Down to Earth Pop culture helps astrophysicist make complicated topics, ideas understandable By: Eva Wasney Posted: 5:51 PM CST Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025

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This article was published 02/12/2025 (246 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson is set to land in Winnipeg Friday equipped with pop-culture references and insights into humanity’s biggest scientific question: are we alone in the universe?

“There’s a lot of effort by NASA to try to find life of any kind in the universe, which if we did, would completely transform biology and would force us to rethink, maybe for the first time, what our place is in the universe,” deGrasse Tyson says over a video call from his home in New York City.

His hands are stained with ink after a morning spent responding to fan mail. There’s a collection of fountain pens on his desk, including a novel one made from an ostrich feather. A painting of van Gogh’s Starry Night hangs in the background.

The scientist, author, television host and podcaster has achieved global stardom for his ability to bring complex ideas down to Earth — often with the help of mainstream entertainment.

It’s something deGrasse Tyson learned early on during conversations with the general public about his work as an astrophysicist.

Unsurprisingly, he applied the scientific method when answering questions about black holes, the Big Bang and Pluto.

“I would monitor their non-verbal communication or their body language as I would give explanations. If they smiled, if they found something humorous, they’d come back for more. If I attached it to something they already know very well, they’re more likely to remember it, and that’s where pop culture comes in,” he says.

Despite having little personal interest in pop music, prime-time television or the Super Bowl, for example, deGrasse Tyson spends a “stupid, crazy fraction,” of his life familiarizing himself with what people are watching, listening to or reading.

“I think of it as entirely for its utility that awareness makes for a more potent educational experience,” says the director of the Hayden Planetarium and former host of NOVA ScienceNow on PBS.

While discussing his talk in Winnipeg, titled The Search for Life in the Universe, deGrasse Tyson points to the original Star Trek series as an example of common misconceptions — which he says he also held at one point — about the fragile atmospheric conditions needed for life to take hold.

In the 1960s show, William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy are seen beaming down to rocky planets sans spacesuit.

“You wouldn’t see vibrant trees or algae or anything else that would be producing oxygen, so I was left thinking, let’s just look at enough planets and one of them is going to be right for us as though it’s just some random combination of gases, but it’s not random,” he says.

The way science is depicted in science fiction is a favourite topic on deGrasse Tyson’s podcast, StarTalk. In it, he and his guests discuss the good and bad science that exists in Hollywood, such as the gravitational improbability of Sandra Bullock’s bangs in Gravity or the “silly” biology on display in Jurassic Park.

A surprisingly accurate movie moment? The opening scene of Frozen, when the ice harvesters are collecting blocks from a frozen lake.

“One thing that is accurately portrayed is how much the ice is sticking out of the water, somebody knew that and put it into the script,” deGrasse Tyson says.

“The fact that misinformation or disinformation or just blunt ignorance is also platformed on social media, makes it hard for a person to know what’s true and what’s not.”

Accuracy also extends to his mission as a science communicator in the age of the internet and AI-generated content. While he enjoys being able to reach a wide audience on social media, he’s keenly aware of the ways bad online information can impact human curiosity and the public’s understanding of reality.

“The fact that misinformation or disinformation or just blunt ignorance is also platformed on social media, makes it hard for a person to know what’s true and what’s not,” says deGrasse Tyson, who has been the subject of AI deepfakes, including a recent video in which his likeness was used to support the conspiracy theory that claims the Earth is flat.

In response, he digs into the pitfalls of deepfakes in a new StarTalk episode, entitled It’s Getting Harder to Know What’s Real.

“Scamming is not new to the internet, ”deGrasse Tyson says in the video podcast. “But with AI participating in this exercise in the hands of the nefarious few, it’s taken to another level.”

winnipegfreepress.com/evawasney

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