Ep. 69: Neil deGrasse Tyson on Cosmic Perspectives, Aliens, AI and Thinking Scientifically

My guest is the renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. He is the fifth head since 1935 of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City and the first occupant of its Frederick P. Rose Directorship. He is a research associate of the Department of Astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History. He is also the author of fifteen books—many of them international bestsellers—including the #1 best seller Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, and His most recent is Starry Messenger Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization.

Niel is also the host of the Emmy-nominated podcast StarTalk, as well as two seasons of Cosmos, televised by Fox and National Geographic. He has received 21 honorary doctorates as well as NASA's Distinguished Public Service Medal. The man has an asteroid named after him, for heck's sake.

On the show, we discuss the book Starry Messenger and his scientific perspectives on a variety of topics, including:

• Ballroom dancing (you read that right)
• The book’s purpose and defining a cosmic perspective
• The overview effect
• The history and Impact of space exploration
• Revisiting the moon landing
• The Allegory of the Cave
• His view of Mars missions and the commercialization of space 
• Space as supply chain, the solar system as backyard
• His personal vision for the future 
• How to think scientifically 
• His one conspiracy theory
• On scientific consensus and what to do in its absence  
• The social importance of probability 
• On God and faith 
• UFOs, aliens, and the Fermi Paradox 
• Artificial Intelligence and the new generative AI’s 
• What’s it like to go to the movie theater with Neil 
• His favorite time-travel movie  

For show notes and more, visit larryweeks.com