#78 – Ann Druyan: Cosmos, Carl Sagan, Voyager, and the Beauty of Science

Ann Druyan is the writer, producer, director, and one of the most important and impactful communicators of science in our time. She co-wrote the 1980 science documentary series Cosmos hosted by Carl Sagan, whom she married in 1981, and her love for whom, with the help of NASA, was recorded as brain waves on a golden record along with other things our civilization has to offer and launched into space on the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft that are now, 42 years later, still active, reaching out farther into deep space than any human-made object ever has. This was a profound and beautiful decision she made as a Creative Director of NASA’s Voyager Interstellar Message Project.

EPISODE LINKS:
Cosmos Twitter: https://twitter.com/COSMOSonTV
Cosmos Website: https://fox.tv/CosmosOnTV

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Here’s the outline of the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.

OUTLINE:
00:00 – Introduction
03:24 – Role of science in society
07:04 – Love and science
09:07 – Skepticism in science
14:15 – Voyager, Carl Sagan, and the Golden Record
36:41 – Cosmos
53:22 – Existential threats
1:00:36 – Origin of life
1:04:22 – Mortality