July 25, 2012 4:47 pm

Neil deGrasse Tyson exposes John Hodgman, “PC” in the “Mac vs. PC” ads.

Have you ever seen the “Mac vs PC” commercials? Then you know John Hodgman, who plays PC. But he has a dirty little secret, and Neil deGrasse Tyson gets him to spill the beans in this episode, “A Conversation with John Hodgman.”

You see, Neil has been a “Mac guy” since 1985, and he couldn’t resist going after John. But it turns out John has been an avid Apple enthusiast since the very first 128k Mac in 1984, longer even than Neil. In fact, in spite of being a Mac user for years, John was literally forced to use a PC at his job as a literary agent, and many of the PC nightmares he portrayed in the commercials came from his own personal experience.

Listening to Neil and John Hodgman geek out over their Macs, each trying to one-up the other in how long they’ve been fans, depressed me because I didn’t get my first Mac until the Mac Plus in 1986. Before listening to them, I had been so proud. Hubris, clearly.

But my depression didn’t last long because the rest of the show was so funny. There’s a lot more to John Hodgman than those commercials, and his interview, interspersed with a conversation with Neil’s friend and guest co-host astrophysicist Charles Lui, is a blast.

Hodgman — who you may also know as The Daily Show’s “Resident Expert” — offers a unique interpretation on the cultural divide between “Geeks and Jocks.” Neil and Charles muse about the shifting social importance of the two groups, who was the geekiest president, and whether President Obama is a geek or not. Needless to say, John Hodgman, who has met the president, has his own take on the subject, from President Obama’s “Spock-like-calm to his prosthetic ears.”

If you’re a John Hodgman fan like I am, make sure you also catch him on these other StarTalk Radio episodes:

Live at the Bell House – The Astronaut Session Part 1

Live at the Bell House – The Astronaut Session, Part 2

Take a listen and then let us know what you think in the comments below.

That’s it for now.

Keep Looking Up!