Star Talk Radio

Rating:  320 Degrees (Out of 360)

​Neil deGrasse Tyson is an amazing educator.  He is able to spin the edges of theory into bit sized chunks in a way laymen can understand.  I enjoy that he is quite topical and knows how to laugh and spin a few jokes.  The show is well balanced with a comedian cohost and usually an additional guest who's an expert on that shows subject.

​Dr. Tyson is an astrophysicist, so a majority of the topics covered deal with space, exploration, NASA and the like, but he'll sprinkle in an episode on superheroes  or global warming or other interviews (like with Elon Musk).

​My only criticisms of this podcast are sometimes he speaks about subjects he's not really an expert in, but states things as if he knows them to be true.  He does try to disclaim when he's out of his depth, but many times he doesn't.  Particularly when discussing diet or nutrition and many times he proclaims the "cow farts" are a primary driver of methane release causing climate change (fyi, a majority of cow methane is produced by cow burps not farts) but regardless, in the last ~150 years the US cattle population grew from about 40 million to 90 million, a 50 million cow increase.  However, if you look at the total population of large herbivores, the buffalo population has dropped from 60 million to under a million (over the last 200 years).  So the net change in large herbivore populations has gone down.  Plus, if you look at ranching practices of places like the Savory institute, then you see a net decrease in atmospheric carbon when properly pastured.

​I digress, I enjoy learning from this well educated entertaining astrophysicist.  I highly recommend this show!

http://www.startalkradio.net/
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_bison
https://www.nass.usda.gov/Charts_and_Maps/Cattle/inv.php