Star Talk Radio

Mark Twain said, “Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.” Pseudoscience adherents to this adage, but are their distortions deliberate, the result of scientific ignorance, or due to a deep desire for extraordinary possibilities?...

Special guest Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central’s Colbert Report talks about the joys of being a science geek.Brilliant scientific discoveries and cutting edge technology have transformed our world, yet many people are turned off by science. Where has...

Technology tuned to the stars, brought down to Earth. Learn about the many products in our lives that were developed because of the space program.Space is now big business. Technology originally developed for the space program sometimes ends up in...

Star light, star bright, what will I find over the rainbow? Take a tour of the summer skies of the day and night.Starry starry nights, stormy and sun-filled days. Long summer days of picnics and ballgames are played out under a vast and gorgeous...

This year marks the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s use of the first telescope. On this week’s show, we reflect on how telescopes have changed our perception of our place in the universe, how small we are in size, space and time. Our guests include...

Forty years ago, on the dusty plains known as the Sea of Tranquility, Neil Armstrong stepped off a lunar module and into the pages of history.That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. Neil Armstrong spoke these words after placing his...

Star Trek imagines a future for humans in space where we explore alien worlds using advanced technology. As writers tried to include as much realistic science as possible, the stories have been an inspiration for students, scientists, inventors.The...

Do you want to believe? Seth Shostak of SETI talks about his hunt for aliens in this show about the search for life beyond Earth.Scientists have been searching for aliens in our solar system and beyond, but have not yet found evidence that life exists...

Could you travel to the past and visit Julius Caesar? Could you travel to the year 4000 and see what the future is like? Find out about the possibilities and paradoxes of time travel.Time marches on except in astrophysics. Einstein taught us that time...

What price do we put on knowledge? How does it profit a man if he learns about the universe, but goes to bed hungry? When the economy takes a downturn, should we still go up into space? NASA missions aren’t cheap—sending astronauts into low Earth...

What’s so funny about space and science? Our season finale features the incomparable comedian Joan Rivers. In this episode, she provides color commentary for a Red Carpet parade of previous show topics, including space tourism, the anniversary of...

Richard Branson has formed Virgin Galactic and is now taking reservations aboard the maiden voyage of SpaceShipOne. Would you spend the estimated $200,000 for a 45-minute trip into space? Neil and Lynne also discuss the mechanics of sex in...