A Word | Star Man: Merlin’s Tour of the Universe

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Music, Tv & Film, Arts

4.2 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 1 November 2024

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Neil deGrasse Tyson’s life-long love of science led him to astrophysics and a career as the nation’s premiere voice on making science accessible for all. On today’s episode of A Word, he joins host Jason Johnson for a conversation about the new edition of his book, Merlin’s Tour of the Universe, Revised and Updated for the Twenty-First Century: A Traveler’s Guide to Blue Moons and Black Holes, Mars, Stars, and Everything Far. They also discuss the science in pop culture, the political history of space flight, and why he’s still proud to have led the effort to remove Pluto’s status as a planet. Guest: Astrophysicist and author Neil deGrasse Tyson Podcast production by Kristie Taiwo-Makanjuola Want more A Word? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/awordplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is a word, a podcast from Slate.
0:03.3	I'm your host, Jason Johnson.
0:04.8	For many of us, space is a place of imagination, the frontier explored in our favorite
0:09.8	sci-fi fantasy films and shows.
0:12.6	But it's also a place where business and politics collide, and no one is better at telling
0:17.4	the story of how that unfolds than Neil deGrasse Tyson.
0:20.9	It's not a business model if you're just going there to explore.
0:24.0	And if you're running a business, you don't do something that expensive just for the sake of
0:28.1	exploration.
0:28.9	So you need NASA for that.
0:30.8	Neil DeGrasse Tyson on his new book, Merlin's Tour of the Universe, coming up on a word
0:35.9	with me, Jason Johnson.
0:37.7	Stay with us. This up on a word with me, Jason Johnson. Stay with us.
0:39.9	This murder was a savage crime.
0:42.4	From legendary director, Clint Eastwood.
0:44.8	I got calls for jury duty.
0:46.2	What's the problem?
0:47.1	Starring Nicholas Holt.
0:48.4	I hit something.
0:49.3	I figured it was a deer.
0:50.5	Tony Collette, J.K. Simmons, and Kiefer Sutherland.
0:53.8	What are you telling me? Maybe I didn't hit a deer. Tony Collette, J.K. Simmons, and Kiefer Sutherland. What are you telling me?
	...

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