December 28, 2016 8:00 pm

Our Fans Have Spoken: Results of StarTalk’s 2016 Fan Favorites Poll

The ballots have been tallied. The voice of the people has been heard. And we feel relatively safe in saying that we are unaware of any Russian attempts to influence our 2016 Fan Favorite Poll.

One thing has emerged – you guys really like Bill Nye and Mike Massimino, especially when it comes to our newest show, StarTalk All-Stars. Not that we needed a poll to tell us that.

We expanded the voting this year, allowing you to vote for 5 of your favorite episodes and favorite guests. Bill Nye was both your favorite All-Stars host and favorite guest, and Mike Massimino made top 3 in both categories. And Chuck Nice retained the crown for the second year as your favorite co-host.

But enough punditry. You can read the results for yourselves! And if you haven’t listened to any of our Top 5 Fan Favorite shows, click on the bold title to be taken to that episode’s page on our website.

Thanks to all of you who participated in our survey. And if you are unhappy with the results and didn’t vote, you have nobody to blame but yourself. Many of these races hung on the difference of a single vote, and you could have made the difference. (It’s not like you’ve got to get dressed and get out of the house to vote, either.)

Mark Watney, played by Matt Damon, surviving on Mars. ™ and © 2016 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.

Favorite Episodes – StarTalk Radio Season 7 (Choice of 5)

REGULAR EPISODES

  1. Surviving on Mars, with Andy Weir
  2. The Lunar Legacy, with Buzz Aldrin
  3. The Beauty of Mathematics, with Jeremy Irons
  4. The Physics and Fantasy of Time Travel
  5. “Is Our Universe a Simulation?” with Brian Greene (tied, 5th place)
  6. Unveiling Pluto, with Alan Stern and Neil Tyson (tied, 5th place)
  7. Tuning in to Science on TV, with Mayim Bialik
  8. Climate Change and the Future, with Al Gore
  9. Geeking Out With Whoopi Goldberg
  10. Gazing into the Future with Ray Kurzweil
  11. Protecting Earth from Asteroids
  12. StarTalk Live! LIGO and the Black Hole Blues (Part 1)
  13. The “Science” of Zombies and the Walking Dead, with Robert Kirkman
  14. Bringing Science to Life, with Ben Stiller
  15. StarTalk Live! Ligo and the Black Hole Blues Part 2
  16. StarTalk Live! at Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin with Bill Nye
  17. StarTalk Live! at the Beacon (Part 1): Chasing Comets
  18. A Conversation with Ray Kurzweil
  19. StarTalk Live! at the Beacon (Part 2): King of the Kuiper Belt
  20. StarTalk Live! from SF Sketchfest 2016 (Part 1)
  21. The Science of High-Wire Stunts with Philippe Petit
  22. Racing Extinction with Leilani Münter
  23. StarTalk Live! from SF Sketchfest 2016 (Part 2)
  24. A Conversation with Queen Latifah
  25. Extended Classic: StarTalk Live! Satisfying Our Curiosity about Mars (Part 1)
  26. Extended Classic: Zombie Apocalypse (Part 1)
  27. Extended Classic: The Salt of the Earth (Part 1)
  28. The Promise and Peril of the Genomic Revolution
  29. Unravelling Reddit with Alexis Ohanian

 

COSMIC QUERIES

  1. Cosmic Queries: The Multiverse
  2. Cosmic Queries – New Mysteries of the Universe
  3. Cosmic Queries: The Space Race
  4. Extended Classic: Cosmic Queries: Venus with Dr. FunkySpoon
  5. Extended Classic: Cosmic Queries: Human Impact on Earth with Dr. FunkySpoon
  6. Cosmic Queries: The Science of Humans at War
  7. Extended Classic: Cosmic Queries: General Astrophysics 101
  8. Cosmic Queries: A Stellar Smorgasbord (tie)
  9. Cosmic Queries: Galactic Grab Bag (tie)
  10. Cosmic Queries – Science and Morality
  11. Cosmic Queries: The Random Edition
  12. Extended Classic: Cosmic Queries: Space Probes with Dr. Amy Mainzer
  13. Extended Classic: Cosmic Queries: Superheroes

 

Favorite Episodes – StarTalk All-Stars Season 1 (Choice of 5)

  1. Understanding Climate Change with Bill Nye
  2. Putting Humans on Mars with Mike Massimino
  3. Magic, Illusion, and Skepticism, with Bill Nye
  4. Inside NASA Mission Control, with Astro Mike Massimino
  5. Listening to Aliens, with Carolyn Porco
  6. Women in Science, with Summer Ash and Emily Rice
  7. Visualizing Our Universe, with Dr. FunkySpoon
  8. Enceladus Up Close, with Carolyn Porco
  9. Searching for Space Water, with Natalie Starkey
  10. Deciphering Gravitational Waves, with Janna Levin
  11. Calling ET, with Dr. FunkySpoon
  12. Exploring Exoplanets, with Seth Shostak
  13. StarTalk All-Stars Live! – The Science of Star Trek
  14. Hunting for Black Holes, with Janna Levin
  15. StarTalk All-Stars Live! – The Science of Science Fiction
  16. Rosetta and Comet 67P, with Natalie Starkey
  17. Cosmic Queries – Expanding Our Perspectives, with Bill Nye
  18. UFOs and Possible Aliens, with Seth Shostak
  19. Confronting Zika and other Viruses, with Bill Nye and Laurie Garrett
  20. Science Gets Fabulous, with Summer Ash and Emily Rice
  21. Science and Art, with Carolyn Porco

 

Favorite All-Stars Hosts (Choice of 3)

  1. Bill Nye
  2. Dr. Mike Massimino
  3. Dr. Charles Liu
  4. Dr. David Grinspoon
  5. Dr. Carolyn Porco
  6. Dr. Natalie Starkey
  7. Summer Ash
  8. Dr. Emily L. Rice
  9. Dr. Janna Levin
  10. Dr. Seth Shostak

 

Favorite Co-Hosts (Choice of 3)

  1. Chuck Nice
  2. Eugene Mirman
  3. Maeve Higgins
  4. Chris Hardwick
  5. Leighann Lord
  6. Iliza Shlesinger
  7. Colin Jost
  8. Ray Ellin
  9. Matt Kirshen

 

Favorite Guests (Choice of 5)

  1. Bill Nye
  2. Buzz Aldrin
  3. Mike Massimino
  4. Andy Weir (tied, 4th place)
  5. Mayim Bialik (tied, 4th place)
  6. Whoopi Goldberg (tied, 5th place)
  7. Chuck Nice (tied, 5th place)
  8. Michio Kaku
  9. David Grinspoon
  10. PJ Manney
  11. Al Gore
  12. Brian Green
  13. Charles Liu
  14. Sarah Silverman
  15. Maeve Higgins
  16. Ben Stiller
  17. Jeremy Irons
  18. Jim Gaffigan
  19. Summer Ash
  20. Ray Kurzweil
  21. Christopher Lloyd
  22. Sean Ono Lennon
  23. Janna Levin
  24. Natalie Starkey
  25. Robert Kirkman
  26. David Brin
  27. Max Brooks
  28. Queen Latifah
  29. Ken Ono
  30. Mary Roach
  31. Lindy Elkins-Tanton, Ph.D
  32. Andrew Revkin
  33. Steven Soter
  34. David Chalmers
  35. Philippe Petit
  36. Carter Emmart
  37. Matt Taylor
  38. Alan Stern
  39. Scott Adsit
  40. Dr. Jim Green
  41. Matt Brown
  42. Michael Showalter
  43. Mona Chalabi
  44. Michael Shermer
  45. Rusty Schweickart
  46. Steven Schlozman
  47. Ben Radford
  48. Michelle Gomez
  49. Shep Doeleman
  50. Marcia DeLonge
  51. Leilani Munter
  52. Rainer Weiss
  53. Anne Wojcicki
  54. Jeff Jarvis
  55. Paul J. Steinhardt
  56. Laurie Garrett
  57. Adam Steltzner
  58. John Charles
  59. Ilana Glazer
  60. Alexis Ohanian
  61. Taryn O’Neill
  62. Nergis Mavalvala
  63. Dr. Staci Gruber
  64. Jason T. Wright
  65. Scott Weems
  66. Don Anair
  67. Dan Werthimer
  68. Peter Whiteley
  69. Ian Lipkin
  70. Andrew Fazekas
  71. Gavin A. Schmidt
  72. Mark Kurlansky
  73. Royce Renfrew
  74. Roberta Ness
  75. Emily Nelson
  76. Chris McKay
  77. Sonja Harpstead
  78. Art Markman
  79. Gary Marcus
  80. Jeffrey Mantz
  81. Robert Klitzman
  82. Sheyna Gifford

We’ll let you know when the 2016 Time Capsule episodes are ready, here on the blog and on all of our social media channels.

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

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