Neil deGrasse Tyson is one of the most well-known scientists on the planet. In addition to authoring numerous books, he hosts the wildly popular podcast, StarTalk, and has helped revive the epic TV series Cosmos that originated with Carl Sagan, whom he met when he was in high school. Neil is also the director of the world-renowned Hayden Planetarium, part of the Rose Center for Earth and Space that he helped launch at the American Museum of Natural History in his hometown of New York City. In this episode of Your Hometown, we turn a giant lens on the galaxy of Neil’s childhood to explore the origins of his mission to make science fun and intelligible to the public. What inspired him as a kid growing up in the Riverdale section of the Bronx in an apartment complex called, of all things, the Skyview? What were the forces that propelled him, and what were the barriers he had to push through to achieve his dreams?

Your Hometown is a show where the local is the epic. Visit yourhometown.org to subscribe to the podcast and our various social media channels.

Our co-presenter this season is the Museum of the City of New York. For more, including information on live events, check out our NYC series page at mcny.org/yourhometown-podcast.

Show Notes

Music

Theme from “Head of The Class” (1986)

Christopher Cross - “Arthur’s Theme” (1981)

Gladys Gooding - V-Disc 741 (1947)

Archival

Intro to “Startalk Podcast: Cosmic Queries Galactic Grab Bag” (2021)

Cosmos: Possible Worlds Official Trailer (2018)

Clip from "Dark Universe" | Hayden Planetarium (2014)

“Watch the moment men first landed on the moon” – CBS News Coverage of 1969 Moon Landing

“President Johnson Opens New York's World Fair 1964” - (2014)

“Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York City” - (2014)

“2015 West Indian Parade” - (2015)

WABC Music Radio 77: Chuck Leonard reports on the Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (April 4 1968) - (2011)

Opening scene of Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

Opening scene of Escape from New York (1981)

Illustration

Nick Gregg

Poem

Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself,” Part 52, Leaves of Grass (1855)

“I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love,
If you want me again look for me under your boot-soles.

“You will hardly know who I am or what I mean,
But I shall be good health to you nevertheless,
And filter and fibre your blood

“Failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged,
Missing me one place search another,
I stop somewhere waiting for you.”

Suggested Reading

The Sky Is Not the Limit: Adventures of an Urban Astrophysicist, Letters from an Astrophysicist, Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, Cosmic Queries: StarTalk's Guide to Who We Are, How We Got Here, and Where We're Going.