Book · 1985 · Exploration
Contact
Contact by Carl Sagan has been mentioned in 12 episodes across 5 podcasts (0 episodes recommend it and 12 episodes discuss it), through . Most frequently brought up by Neil deGrasse Tyson (4 episodes), Clara Sousa-Silva (1 episode) and Jill Tarter (1 episode) on StarTalk Radio (6 episodes), Lex Fridman Podcast (3 episodes) and Modern Wisdom (1 episode).
- episodes
- 12
- podcasts
- 5
- people
- 8
- episodes recommend it
- 0
When I was little, it was Contact the book, the Carl Sagan book. I really thought I was just like Ellie, and I was going to become ali. I really resonated with me, that character and the notions of life and space in the universe.
Questions about Contact by Carl Sagan
Who has discussed Contact by Carl Sagan on podcasts?
No speaker in our archive has explicitly recommended Contact by Carl Sagan; Neil deGrasse Tyson (4 episodes), Clara Sousa-Silva (1 episode), Jill Tarter (1 episode), Jim Norton (1 episode) and Kip Thorne (1 episode) have discussed it across 5 podcasts (8 people in all).
Which podcasts mention Contact the most?
StarTalk Radio (6 episodes), Lex Fridman Podcast (3 episodes), Modern Wisdom (1 episode), People I (Mostly) Admire (1 episode) and The Joe Rogan Experience (1 episode).
Is Contact recommended, or only discussed?
Contact by Carl Sagan was recommended in 0 episodes and discussed without a recommendation in 12 episodes, as of 2026-05-05.
What do people say about Contact?
Clara Sousa-Silva on Lex Fridman Podcast (2021-06-28): "When I was little, it was Contact the book, the Carl Sagan book. I really thought I was just like Ellie, and I was going to become ali. I really resonated with me, that character and the notions of life and space in the universe."
When was Contact last mentioned on a podcast?
Contact by Carl Sagan was last discussed on StarTalk Radio by Neil deGrasse Tyson on 2026-05-05.
What they say about it
- Adaptation into film“became a movie in the late 1990s”4
- Fictional heroine inspiration“fictionalized version of you”3
- Movie versus book preference“movie is actually better”2
The best things said about it
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.
More work done on wormholes especially inspired by Carl Sagan's novel Contact when he was buds with Kip Thorne, a relativist physicist, astrophysicist at Caltech.
Neil deGrasse Tyson StarTalk Radio · Aug 2023 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.
Carl Sagan had prime numbers in the original Contact novel, where they were embedded in the signals.
Neil deGrasse Tyson StarTalk Radio · May 2026 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.
Steve Levitt People I (Mostly) Admire · Jun 2022 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.
Where and when it comes up
How it comes up
Most episodes, by podcast
8 people who brought it up
Why people recommend it
Contact by Carl Sagan is a classic science fiction novel exploring humanity's first encounter with extraterrestrial intelligence and the intersection of science, faith, and cosmic mystery. On StarTalk Radio, Neil deGrasse Tyson frequently referenced the novel, noting how Carl Sagan incorporated prime numbers into alien signals and utilized radio waves as the optimal bandwidth for searching the cosmos, drawing inspiration from his real-life friendship with physicist Kip Thorne. Thorne himself appeared on the show to recall reviewing the book's page proofs for scientific accuracy before publication. David Grinspoon discussed the novel on the same network, observing that unlike the cinematic adaptation, the book preserves its sense of the unknown by never visually revealing the alien entities. Jim Norton shared on The Joe Rogan Experience that while he listened to the audiobook, he found the narration frustrating despite acknowledging the story's conceptual strength. On People I (Mostly) Admire, Steve Levitt and guest Jill Tarter discussed how the novel's heroine was modeled directly on Tarter's pioneering work in SETI, with Tarter recalling how she had previously shared professional reports that helped shape the character's realistic profile. Across these conversations, speakers celebrated the novel as a masterclass in blending hard astrophysical science with profound philosophical inquiry about our place in the universe.
Every mention
Neil deGrasse Tyson And now the prime number thing, Carl Sagan had prime numbers in the original contact novel. Where they were… 4
“And now the prime number thing, Carl Sagan had prime numbers in the original contact novel. Where they were embedded in the signals.”
“Remind me why Radio Waves is the bandwidth of choice because that was clearly displayed in Carl Sean's novel Contact later becoming the film the hit film with the character Ellie Hourway.”
“but then there's more work done on wormholes especially inspired by Carl Sagan's novel contact when he was buds with with Kip Thorne a a relativist physicist astrophysicist at Caltech where you you run through more of the equations”
“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.”
“Not only that in carl sagan's novel contact which then became a movie in the late 1990s”
Clara Sousa-Silva when i was little it was contact the book the carl sagan book i really thought i was just like ellie uh and… 1
“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”
Jill Tarter I had mentioned this to Carl and given him a copy of that report many years before he wrote "Contact," and… 1
“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.”
Jim Norton 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… 1
“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”
Kip Thorne And he said that he wanted, uh, that he had written--he'd already written this book, the novel; it was alre… 1
“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!”
Manolis Kellis and you know again i mean the movie contact and the book is just so beautiful this whole concept of we don'… 1
“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 um another of his novels the um AA Andromeda which by the way the the the theme of that is taken up by Carl… 1
“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”
Steve Levitt so back in the 1970s the famous the son where Carl Sagan wrote a novel called Contact in which the heroine… 1
“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”
“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.”
Mentioned on the show without a named speaker2
“And that fact was preserved in his novel Contact when the screen version, at least, you don't see the aliens at all!”
“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”
Other mentions (3: passing, ad reads, own books)
“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”
“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.”
“After this short break, they'll return to talk about Jill's role in Carl Sagan's story, "Contact."”