StarTalk Radio

Science, pop culture, and comedy collide on StarTalk Radio! Astrophysicist and Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson, his comic co-hosts, celebrity guests, and scientists discuss astronomy, physics, and everything else about life in the universe. Keep Looking Up! Click here for more information.

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Sep 26, 2023 – Season 14 Episode 58

OSIRIS-REx & Asteroid Mining with Natalie Starkey

Will an asteroid hit Earth in 2182? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian Chuck Nice learn about asteroid mining, OSIRIS-REx sample-return, and the origins of life with cosmochemist Natalie Starkey.

OSIRIS-REx will be the first U.S. mission to carry samples from an asteroid back to Earth. In 2019, OSIRIS-Rex will approach asteroid 1999 RQ36, or “Bennu,” and begin to map the asteroid’s surface to select a sample site. Upon collecting a sample, OSIRIS-Rex will return to Earth in 2023.

Sep 19, 2023 – Season 14 Episode 57

The Edge of Our Understanding with Brian Greene

Are humans smart enough to uncover the secrets of the universe? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian Chuck Nice explore the singularity, string theory, free will and more with theoretical physicist Brian Greene.

This image is a computer generated simulation that represents the gradient magnitude of cosmic strings induced anisotropies in the Cosmic Microwave Background.

Sep 12, 2023 – Season 14 Episode 55

Cosmic Queries – Flapjack Galaxy Grab Bag

Would aliens think we are smart? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian Chuck Nice answer grab bag questions on Chandrayaan-3, entangled particles in black holes, the shape of the galaxy, and more.

This magnificent 360-degree panoramic image, covering the entire southern and northern celestial sphere, reveals the cosmic landscape that surrounds our tiny blue planet. This gorgeous starscape serves as the first of three extremely high-resolution images featured in the GigaGalaxy Zoom project, launched by the European Southern Observatory within the framework of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009).

Sep 5, 2023 – Season 14 Episode 54

Oppenheimer: Birth of the Atomic Age with Kai Bird

If someone else led the Manhattan Project, would it have gone differently? Neil deGrasse Tyson discusses theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan’s film, and the creation of the atomic bomb with biographer Kai Bird.

The CLIMAX Event was a 61-kiloton device detonated on 4 June 1953, at the Nevada Proving Ground (NPG).

Aug 29, 2023 – Season 14 Episode 52

Physics & Philosophy with Sean Carroll

Why is the past different from the future? Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice explore the universe’s deepest questions like why is there anything, what is the present, if there could be a unified theory of physics with theoretical physicist Sean Carroll.

This new infrared view of the star formation region Messier 8, often called the Lagoon Nebula, was captured by the VISTA telescope at ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile. This colour picture was created from images taken through J, H and Ks near-infrared filters, and which were acquired as part of a huge survey of the central parts of the Milky Way. The field of view is about 34 by 15 arcminutes.

Aug 22, 2023 – Season 14 Episode 51

Cosmic Queries – Wormhole Universe

Does an evaporated black hole leave a trace? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian co-host Chuck Nice answer questions about the fabric of spacetime, black holes, cosmic evolution and more.

This image of Centaurus A shows a spectacular new view of a supermassive black hole's power. Jets and lobes powered by the central black hole in this nearby galaxy are shown by submillimeter data (colored orange) from the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) telescope in Chile and X-ray data (colored blue) from the Chandra X-ray Observatory.

Aug 15, 2023 – Season 14 Episode 49

Cosmic Queries – Cosmological Curiosities

What is nothing? Does nothing exist? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian Chuck Nice explore cosmological curiosities about the end of the universe, dark matter, and more!

This false-color mosaic of the central region of the Coma cluster combines infrared and visible-light images to reveal thousands of faint objects (green). Follow-up observations showed that many of these objects, which appear here as faint green smudges, are dwarf galaxies belonging to the cluster. Two large elliptical galaxies, NGC 4889 and NGC 4874, dominate the cluster's center. The mosaic combines visible-light data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (color coded blue) with long- and short-wavelength infrared views (red and green, respectively) from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescop

Aug 8, 2023 – Season 14 Episode 48

Are They Here? with NASA UAP Chair, David Spergel

Are the UAP sightings aliens here on Earth? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian co-host Paul Mecurio discuss the congressional hearings on unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) with astrophysicist and chair of NASA’s UAP independent study team, David Spergel.

Aug 1, 2023 – Season 14 Episode 46

Things You Thought You Knew – What is Energy?

How is energy different from matter? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian Chuck Nice break down what energy is and where it comes from, ancient theories about sight, and how wheels keep us moving. Explore physics, thermodynamics, and more!

Jul 25, 2023 – Season 14 Episode 45

Things You Thought You Knew – Where the Sun Don’t Shine

Does being in space mean there is no gravity? What does noon have to do with the Artemis Mission? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian Chuck Nice break down weightlessness, planetary alignments, and what is going on on the south pole of the moon.