Extended Classic: Holiday Lights

About This Episode

Now extended with 12 extra minutes of Neil, Bill Nye and Steven Soter talking about asteroids in the “Cosmic Crib!”

You’re invited to Neil deGrasse Tyson’s holiday house party celebrating the cosmic significance of the season, with not one co-host but two: Leighann Lord and Chuck Nice. In this classic episode of StarTalk Radio, Neil talks about the winter night sky, especially the constellation Orion and the stars Betelgeuse, Rigel and Sirius. Brother Guy Consolmagno, an astronomer at the Vatican Observatory (who has since been appointed the Observatory’s Director), calls in to discuss St. Nicholas and share his favorite theory about the Star of Bethlehem. Neil’s friend Seth MacFarlane calls in to discuss Stewie, Carl Sagan and the importance of scientific literacy. You’ll learn about Sear’s holiday retailing mistake that led to NORAD’s tracking of Santa’s sleigh, and hear Neil use physics to explain why Santa can’t possibly visit every chimney on Christmas Eve without doing serious damage to everyone’s favorite reindeer, Rudoph.

NOTE: All-Access subscribers can listen to this entire episode commercial-free here: Extended Classic: Holiday Lights.