B&T Extra: Astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson

Summary

The BOB & TOM Show Free Podcast Episode: B&T Extra: Astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson
Release Date: January 15, 2025
Host/Author: The BOB & TOM Show | Cumulus Podcast Network

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Introduction

In this episode of B&T Extra, hosts Bob, Tom, and Donnie engage in a lively and insightful conversation with renowned astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson. The discussion spans Neil's academic journey, his perspectives on space exploration, favorite science fiction films, and his endeavors in public science communication.

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Neil DeGrasse Tyson's Background and "Tour of the Universe" Reissue

Donald: "Do you have any interest in going to space?"
Neil: "Yeah... I can't think of that as space. Send me somewhere. Moon, Mars, asteroids, beyond."

Neil begins by discussing his latest project, the reissue of his first book, Tour of the Universe. Originally written 35 years ago during his graduate studies, the book features a character named Merlin, an alien from Andromeda who interacts with historical figures to explain complex scientific concepts in an accessible manner.

Neil (05:17):
"I reminded myself how much of my educational role as an educator was set into motion in the writing of that book. Merlin... is an alien visiting from Andromeda who has seen all of Earth history... it's a fun tool to bring the universe down to Earth."

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Perspectives on Space and Space Travel

A significant portion of the conversation delves into modern space exploration, particularly critiquing the current definitions and endeavors of space travel.

Bob (06:17): "Do you have any interest in going to space?"
Neil (07:00):
"I have a different definition of space... I can't think of that as space. The billionaire boys race, the Bezos Branson... suborbital. They go up and then just fall back for five, six minutes. Stars will come out in broad daylight because... just as fun."

Neil expresses skepticism about the actual value of suborbital flights undertaken by billionaires like Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson, emphasizing that these trips barely breach what should be considered true space.

Neil (08:29):
"Elon Musk is the only one who actually puts people in orbit... getting to Mars... it's about motivation and who's gonna write the check."

He highlights Elon Musk's role as the only one genuinely advancing orbital missions, contrasting it with the superficial nature of current billionaire-funded spaceflights.

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Public Engagement and Live Tours

Neil discusses his approach to public lectures and tours, emphasizing his passion for education over commercialization.

Neil (13:12):
"If you ever see my name in a city, check what the topic is. Cause I'm not there to... that's not the point of the talk."

He explains that his tours are not commercial ventures but educational talks conducted in beautifully renovated theaters. Topics range from A Cosmic Perspective to dissecting scientific inaccuracies in movies like The Wizard of Oz.

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Favorite Movies About Space

The conversation shifts to Neil's favorite and most scientifically accurate space-themed movies.

Neil (15:09):
"The Martian... Andy Weir gave me one of the highest compliments... the science is almost a character in the storytelling."

Neil praises The Martian for its scientific accuracy and storytelling integration, viewing science as a pivotal element in the narrative.

Neil (16:23):
"Armageddon... sheer joy. There's good comedy, good action, good special effects."

While acknowledging its scientific liberties, he appreciates Armageddon for its entertainment value.

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Anechoic Chamber Experience

Sharing a personal anecdote, Neil recounts his experience in an anechoic chamber, a soundproof environment that amplifies internal body sounds.

Neil (17:13):
"You're in there, and all of a sudden you start hearing blood pulsing through your ear canal... maybe it's not as perfect an environment as space, but it's as close as you can get."

He compares the eerie silence of an anechoic chamber to the quietness experienced in space.

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StarTalk Podcast and Collaboration with Comedians

Neil elaborates on his StarTalk podcast, which merges science with pop culture and comedy, featuring guests from various fields.

Neil (18:29):
"We explore what science may have affected their lives in whatever storytelling they engaged in... pop culture, comedy, and science woven together into one package."

He highlights the unique blend of rigorous scientific discussion with entertaining dialogue, making complex topics accessible and engaging.

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Final Remarks and Book Promotion

As the conversation wraps up, Neil promotes his work and upcoming projects, including the re-release of Interstellar.

Neil (19:40):
"Interstellar... being re-released to theaters December this year, 2024. It's chock full of science, especially since the executive producer was a professor of theoretical physics at Caltech."

He emphasizes the film's scientific grounding, particularly in Einstein's relativity, enhancing its educational value.

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Notable Quotes

• Neil DeGrasse Tyson (05:17):
  "Merlin... is an alien visiting from Andromeda who has seen all of Earth history... it's a fun tool to bring the universe down to Earth."

• Neil DeGrasse Tyson (07:00):
  "The billionaire boys race... That's what's called suborbital. They just fall back for five, six minutes."

• Neil DeGrasse Tyson (15:09):
  "The Martian... the science is almost a character in the storytelling."

• Neil DeGrasse Tyson (17:13):
  "It's as close as you can get [to the quietness of space]."

• Neil DeGrasse Tyson (18:29):
  "Pop culture, comedy, and science woven together into one package."

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Conclusion

This episode of B&T Extra offers a captivating glimpse into the mind of Neil DeGrasse Tyson, blending humor with profound scientific insights. Whether discussing the nuances of space travel, the accuracy of science fiction, or the importance of accessible science communication, Neil delivers a thought-provoking and entertaining dialogue suitable for both enthusiasts and casual listeners alike.

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Listen to the full episode on iTunes, Google Play, or Stitcher to delve deeper into Neil DeGrasse Tyson's fascinating perspectives on the universe.

Transcript

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[Christopher]

Welcome back. It's another Bob and Tom extra. This is Christopher. Not only is the Bob and Tom show live every weekday morning, but every afternoon we'll give you a little extra. In case you missed anything on the big show today, astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson. It's coming up in just a minute.

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

Foreign.

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[Bob]

Bob and Tom Show I'm at a stony bike.

[Donnie]

Hi, Dr. West. Hey, is it true in outer space you can see your own farts or Donnie stand out to try that Mythbusters. Hey, is Peyton still in there?

[Bob]

Yes.

[Donnie]

Hi, Manning.

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

Donnie, how you doing, buddy?

[Donnie]

I don't know if you remember me or not, but the last time you was in Jacksonville, I kind of confronted you in a parking lot. You were too stuck up to sign my hardball jersey.

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

Stuck up?

[Donnie]

I'm sure you were. Those your cops or the NFL?

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

One from each. One from each man.

[Donnie]

I took the car flag off my boat for two months, but then a year later, you won me over. And I got to give it to you. But when you went on Sports center and called your kick her a dick right to his.

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

That's right.

[Donnie]

We partied for two years left. Are they true you get free cater r for doing them commercials? What's Jeters really like anyway? Is he really that good or did his dad play too?

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

No. Good guy.

[Donnie]

When my mom Phyllis says, you ever come into Xanadu, it's all free. We'll party with you.

[Christopher]

Wow.

[Bob]

All right, man, that's great. Thanks, Donnie. Maybe we should get back to the space.

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

There's that dignity you wanted.

[Christopher]

If you missed something yesterday, maybe you'll hear it now. This is Bob and Tom Extra.

[Bob]

Is this Neil DeGrasse Tyson? There he is. I recognize that face. Were you a wrestler in high school?

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

Yeah, and in college I was captain of my high school's wrestling team and undefeated. And then I got to college and then I started wrestling like corn fed wrestlers from Iowa. That was a whole other. I had a losing record in college, but I was undefeated in high school. That's the difference between local and national sports.

[Bob]

I see. We're good friends with the comedian Greg Warren, who has been working with Bargetzi and he was a really good wrestler.

[Greg]

One of the Corn Fred boys from Missouri.

[Bob]

His special's coming out soon. Neil DeGrasse Tyson has.

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

I'm even wearing a. Wrestling. Wrestling.

[Bob]

Oh, that's great. I didn't see that.

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

I happened to have it on this morning.

[Bob]

Oh, that's funny. That's funny. I just. I was doing some research and I saw those pictures. That's cool. You went to Bronx Science High, right?

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

Yeah, the Bronx High School of Science. Yeah.

[Bob]

Okay. Yeah, right. Yeah. I knew a bunch of guys that had gone there. I, of course, didn't because total lack of skill in that area. The new book, it's the reissue, it's Merlin's and it's called Tour of the Universe. And it's once again prepped for the 21st century. Can you tell us what you had to do to rework it?

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

Yeah, yeah. So that was my very first book, written 35 years ago while I was in graduate school and resurrecting it, bringing it into the 21st century. I was reminded, I reminded myself, how much of my educational as an educator, how many tap routes were set into motion in the writing of that book. There's a delightful. By the way, Merlin is a character created for the question and answer format of that book. And Merlin, in fact, is an alien visiting from Andromeda who has seen all of Earth history, all of Earth scientific and cultural history. So when you ask Merlin about the universe, Merlin recalls a conversation with some major historical figure, because Merlin knew them all. And that was just a fun sort of tool to bring the universe down to Earth for whoever had the interest for it.

[Bob]

Do you have any interest in going to space?

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

Yeah. So I have a different definition of space, as would be true for all of my colleagues, my astrophysics colleagues. Many people don't realize that the space station, for example, which is anybody's common definition of being in space, if Earth were shrunk to the size of a schoolroom globe, then the space station is orbiting one centimeter above the surface. And so I can't. I'm sorry, I can't think of that as space. Send me somewhere. Moon, Mars, asteroids, beyond. But I don't want to just boldly go where hundreds have gone before.

[Bob]

The billionaires who pay to go up in the one where they're in space for like six minutes, that seems to me to be a real ripoff.

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

That's not even as high as the 1cm. So the billionaire boys race, the Bezos Branson. You're right. That's what's called suborbital. They go up and then just fall back for five, six minutes. And it's the falling part where you're weightless, so that's fun. And you sort of above the important parts of the atmosphere, so that's fun. Stars will come out in broad daylight because you can't see stars in the daytime because of the scattered blue light from the sun that turns the sky blue. You get above that limit, so that's fun. No issues with that. But on this same scale with the schoolroom globe, they go up about the thickness of two dimes, and it's costing.

[Bob]

Them several more times than that.

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

Remember that guy, that crazy guy, Felix Baumgartner? Remember him?

[Greg]

Sure, yeah.

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

Who did that? Edge of Space.

[Greg]

Yeah.

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

Red Bull.

[Donnie]

Sure.

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

Okay. How high was he? He was the thickness of one dime above Earth's surface. So we. So we. And NASA is complicit in this. We have a very low bar definition of what it means to go into space.

[Bob]

Wow.

[Greg]

But can we.

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

I'm sorry, I have higher goals than that.

[Greg]

Can we get to Mars, though? Feasibly. Is that really a realistic thing?

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

Well, so let me just make it clear. Oh, by the way. Of the billionaire boys Space race.

[Greg]

Right.

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

Elon Musk is the only one who actually puts people in orbit.

[Greg]

Okay.

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

He's the full 1cm up and that's why he can intersect with the space station if he chooses. Unlike the 1950s where people said, will we ever get to the moon? Do we know? How is it even possible? That's not the kinds of questions anyone is invoking today about Mars. The questions are not, is it possible? Of course it's possible. We have an SUV sized rover that took a helicopter to Mars, exploring Mars. Right now, getting to Mars. That's not the issue. So the issue is what's the motivation and who's gonna write the check? That's all it comes down to. It's not any more complicated than that.

[Greg]

So you can survive that trip to Mars. A human being can.

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

It's nine months. Yeah, just get a good Netflix account, you know.

[Bob]

Maybe listen to Neil DeGrasse Tice. He's got a couple of podcasts out there.

[Christopher]

Thank you.

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

Yes, I have a podcast that'll keep you going.

[Bob]

There you go.

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

Our guest is talk podcast. While you look out the window, you can think of the universe. Thanks for that plug.

[Bob]

Would you like to be called Dr. Degrasse Tyson or Professor?

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

Oh, so in a first introduction, just Neil DeGrasse Tyson, and after that, just Neil. Okay, here's the thing. If you start heaping titles and pedigree, then what? As an educator, what I don't like is it comes with the implicit assumption that you should pay attention to what I say because of that title, when I think you should pay attention to what I say because I'm freaking making sense to you.

[Bob]

Yeah, it's interesting.

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

That should be enough reason.

[Bob]

Yeah.

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

So I never like being surrounded by. By pedigree. I think it's. It's a. It's a charade. Charade. What's the right word there? It's a. It's an attempt to boost the value of what you say without actually investing in the meaning and importance of what you say.

[Bob]

Kind of eminence front, as Roger Daltrey would sing, or Pete Townsend, and the whole.

[Greg]

Neil, Is our galaxy finite or is this. I have a real problem with grasping infinity. And since a kid, like, even when I was a kid, I was very interested in space and the galaxies and reading about them, but it's very hard to think. It just goes on and on and on for billions and billions and billions of years.

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

Yeah. So I agree at. My first sort of existential crisis about infinity occurred when I was five years old. And I'm old enough because I remember the Kennedy assassination, the John Kennedy assassination. And when they buried him in Arlington or Arlington National Cemetery. And they had this lamp there, this flame, and they called it the eternal flame. I said, eternal what? It's going to refer, like, forever? Like, doesn't it take fuel? Don't you have to put. I had this. It's like, what does that even mean? And so that was my first encounter with sort of infinity. So our galaxy, just to get the term straight, is the collection of stars called the Milky Way. We are one of several hundred billion stars that has an edge. Its gravity reaches forever. But that, where the stars are, that has an edge. And then there are other galaxies, and then other galaxies. There may be a trillion of them in the observable universe. The universe has a horizon beyond which we cannot see. But that doesn't mean the universe doesn't continue beyond that any more than a ship at sea that sees its horizon. Are they saying to themselves, that's the edge of the ocean. I'm in the center of my own? No, they know that if you sail a little bit, there's more ocean that shows up. So our. Our horizon occurs because speed of light is finite. It's not infinite. And the universe is not infinitely old. So galaxies at our horizon, their light is only now just reaching us, given the history of the universe. So that's how we get a horizon. But yeah, the universe itself might be infinite and just, like, deal with it.

[Bob]

There we go. That's the answer. Neil DeGrasse Tyson is our guest and tell my priest. Neil DeGrasse Tyson is going on tour. The tour can do. Can you tell us a little bit about what are the live tour stops like? I know you've got a bunch of them in places where people can hear us right now.

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

Yeah, yeah. So the. The tour slightly misrepresents it because usually if it, quote, an artist goes on tour, they got something to sell you. And that's the whole point of the tour. My. My relationship with cities is a little different from that. What happens, I get invited to the theater. Typically, there's a Grand Dam Theater that's been renovated. Beautiful theaters, Fox theaters, Paramount theaters. This where we all used to. Well, old timers would go to see movies, right? That's where Curtain would open up. Those theaters have been, in most cities, renovated. And they're beautiful to perform in. I send those. The host a list of a dozen or 15 talks that I could give, and then they pick one, and then I deliver that talk on that location. So talk titles include A Cosmic Perspective. One of my favorites is An Astrophysicist Goes to the Movies, where I show a Bunch of movie clips and just rail on them for the science they got right or wrong, you know, especially wrong. And it's not just sci fi. I have two movie talks. One of them, I talk about the wizard of Oz. How that scarecrow gets the Pythagorean theorem wrong when he recites man after the wizard gives him a brain or gives him a diploma. They're just fun little places. Has attempted to reach but then has not. So, yeah. So if you ever see my name in a city, check what the topic is. Cause I'm not there to. Even though I might have a book that you could buy. That's not the point of the talk.

[Bob]

Oh, these sound great. One of my questions was gonna be about movies. If you were, for example, in the NFL, I'd say, what is the best movie about the NFL? Since you're not. Well, let's go with what is your the best or your favorite movie about space and all the things that you've been studying your whole life?

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

Yeah. Let me say the most accurate one is, I think, without question, the Martian. Oh. Andy Weir was an engineer, the author of the story, engineer turned novelist. And he actually gave me one of the highest compliments I've ever had. I had him on my podcast, by the way, my StarTalk podcast. He said, neil, when I was writing this book, because the whole story is deeply infused with science. So much so that science, you can think of it almost as a character in the storytelling because the main protagonist is left for dead on Mars and then they find out he's actually alive. And so he has to stay alive for all the days that it takes for them to come back and rescue him. So he has to be very ingenious about how to not die. And that's where the science comes from. Andy Weir told me that while he was writing the novel, he imagined I was looking over his shoulder. He didn't want anything showing up in a tweet, you know, I take that as a high compliment.

[Bob]

Oh, that's great. With respect to a sort of sci fi space travel, do you have a 1 accuracy versus favorite?

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

Yeah, thank you for splitting that difference, because that would be the most accurate. I would say Armageddon, even though it violates more laws of physics per minute. I would say Armageddon is just sheer joy. There's good comedy, there's good action, good special effects. And so, yeah, I think go for it. Armageddon.

[Bob]

I've got a story for you real quick. We've had Dr. David Wolf, the astronaut, in here A lot. And I'll never forget the story he tells. He goes, you don't know what quiet is till you've been in the mirror and the power goes out and you can hear your blood circulating.

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

That's scary. You can duplicate that. When I was a kid, when I was in college, I. I spent a summer at Bell Laboratories, back when they were a big powerhouse. And they have what's called an anechoic chamber, which is a huge room with these big foam absorbers on the ceiling, on all the walls and on the floor, because you're not walking on the floor. You're walking on a mesh that is suspended between all of these walls, and there is no echo anywhere. And so you're in there, and all of a sudden you start hearing blood pulsing through your ear canal, and you start to sense your heartbeat. And if someone else walks in, you practically have to scream to them, even if they're only 10ft away. So maybe it's not as perfect an environment as space, but it's as close as you can get. If you ever have a chance to go into an anechoic chamber, look those up.

[Bob]

Oh, that's super cool.

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

Yeah.

[Bob]

And then before we let you go, I'll remind everybody the book, once again, one of many, by Neil DeGrasse Tyson. And you've got your podcast. Where do people find the podcast?

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

Oh, StarTalk podcast. Yes. Spotify. It's also on Apple podcasts.

[Bob]

And you work with a comedian?

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

Yes. Oh, thank you. Yes. So my co host, just. The podcast is we take people from the world. They could be famous actors, politicians, it doesn't matter who. And we explore what science may have affected their lives in whatever storytelling they engaged in, for a movie they were in or whatever, but what songs they might have composed. We interviewed Katy Perry, and I had to ask her. She's got a song about, like, boning an alien, I think, talks about your ray, you know, vibrate me with your ray gun. It's like, okay, so. But anyhow, I have. My co host is a professional comedian, Chuck. Nice. And so it's pop culture, comedy, and science woven together into one package. And that's what distinguishes that podcast.

[Bob]

It's so great talking to you. I've been listening to you on various podcasts, et cetera, et cetera, for years, and you certainly put a nice spin on my ability to learn anything. And I have visited the Hayden Planetarium. I was just there a couple years ago, went to a couple. Went to a couple of Broadway shows and then went to the Planetarium which is awesome, of course.

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

One other quick note about a movie. The Remember Interstellar came out 10 years ago. It's being re released to theaters December this year, 2024. So that one is chock full of science, especially since the executive producer was a professor of theoretical physics at Caltech. So you know, they're going to get it right. And so that's just sheer bath in scientific. In Einstein, relativity and other kinds of science Enlightenment.

[Bob]

Did you see the article a couple weeks ago speaking of Einstein's relativity about the monkeys and how they now some group of scientists said, no, no, no. An infinite number of monkeys could not type all of the Shakespeare plays. That had to be.

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

You know, I missed that. Yeah, I'm surprised. I don't believe that I have not had to check on that.

[Bob]

Google.

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

Google infinite number of monkeys for an infinite amount of time. So yeah, I'm pretty sure they can type Shakespeare. I don't know.

[Bob]

It was made the New York Times. I'm not sure what it means if.

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

It'S an infinite number of monkeys for a day. No.

[Bob]

Okay, well, there's an argument to be made real quick. One last question. 2001, amazing. I thought how so much of the stuff in that you consider what year Kubrick made that really amazing.

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

So that movie, 1968. And imagining a future before we landed on the moon. Reminder, imagining a future in the year 2001. Now. So there's a whole space station up there with space shuttles docking with them. So it was a fantastical view, especially in the day. It was opening the door to possibilities in everyone's imagination of what we could be doing in space. Now, of course, science fi know that you want to rotate a space station so that you have artificially created gravity on the perimeter so that way you don't have muscle loss or bone loss and all the rest of that. But then the movie got like really weird at the end. And I found out that Stanley Kubrick, since nobody really understood the movie, then I heard what he said about it. He said, the movie's not intended to be understood. It's intended to be experienced. I said, okay, he got that. We'll give it to him.

[Bob]

I'm not sure what that means. Barely. Marijuana got very popular about 68. Neil DeGrasse Tyson. What a great pleasure, sir.

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

Thank you, sir.

[Christopher]

That's it for another Bob and Tom show. Extra. Catch us on itunes. Google Play and Stitcher for Bob and Tom. Extra. This is Christopher. Take care, everybody.

[Joe Salsihai]

Hi, I'm Joe Salsihai, host of the Stacking Benjamins podcast. Every week, we talk to experts about saving, investing, personal finance, trends, crypto. Can't do it.

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[Joe Salsihai]

Foiled again. You never knew personal finance could be this fun. Throwing down the gauntlet.

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

I'm bringing it today.

[Joe Salsihai]

I'm only gonna be off by six figures instead of seven. Every boy has a dream, Doc.

[Neil DeGrasse Tyson]

Every boy has a dream for sure.

[Joe Salsihai]

Stacking Benjamins. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.