William Shatner and Neil deGrasse Tyson invite you into their legendary bromance

I try to keep my cool and maintain professionalism as a radio host, but as I prepared questions for William Shatner and Neil deGrasse Tyson while sipping coffee from my Star Trek mug — and gazing at my copy of Astrophysics for People in a Hurry — I realized that would be a challenge.

So, I decided to third-wheel their legendary bromance as my approach to the interview. I have no regrets.

A serendipitous friendship

Shatner and deGrasse Tyson are an unexpected pairing that makes total sense when you see them together.

These two giant personalities have met their match in one another, and they love it.

They had crossed paths before, on a cruise to the Antarctic where they were put on stage as the night’s entertainment. It only deepened their connection

Their love of conversing quickly resulted in an audiobook. Cosmos Confidential: Bill & Neil's Excellent Bromance and the touring live show, “The Universe is Absurd!” coming to L.A. this month.

Despite contrasting careers, and a more than two-decade age difference, commonalities bond them like commiserating on being thrust into sudden fame. But their camaraderie seems to go deeper with a shared sense of curiosity and passion for discourse.

Referring to the lengthy recording time of “Cosmos Confidential,” Shatner spoke highly of his time spent with deGrasse Tyson.

“We were required to spend some 20 hours talking to each other to make this book and in that discovery, I fell in love with Neil deGrasse Tyson,” Shatner said. “He's the most remarkable man and some peccadilloes are worth examining for a more lengthy time.”

Turning to deGrasse Tyson he remarked, “You are unique in many ways.”

Like puzzle pieces, they fit well together — Shatner, an eternal student and deGrasse Tyson, an innate teacher.

“William Shatner has the curiosity of a middle school kid who's just discovering the world,” said deGrasse Tyson. “Except this curiosity, he's retained his entire fricking life. So, as an educator, I bask in the curiosity of others who have questions about the universe.”

They don’t stick just to the cosmos, though. Shatner and deGrasse Tyson like to also get personal entertaining topics from the abstract and spiritual, to the tangible and scientific.

An open debate and a dose of optimism 

The most refreshing thing about Shatner and DeGrasse Tyson’s dynamic may be their ability to joyfully challenge and disagree, gleefully ribbing one another in a free-flowing back and forth..

Another breath of fresh air is their shared hopefulness for the world.

Shatner, who has actually seen our planet from orbit, is inspired by the Earth itself despite threats to the environment.

“How quickly nature heals itself from the defamation of human beings,” he said. “I say, get out of the way, let nature take over and human beings sit back for a moment.”

Meanwhile, deGrasse Tyson described himself as an “optimistic realist” and offered an endorsement for the pay-it-forward philosophy.  

“When you pay it back, it closes off that good deed from the universe,” he said. “Whereas if we pay it forward, they become tributaries of good deeds that move through society and through civilization where everybody will be doing good things for other people. And this is a future that I wanna move towards.”

"The Universe Is Absurd" live show

Shatner and deGrasse Tyson promise entirely different shows when they take the stage in Beverly Hills for two nights of discussions.

Event details: 
The Universe Is Absurd!
May 19 and 20 at 7:30 pm
Saban Theater, Beverly Hills
Tickets here