--- title: Neil deGrasse Tyson Cosmos Video Post-Mortem Interview description: The host looks back on 13 weeks of science canonical: https://time.com/2853740/neil-degrasse-tyson-cosmos/ author: Diane Tsai article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-06-10T22:19:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T08:57:27.669Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Neil deGrasse Tyson Cosmos Video Post-Mortem Interview og:description: The host looks back on 13 weeks of science og:url: https://time.com/2853740/neil-degrasse-tyson-cosmos/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7329ca19b33a6339/6986970af983e7bf7504e580/neil_planets12b_dj1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 9520 og:image:height: 5355 og:image:alt: neil_planets12b_DJ1 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Neil deGrasse Tyson Cosmos Video Post-Mortem Interview twitter:description: The host looks back on 13 weeks of science twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7329ca19b33a6339/6986970af983e7bf7504e580/neil_planets12b_dj1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Neil deGrasse Tyson Looks Back at _Cosmos_ > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. ## Video: Neil deGrasse Tyson Looks Back at 'Cosmos' [Watch (HLS stream): Neil deGrasse Tyson Looks Back at 'Cosmos'](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/VSiGzSHL.m3u8) (3:21)  _Published 2014-06-10. Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson reflects on hosting the popular science show 'Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey'_ by [Diane Tsai](https://time.com/author/diane-tsai/) and [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/) Jun 10, 2014 10:19 PM UTC by [Diane Tsai](https://time.com/author/diane-tsai/) and [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/) Jun 10, 2014 10:19 PM UTC Sure, the galaxy is still here, but _Cosmos_ is over. The 13-episode reboot of the classic science docu-series came to a close on June 8, and the home video version is already available today, June 10\. Host and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson stopped by TIME’s studios to look back on what the show accomplished — and it was immediately clear that, even when the show’s cameras aren’t rolling, he’s still very much “on.” Asked to count to ten to check his microphone, he counted down instead, noting that, “In ‘the universe’ we count down, because that’s how you launch rockets. Counting up to a number is pointless.” Though the show had received[ a fair amount of attention](http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/05/cosmos-tyson-sagan-climate-change-episode) for its head-on approach to hot-button scientific topics like evolution and climate change, Tyson shrugged off any notion that those issues were “controversial.” They’re just science, he said, and there’s nothing controversial about them. “If you want to have a controversial conversation with people of different philosophical stripe from you, start with the science and then take it from there,” Tyson said. “Abraham Lincoln founded the National Academy of Sciences, tasked with advising the executive branch — the White House — and Congress on all the ways in which the discoveries of science may influence the running of the state, in an attempt to improve the health, the wealth and the security of all its residents. Lincoln was a Republican, last I checked. His brethren are not behaving consistent with his intent.” Instead, what viewers should be focusing on is the growing popularity of science. In the show’s finale, Tyson made the point that it’s important to expand the group of people who are involved in the sciences, and he says he’s optimistic about that happening. But don’t count on another _Cosmos_ to help it along any time soon. The original _Cosmos_ was 13 episodes, as is the more recent version, and Tyson says that it should be seen as more of a documentary than a normal TV show that comes in multiple seasons. Because the show tries to present a unified vision of our place within the universe, it’s not so easy to just create episodes that focus on different scientific topics — and that wouldn’t necessarily be a good thing anyway, since the content needs to be “digested” more than the average TV content does. “We’re all flattered that people are thinking \[about a Season 2\] but it’s not clear that this was the kind of content you want to rattle off one year after the next,” he says. “If some years down the line after my life has recovered, maybe. But I’d like science to be shared by all. If someone else came up and wanted to host it, I don’t have any ego invested in the visibility that hosting _Cosmos_ brought to me.” In the mean time, Tyson is looking forward to a vacation, and to returning to the academic and family roles that got “bulldozed” to make way for TV. Asking him whether he’d be up for another TV gig is, he says, like asking someone who just gave birth when she wants to have another kid. “I’ve never been female, but I’m imagining,” he says, “that that’s when you get punched in the face.” ## Transcript When we were asked often, who's your target audience, it was like everybody. What, am I not allowed to reach everybody? And, Drew even said anyone with a beating heart, and I wanted to add, well do zombies have a beating heart, I want to reach them too. Cosmos in 13 episodes covered a lot of the universe. And consistent with the original, Cosmos is a statement. Not only of what we know of the universe, but also what we know of our place within the universe. That's what enables people to take it to heart. That's why it sits differently in you. Science has been ascending. I'd go so far as to say, it's been trending. And how do you trend? You trend not because there's one vocal supporter of something. You trend. When you become embraced by popular culture. And so, this gives me great expectation that science can be something that is not debated by politicians. But is respected by politicians so that they can shape the next thing they debate. Informed by that scientific discovery. That's the world we should be living in. And that's the, not the world we're in now. So I see maybe there's a time delay there, but I see it happening. Gives me great pleasure to know that I participated in some small way in making that sea change. [ MUSIC ] If all you do is present scientifically determined truths, if you want to say it's controversial in your own circles, go ahead. But it's not controversial to any of us [ LAUGH ]. So, so, people say, oh you're tackling controver, no, we're tackling science. It's what experiment and observation has revealed about the natural world. I have a deep sense of relief [ LAUGH ] that the very last episode has aired. All of the effort required to make the 13 episodes. And then, the anticipation each week of an episode airing. And all the tweeting that was around it and the media. Maybe I'm delusional, but I'm thinking that my life can return to normal after this [ LAUGH ]. Except now that, now five times as many people are recognizing me on the street. So that's less normal. But I can duck into a car and then go back home. Then I can be dad and husband again. We didn't touch the inner mind, the human mind, consciousness, intelligence. We didn't really address that. We didn't address what aliens might be like. And, by the way, these are only topics we would address if it somehow gave us insight back to ourselves. Otherwise, it's kind of a one off and it would just be a fun excursion, but it wouldn't be Cosmonian. 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