Last night, my Close Personal Friend Seth Shostak was on the Colbert Report! I think he did a good job, too. See for yourself:
| The Colbert Report | Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Seth Shostak | ||||
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[Edited to add: a Spanish translation is available, too. Thanks to mi amiga Lourdes Cahuich for that link.]
Colbert is amazing; that little speech about the size and age of the Universe rocked. Seth comported himself well, too, but I knew he would. Seth’s a funny guy, and quick on his feet. That’s perfect for Colbert’s show. If you ever get a chance to see a talk by Seth, grab it. He’s great.
And hmmmm… Seth’s book was on the show. I got an advance copy a few months ago and was asked to write a blurb for it (you know, the quotes on the back cover that say things like, "This is the greatest book in the world, and I’m not just saying that so I can see my name on a blurb on the back of a book."). I wrote a brilliant blurb (natch) but for some reason the publisher didn’t put any blurbs on the back cover! So, once again, we see my attempts to be on Colbert’s show in any way have been thwarted.
CURSE YOU STEPHEN COLBERT!
May 21st, 2009 at 12:48 pm
Phil, maybe Seth can now get you tickets to the show!
May 21st, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Very funny.
May 21st, 2009 at 12:53 pm
Why don’t you start a campaign, like Colbert himself has, to get all your minions to request they ask you on as a guest? It’s the perfect entree to the Colbert Nation – pull a stunt just like the ones he pulls to get attention.
You could even make a little video challenging Colbert to a battle of wits or something. You have this fancy blog with all its readership – put them to use. It’s the American way to exploit your audience for personal gain.
May 21st, 2009 at 12:54 pm
You would think that “Death From The Skies!” would be ideal for Colbert.
May 21st, 2009 at 1:04 pm
Wonderful interview. It’s always great to hear Seth speak.
Perhaps Colbert’s worried you’ll outwit him, Phil.
May 21st, 2009 at 1:12 pm
Phil, with the battle raging on yesterday’s Seth Shostak post comments over the merits of SETI as a worthwhile scientific venture, would you care to comment on where you stand on the issue?
May 21st, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Let the campaign begin:
“Mr. Colbert, we vote you rename your show the “Colbert and Platt Report.”
That’ll shake him.
May 21st, 2009 at 1:28 pm
Thoroughly enjoyable interview.
I got the impression Colbert was in reality so fascinated by the subject that he was a little out of character compared to some of the other scientists I’ve seen interviewed.
May 21st, 2009 at 1:29 pm
@!astralProjectile
Why are we trying to get Oliver Platt on the show?
May 21st, 2009 at 1:31 pm
http://www.creationastronomy.com/preview/
creationist astronomy? what the eff?
May 21st, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Yeah, Phil. What aren’t you telling us about astronomy that the above site is?
May 21st, 2009 at 1:42 pm
What’s up with his hair? Did he comb it or something yesterday? That’s not the Seth I know
May 21st, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Having watched a few minutes of the sample videos, the presenter uses one argument over and over again:
1) Astronomers propose a theory about the evolution of the solar system
2) A batch of science data obtained via telescopes and space missions doesn’t fit the theory
3) Therefore evolution is wrong
4) Therefore Goddidit!
Q.E.D.
And when you see quotes about planetary evolution from 1992 (ancient history in this field), you know the person using them isn’t interested in giving an honest presentation of the facts.
May 21st, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Here is the link for us Canuckastanis
http://watch.thecomedynetwork.ca/the-colbert-report/full-episodes/may-20-2009/#clip173506
However, my script blocker will not allow me to watch the thing
May 21st, 2009 at 2:13 pm
Jules, have no fear. Youtube link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xKy0Jz8hOI
May 21st, 2009 at 2:27 pm
Now you need you to do an impression of Kirk yelling “KHANN!!”
but instead “COLBERT!!”.
May 21st, 2009 at 2:48 pm
15. Davidlpf Says:
Now you need you to do an impression of Kirk yelling “KHANN!!”
but instead “COLBERT!!”.
Imagine SC screaming “PLAIT!!!” (Must be 3 exclamation points)
J/P=?
May 21st, 2009 at 2:51 pm
Will this do?
http://www.picvalley.net/v.php?p=u/1883/1531987017122194979712429390446eEr8iZMb8xDP6L3bZD7.JPG
May 21st, 2009 at 2:56 pm
I’ve been at the Colbert Report 3 times. It’s in the old Daily Show studio. The first time we were in the front row. The warm up guy was doing a humorous Q&A thing and asked me if I was multicultural. I answered I was multi whatever. He said “Oooohh very snarky… you may touch the desk.” So I got to go up and touch his desk. Well actually I hugged it.
May 21st, 2009 at 2:59 pm
@dan2 Thank you!!!
May 21st, 2009 at 3:02 pm
So Bob you acheived by accident what Phil can no do on purpose.
May 21st, 2009 at 3:09 pm
Phil, when I do my Colbert Report appearance, I’ll put in a good word for ya.
May 21st, 2009 at 3:20 pm
sorry suppose to be “what Phil can not do on purpose”.
May 21st, 2009 at 3:25 pm
Kinda annoying this Colbert…trying to get at all cost more attention than Seth? Terrible interviewer!
May 21st, 2009 at 3:28 pm
“Sometimes things with arms and legs don’t think either.”
So he has met a creationist.
May 21st, 2009 at 3:42 pm
They are rebooting “Dead like me.” Episode 1 titled “Colbert, Death from the Skies!”
May 21st, 2009 at 3:43 pm
Savino, that’s just his “schtick” … he’s actually pretty brilliant (case in point, watch his speech at the 2006 white house press orrespondent’s dinner).
Vern …. I got the exact same impression! I rarely see him so enthused towards his interviewee. It was kind of cute
May 21st, 2009 at 3:48 pm
The Colbert treatment is one thing, but will Seth get the Colbert bump? Will it translate to the detection of an alien signal? (We’d never hear the end of it from Colbert.)
May 21st, 2009 at 4:02 pm
When I first bought a copy of Seth’s book from Barnes and Noble, it was being stocked in the “New Age” section at the (imho incorrect) recommendation of the publisher.
May 21st, 2009 at 4:14 pm
Speaking of Colbert – has the new toilet on the ISS been named after him yet?
May 21st, 2009 at 4:45 pm
“Speaking of Colbert – has the new toilet on the ISS been named after him yet?”
They named the treadmill after him.
May 21st, 2009 at 5:00 pm
I can live with that
May 21st, 2009 at 5:23 pm
30. MadScientist Says:
Speaking of Colbert – has the new toilet on the ISS been named after him yet?
Nope, a treadmill….
“The Combined Operational Load-Bearing External Resistive Treadmill, the COLBERT.”
Apparently, he/it is ready to go: link
J/P=?
wow… editing!
May 21st, 2009 at 5:44 pm
Maybe I’ve watched too many Parkinson shows, but I prefer an interviewer to ask questions and then let the interviewee answer them! I’d rather listen to what Seth has to say than to Colbert showing how clever & funny he is. It was very disappointing.
May 21st, 2009 at 6:12 pm
That’s the nature of the show, bassmanpete. Hopefully Shostak will be on something like Charlie Rose at some point (not that Rose is that good at letting his guests talk, at times).
Colbert is first and foremost a comedy show, and with an interview being only about 5 minutes long anyway, there really is no time to go into any depth, even if he reined in the jokes and one-liners.
May 21st, 2009 at 8:42 pm
Thanks Tacitus. Being in Australia I’m only familiar with Colbert from the mentions he gets on blogs like this one. Obviously then, Seth was only on the show to promote his book and didn’t expect to get to say anything meaningful!
May 22nd, 2009 at 1:30 am
Kudos to Colbert for having some perspective on the Universe. He even correctly cited the spectral class of the sun.
May 22nd, 2009 at 8:29 am
Phil, you need to stop asking to be on Colbert’s show so much.
Only then will you get to be on it.
Any good Buddhist will tell you that when you stop desiring something, then you will receive that which you desired.
The Cosmos just works that way – probably something at the quantum level.
May 22nd, 2009 at 9:06 am
Wait ‘WinterSolsticeMan’ – does that mean that once I no longer desire my wife to be both slavish and insatiable – that only then will it come to pass?
I’m skeptical.
May 22nd, 2009 at 11:05 am
WinterSolsticeMan, that seems to be the opposite of the (dubious) Law of Attraction which also seems to base some of its arguements on quantum mechanics.
But yeah Phil, maybe if you just ignore Colbert, he’ll ask you.
May 22nd, 2009 at 11:23 am
It’s always fun to see astronomy and cosmology, and this was fun too!
The only thing that Shostak said that didn’t ring true was in the end, when he assumed that AIs don’t need to be “embodified” to nick from Phil’s cromulent expression. There is AFAIU reasons to believe that the only intelligences we know of, biological, emerges from the whole system. For example, to be able to control walk, and understand walking, you need to have legs, etcetera.
Even the first neuron-nets that showed spontaneous symbolic thinking (I believe I linked to them a few days ago) were modeled on, and dependent on, the hardware of the cortex.
Now I’m pretty sure that you can achieve the similar function by simulating most or all of the hardware. For example, develop walking in truthful 3D world simulations. Or possibly by migrating the hardware dependent parts of the system into software. (Ideally, it learns itself how to do that.) But it will take some doing to get there, and it isn’t demonstrated as opposed to intelligence itself.
May 22nd, 2009 at 1:10 pm
I missed Colbert, but found Shostak’s book to be a good read. My question is that in the range he gave of 10K to 100K potential locations for intelligience in the galaxy what’s the liklihood that any are sufficiently contemporary that we could possibly communicate with them? In an umpteen billion year old galaxy will a signal we get from 5 or 10 thousand years ago be relevant. “Death From the Skies” implies we’re not the only ones that are likely to go extinct at any time. Physics seems to preclude a realistic way to do it. It’ll take a lot of patience and it’s hard to be that patient with the life spans we have.
May 22nd, 2009 at 2:02 pm
Bob From Easton:
You merely hugged the desk??? I would have at the very least licked it!
I’ve seen many interviews with Dr. Shostak, and he is an amazingly brilliant guy, with an great sense of humor!
BTW, did you all know that Phil apparently wrote a book? It’s got a pretty picture of the Sun on the cover. I finally got around to ordering mine from the local bookstore yesterday! Should be in my grubby little paws early next week!
Phil, is there any way to upload the video clips like this so that those in Canada can watch without having to sign into the Canadian Comedy Network website?
May 22nd, 2009 at 6:43 pm
People with slow connections say “BOOOOO!” to video players that don’t buffer while paused.
May 23rd, 2009 at 9:08 am
With all do respect to Dr. Plait, Stephen Colbert ++.
May 23rd, 2009 at 7:40 pm
Here’s the show of Seth on Colbert Report with English transcript and Spanish subtitles
1st part:
http://dotsub.com/view/8bf010ce-8460-42dd-98b6-c0be6ae4ccf4
2nd part:
http://dotsub.com/view/8790bb5e-497d-452a-af7b-16f9c76c1dad
3rd part:
http://dotsub.com/view/91c035f3-036b-461e-816c-72e019a273f1
May 24th, 2009 at 5:31 am
Great interview. Seth Rocks!