Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson's Science Talk Show Gets 2nd Season

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson on the set of the late-night, science-themed TV show "StarTalk," which is filmed in front of a live studio audience at the American Museum of Natural History.
Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson on the set of the late-night, science-themed TV show "StarTalk," which is filmed in front of a live studio audience at the American Museum of Natural History. (Image credit: National Geographic Channels/Scott Gries)

Neil deGrasse Tyson's late-night, science-themed talk show, "StarTalk," has been renewed for a second season by the National Geographic Channel.

The hour-long show, based on Tyson's long-running radio program of the same name, began airing on April 20. But on April 15, Courteney Monroe, chief executive of the National Geographic Channel, announced at a news briefing that the show has been green-lighted for a 10-episode second season, according to Variety.

Tyson, who is known for popularizing science through social media and television, is also the director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York. He has described "StarTalk" as a "three-strand braid, between science, humor and pop culture." Each week, Tyson is joined by two "co-hosts" (often a comedian and a scientist). The show then revolves around clips from a pretaped interview with another celebrity or science figure. 

Guests on the first season of "StarTalk" have included "Star Trek" alum George Takai (April 20), "Interstellar" director Christopher Nolan (April 27), astronaut Chris Hadfield (June 1) and NASA Administrator Charles Bolden (June 15). Guest hosts have included Janna Levin, professor of astronomy and physics at Columbia University (April 27), and astronaut Mike Massimino (June 1).

Tyson is also the host of "Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey," which is an updated version of the 1980 series "Cosmos: A Personal Voyage," hosted by Carl Sagan. 

New episodes of the first season of "StarTalk" air Mondays on the National Geographic Channel at 11 p.m. EDT/10 p.m. CDT (check local listings). The last two episodes of the 10-episode first season will air June 15 and June 22. 

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Calla Cofield
Senior Writer

Calla Cofield joined Space.com's crew in October 2014. She enjoys writing about black holes, exploding stars, ripples in space-time, science in comic books, and all the mysteries of the cosmos. Prior to joining Space.com Calla worked as a freelance writer, with her work appearing in APS News, Symmetry magazine, Scientific American, Nature News, Physics World, and others. From 2010 to 2014 she was a producer for The Physics Central Podcast. Previously, Calla worked at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City (hands down the best office building ever) and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in California. Calla studied physics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and is originally from Sandy, Utah. In 2018, Calla left Space.com to join NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory media team where she oversees astronomy, physics, exoplanets and the Cold Atom Lab mission. She has been underground at three of the largest particle accelerators in the world and would really like to know what the heck dark matter is. Contact Calla via: E-Mail – Twitter