September 28, 2018 11:00 am

Tonight, Uncover The Truthiness with Neil deGrasse Tyson, Stephen Colbert, Adam Conover, Sophia McClennen, Bill Nye, & Rev. James Martin, SJ.

Way back in 2009, on our 8th episode of Season 1 of the StarTalk Radio podcast, Neil deGrasse Tyson turned the tables on Stephen Colbert of “The Colbert Report” and interviewed him for a change. Over the years, Neil has been a frequent quest of Stephen’s, and finally, tonight, we’ve got Stephen back on StarTalk.

On this episode, we’re going to try and feel the science at you. However, as Stephen says, “You cannot feel science at people, but science can make you feel.” Neil and Stephen explore Stephen’s obsession with science and discuss his approach to deconstructing the world we live in today. In-studio, Neil is joined by comic co-host Adam Conover, host of Adam Ruins Everything, and Sophia McClennen, PhD, author of Colbert’s America: Satire and Democracy to discuss Colbert’s methods of using satire to explain truth.

Sophia and Adam review the important role played by Colbert’s 2006 White House Correspondent’s Dinner in making him so influential so quickly. We also discuss his amazing relationship with social media which, among many things, sparked NASA to name a treadmill after him. We breakdown what “truthiness” means and how it relates to the confirmation biases we have today.

Adam leads us in a game of “True, Truthy, or False.” We explore why satire can teach us more about news than news itself. Stephen explains how his comedic journey began. We also hear from Bill Nye the Science Guy as he celebrates Stephen’s love of science and knowledge.

You’ll learn about Stephen’s religious upbringing and his continued faith. Rev. James Martin, SJ stops by to explain why there really is no conflict between faith and reason. Rev. Martin also helps us understand the link between humor and spirituality. Plus, our crew shares their thoughts on the importance of knowledge and learning.

Lastly, as this episode alludes to, don’t be afraid to uncover the truthiness, but make sure to leave room for science to understand the world around you. As Adam says, “If you don’t know the world, you can’t take appropriate action in the world.”

Please join us tomorrow night for The Truthiness, with Stephen Colbert at 7pm ET right here on our website, as well as on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and TuneIn. If you’re an All-Access subscriber, you can listen to this episode ad-free at 7pm, too.

That’s it for now. Keep Looking Up!
–Ian Mullen