December 31, 2017 5:42 pm

Our Fans Have Spoken: Results of StarTalk’s 2017 Fan Favorites Poll

It’s just about time to put a pin in 2017, and that means it’s time to publish the results of this year’s Fan Favorites Poll.

First of all, we want to thank you once again for your responses. This year, for the first time, we awarded one lucky respondent, chosen at random, with a present to say thanks: Zach S. will be receiving one-of-a-kind signed copy of “Goodnight Moon” signed by Neil deGrasse Tyson, LeVar Burton, and Rosario Dawson, along with the “teddy bunny” Neil is holding in our video.

We’ve printed the full results of the survey below, in order of the number of votes they received, with the exception of favorite guests, where we just show the top 25 because there were so many guests between our three shows.

Your favorite StarTalk episode this year was Let’s Make America Smart Again, with Fareed Zakaria, and your favorite Cosmic Queries episode was Cosmic Queries: Spacetime. Your favorite StarTalk All-Stars episode was Science Fiction on TV, with Bill Nye. And your favorite Playing with Science episode was Martial Arts – Fight Like a Physicist. Your favorite guest this year was actually a hologram: Stephen Hawking, who made a guest appearance at StarTalk Live! from Future Con: Engineering the Future. For the third year in a row, you voted Chuck Nice as your favorite co-host. And once again this year, your top 3 favorite All-Stars host were Bill Nye, followed by Mike Massimino and Charles Liu, although Charles was tied for third with Chris Hadfield (also from StarTalk Live! from Future Con: Engineering the Future).

As for the rest of the results, well, we’ll let you check them out for yourself.

FAVORITE REGULAR STARTALK RADIO EPISODES

1. Let’s Make America Smart Again, with Fareed Zakaria
2. Extended Classic – The Future of Humanity, with Elon Musk
3. The Power of Science Fiction, with William Shatner
4. Let’s Make America Smart Again – The Future of NASA (Tie for 4th Place)
5. The Science of Fitness, with Terry Crews (Tie for 4th Place)
6. Science and the Search for the Truth, with Bill Nye
7. Human Augmentation with Adam Savage and Neil deGrasse Tyson
8. Science Literacy in the Misinformation Age – #LMASA
9. StarTalk Live! at the Beacon: Searching for Life in the Universe (Part One)
10. The Power of Political Satire, with Bill Maher
11. The Science Behind “Game of Thrones”
12. The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, with Jill Tarter
13. Understanding GMOs and the Future of Food
14. StarTalk Live! from the Count Basie Theatre: Let’s Make America Smart Again (Part 1)
15. StarTalk Live! at the Beacon: Searching for Life in the Universe (Part Two)
16. The Science of Climate and Weather, with Kathy Sullivan
17. A Conversation with Andy Weir – Special Bonus Episode
18. Extended Classic: UFO Remix
19. StarTalk Live! from the Count Basie Theatre: Let’s Make America Smart Again (Part 2)
20. Comedy and Cars with Jay Leno
21. Geekin’ Out on Hip-Hop, with Logic
22. Cosmic Jazz, with Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock
23. The Rise of Self-Driving Cars
24. Science and Technology in the Military, with Ash Carter
25. The Science of Sports, with Hope Solo
26. StarTalk Live! Citizen Science from San Francisco (Pt 1)
27. StarTalk Live! from Future Con: Engineering the Future (Part 1)
28. Extended Classic: Space Chronicles (Part 1)
29. StarTalk Live! from Future Con: Engineering the Future (Part 2)
30. StarTalk Live! Citizen Science from San Francisco (Pt 2)

FAVORITE STARTALK RADIO COSMIC QUERIES EPISODES

1. Cosmic Queries: Spacetime
2. Cosmic Queries about Cosmic Phenomena
3. Cosmic Queries: TV Sci-Fi, with Bill Nye
4. Cosmic Queries: Time and Higher Dimensions
5. Cosmic Queries: Galactic Gumbo
6. Cosmic Queries: Defending our Planet, with Bill Nye
7. Extended Classic: Cosmic Queries – Dark Mysteries of the Universe
8. Cosmic Queries: The Great American Eclipse
9. Cosmic Queries: Primatology
10. Cosmic Queries: Climate Change
11. Cosmic Queries:  Astrophysics Mashup
12. Cosmic Queries: Mysterious Cosmology, with Sean Carroll
13. Cosmic Queries: Galactic Gumbo Edition
14. Extended Classic: Cosmic Queries – The Science of Love
15. Cosmic Queries: A Taste of Space, with Matt O’Dowd
16. Cosmic Queries: Office Hours
17. Cosmic Queries: Potpourri Vol. 2
18. Extended Classic: Cosmic Queries A Stellar Sampling

FAVORITE STARTALK ALL-STARS EPISODES SEASON 2

1. Science Fiction on TV, with Bill Nye
2. Science Literacy and Alternative Facts, with Bill Nye
3. Extended Classic – Putting Humans on Mars, with Mike Massimino
4. Combating Climate Change, with Bill Nye
5. Celebrating Voyager 1, with Carolyn Porco
6. Get Real About Climate Change, with Seth Shostak
7. Know Your Neanderthals, with Natalia Reagan
8. “What Is Consciousness?” with Heather Berlin
9. “What Makes Us Human?” with Natalia Reagan
10. Planetary Defense, with Bill Nye
11. Cosmic Queries: Artificial Intelligence and the Brain, with Heather Berlin
12. Earth in Human Hands, with David Grinspoon
13. StarTalk All-Stars Live! at Awesome Con: To Mars and Beyond (Part One)
14. StarTalk All-Stars: Bill Nye Live
15. The Future of Human Spaceflight, with Mike Massimino
16. Exploring TRAPPIST-1, with Emily Rice
17. Inside the National Academy of Sciences, with Carolyn Porco
18. Are You Smarter Than an Eighth Grader? with Dr. FunkySpoon
19. Inside NASA Mission Control, with Astro Mike Massimino (Repeat)
20. Traveling Through Time and Space, with Janna Levin
21. Reconsidering the Origins of Homo sapiens, with Natalia Reagan
22. StarTalk All-Stars Live! at Awesome Con: To Mars and Beyond (Part Two)
23. Hunting for Black Holes, with Janna Levin (Repeat)
24. Party with the StarTalk All-Stars
25. Death by Climate Change, with Natalia Reagan
26. Deciphering Gravitational Waves, with Janna Levin (Repeat)
27. The Fossils in Your Mouth, with Natalia Reagan
28. Extended Classic: UFOs and Possible Aliens, with Seth Shostak
29. Extended Classic: Cosmic Queries – Expanding Our Perspectives, with Bill Nye
30. Citizen Science, with Emily Rice
31. Extended Classic: Science and Art, with Carolyn Porco
32. “Is Pluto the New Mars?” with Dr. FunkySpoon
33. Enceladus Up Close, with Carolyn Porco (Repeat)
34. StarTalk All-Stars at Star Trek Mission NY – The Science of Star Trek (Repeat)
35. Exploring Exoplanets, with Seth Shostak (Repeat)
36. Now Hear This: Theoretical Physics, with Janna Levin
37. Looking for Life in the Cosmos: StarTalk All-Stars at Worlds Fair Nano
38. StarTalk Live! from SF Sketchfest 2017 (Part 2)
39. Searching for Space Water, with Natalie Starkey (Repeat)
40. StarTalk All-Stars at NY Comic Con: The Science of Science Fiction (Repeat)
41. Comparative Planetology, with Ellen Stofan
42. StarTalk Live! from SF Sketchfest 2017 (Part 1)
43. Eclipses, Cosmic Cataclysms, & More w/ Janna Levin
44. Calling ET, with Dr. FunkySpoon (Repeat)
45. StarTalk All-Stars at Worlds Fair Nano: The Future of Biotechnology
46. Bio-Anthro Mashup, with Natalia Reagan
47. Science Gets Fabulous, with Summer Ash and Emily Rice (Repeat)
48. Extended Classic: Earth In Human Hands, with David Grinspoon

FAVORITE PLAYING WITH SCIENCE EPISODES (SEASONS 1 & 2)

1. Martial Arts – Fight Like a Physicist
2. Out of This World Sports, with Neil deGrasse Tyson
3. The Physics of the Tour de France (Tie for 3rd Place)
4. Space Jam: Basketball Cosmic Queries, with Neil deGrasse Tyson (Tie for 3rd Place)
5. Surf’s Up – The Big Waves
6. Gymnastics: Leap, Bounce, and Balance
7. Hockey: Physics on Ice (Part 1)
8. Planet NASCAR, with Neil deGrasse Tyson
9. Cosmic Queries – The Physics of Soccer
10. The Art of the Hail Mary
11. Planet Soccer: Science and Technology
12. Hockey: Physics on Ice (Part 2)
13. Physics on Wheels, with Dr. Skatebaord and Othello Clark
14. Snowboarding: Shreddin’ the Gnar
15. How Technology Is Changing Football
16. Baseball – Home Run Physics
17. Game Changer – Kareem Abdul-Jabar’s Skyhook
18. The Science of “The Catch”
19. Soccer: The Art of Goalkeeping, with Hope Solo
20. StarTalk Playing with Science – The Big Game
21. Pitching Physics with Ron Darling
22. World Series Slugfest, with Neil deGrasse Tyson
23. Basketball – Inside the 3-Point Shot
24. The Murky World of Doping in Sports
25. NFL Fitness and Nutrition
26. The Immaculate Reception
27. Baseball: The Perfect Game
28. Hockey: Fan Questions and More
29. Extended Classic: The Physics of the Tour de France
30. Baseball TweetTalk, with Neil deGrasse Tyson
31. Extended Classic: The Art of the Hail Mary
32. Golf Science, with Geoff Ogilvy and Neil deGrasse Tyson
33. Baseball Brain Training
34. Biomechanics of the Perfect Golf Swing
35. Slam Dunk Science (Part 1)
36. March Madness!
37. Cosmic Queries: Tennis Special Edition
38. Football: Crushing the Combine
39. World Series Throwback Special
40. Tennis: Inside the Royal Game
41. Slam Dunk Science (Part 2)

 

FAVORITE ALL STARS HOSTS

1. Bill Nye
2. Dr. Mike Massimino
3. Chris Hadfield (Tie for 3rd Place)
4. Dr. Charles Liu (Tie for 3rd Place)
5. Dr. Carolyn Porco
6. Natalia Reagan
7. Dr. David Grinspoon
8. Dr. Emily L. Rice
9. Dr. Janna Levin
10. Dr. Natalie Starkey
11. Dr. Heather Berlin
12. Summer Ash
13. Dr. Seth Shostak

 

FAVORITE CO-HOSTS

1. Chuck Nice
2. Eugene Mirman
3. Maeve Higgins
4. Michael Ian Black
5. Leighann Lord
6. Iliza Shlesinger
7. Godfrey
8. Sarah Siskind
9. Tim Alexander
10. Scott Adsit
11. Harrison Greenbaum
12. Matt Kirshen
13. Patrick Melton
14. Eddie Brill
15. Ray Ellin

FAVORITE GUESTS

Please note: Between all three shows on the StarTalk Podcast Network, we’ve had over 150 guests. We’re only showing the top 25 vote-getters below. Also note that because many of our guests have appeared on more than one show, we’re not breaking the guests out by which of our podcasts they appeared on.

1. Stephen Hawking
2. Bill Nye
3. Elon Musk
4. Terry Crews
5. Adam Savage
6. Mike Massimino
7. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
8. Senator Cory Booker
9. Bill Maher
10. Chuck Nice
11. William Shatner
12. Charles Liu
13. Andy Weir
14. Carolyn Porco
15. Michael Ian Black
16. Fareed Zakaria
17. David Grinspoon
18. Lance Armstrong
19. Sean M. Carroll
20. Jay Leno
21. Logic
22. Summer Ash
23. Sean Ono Lennon
24. Herbie Hancock
25. Natalia Reagan

Finally, we want to wish you a Happy New Year. Look for our Time Capsule episodes over the next few weeks, and thank you again for making 2017 a great year for everybody here at StarTalk.

That’s it for now. Keep Looking Up!
–Jeffrey Simons