odyssey. It’s about our show, StarTalk Radio, and the other science shows out there that, for the moment, may be worried that they’ll be obscured by the blazing network TV star that is COSMOS on FOX. (In other words, listen up, Science Friday and RadioLab and The Infinite Monkey Cage and The Skeptics Guide to the Universe and Astronomy Cast and… okay, enough already, this is starting to sound like an Academy Awards thank you speech.)
COSMOS is our friend. COSMOS is important. COSMOS is a gateway drug. COSMOS will awaken a desire to learn, to explore, and to do science among kids who will need to feed that hunger. And when they’re hungry, and COSMOS isn’t there, they’ll turn to all of us to feed their brains. That’s the gift Carl Sagan gave us all with the first COSMOS, and that’s the gift the new COSMOS offers us as well.
Remember the disconnect we all felt when we heard that the new COSMOS was going to be on FOX? Now, we can take comfort that it is on FOX, and it will reach an audience it might never have reached were it on PBS, like Carl’s was.
So, what was the best thing about watching COSMOS for me?
It happened at the end, when Neil was talking about how he met Carl Sagan. My daughter turned to me and said, “It’s weird. When Neil met Carl Sagan, he decided he wanted to become a scientist. And when I met Neil, I decided I wanted to become a scientist. And maybe someday when somebody meets me, they’ll want to be a scientist too.”
That’s what I’ll remember most about the premier of COSMOS.
That’s it for now. Keep Looking Up!
–Jeffrey Simons
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The Best Thing About Watching COSMOS
Post Date: 12 March 2014
Photo of Carl Sagan's autographed book for Neil deGrasse Tyson
“For Neil Tyson, With all good wishes to a future astronomer, Carl Sagan”
Confession: I didn’t watch COSMOS: A Spacetime Odyssey on Sunday night when millions of people around the world did.
That’s because I promised my 9-year-old daughter that we would watch it together as a family, and we didn’t get that opportunity until Tuesday night. You see, my daughter is a big fan of Neil’s, and ever since she got the chance to meet him in his office at the Hayden Planetarium (where he signed a book for her), she’s been anxious to watch him on TV.
So last night, while my daughter watched the screen and oohed and aahed, I watched my daughter. Sure, I watched the show, too, but I can always watch that again on demand. But how many times do I get to watch the lights go on in my daughter’s brain as she watches COSMOS for the first time?
My parents never got that chance. I was off in college when Carl Sagan’s original series, Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, ran in 1980, and I watched it alone, in my dorm room, hundreds of miles from my parents at home. And while I enjoyed the series, it didn’t change my life. I was dead set on becoming a rich, powerful corporate lawyer, and nothing as non-commercial as science had any shot of distracting me.
But that was just me. There are many scientists out there who decided to become scientists after watching Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, or hearing Carl Sagan on Johnny Carson, or reading his books. Carl evangelized science, and he inspired a generation.
At one point during the show, my daughter asked me if my name would be on the credits for COSMOS, and I had to clarify to her that I only worked with Neil on StarTalk Radio, not COSMOS. But she thought that was still cool. (Whew!)
Which brings me to the point of this blog post. Believe it or not, this post isn’t about COSMOS: A Spacetime Odyssey. It’s about our show, StarTalk Radio, and the other science shows out there that, for the moment, may be worried that they’ll be obscured by the blazing network TV star that is COSMOS on FOX. (In other words, listen up, Science Friday and RadioLab and The Infinite Monkey Cage and The Skeptics Guide to the Universe and Astronomy Cast and… okay, enough already, this is starting to sound like an Academy Awards thank you speech.)
COSMOS is our friend. COSMOS is important. COSMOS is a gateway drug. COSMOS will awaken a desire to learn, to explore, and to do science among kids who will need to feed that hunger. And when they’re hungry, and COSMOS isn’t there, they’ll turn to all of us to feed their brains. That’s the gift Carl Sagan gave us all with the first COSMOS, and that’s the gift the new COSMOS offers us as well.
Remember the disconnect we all felt when we heard that the new COSMOS was going to be on FOX? Now, we can take comfort that it is on FOX, and it will reach an audience it might never have reached were it on PBS, like Carl’s was.
So, what was the best thing about watching COSMOS for me?
It happened at the end, when Neil was talking about how he met Carl Sagan. My daughter turned to me and said, “It’s weird. When Neil met Carl Sagan, he decided he wanted to become a scientist. And when I met Neil, I decided I wanted to become a scientist. And maybe someday when somebody meets me, they’ll want to be a scientist too.”
That’s what I’ll remember most about the premier of COSMOS.
That’s it for now. Keep Looking Up!
–Jeffrey Simons
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Alfred P. Sloan Foundation CurvedLight Productions
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http://www.startalkradio.net/the-best-thing-about-watching-cosmos/
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Don’t miss Neil deGrasse Tyson’s exclusive “Conversation with God”
Post Date: 1 February 2014
Detail from the Sistine Chapel ceiling – “The creation of the Sun, Moon and Planets” by Michelangelo
Detail from the Sistine Chapel ceiling – “The creation of the Sun, Moon and Planets” by Michelangelo
I admit it.
The least likely interview I ever thought I’d hear Neil deGrasse Tyson do is with God.
After all, God has got to be considered one of the toughest “gets” in the business.
Then again, Neil interviewed Morgan Freeman, who has played God – twice – so maybe Morgan put in a good word for him.
But as surprised as I was to find out that Neil was interviewing God, that was nothing compared to some of the divine revelations that Neil was able to get out of him.
For instance, did you know that God misses ritual sacrifice?
Or that God had two other children besides Jesus, and that Jesus was in fact a middle child?
Or that one of the things about humanity that most surprises God is that we can’t see the pattern in Pi?
In fact, once Neil got God talking, the secrets of the universe just started pouring out.
Want to know how many universes there are in the multiverse? Or how old the universe really is? Or why there are flightless birds? Or fish that can’t swim?
Ever wonder who God’s true chosen people are? Or how God feels about people who bully and kill in his name? Or whether God has influenced the outcome of a sporting event?
And if you’ve ever asked yourself, who would win in a fight, God or Superman, you’ll finally get the answer.
The one thing God wouldn’t specify: whether aliens exist, when they’re attacking Earth, what weapons they’ll use, and how they plan to invade and enslave us.
But that still leaves plenty of territory for Neil and God to cover. Evolution. The fossil record. Creationism (or “creation science” as God likes to call it). Quantum physics. String Theory. Free will. Relativity. The Big Bang. How the universe will end. The laws of physics. Pluto. Corporations and the Illuminati.
Best of all, Neil is able to get God to answer one of the great mysteries of life, “Do you know why bad things happen to good people?”
For the answer to that, and to hear all of the other divine revelations Neil deGrasse Tyson elicits during his exclusive interview with God, you’ll have to tune in Sunday, Feb 2 at 7:00 PM ET on our website, iTunes, Stitcher and SoundCloud. (Sure, there’s a big football game on at the same time, but which would you rather do: listen to someone give God credit for an amazing victory on the field, or listen to God himself?)
That’s it for now. Keep Looking Up!
–Jeffrey Simons
« Previous
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Alfred P. Sloan Foundation CurvedLight Productions
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Copyright © 2015 Curved Light Productions. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.startalkradio.net/dont-miss-neil-degrasse-tysons-exclusive-conversation-god/
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Don’t miss Neil deGrasse Tyson’s exclusive “Conversation with God”
Post Date: 1 February 2014
Detail from the Sistine Chapel ceiling – “The creation of the Sun, Moon and Planets” by Michelangelo
Detail from the Sistine Chapel ceiling – “The creation of the Sun, Moon and Planets” by Michelangelo
I admit it.
The least likely interview I ever thought I’d hear Neil deGrasse Tyson do is with God.
After all, God has got to be considered one of the toughest “gets” in the business.
Then again, Neil interviewed Morgan Freeman, who has played God – twice – so maybe Morgan put in a good word for him.
But as surprised as I was to find out that Neil was interviewing God, that was nothing compared to some of the divine revelations that Neil was able to get out of him.
For instance, did you know that God misses ritual sacrifice?
Or that God had two other children besides Jesus, and that Jesus was in fact a middle child?
Or that one of the things about humanity that most surprises God is that we can’t see the pattern in Pi?
In fact, once Neil got God talking, the secrets of the universe just started pouring out.
Want to know how many universes there are in the multiverse? Or how old the universe really is? Or why there are flightless birds? Or fish that can’t swim?
Ever wonder who God’s true chosen people are? Or how God feels about people who bully and kill in his name? Or whether God has influenced the outcome of a sporting event?
And if you’ve ever asked yourself, who would win in a fight, God or Superman, you’ll finally get the answer.
The one thing God wouldn’t specify: whether aliens exist, when they’re attacking Earth, what weapons they’ll use, and how they plan to invade and enslave us.
But that still leaves plenty of territory for Neil and God to cover. Evolution. The fossil record. Creationism (or “creation science” as God likes to call it). Quantum physics. String Theory. Free will. Relativity. The Big Bang. How the universe will end. The laws of physics. Pluto. Corporations and the Illuminati.
Best of all, Neil is able to get God to answer one of the great mysteries of life, “Do you know why bad things happen to good people?”
For the answer to that, and to hear all of the other divine revelations Neil deGrasse Tyson elicits during his exclusive interview with God, you’ll have to tune in Sunday, Feb 2 at 7:00 PM ET on our website, iTunes, Stitcher and SoundCloud. (Sure, there’s a big football game on at the same time, but which would you rather do: listen to someone give God credit for an amazing victory on the field, or listen to God himself?)
That’s it for now. Keep Looking Up!
–Jeffrey Simons
« Previous
Next »
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation CurvedLight Productions
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Copyright © 2015 Curved Light Productions. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.startalkradio.net/dont-miss-neil-degrasse-tysons-exclusive-conversation-god/
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This Sunday: Accomplished Women, Strange Science, Urban Legends, Aliens, Powerful Beings and God.
Post Date: 27 December 2014
The Creation of Adam
Photo Credit: The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo
What makes it into a StarTalk Radio Time Capsule?
This season, you picked episodes featuring accomplished women, strange science, urban legends, aliens, powerful beings and God.
Let’s start with the women.
In Madame Saturn: A Conversation with Carolyn Porco, we met the scientist who runs the Cassini Imaging Team and has been responsible for bringing us some of the most amazing images ever taken in our cosmos.
And in A COSMOS Conversation with Ann Druyan, we met the woman who has actually been integral to helping us all become more familiar with the cosmos, as the creator, writer and Executive Producer of Cosmos A Spacetime Odyssey, and before that, the co-writer of Cosmos A Personal Voyage.
Interestingly, both worked closely with Carl Sagan on the Voyager projects early in their careers, and of course Ann eventually married him.
And there’s no doubt that the stars of StarTalk Live! Big Brains at BAM were Dr. Heather Berlin and Mayim Bialik, both trained neuroscientists who took Neil deGrasse Tyson, Bill Nye, Eugene Mirman, Michael Ian Black, Paul Rudd and the rest of us on a deep dive into the human brain.
When it comes to strange science and urban legends, there was plenty of both in The Ig Nobel Prize and the MythBusters episodes that made it into the time capsule. In the first, Marc Abrahams gave Neil and co-host Leighann Lord a tour of some of the strangest research being conducted today. In the second, Neil and co-host Chuck Nice gave us an inside look at the show that debunks some of our favorite urban legends with the men responsible: Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman.
As for the aliens, we turned to Seth Shostak, Senior Astronomer at the SETI Institute, who took center stage at StarTalk Live! SF Sketchfest along with guest host Bill Nye the Science Guy, co-host Eugene Mirman and guest comedian Dave Foley.
Rounding out Part 1 of our Season 5 Time Capsule episodes are two one-on-one interviews Neil conducted with two of the most powerful beings in Hollywood and beyond: Seth MacFarlane and God. A Conversation with Seth MacFarlane was our most popular episode in the history of StarTalk Radio, while A Conversation with God was the second most popular episode of the season and our most-commented upon episode ever.
Join us for Season 5 Time Capsule (Part 1) on Sunday, December 28th at 7:00 PM ET on our website, iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn and SoundCloud.
And be sure to come back for Part 2 of our Season 5 Time Capsule on January 4th featuring your favorite Cosmic Queries episodes.
That’s it for now. Keep Looking Up.
–Jeffrey Simons
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Alfred P. Sloan Foundation CurvedLight Productions
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Copyright © 2015 Curved Light Productions. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.startalkradio.net/this-sunday-accomplished-women-strange-science-urban-legends-aliens-powerful-beings-and-god/
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This Sunday: Accomplished Women, Strange Science, Urban Legends, Aliens, Powerful Beings and God.
Post Date: 27 December 2014
The Creation of Adam
Photo Credit: The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo
What makes it into a StarTalk Radio Time Capsule?
This season, you picked episodes featuring accomplished women, strange science, urban legends, aliens, powerful beings and God.
Let’s start with the women.
In Madame Saturn: A Conversation with Carolyn Porco, we met the scientist who runs the Cassini Imaging Team and has been responsible for bringing us some of the most amazing images ever taken in our cosmos.
And in A COSMOS Conversation with Ann Druyan, we met the woman who has actually been integral to helping us all become more familiar with the cosmos, as the creator, writer and Executive Producer of Cosmos A Spacetime Odyssey, and before that, the co-writer of Cosmos A Personal Voyage.
Interestingly, both worked closely with Carl Sagan on the Voyager projects early in their careers, and of course Ann eventually married him.
And there’s no doubt that the stars of StarTalk Live! Big Brains at BAM were Dr. Heather Berlin and Mayim Bialik, both trained neuroscientists who took Neil deGrasse Tyson, Bill Nye, Eugene Mirman, Michael Ian Black, Paul Rudd and the rest of us on a deep dive into the human brain.
When it comes to strange science and urban legends, there was plenty of both in The Ig Nobel Prize and the MythBusters episodes that made it into the time capsule. In the first, Marc Abrahams gave Neil and co-host Leighann Lord a tour of some of the strangest research being conducted today. In the second, Neil and co-host Chuck Nice gave us an inside look at the show that debunks some of our favorite urban legends with the men responsible: Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman.
As for the aliens, we turned to Seth Shostak, Senior Astronomer at the SETI Institute, who took center stage at StarTalk Live! SF Sketchfest along with guest host Bill Nye the Science Guy, co-host Eugene Mirman and guest comedian Dave Foley.
Rounding out Part 1 of our Season 5 Time Capsule episodes are two one-on-one interviews Neil conducted with two of the most powerful beings in Hollywood and beyond: Seth MacFarlane and God. A Conversation with Seth MacFarlane was our most popular episode in the history of StarTalk Radio, while A Conversation with God was the second most popular episode of the season and our most-commented upon episode ever.
Join us for Season 5 Time Capsule (Part 1) on Sunday, December 28th at 7:00 PM ET on our website, iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn and SoundCloud.
And be sure to come back for Part 2 of our Season 5 Time Capsule on January 4th featuring your favorite Cosmic Queries episodes.
That’s it for now. Keep Looking Up.
–Jeffrey Simons
« Previous
Next »
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation CurvedLight Productions
Home
Podcast
StarTalk TV
SiriusXM
Blog
About
Questions
Share Podcast
Copyright © 2015 Curved Light Productions. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.startalkradio.net/this-sunday-accomplished-women-strange-science-urban-legends-aliens-powerful-beings-and-god/
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