rgower

Hey Neil,

I created The Sagan Series and recently began public speaking (including a recent talk at NASA!).

When I started I had no experience, but I looked to you for inspiration. I also took up a huge interest in standup comedy as a stage performance art. In a recent talk you gave, you mentioned a similar love for standup comedy. A few questions.

1) Who are your favourite working comedians?

2) What do you think "stand-up science communicators" can learn from them?

Neil, creator of The Sagan Series here. This post isn't really a question but I hope it gets seen.

I literally just yesterday did a TEDx talk (my first time public speaking) about The Sagan Series and Carl Sagan's impact on my life. I was horribly nervous but while I was backstage pacing about, I thought to myself how important Sagan's message is compared to my momentary timidness. Slowly my nerves melted away, and the talk went swimmingly.

I've always felt immense responsibility "speaking on his behalf" and I suspect you've felt similarly with your reimagining of Cosmos. It's a lot to live up to, and I just wanted you to know that if you or your production team think I can help in any way, please let me know. Promoting science in the public eye with media has consumed my entire life lately, and I absolutely love doing it. I even branched out recently with The Feynman Series. Don't for a second think I haven't considered the idea of a Tyson series. Your words for science are too passionately infectious to go underappreciated.

A very sincere,

Reid Gower

Hey Chris,

I created The Sagan Series in an attempt to use social media to promote science and space exploration.

Since you have an appreciation for the power of social media, I have a lofty idea for a viral video I'd like run by you.

It's a viral video designed to send humans to Mars, soon.

I know it sounds crazy, but I think I have a way to make it work. I would need people like yourself, Bill Nye, Neil Degrasse Tyson, and other major figures in the space industry to be interviewed for it to work. But we're still in extremely preliminary stages and our first step is to seek interest in the people necessary to make this happen. Are you interested? How/who should I contact?

Yes.

As far as I know the talks have to go through a video editing process, so it might be days-weeks before it's uploaded. I'll be posting it to The Sagan Series fanpage if you're still interested down the road.