July 12, 2018 8:00 pm

Enter the Geekiverse with Neil deGrasse Tyson, Kevin Smith, Chuck Nice, Charles Liu, and James Kakalios

On this week’s episode of StarTalk Radio, Neil deGrasse Tyson and company enter the geekiverse. We’re featuring Neil’s interview with Kevin Smith, filmmaker, one of the Comic Book Men, and all-around superfan. Some of Kevin’s films include cult classics like Clerks, Chasing Amy, Dogma, and Mallrats. Kevin’s also a superfan of, well, a lot of things. If you’ve never watched one of his trailer reaction videos, it’s worth a quick search. Neil is joined in studio by comic co-host Chuck Nice and astrophysicist and resident “geek-in-chief” Charles Liu to explore more about the science of the geekiverse.

You’ll hear how Kevin’s exposure of science only came through science fiction and pop culture. One thing that’s great about Kevin is that he’s always being his genuine self, and that comes through in this interview. He is open about his lack of scientific curiosity until we help him realize he has some, and hearing that kind of honesty is exciting. I also enjoyed hearing Kevin talk about spreading positivity, which is something we always need more of in the world.

Charles also gives insight on how real science crosses over into the comic realm. Find out more about Neil’s participation in the Superman comics and how he brought real science along with him in the hunt for the actual location of Krypton. After that, we answer some fan-submitted Cosmic Queries on Captain America’s shield, and Ant Man and black holes.

We also talk about the rise of comic book culture in the zeitgeist and how it’s influenced our social structure and interactions. Then, James Kakalios, physicist and author of The Physics of Superheroes: More Heroes! More Villains! More Science! Spectacular Second Edition and The Physics of Everyday Things: The Extraordinary Science Behind an Ordinary Day, joins the panel to help dive even further into the science of superheroes. You’ll hear about the science behind Thor’s hammer and Wonder Woman’s bulletproof wristbands.

Lastly, we take a look at Comic Con – the geek mecca – and how gatherings like Comic Con positively impact their host city. Be on the look out for StarTalk at the New York Comic Con, we’re sure to have a stellar show. Last year at NYCC, we recorded one of our best live shows ever, Human Augmentation, with Adam Savage and Neil deGrasse Tyson, so you won’t want to miss our next one. We’ll be on the main stage Thursday night – stay tuned for more details.

Please join us tomorrow night for The Geekiverse, with Kevin Smith at 7pm ET right here on our website, as well as on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and TuneIn. If you’re an All-Access subscriber, you can watch or listen to this episode ad-free at 7pm, too.

That’s it for now. Keep Looking Up!
–Ian Mullen