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Posts tagged as ““Cosmos””

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson Lands His Own Late Night TV Show, "Star Talk"

2015 Winter TCA Tour - Day 1
Well known for his penchant for delivering mainstream-friendly science teachings across platforms, Neil deGrasse Tyson is now set to bring his unique brand of popular science to a new late night TV show for National Geographic.
Tyson, who has been a frequent guest on both Comedy Central’s The Daily Show and the now-defunct Colbert Show, has been tapped as the host for the first-ever late night program for the NatGeo network and will begin filming shortly for a planned April premiere.
Based on Tyson’s popular podcast Star Talk, a small-budget side project he’s been producing since 2009, the new show will also be called Star Talk and feature the astrophysicist speaking with scientists, celebrities, and comedians about new developments in science and space specifically. The news comes just months after Tyson’s popular Cosmos reboot finished its run on both Fox and National Geographic.
Cosmos allowed us to share the awesome power of the universe with a global audience in ways that we never thought possible,” Tyson said according to Variety. “To be able to continue to spread wonder and excitement through Star Talk, which is a true passion project for me, is beyond exciting.”
Nat Geo’s Channel CEO Courteney Monroe described the new project as an “edgy, late night alternative.”
“We continue to bolster our programming with series and event specials that are brand definitional, and Star Talk is the perfect opportunity to offer our audience an edgy, latenight alternative with the credibility and authenticity that are the hallmarks of our network,” she said.
article by Jay Balfour via theurbandaily.com

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson to Lead Viewers on "Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey"

Neil Degrasse Tyson
NEW YORK — Bringing a long list of prepared questions to an interview with Neil deGrasse Tyson is a fool’s errand. That’s not to say a conversation with the director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History isn’t illuminating — quite the opposite.  It’s just that the gregarious astrophysicist can’t help but find science lurking in every corner, turning even the most banal transaction into a teaching moment. An offer of bottled water, for instance, unexpectedly turns into a lengthy digression about the difficulty of freezing distilled water and the origins of Gatorade.

Tyson’s zeal for knowledge is intoxicating and irresistible, even if it means less time for the ostensible topic of the conversation — his starring role in the documentary series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, premiering on Fox and National Geographic in March.  “I see myself as a servant of the public appetite for the universe,” says Tyson, seated in his office overlooking the giant white sphere of the Hayden Planetarium.
Scattered among hundreds of astronomy books are, among other things, a vanity plate reading “COZMIC,” a life-sized bust of Sir Isaac Newton, a half-dozen or so globes, a quill pen collection, a can of Dole pineapples in “cosmic fun shapes” and a pink boa.
Tyson’s combination of humor, intelligence and accessibility have made him one of the most recognizable scientists in the country and put him atop many fantasy dinner-party guest lists. The author or editor of 10 books, he maintains an active social media presence (1.5 million Twitter followers) and produces a radio show and podcast, “StarTalk Radio.” He’s also become a late-night TV regular, through frequent visits to The Daily ShowThe Colbert Report and Real Time With Bill Maher.
Now he’s moving into prime time with Cosmos, a follow-up to Carl Sagan’s groundbreaking 1980 PBS series, Cosmos: A Personal Voyage. In what may seem like an odd pairing, Seth MacFarlane serves as executive producer on the series. Tyson first met the Family Guy creator at a gathering of the Science and Entertainment Exchange in Los Angeles several years ago and later pitched him about getting involved in a Cosmos reboot.