I ask astrophysicist and world-famous science educator what not-yet-booked guest he’d like to bring on his science talk show, Star Talk, and his choice of the beleaguered actor is the perfect example of what makes the show so accessible: It’s weird, fun, and unexpected.

Star Talk is Tyson’s popular radio show and podcast, which has aired since 2009. Now it is slated for an April 20 television debut on the National Geographic Channel in an interesting slot: At 11 p.m. Eastern, around when you’d normally tune into Jon Stewart or Jimmy Fallon. It’ll be the first televised science talk show, let alone the first that’s on during late night. Expect guests ranging from Star Trek actor George Takei to Twitter co-founder Biz Stone.





“You get to see how prevalent science is in everyday life,” Tyson says. “It’s not just this class you once took, and maybe you didn’t do well in it and you want to step around it or over it or dig under it or ignore it or pretend like it’s not there.”

Tyson, who hosted the hit revival of Carl Sagan’s space documentary series Cosmos in 2014, has become a celebrity space educator in his own right, but the Star Talk radio show strays to almost any cultural topic with a science aspect, such as pandemics, wine, and superheroes. He’s also an ideal TV host because, like his frequent Star Talk co-host Bill Nye, his jovial, quick-witted, uncle-you-wished-you-had nature is impossible not to like. I mean, this is a man who makes it a point to wear a different science-themed tie during each episode.





The TV show version’s conversational format is mostly off-the-cuff, but the structure is actually a finely tuned recipe for making science accessible. Each show features three co-hosts–usually Tyson, plus a comedian and an expert relevant to the day’s topic–who film in front of a live audience. Their discussion centers around clips from Tyson’s pre-taped interview with the evening’s main guest.

“It’s a three-pronged approached of science, pop culture, and comedy. Each of them is a thread, and during the show we weave this thread. By the end we have a tapestry if we succeed. So it’s 1 + 1 + 1 = 5, if we do it right,” says Tyson. “If it gets a little slow, the comedian valve turns higher, and they provide some levity.”