Must Watch: An Out-of-Character Stephen Colbert Interviews Neil Degrasse Tyson

This is excellent. Back in 2010, an out-of-character Stephen Colbert sat down with astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson at Montclair University to talk for 90 minutes about science, society and the universe. Yesterday, the Hayden Planetarium posted the interview on its website for all to watch.

The interview starts a little more than 6 minutes in. Topics addressed include:

• Why there is something instead of nothing (in ten words or less)
• The ethics of man/animal hybrids
• The “complexity” of evolutionary processes versus the tenants of creationism
• Whether science is a thing, a way to look at the world, or both
• Lab-grown meat
• The plausibility of a multiverse
• The importance of promoting science literacy
• The latest discoveries in astrophysics, including Mars farts