Neil deGrasse Tyson gets political

The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Vox Media Podcast Network

Society & Culture, News, Politics, News Commentary, Philosophy

4.6 • 10.8K Ratings

🗓️ 13 October 2022

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On this first episode of The Gray Area, Sean Illing talks with astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, who takes on many of our most vexing societal problems in his new book Starry Messenger. According to Neil, if we all were to adopt a more scientific approach to politics, many of our social problems would be easier to identify, talk about, and solve. In this conversation, Sean challenges that claim, and they discuss what the limits of both politics and science might be, as tools to use in crafting an improved society. Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area Guest: Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson), astrophysicist; author References: Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization by Neil deGrasse Tyson (Henry Holt; 2022) "Neil deGrasse Tyson lets the science deniers have it: 'The beginning of the end of an informed democracy'" by Sean Illing (Salon; Oct. 20, 2015) Enjoyed this episode? Rate The Gray Area ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of The Gray Area. Subscribe in your favorite podcast app. Support Vox Conversations by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts This episode was made by: Producer: Erikk Geannikis Editor: Amy Drozdowska Engineer: Patrick Boyd Deputy Editorial Director, Vox Talk: A.M. Hall Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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1:18.0	As a kid, I loved Carl Sagan.
1:26.0	The cosmos is all it is, or ever was, or ever will be.
1:31.8	He helped me appreciate the bigness of the universe.
1:36.0	Everything we had come to know about it, all the questions that remained unanswered,
1:40.3	and he was able to find poetry in science. That's what his PBS series Cosmos was all about.
1:48.0	Our contemplations of the cosmos stirs.
1:51.4	Sagan really wanted you to feel that sense of awe and wonder,
1:57.1	but he always wanted to emphasise science as a way of thinking about the world.
	...

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