Join Fraser and Friends for a COSMOS Marathon on Monday

Click here on Monday, April 24th at 12:00 pm PST to join the livestream.

Remember COSMOS, with Carl Sagan? Of course you do. If you’re fascinated with space and astronomy like me, then the original COSMOS must have had a pivotal impact on your enthusiasm for all things space. And not just space, but all things science. I don’t think it’s an understatement to say that Carl Sagan completely changed the paradigm for what it means to be a science communicator. He revealed the discoveries made by astronomers, and made them accessible to a general audience – and he took a lot of heat for it.

Unfortunately, Carl Sagan died of cancer in 1996, years before his time. He changed the world, but he never got to stick around and see his impact echoing through the Internet as it has today. When I started Universe Today in 1999, it was because the ideas in Pale Blue Dot resonated so deeply with me. I wanted to dedicate my life to understanding and teaching the world about space. And I’m always sad that I never got a chance to meet with him, and tell him how much of an influence he had on my career. Demon Haunted World taught me to be a skeptic.

I’ve had an idea kicking around for years now. I’ve always wanted to watch the entire COSMOS series with a bunch of my space friends, and do a live commentary. Partly to update the science, partly to reflect on Sagan’s influence, and partly to just hang out with a bunch of friends and be silly. But I could never figure out how I could navigate the copyright issues to be able to broadcast something based on COSMOS. And Ann Druyan would kill me.

Well, my friends at Twitch.tv have decided to grant my wish, and they’re going to be running a COSMOS marathon on Monday, April 24, 2017 at 12:00 pm PST. Not only that, but they’re encouraging other livestreamers to co-stream the show, and do exactly what I’ve always wanted to do – provide a commentary.

The challenge is that it’s a marathon, which means they’re going to run all 13 episodes back to back. 13 hours of watching COSMOS with my friends, chatting about the show, answering questions, and having fun. I’m up for it. But then, I’m a glutton for punishment.

So, if you’re interested in the raw Twitch stream and all the other cool events that Twitch has planned over the next week, check out their announcement.

And if you want to join me for some or all of the COSMOS marathon, follow fcain on Twitch. I’ll be starting up my livestream when the main feed goes live. And in theory, I’ll be sticking around until the whole thing ends 13 hours later.

Over the course of the livestream, I’ll be joined by many of my space and astronomy journalist friends. Like Dr. Ian O’Neill, Morgan Rehnberg, Nancy Atkinson, Dr. Brian Koberlein, and Dr. Paul Matt Sutter.

Hang out with us, ask questions, chat about your memories and experiences with Carl Sagan’s COSMOS.

I’ll see you on Monday!

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