January 3, 2015 4:23 pm

It’s all about the questions in Sunday’s Season 5 Time Capsule (Part 2)

Photo Credits (Clockwise from top left): NASA/JPL-Caltech; Smithsonian Institution; Doug Zubenel (TWAN) (courtesy of NASA APOD); Luc Viatour/www.Lucnix.be; CERN; Wikimedia Commons - aussiegall from Sydney, Australia.

Photo Credits (Clockwise from top left): NASA/JPL-Caltech; Smithsonian Institution; Doug Zubenel (TWAN) (courtesy of NASA APOD); Luc Viatour/www.Lucnix.be; CERN; Wikimedia Commons – aussiegall from Sydney, Australia.

We’re always telling you that we couldn’t do this show without you, but when it comes to the Cosmic Queries episodes that have made it into our Season 5 Time Capsule (Part 2), that’s doubly true.

Just in case you’re not familiar with our Cosmic Queries episodes, they are episodes where we ask our audience to submit questions in advance. We gather hundreds of questions that you submit to us on our website, by phone, Facebook, Twitter, Google +, and sometimes, Tumblr. Then our producers cull through the multitudes to find the most interesting questions. They could be funny, clever, deeply insightful, or lead to illuminating answers. Then, we give this short list to our comic co-hosts (Eugene Mirman, Chuck Nice, Leighann Lord and Colin Jost), who pick the questions they like best to ask that episode’s host.

Before this season, the questions would have been answered by your own personal astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson, or, when the subjects are ones in which Neil isn’t an expert, a guest like paleoanthropologist Dr. Ian Tattersall. But this season, because Neil was busy filming COSMOS: A Spacetime Odyssey, there were a few episodes where we actually had guest hosts on hand to fill in for him. And episodes featuring two of those guest hosts, Bill Nye the Science Guy and Dr. Amy Mainzer from NASA/JPL, made it into your list of your favorite Cosmic Queries episodes of Season 5.

Which brings us to the other reason why we couldn’t do this Time Capsule without you: you picked which episodes made it by voting for them in our Fan Favorites poll.

Why am I explaining all of this?

Because if you’re already a fan, this week’s episode will be like homecoming, catching up with some of your favorite moments and questions from our most popular season to date. But if you’re new to StarTalk Radio, then this is a great way for you to see what all the fuss is about. And to discover that when we say that this show wouldn’t succeed without the input and support of our audience, we really mean it.

So welcome to the party, and enjoy some of the most enjoyable Cosmic Queries from Season 5, which ends this Sunday night. (Season 6 starts next week.)

The Season 5 Time Capsule (Part 2) will be available Sunday, January 5th at 7:00 PM ET on our website, iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn and SoundCloud.

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

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