''StarTalk'' is a

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...

on science, comedy, and popular culture hosted by astrophysicist

Neil deGrasse Tyson Neil deGrasse Tyson ( or ; born October 5, 1958) is an American astrophysicist, author, and science communicator. Tyson studied at Harvard University, the University of Texas at Austin, and Columbia University. From 1991 to 1994, he was a p ...

, with various comic and celebrity co-hosts and frequent guests from the worlds of science and entertainment. Past co-hosts have included

Colin Jost Colin Kelly Jost (; born June 29, 1982) is an American comedian, actor, and writer. He has been a writer for ''Saturday Night Live'' (SNL) since 2005 and '' Weekend Update'' co-anchor since 2014. He also served as one of the show's co-head writ ...

Lynne Koplitz Lynne Koplitz is an American stand-up comedian and actress. Koplitz was host of Telepictures' nationally syndicated dating show '' Change of Heart'', guest host on NBC's '' Later'', co-host of the Food Network's '' How to Boil Water'', and co-ho ...

Leighann Lord Leighann Lord is an American comedian, writer, and actress. She performs stand-up comedy, has appeared on ''Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn'', and is a former co-host (with Neil deGrasse Tyson) of the Star Talk Radio podcast. As of April 2020, Lor ...

Eugene Mirman Eugene Boris MirmanJackson, Todd (2009). Eugene Mirman. Retrieved on May 13, 2009 from . (born July 24, 1974) is a Russian-American actor, comedian, and writer, known for playing Yvgeny Mirminsky on ''Delocated'' and Gene Belcher on the animated ...

, Chuck Nice, John Oliver, and

Kristen Schaal Kristen Joy Schaal (; born January 24, 1978) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. She is best known for her voice roles as Louise Belcher on ''Bob's Burgers'' and Mabel Pines on ''Gravity Falls''. She's also known for playing Mel on '' ...

. Guests have included astronaut

Buzz Aldrin Buzz Aldrin (; born Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr.; January 20, 1930) is an American former astronaut, engineer and fighter pilot. He made three spacewalks as pilot of the 1966 Gemini 12 mission. As the Lunar Module ''Eagle'' pilot on the 1969 A ...

, actor

Morgan Freeman Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, director, and narrator. He is known for his distinctive deep voice and various roles in a wide variety of film genres. Throughout his career spanning over five decades, he has received ...

George Takei George Takei (; ja, ジョージ・タケイ; born Hosato Takei (武井穂郷), April 20, 1937) is an American actor, author and activist known for his role as Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the fictional starship USS ''Enterprise'' in the televi ...

, comedian

Joan Rivers Joan Alexandra Molinsky (June 8, 1933 – September 4, 2014), known professionally as Joan Rivers, was an American comedian, actress, producer, writer and television host. She was noted for her blunt, often controversial comedic persona—heavi ...

Arianna Huffington Arianna Stassinopoulos Huffington (née Ariadnē-Anna Stasinopoúlou, el, Αριάδνη-Άννα Στασινοπούλου ; born July 15, 1950) is a Greek-American author, syndicated columnist and businesswoman. She is a co-founder of '' Th ...

, YouTuber

Sam Denby Sam Denby (born March 17, 1998) is an American YouTuber, best known for creating the edutainment YouTube channels Wendover Productions, Half as Interesting, Extremities, and Jet Lag: The Game. Across all of Denby's channels, he has accumulated ...

Richard Dawkins Richard Dawkins (born 26 March 1941) is a British evolutionary biologist and author. He is an emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford and was Professor for Public Understanding of Science in the University of Oxford from 1995 to 2008. An ...

and writer

Mary Roach Mary Roach (born March 20, 1959) is an American author specializing in popular science and humor. She has published six New York Times bestsellers: '' Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers'' (2003), '' Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlif ...

. ''StarTalk'' has a segment called Cosmic Queries, in which listeners send in questions about the universe to be answered on the show. In May 2014, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' ranked ''StarTalk'' at number 13 on its list of "The 20 Best Comedy Podcasts Right Now". On February 29, 2016, it was announced that there would be a spinoff podcast, ''StarTalk All-Stars'', whose rotating hosts will be former ''StarTalk'' guests. In addition, the regular ''StarTalk'' comedy co-hosts will appear. Starting on February 1, 2017, a second spinoff, ''Playing with Science'', was launched to discuss the science of sports. It is hosted by

Gary O'Reilly Gary Mills O'Reilly (born 21 March 1961) is an English former professional footballer who played in the Football League for Tottenham Hotspur, Brighton & Hove Albion, Crystal Palace and Birmingham City as a central defender. Life and career O ...

and frequent ''StarTalk'' co-host Chuck Nice. ''StarTalk'' is partially funded by a grant from the

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...

. As an homage to

Jack Horkheimer Jack Horkheimer (born Foley Arthur Horkheimer; June 11, 1938 – August 20, 2010) was the executive director of the Miami Space Transit Planetarium. He was best known for his astronomy show '' Jack Horkheimer: Star Hustler'', which started airi ...

, an astronomer who hosted the weekly television show ''

Star Gazers ''Star Gazers'' (formerly known as ''Jack Horkheimer: Star Hustler'' and later ''Jack Horkheimer: Star Gazer'') is a short astronomy show on American public television previously hosted by Jack Horkheimer, executive director of the Miami Spac ...

'' on PBS, Tyson frequently ends his podcast with Horkheimer's trademark sign-off "Keep looking up!"

Television series

In January 2015, the ''Washington Post'' reported that a late-night talk show called '' Star Talk'', hosted by Tyson, would air on the

National Geographic Channel National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by the National Geographic Global Networks unit of Disney General ...

starting in April 2015. On July 29, 2015, it was announced that the show was renewed for a second season.Breaking News: ''StarTalk'' TV Season 2 Premiere Announcement
/ref> As of February 4, 2016, audio recordings of all twenty TV episodes have subsequently aired as podcast episodes.

References

Neil deGrasse Tyson Comedy and humor podcasts Science podcasts Science radio programmes 2009 podcast debuts Podcasts adapted into television shows {{Internet-bcast-stub

Television series

See also

References