Why people recommend it
Contact by Carl Sagan is a celebrated science fiction novel that chronicles humanity's first verified encounter with an extraterrestrial intelligence through the efforts of dedicated radio astronomer Ellie Arroway. The book was explored on StarTalk Radio, where Kip Thorne discussed its page proofs and scientific accuracy, and David Grinspoon noted how the novel maintains its mystery compared to the film adaptation. On The Joe Rogan Experience, Jim Norton critiqued the audiobook narration while discussing the broader themes with Joe Rogan. People I (Mostly) Admire featured Steve Levitt and guest Jill Tarter, who discussed how her own professional background and submitted reports closely mirrored the fictional heroine created by Sagan. Clara Sousa-Silva shared on the Lex Fridman Podcast that reading the book during childhood profoundly shaped her aspirations in space science. Additionally, on The Rubin Report, Jordan Belfort and Dave Rubin praised both the cinematic and literary versions of the story for questioning mass delusion and belief.
Who recommended it
- Dave Rubin Discussed
- Steve Levitt Discussed
- Neil deGrasse Tyson Discussed
- Joe Rogan Discussed
- Jim Norton Discussed
- Jill Tarter Discussed
- Clara Sousa-Silva Discussed
- Jordan Belfort Discussed
- Manolis Kellis Discussed
- Richard Dawkins Discussed
Dave Rubin — 3 mentions
Discussed
“Like I think one of the greatest movies is like 'Contact.' It's with Jodie Foster. It's just a great movie. - I love that Carl Sagan. Right, it's a great book, great movie.”
Discussed
“so we walked into another movie called Contact which I had never heard of remember that incredibly mind-blowing extended Panorama of the universe that opens the movie well it may sound corny but my world actually felt bigger after seeing that movie stoned I ended up reading many of the books by Carl Sean who was the author of contact”
Discussed
“so we we went and saw contact did you see contact yeah this is with u Foster and it was written it was Carl San's only fiction book”
Steve Levitt — 2 mentions
Discussed
“so back in the 1970s the famous the son where Carl Sagan wrote a novel called Contact in which the heroine was essentially a fictionalized version of you”
Discussed
“Back in the 1970s, the famous novel where Carl Sagan wrote was called "Contact," in which the heroine was essentially a fictionalized version of you.”
Neil deGrasse Tyson — 2 mentions
Discussed
“not only that in carl sagan's novel contact which then became a movie in the late 1990s because uh uh 2001 space august was 1968.”
Discussed
“Not only that in carl sagan's novel contact which then became a movie in the late 1990s”
Joe Rogan — 2 mentions
Discussed
“you've seen the movie contact maybe that's the old one right it's Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey it's a based on Carl Sagan's book about contact with space and with with aliens”
Discussed
“was she the Jodie Foster carries the Jodie Foster character yet in a contact, yeah, yeah”
Jim Norton — 1 mention
Discussed
“like in contact Carl wrote that I didn't like the book by the way I like the movie it's one of those cases where the movie is actually better than the really yeah I listened to the book on tape and just listen to a woman do male Russian accents it [ __ ] annoyed me and the J said”
Jill Tarter — 1 mention
Discussed
“I had mentioned this to Carl and given him a copy of that report many years before he wrote "Contact," and it turns out that I'm pretty prototypical of the female profile that came out of that report, and so I think that's what really drives home the truth.”
Clara Sousa-Silva — 1 mention
Discussed
“when i was little it was contact the book the carl sagan book i really thought i was just like ellie uh and i was going to become ali i really resonated with me that character and the notions of life and space in the universe”
Jordan Belfort — 1 mention
Discussed
“Like I think one of the greatest movies is like "Contact". It's with Jodie Foster. It's just a great movie. - I love that Carl Sagan. Right, it's a great book, great movie. And they ask that, "So you think that 95% of the population "is suffering from mass delusion?" (laughs) - And she says, I've asked the question. -”
Manolis Kellis — 1 mention
Discussed
“and you know again i mean the movie contact and the book is just so beautiful this whole concept of we don't need to travel physically we can travel as light we can send instructions for people to create machines that will allow us to beam down light and recreate ourselves”
Richard Dawkins — 1 mention
Discussed
“um another of his novels the um AA Andromeda which by the way the the the theme of that is taken up by Carl Sean science fiction novel another wonderful writer carlan contact where the idea is again we we will we will not be visited from Outer Space by physical bodies”
Mentioned on the show without a named speaker — 3
Discussed
“And he said that he wanted, uh, that he had written--he'd already written this book, the novel; it was already in page proofs, and he said, 'I've got this novel, it's in page proof; the publisher is not going to be happy if I change it!”
Discussed
“And that fact was preserved in his novel Contact when the screen version, at least, you don't see the aliens at all!”
Discussed
“on the other hand you've got Carl Sagan's contact where the signal was to build an apparatus you know again what's it going to do Oh it was to transport humans to them”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
- The Black Cloud
- 2001, a Space Odyssey
- A Manual for Creating Atheists
- Aurora
- Confessions of an Alien Hunter
- Counterfeit World
Other mentions (4: passing, ad reads, own books)
Passing
“it's aliens that's the [ __ ] that uh jodie foster was listening to in contact”
Passing
“if you've read the book contact written by Carl Sagan or seen the movie Jill was the inspiration for the hero played in the movie by Jody Foster”
Passing
“If you've read the book "Contact" written by Carl Sagan or seen the movie, Jill was the inspiration for the hero played in the movie by Jodie Foster.”
Passing
“After this short break, they'll return to talk about Jill's role in Carl Sagan's story, "Contact."”