Nerdette’s Finest: Neil deGrasse Tyson Assigns Homework
Happy To Be Here
Greta Johnsen
4.6 • 924 Ratings
🗓️ 24 May 2018
⏱️ 8 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On Nerdette, our guests assign us homework. It’s usually something to read, watch, or do — like a great book, a compelling TV show, or a life-changing daily routine.
We’ve been lucky enough to have famed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson on the show TWICE, and both times he assigned homework that essentially asks you to save the world.
“If I were to give homework, the homework would be that there are problems society faces — civilization faces — that cannot and will not be solved awaiting the next app on your smartphone,” Tyson told Nerdette co-host Tricia Bobeda in 2017.
“Ask not what your cell phone can do for you,” Tricia replied.
“Yes!” Tyson said. “Ask what you can do for civilization.”
Kaboom.
Why are we replaying these bits of homework right now? Well, our little program is turning five years old — FIVE — and we’re asking you to join the team.
These last five years of Nerdette wouldn’t have been possible without you. You’ve listened. You’ve told your friends to listen. And maybe, on occasion, you’ve kicked us a couple dollars to show us how much you appreciate the voices we bring you.
Well this is one of those occasions. If you like Nerdette, please donate to support the show’s future. Any amount really, REALLY helps. And as a thank you, we’re offering some pretty sweet gifts. Like mugs, sweatbands, buttons, and even Lady Nerds of History posters. Read about what you can get (and donate!) here: www.wbez.org/nerdalert
Oh yeah, one more thing. THANK YOU YOU’RE THE GREATEST.
(And if you want to hear the full versions of both of our interviews with Neil deGrasse Tyson, check them out here and here.)
This special rebroadcast was produced by Stefania Gomez.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I'm Natalie Moore. I fell in love with soap operas when I was just five years old, and I still |
| 0:06.1 | watch them. Their television's longest scripted series and have zero reruns. Now let me tell you, |
| 0:12.7 | soap operas aren't just some silly art form. They are significant. In this season of making, |
| 0:18.0 | Stories Without End from WBEZ Chicago. |
| 0:25.7 | Join me as I share how the genre began, their social impact, and why these stories endure. |
| 0:28.3 | Listen wherever you get your podcast. |
| 0:39.2 | From WBEZ Chicago, I am Greta Johnson, and this is Nerdette's finest. |
| 0:47.6 | Nerdette is almost exactly five years old, and we are celebrating by playing back some of our favorite moments from the show over the last five years, |
| 0:55.0 | partly because we are inviting you, dear listener, to listen back to some of your favorite moments and think about supporting the show that you love to help keep us around for, you know, maybe another five years. |
| 0:59.9 | So today we're actually going to listen back to two moments that we have had with the |
| 1:05.4 | amazing astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. |
| 1:08.7 | Stick around after the homework assignments. |
| 1:12.3 | And I will tell you more about the fun new gifts that you can get when you donate to Nerdette. Or if you don't want to wait, |
| 1:16.4 | you can just go to the website, write this second, do it while you're listening to the homework. |
| 1:20.0 | It is WBEZ.org slash nerd alert. I'm going to say it again just in case, WBeeZ.org |
| 1:27.4 | slash nerd alert. |
| 1:29.7 | So today we're listening back to two homework assignments that we have gotten from |
| 1:35.1 | Neil deGrasse Tyson over the years. |
| 1:36.8 | The first one was actually on my 30th birthday in 2015 and the second one was in 2017. |
| 1:43.3 | And essentially what happened was, you know, we were like, |
| 1:46.0 | Hey, Neil, we do this thing on our show where we like to ask our guests to give our listeners |
| 1:51.3 | homework. This can be something to do or watch or read or consider. And he's like, oh yeah, no |
... |
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