Neil deGrasse Tyson | Astrophysicist/Author

Neil Degrasse Tyson(00:00):

Planes fly, bridges don’t collapse. There are things that are built into our society that we take for granted on such a level that there are people walking around, "I don’t need science. What do I need science?"

Rodney Veal (00:12):

I’m going to make the face like,

Neil Degrasse Tyson(00:13):

Really? We’re living two and a half to three times longer than people a hundred years ago. And it’s not because you’re eating organic, because everybody before then ate organic. Caveman ate organic. Okay. So let’s just get real. And their water ran pure and their air was clean and half of everyone was dead before they were 30. So let’s get real here about the role of science.

Rodney Veal (00:41):

Hello everyone. I’m Rodney Veal. I am the host of Rodney Veal’s Inspired By. And today we are going off of the artistic creative pathway a little bit. I think our listeners are going to be kind of surprised by that, but I don’t think so. I think it’s pretty cool that we’re going to sit down and have a conversation with someone who is pretty darn amazing in my book and inspirational. He is an astrophysicist. He’s a lecturer. He is a writer. He is a truly just a person who is making us understand our relationship as humanity, as humans to the universe and breaking it down for us and making it possible for us to see our place in the universe in a positive way. So without further ado, Neil deGrasse Tyson.

Neil Degrasse Tyson((01:39):

After all that, I can’t live up to all that. A place in the universe in a positive way. Can you lower the expectations a little for your audience please?

Rodney Veal(01:51):

I’d rather

Neil Degrasse Tyson( (01:52):

Exceed the expectations.

Rodney Veal (01:54):

I think you have the skills to exceed expectations. Sorry, that’s just my job. It’s my role. Okay. I’m the hype man for everyone.

Neil Degrasse Tyson(1 (02:06):

Make the guests feel good. Okay. Mom, thank you

Rodney Veal (02:08):

Mom. Yeah, Lois did well. She’s a wonderful lady. And she will listen to this podcast and go, "I can’t believe you said my name."

Neil Degrasse Tyson( (02:16):

Yeah. Hi mom, Lois.

Rodney Veal(02:18):

Yeah. Lois is, she’s real. She’s awesome. I’m reserving

Neil Degrasse Tyson((02:21):

Judgment if you did right by this guy. We’ll wait till the end.

Rodney Veal(02:26):

Oh, that’s a challenge too. Blood drawn. Okay. The line is drawn, Mrs. Veal. You got to get it together. So like I said, this podcast, traditionally, we pretty much talk to artists and creatives and all the different realms. And I consider creativity and curiosity and creativity a big part of science. So you have to be curious about the subject in order to want to explore it. So is that true? That’s kind of true.

Neil Degrasse Tyson( (02:58):

So it operates on several levels there. So if you have

Rodney Veal (03:01):

Artists

Neil Degrasse Tyson( (03:01):

And performers here, I’m going to be in a theater where artists and performers

(03:06):

Perform. So I don’t take that lightly. And the fact that people would come and pay to hear an astrophysicist talk for two hours, that’s kind of a crazy fact when you’re just on the face of it. And I’m not unaware that, no, they’re not coming to hear lecture. No. In fact, the word lecture loses all value after college. While you’re in college, are you going to lecture today? Yeah, I’m going to see three. But after college, don’t lecture me. All of a sudden, the word lecture has a bad name. So over those two hours, I want people to celebrate curiosity and I need them to. Well, society needs us all to think about science in a way that matters, that the future of civilization pivots on people’s informed decisions they make about how science affects governance, our lives, decisions they make about how they live.

(04:17):

Because without the objective truth of science, there is no informed democracy. I mean, think about it. Science is exquisitely tuned to determine what is true and what is not, objectively true. And I define that by do experiments verify it or not? If they don’t, then leave it out of the equation. Keep at it. Find another thing to work on.

(04:44):

Planes fly, bridges don’t collapse. There are things that are built into our society that we take for granted on such a level that there are people walking around say, "I don’t need science. What do I need science?"

Rodney Veal (04:56):

I’m going to make the face like,

Neil Degrasse Tyson((04:58):

"Really?"

Rodney Veal(04:58):

We’re

Neil Degrasse Tyson( (04:59):

Living two and a half to three times longer than people a hundred years ago. And it’s not because you’re eating organic, because everybody before then ate organic. Caveman ate organic. Okay? So let’s just get real. And their water ran pure and their air was clean and half of everyone was dead before they were 30. So let’s get real here about the role of science. So I’m coming through town to celebrate the value of science in our lives. That’s really what’s going on here.

Rodney Veal(05:35):

I love

Neil Degrasse Tyson( (05:36):

That. So

Rodney Veal (05:36):

The

Neil Degrasse Tyson( (05:36):

Creativity is how can I find ways to reach people so that I’m not just standing in front of a chalkboard putting equations on the board, knowing you have to pay attention because you paid tuition that semester. No, you’re willingly coming to see me and to

Rodney Veal (05:53):

Hear

Neil Degrasse Tyson((05:54):

Me and I want to make sure I do right by you.

Rodney Veal (05:56):

Absolutely. It’s making me smile because it’s so true. It’s like lecture bad competition. It’s such a horrible. There’s nothing worse than, oh, I spent two hours being lectured. Yeah. Lectured to. Exactly. It’s like where’s the exit? And for our viewers, because our audience is the Dayton and the Miami Valley, and I tell you, everybody’s dying to come hear you not lecture to them. I love that.

Neil Degrasse Tyson( (06:24):

Should that be a new tagline? Come here, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, not lecture to

Rodney Veal (06:29):

You. Well, not lecture to you. Buy your ticket now. Because we had an event here at the station yesterday, and so when I said, "I’m going to have this podcast conversation with Neil deGrasse Tyson." And they were like, "I can’t get a ticket." I was like, "Well, okay." Yeah, people are rolling. Yeah, I didn’t

Neil Degrasse Tyson( (06:45):

Check. It’s sold? I’m sorry.

Rodney Veal (06:47):

I think you – So

Neil Degrasse Tyson( (06:48):

What are we doing

Rodney Veal (06:49):

Here? We

Neil Degrasse Tyson( (06:49):

Got nothing to talk about. If

Rodney Veal (06:51):

It’s sold out, nothing to talk about because it’s like, no, no. I think it’s a really cool thing that what you’ve done is that you’re competing against West Side Story, which is showing up this weekend. I mean, you’re outperforming –

Neil Degrasse Tyson(07:05):

The musical on stage.

Rodney Veal (07:07):

Yeah, you’re outperforming West Side Story.

Neil Degrasse Tyson( (07:09):

No, that’s my favorite musical. Don’t say that.

Rodney Veal(07:11):

Just say it. I’m throwing it out there. I kind of know these things. So I’ve just out of curiosity, but this topic is an astrophysicist goes to the movies. Yes. A part two. And in fact, I have to ask that question about, okay, part one, leading into part two, what led you to this? When you were sitting there watching Star Wars and going, wait, hold on.

Neil Degrasse Tyson( (07:37):

Yeah, no, no. It’s actually more mundane than that. Really? Star Wars is too easy a target since they cared not a wit about science at all. So first of all, I wanted to call this an astrophysicist goes to the movies the sequel, but that would’ve been too on point. And so I didn’t want to. So just part two, which means I have been through town before and gave the talk, an astrophysicist goes to the movies. The point is there’s so much content that there was so much spillage from that first talk I had to make a second talk. And in fact, there’s a third talk. If people want to come back next year, we do part three. Okay? And I’m waiting to be invited to a city and I do three consecutive nights, part one, two, and three. I’m just waiting for that. It hat happened yet.

(08:25):

Oh,

Rodney Veal (08:26):

Come on. Make us the city. Please leave us the city for that. So we can challenge all of our

Neil Degrasse Tyson((08:31):

Artistic options. So there are two varieties of movies coming up. There are two types of movies that interest me. One of them is a movie that tries to get the science right, happens to get some of it wrong. That’s kind of interesting. Where did they misstep? Either on purpose or accidentally. That’s kind of interesting to me. Another one is they don’t care about the science at all and they happen to get some right. That’s interesting to me too. There are a lot of movies. Most of the movies I’ll be talking about are not science fiction movies. Really? Let me check the list here. Yeah, I’m kind of curious

Rodney Veal (09:18):

About the

Neil Degrasse Tyson( (09:19):

Movies. I got right here. Hang on, hang on. All

Rodney Veal (09:21):

Right. I’m patient.

Neil Degrasse Tyson( (09:24):

So I have in there Mary Poppins is in there, The Wizard of Oz, an episode from The Simpsons, A Bug’s Life, West Side Story is in there. I have Monsters Inc. Pixar animation tends to show up a lot here because I think they have an entire room of physicists, chemists, and engineers infusing the storyline with authentic science. And there’s fascinating science in Monsters Inc and in A Bug’s Life that I will call to your attention. And yes, there’s some other sci-fi there. There is some sci-fi. I have Star Wars episode four, which is really episode

Rodney Veal (10:04):

One.

Neil Degrasse Tyson( (10:04):

Thank you.

Rodney Veal (10:06):

For us old school folks. Yeah. Old

Neil Degrasse Tyson((10:08):

Timers. It’s episode one. Episode

Rodney Veal(10:09):

One.

Neil Degrasse Tyson( (10:09):

So there’s something they get right amid everything else that they just don’t care about. There’s also a clip from Zoolander. Don’t laugh.

Rodney Veal (10:22):

Okay. Okay. I’m going to go back and watch Zoolander now. After

Neil Degrasse Tyson((10:28):

You got to know what part of it I’m talking about.

Rodney Veal (10:30):

Okay. Yeah.

Neil Degrasse Tyson((10:32):

So the point is, my goal here, I don’t know if I’ll succeed, my goal is to sensitize you. The next time you watch a movie, just think about the science that they’re portraying. And that adds another dimension to your appreciation of the film. Was the plot line solid? Were the characters developed? Were they believable? Would they have really said that in that situation or not? Because the story has to matter to you somehow. But if I add a layer of science, it turns the movie into a much deeper encounter with the creativity of the storytellers and the director. So yeah, it’s clips from all these. Oh, then also some handpicked beer commercials that are oddly scientifically literate.

Rodney Veal (11:25):

I’m sorry.

Neil Degrasse Tyson((11:26):

No, you got to come. I’m just saying, but

Rodney Veal (11:28):

No tickets. How do

Neil Degrasse Tyson( (11:31):

You know they’re no tickets? They told you what the theater

Rodney Veal (11:33):

Told you? Well, the person told me this yesterday, but see, I have it in. I’m going to talk to Chloe Johnson. I’m going say, "Hey, Chloe." Let me

Neil Degrasse Tyson((11:39):

See here.

Rodney Veal (11:40):

Let me see if I can finagle a ticket out of them. I’m going to try to see if I can. That’s what I was told.

Neil Degrasse Tyson((11:45):

Yeah.

Rodney Veal (11:45):

Let me just see. This is somebody from the outside, third party. Yeah. It’s

Neil Degrasse Tyson( (11:52):

The Benjamin Marion Schuster Performing Arts Center. Right.

Rodney Veal (11:55):

You got it. Yeah. You got it.

Neil Degrasse Tyson( (11:58):

Dating the home of the Wright Brothers, of course.

Rodney Veal (12:00):

Yes. You know what the

Neil Degrasse Tyson((12:01):

Hell? Why didn’t you guys have the first in flight license plate? Why do I have to go to North Carolina for this?

Rodney Veal (12:09):

You’re freaking

Neil Degrasse Tyson( (12:10):

Ohio, please.

Rodney Veal (12:11):

Did you take it back? We tried. We tried. I will say this. Those North Carolinians were very frisky and just very frisky and on top of it. They were organized.

Neil Degrasse Tyson((12:25):

We ain’t giving this back to you. Just because you were too slow to figure out that you might have done this. Yeah. So actually it’s on you guys. I

Rodney Veal(12:34):

Take

Neil Degrasse Tyson((12:35):

It back. We

Rodney Veal (12:35):

Were. I could say that as a native Daytona, we were slow in the take. We accused them of lying. We said, "Well, you didn’t fly. There’s no way that anyone from Dayton, Ohio could invent a machine that could fly. You’re from Dayton." So I’m saying this. And then a couple years later they went, "Well, maybe they were right." I’m like, "Too late, too late. Once you accuse them of falsehoods, it’s over." But that’s what we did. But you do

Neil Degrasse Tyson((13:03):

Have the home of Neil Armstrong and John Glenn. Yes,

Rodney Veal (13:06):

We do.

Neilk Degrasse Tyson (13:07):

Some very

Rodney Veal (13:08):

Important

Neilk Degrase Tyson (13:08):

Astronauts.

Rodney Veal (13:09):

I met John Glenn. I met John and his wife, Annie. They were the sweetest. They were nicest people. Completely nice. Very nice. It was back in the day when I was dancing, which was a very –

Neil Degrasse Tyson

You used to dance? Didn’t tell me that. I

Neil Degrasse Tyson((13:22):

Was a performing member of three different dance companies.

Rodney Veal (13:24):

Really?

Neil Degrasse Tyson

(Well, they were college, not the Bulshoi, but they were college troops. And by the way, when I’m on stage, I think of my body as participating in how I communicate, because what does a dancer do? It tells you a story without words.

Rodney Veal (13:40):

Without

Neil Degrasse Tyson( (13:40):

Words. And so if I’m there and I have a story to tell and I have four limbs available to me, I’m going to use them. And if I talk about a spinning planet, I might pirouette if I still can. Hey, but I’m saying – Hold your center,

Rodney Veal (13:57):

Neil. Hold your Center

Neil Degrasse Tyson( (13:57):

There’s another dimension of communication that a person can remember. I’ve been invited to place and say, "Oh, will you ever step out from behind the podium?" I say, "Yeah." Yes.

Rodney Veal (14:14):

You think? Because it’s not a lecture.

Neil Degrasse Tyson((14:16):

Because it’s

Rodney Veal (14:17):

Not a

Neil Degrasse Tyson( (14:17):

Lecture. It’s not.That’s right.

Rodney Veal (14:19):

There you go. I love the fact you embody that. I love this notion because that’s the whole thing. It’s a silent art form. I always said, "I’ve been tasked to do this job," and I’m like, "I was never trained for it other than my body." What kind of dance

Neil Degrasse Tyson((14:34):

Did you take?

Rodney Veal (14:35):

I was a ballet dancer professionally for about 15 years. Oh, that’s

Neil Degrasse Tyson( (14:39):

Wild. Yeah. Yeah.

Rodney Veal (14:40):

I actually did. I did it. Talk about science. Physics and gravity were

Neil Degrasse Tyson((14:47):

Either my

Rodney Veal (14:48):

Friend or my enemy at some point.

Neil Degrasse Tyson((14:50):

I don’t think you have to know it, but if you do know it, it definitely helps.

Rodney Veal (14:53):

It does. So you don’t

Neil Degrasse Tyson((14:54):

Drop the person who just jumped in their arms.

Rodney Veal (14:59):

Neil, I’ve been there way too many times. Yeah. The first

Neil Degrasse Tyson (15:01):

Time I had to lift a woman over my head, it was like, okay, I’m strong, but looking at her, I wasn’t that strong. But it’s not just lifting. I could pump iron. That wasn’t even the issue. You have to do an act like she don’t weigh anything. So the movement, I had to practice that. You’re probably much better at it because you – No,

Rodney Veal (15:22):

It was all calculation. All

Neil Degrasse Tyson((15:25):

Calculations, that’s right. So I did it and I used her momentum to. I just guided her momentum up over my head and then I put her down in front of me. But anyhow, no, I’m alone on the stage for this upcoming talk.You’re

Rodney Veal (15:37):

Alone. So you’re not promising any dance.

Neil Degrasse Tyson((15:41):

Just to be clear.

Rodney Veal (15:42):

I don’t want anybody going, "No. Neil promises performance."

Neil Degrasse Tyson( (15:45):

My favorite sentence I’ve ever composed in my entire life. What is

Rodney Veal (15:49):

That?

Neil Degrasse Tyson(15:49):

Here it is. Okay. The spinning planets orbit their host stars along their appointed paths like pirouetting dancers in a cosmic ballet, choreographed by the forces of gravity.

Rodney Veal(16:09):

Oh, that is gold. That is gold, gold, gold. Did I

Neil Degrasse Tyson((16:13):

Get your approval of that?

Rodney Veal (16:14):

Total approval. I think Lois will be very happy. It’s all about mom’s approval at this point in my life. It’s all about that. But Neil, I always ask this question, especially as someone as folks that inspire me. I’m inspired by your trajectory of what you do, because I love the fact that you’re in, you’re in your element, and it’s just the coolest thing ever. It’s got to be like. This is a cool job. I look at my job as a cool job. I’m sure you look at your job as the coolest job in

Neil Degrasse Tyson( (16:48):

The world. So the first and only time I had that though, because I don’t carry that thinking with me, it was my 10-year high school reunion. It was a 10 or 20 year high school reunion. Really? And I had just obtained the keys as director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City, which was my first night sky when I was nine years old, by the way. And so we’re all there and it’s a high school reunion, and I think people were voting on who had the best job. And someone was an important lawyer, someone did some surgery. And I said, "I’m director of the planetarium." And everybody said, "That’s the coolest job." I said, "No."

Rodney Veal (17:26):

Hold up. I got a lot of –

Neil Degrasse Tyson( (17:30):

Yeah, actually. I have a button I can push and I can bring out the night sky anytime in the last 4,000 years, anywhere on earth. That’s a cool job. So yeah, I conceded to this unanimous vote, but since then I don’t really think about it.

Rodney Veal (17:50):

You don’t even think about it, really? No, I don’t. I

Neil Degrasse Tyson( (17:52):

Know. Why? Because I’m a servant. I don’t think of it for me. I think of it for others. As an educator and as a scientist, I’m a servant of the curiosity of others. And if I’m good at it, I can ignite curiosity within you that you thought had long gone since childhood. So for me, it’s about you. It’s not about me.

Rodney Veal (18:15):

I love that. Well, I’m at PBS, hence the logo. We are a local PBS affiliate here in Dayton and Cincinnati combined. Is that service? It’s like we want to make sure that people are connected, engaged, inspired, all of the things that you do, even though you’re not dancing on the stage and not lecturing, it’s a really cool aspect of what it is. And my question is that what would you tell someone – Wait, I have

Neil Degrasse Tyson( (18:47):

To finish that. That public service announcement was brought to you

Rodney Veal (18:50):

By. Well, it was brought to you by viewers like us for viewers like you. You

Neil Degrasse Tyson((18:55):

Can’t give a sentence like that, that we don’t end it with the right appeal.

Rodney Veal (18:58):

Right, right. It’s like please donate to click on. No, no, no, no. But it is really the notion of. We have people that listen to this and they’re listed driving and they just. I want them to get inspired by it. What would you say to someone who. Like you said at the very beginning, science is underpinning as the objectiveness of science – Objectivity. Objectivity underpins our democracy. And so in this current, not this current. I don’t think about the individual administrations because they come and go. I think about humanity and its totality.

Neil Degrasse Tyson((19:37):

Same with me. As an educator, I never talk about politicians because they’re duly elected. I talk to the electorate because they’re the ones who create the government that we have. So they’re the ones who I care about and I alert them of the causes and effects of decisions they make or do not make, of things they know or do not know. Practically everything that matters on the front page today has. If you part the curtains, there’s science literacy at its foundation. Is it the energy challenges? Is it AI? What are we going to do in space? Is there a space force and why? And what kinds of weaponry underpin the future of warfare? It’s all science, every bit of it. Absolutely.

Rodney Veal (20:19):

And

Neil Degrasse Tyson( (20:19):

What is the status of your health and where’s that going to go? So yeah, I feel like science is more important than ever before.

Rodney Veal (20:31):

Yeah, absolutely. And one of the things that you may not know is because it was just announced in our paper today, our Congressman and senator who represent Ohio, this district, they’re proposing a bill in Congress to make Wright-Patterson Air Force Base the location of the Space Academy.

Neil Degrasse Tyson( (20:51):

Oh, it still doesn’t have a good location yet. Yes. No. So they’re

Rodney Veal (20:54):

Bidding hard. They’re bidding hard. They’re bidding Space Academy,

Neil Degrasse Tyson((20:57):

Which serves the Space Force. Yes. Yes.

Rodney Veal (21:00):

So it’s kind of like – It’s a

Neil Degrasse Tyson( (21:01):

Very good idea.

Rodney Veal (21:03):

I think it’s a great idea as well. I think it’s – Well,

Neil Degrasse Tyson( (21:06):

Who else is competing with it? Maybe Colorado has some claim because Space Command was based there and Space Command, which would become Space Force. So there’d be some competing factions, but Ohio also as a swing state, I think you want to put stuff in the swing state.

Rodney Veal (21:23):

I think so too. And I think it’s kind of a thing. So people are kind of a buzz. Well, good luck with

Neil Degrasse Tyson( (21:28):

That. Yes.

Rodney Veal(21:28):

And you’re coming with the right – I might give a shout

Neil Degrasse Tyson( (21:30):

Out during my talk there.

Rodney Veal(21:32):

Yes, that’d be super cool. That’s great. So Neil, I know you’re a busy man. You getting ready for – Yeah, I got to go.

Neil Degrasse Tyson((21:37):

I got a thing. I’m going to be on CNN in a couple of minutes.

Rodney Veal (21:40):

Yes. Well,

Neil Degrasse Tyson( (21:41):

In an hour and a half, so I got to go

Rodney Veal (21:43):

To the

Neil Degrasse Tyson( (21:43):

Studio for that.

Rodney Veal (21:45):

I thank you for taking time with us. I really do appreciate it. And I think on behalf of our viewers, so you get a shameless. You leave us with the parting words.

Neil Degrasse Tyson((21:57):

Oh.

Rodney Veal (21:57):

Yes.

Neil Degrasse Tyson((22:00):

I just say what I do at the end of my own podcast, start talking. It’s, as always, keep looking up. Okay.

Rodney Veal (22:10):

All right, folks. Keep looking up. Neil said it best. All right.

Neil Degrasse Tyson( (22:14):

All right.

Rodney Veal (22:15):

All right. Thank you so much for taking time with us. You got it. This is great. Appreciate it.