National Geographic Announces New Season of Emmy®-Nominated Series StarTalk with Neil deGrasse Tyson

Guests Include “Hidden Figures” Star Janelle Monáe and Director Ted
Melfi, Cyclist Lance Armstrong, Basketball Legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
and Conservationist Fabien Cousteau

AUSTIN, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)–National Geographic’s two-time Emmy^®-nominated series StarTalk
with Neil deGrasse Tyson (#StarTalkTV) will return this fall with 20
all-new episodes. This was announced today at the Nat Geo Further Base
Camp at SXSW where astrophysicist and StarTalk host Neil
deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson)
sat down with Ron Howard (@realRonHoward),
executive producer and director of National Geographic’s upcoming
scripted series Genius, for a special StarTalk podcast
interview. View a photo HERE.
StarTalk airs on National Geographic around the world in 171
countries in 45 languages and in Spanish on Nat Geo Mundo.

StarTalk, the hourlong, weekly science-driven talk show series,
is derived from Tyson’s popular podcast of the same name. Each
television episode features an intimate interview between Tyson and a
guest hewn from pop culture, politics or news, discussing how science
and technology have affected their lives and careers. The new season
will include “Hidden Figures” star Janelle Monáe and director Ted
Melfi, cyclist Lance Armstrong, basketball legend Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar and conservationist Fabien Cousteau.

“At National Geographic we believe in the power of science and embracing
curiosity,” said Tim Pastore, National Geographic’s president of
original programming and production. “StarTalk and Neil
deGrasse Tyson not only make science accessible, but they make
science fun and relevant, and we look forward to another engaging
season.”

“From actors to entertainers, from politicians to performers, and from
artists to athletes, our guests have two things in common: They are
drawn from pop culture, and science has profoundly touched their lives,”
said Tyson. “And in many cases, StarTalk provides a comfortable space
for pop culture icons to lay bare an inner geek that you never knew they
had.”

In addition to the centerpiece interview, the show also features a panel
of comedians and experts who analyze the conversation in front of a
studio audience at the American Museum of Natural History’s Rose Center
for Earth and Space in New York City — where Tyson serves as the
Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium. Regular comedian
co-hosts include Eugene Mirman, Chuck Nice and Maeve Higgins.
Occasionally, Tyson calls on his friend Bill Nye the Science Guy to
weigh in on the week’s theme, while other influencers across pop culture
and science join via live video.

Past StarTalk guests include Academy Award winner Whoopi
Goldberg, astronaut Buzz Aldrin, President Bill Clinton,
former U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, actor and director Ben
Stiller, U.S. Soccer Team goalie Hope Solo, actor William
Shatner, comedian and talk show host Bill Maher, writer and
producer Seth MacFarlane and SETI astrophysicist Jill Tarter.

“StarTalk: Everything You Ever Need to Know About Space Travel, Sci-Fi,
the Human Race, the Universe, and Beyond” is the show companion book
from NatGeo Books and is available wherever books are sold.

StarTalk is produced by Curved Light Productions and National
Geographic Studios for National Geographic. For Curved Light
Productions, executive producers are Neil deGrasse Tyson and Helen
Matsos. For National Geographic Studios, executive producers are Brian
Lovett and Drew Pulley, and executive vice president of production and
development is Jeff Hasler. For National Geographic, executive producer
is Betsy Forhan and president of original programming and production is
Tim Pastore.

For more information, visit our press room at www.natgeotvpressroom.com
and follow @NGC_PR
on Twitter.

National Geographic:

National Geographic Partners LLC (NGP), a joint venture between National
Geographic and 21st Century Fox, is committed to bringing the world
premium science, adventure and exploration content across an unrivaled
portfolio of media assets. NGP combines the global National Geographic
television channels (National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo WILD, Nat Geo
MUNDO, Nat Geo PEOPLE) with National Geographic’s media and
consumer-oriented assets, including National Geographic magazines;
National Geographic studios; related digital and social media platforms;
books; maps; children’s media; and ancillary activities that include
travel, global experiences and events, archival sales, licensing and
e-commerce businesses. Furthering knowledge and understanding of our
world has been the core purpose of National Geographic for 128 years,
and now we are committed to going deeper, pushing boundaries, going
further for our consumers … and reaching over 730 million people around
the world in 172 countries and 43 languages every month as we do it. NGP
returns 27 percent of our proceeds to the nonprofit National Geographic
Society to fund work in the areas of science, exploration, conservation
and education. For more information visit natgeotv.com or
nationalgeographic.com, or find us on Facebook,
Twitter,
Instagram,
Google+,
YouTube,
LinkedIn
and Pinterest.

StarTalk Radio:

Science, pop culture & comedy collide on StarTalk’s podcast network!
Neil deGrasse Tyson, his fellow science educators including Bill Nye,
comic co-hosts & guests bring the universe down to Earth in StarTalk
Radio, StarTalk All-Stars & StarTalk
Playing with Science. Now in its eighth season, the StarTalk
Radio podcast has more than 3 million downloads per month, and
the two-time Emmy nominated National Geographic Channel TV show based on
the podcast is about to start its fourth season. StarTalk All-Stars,
currently in its second season, features a revolving slate of scientist
and science educator hosts. The network’s newest podcast, StarTalk
Playing with Science, hosted by professional British soccer
player and sports broadcaster Gary O’Reilly and fan favorite StarTalk
co-host Chuck Nice, explores the science behind the most iconic moments
in sports with guests including pro athletes, coaches, sports experts,
and scientists. Each StarTalk network podcast is available on iTunes
Podcasts, Google Play Music, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and TuneIn. StarTalk
Radio and StarTalk All-Stars are also carried on
SiriusXM Insight Channel 121. For more information and to listen to all
of our shows, visit www.startalkradio.net.
Keep Looking Up!

American Museum of Natural History:

American Museum of Natural History, founded in 1869, is one of the
world’s preeminent scientific, educational and cultural institutions.
The museum encompasses 45 permanent exhibition halls, including the Rose
Center for Earth and Space and the Hayden Planetarium, where Dr. Neil
deGrasse Tyson serves as the Frederick P. Rose Director, as well as
galleries for temporary exhibitions. It is home to the Theodore
Roosevelt Memorial, New York State’s official memorial to its 33rd
governor and the nation’s 26th president, and a tribute to Roosevelt’s
enduring legacy of conservation. The museum’s five active research
divisions and three cross-disciplinary centers support 200 scientists,
whose work draws on a world-class permanent collection of more than 33
million specimens and artifacts, as well as specialized collections for
frozen tissue and genomic and astrophysical data, and one of the largest
natural history libraries in the world. Through its Richard Gilder
Graduate School, it is the only American museum authorized to grant the
Ph.D. degree and the master of arts in teaching degree. Annual
attendance has grown to approximately 5 million, and the museum’s
exhibitions and space shows can be seen in venues on five continents.
The museum’s website and collection of apps for mobile devices extend
its collections, exhibitions and educational programs to millions more
beyond its walls. Visit amnh.org for more information.

Contacts

Media:
National Geographic
Julie
Frazier, 212-656-0714
Julie.frazier@natgeo.com
or
Aubrey
Siegel, 646-762-8702
aubrey@beckmedia.com