StarTalk Radio - Podcast Rankings and reviews

What makes Star Talk such a great podcast? Why, after first deciding to subscribe about four years ago, have I not missed a single episode? Well, let’s see . . .they have just the right ingredients, mixed together in the just the right proportions, featuring just the right homo sapiens. Star Talk is in the Goldilocks zone . . .a perfect blend of science and humor, making it just right! The main ingredient is Neil de Grasse Tyson, a brilliant scientist, bursting with curiosity and enthusiasm, and sharing his truly great gift — explaining science so that everyone can understand. Carefully mixed in Neil is a generous helping of Chuck Nice, comic. Let’s face it. Chuck is cool. Chuck is hip. Chuck is hilarious! As you listen, you are learning, you are laughing, you are loving it! Science, of course, is a part of everything, so frequently mixed in is the sports edition, featuring footballer Gary O’Reilly, who skillfully slips in thoughtful, cutting edge questions, while Neil and Chuck keep the laughs rolling. Political issues, too, often impact upon, or are impacted by, science, so we occasionally get episodes where politics takes center stage. Never far off, however, are the all-important cosmic perspective, provided by Neil, and the laughs, provided by Chuck. Star Talk is just what our planet needs and just right for our times.

I don’t know what the “Chuck complainers” problem is, but I love his involvement in the podcast. He wants to learn and makes the process fun at the same time. Neil wants to teach and makes the learning fun at the same time. This is a perfect pairing!
And yes, I love the banter and off topic conversations that develop throughout each episode. The guests are more than just their knowledge of the chosen topic and this lets their personalities shine and be more relatable to the many varied listeners.
Don’t change a thing about this podcast except maybe longer episodes or more frequent episodes because I just can’t get enough.
To everyone out there: Keep looking up.

I love this podcast, it has the perfect balance of mostly science with a little comedy and art thrown in. NDT, you are awesome and have the best explanations, always love hearing your take on everything. Chuck, you make me laugh, I feel like we are all on a journey to learn from NDT’s great wisdom and it’s refreshing to have you there asking questions like the rest of us.

It’s Neil Degrasse Tyson...AND Chuck Nice. The smart guy to funny guy juxtaposition breeds a unique and entertaining dynamic, coupled with audience interaction in Cosmic Queries installments StarTalk is truly a must listen. Already interesting topics made effortless to listen to with area experts that always seem to bring much needed details to the discussion. A staple podcast in anyone’s library!

I just listened to the episode with Stephen Dubner and it was one of the most cringeworthy listening experiences I’ve had. Stephen couldn’t get a word in and one could tell he was frustrated but was extremely polite and cordial. This is someone who has made their career interviewing and working in the audio medium who has vastly more experience than Neil. If you bring someone on who knows more about a subject or is an expert in a field let them speak. Interrupting is a commonality of this podcast, but this episode was sophomoric in its attempts at providing constructive insight as a result. It was even ironic when Stephen brought up interviewing vs writing an article where most of the time the INTERVIEWEE does the talking. I almost couldn’t get through this episode but did so because I wanted to see if it got better - it did not. I hope Neil can learn from this because over the years I think he has actually regressed as a host becoming more egotistical and disconnected rather than practiced and refined. Won’t be listening anymore.

So for a while, I have been very choosy in which Star Talk episodes I listen to. Chuck Nice isn’t always very nice to listen to, in fact he’s often a determining factor in if I turn an episode off or not. He and NDT sometimes fall into a very bro’s-club crass attitude or humor that I find very off-putting and sometimes outright offensive. In addition, they both have a habit of jumping in to make a “joke” in the middle of one of their guest’s explanation of something they asked about and completely detailing the science-based answer. It’s like nails on a chalkboard to listen to and you can tell when the guests are exasperated, sometimes seeming annoyed as they wait for the juvenile hilarity to stop enough to actually answer the question. Darn shame too, because I’m more interested in science with a touch of humor than locker room humor with a touch of science.

The last straw - in a time when *every other* news or science podcast I listen to is able to interview, produce, update and release an informative podcast about the novel coronavirus and covid-19, Star Talk releases a week old interview with only a “PSA” from NDT at the top saying “things are changing quickly, check with your local authorities, because I’ll probably have to do this PSA again next week, haha”. Why is it that other podcasts take the time to make sure their information is updated, even when the interviews are a week (or more!) old? Some of my favorite information podcasts have updated and rereleased older episodes with current information, so listening to this was like listening to one of those from 10 days ago. A ridiculous amount has changed in the week making listening to the covid-19 episode the lowest priority on my listening list right now, possibly making it a candidate for the deadly “swipe left - delete”.

ST, make a choice- if you are going to report on the coronavirus, up your game and figure out how to keep your podcast from being immediately outdated before you post it, or stick to longer-term science that we can use to explore (and escape) our other science podcasts that are able to keep up. Tip: since so many other good podcasts are keeping up with the news, maybe if you want to podcast about the novel coronavirus, reach out and share the publicity love by getting permission to rebroadcast someone else’s podcast. You already do it with PWS, so use that skill to your advantage with this.