The Science of Godzilla, Zombies & Other Monsters, with Charles Liu

StarTalk Radio

Star Talk, Nature, Scientist, Education, Astronomy, Astronomer, Physics, Earth Science, Neil Degrasse Tyson, Startalk, Cosmos, Science, Spacetime, Universe, Astrophysics, Astrophysicist, Quantum Physics, Space, Climate Science, Multiverse, Nasa

4.6 • 14.1K Ratings

🗓️ 21 October 2025

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Would Godzilla be structurally sound or too big for its own weight? Neil deGrasse Tyson, with co-host Matt Kirshen and “Geek-in-Chief” Charles Liu, takes a look at the monsters that have terrified us and the scary speculative science behind them.

Transcript

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0:00.0	We had to do an episode on the physics of monsters.
0:02.8	We had to.
0:03.5	Oh my gosh.
0:04.1	I've learned so much.
0:05.0	And I don't look behind you right now, but I think there's something creeping up on you.
0:10.2	And it's not just the physics, but the biology of monsters, the chemistry of monsters, all that coming up on StarTalk.
0:30.7	Neil deGrasse Tyson, your personal astrophysicist.
0:33.7	Today we're talking about the physics of monsters.
0:39.3	I got with me, Matt Kirshin.
0:41.3	How you doing?
0:42.3	Professional comedian?
0:43.7	Yeah, that's the job title.
0:45.6	That's the assistant tax return.
0:46.8	You're on tour now.
0:47.8	I am on tour.
0:48.7	I'm on a couple of tours at the same time.
0:51.1	Well, I'm opening for Sarah Milliken, who's a fantastic UK comedian. and we're doing some lovely theatres around the country, and then I'm doing, kind of off the back of that, I'm doing some club headlining sets where I'm telling, you know, her many, many audience members, like, hey, if you enjoyed me for 15 minutes. So you're pilfering her audience. I am shamelessly, I'm shamelessly siphoning off some of her success. Oh my gosh. So yeah, Mattkirchen.com for all of the dates. I'm going to be around the country. Plus you have a podcast. A sometime science. Probably science. Probably science. I know you do this on purpose. I know you do this on purpose, but every time.
1:29.7	I've only ever been on once.
1:31.0	I'm waiting for my next invitation.
1:32.2	I think we're talking about, because you've always got another book coming out,
1:36.8	and I think we're going to try and, again, shamelessly piggyback off of your success on that one as well.
1:41.8	Call me, Matt.
	...

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