About This Episode

Neil Tyson decodes science and politics with former President Bill Clinton, during whose term as “scientist in chief” we unraveled the human genome, repaired the Hubble Space Telescope, and increased funding for the NSF, DOE, and NIH. You’ll hear why the Human Genome Project was easier to fund than the Superconducting Super Collider – and why the Higgs boson was discovered at CERN instead of in the US. Neil and President Clinton discuss physics, artificial intelligence, Einstein’s brain, and using a chunk of moon rock to settle disputes between fractious politicians. In studio, Neil is joined by Chuck Nice and futurist Juan Enriquez, who stresses the importance of science literacy and wonders how we manage to make science boring to students. Prof. Richard A. Muller, reformed climate change denier and author of Physics for Future Presidents, calls in to explain why some politicians have trouble with science, and Bill Nye explains “why leaders who advance science in America, advance America.”

NOTE: All-Access subscribers can listen to this entire episode commercial-free here: Decoding Science and Politics with Bill Clinton.