Neil deGrasse Tyson is a personal hero of mine. He is quite well-known for his role in the demotion of Pluto from planethood (although it wasn't really official until the International Astronomical Union finally decided to define 'planet'). Dr. Tyson's public influence has moved beyond discussions of Pluto to becoming one of the most important and prominent science communicators around.
There are several ways to get your fix, including a recent episode of the CBS hit sitcom 'The Big Bang Theory' (video here).
Dr. Tyson tweets regularly at @neiltyson and hosts the program at Star Talk Radio. He also serves as the host of the PBS series NOVA ScienceNOW. The show is very accessible (but usually not quite to the point of being 'dumbed down').
He's all over YouTube but here are a few to help you get an idea:
Neil deGrasse Tyson on the world ending (or not) in 2012:
Neil deGrasse Tyson's Authors@Google talk:
He's about as excited to be at Google as the Googlers are to have him. It's long but compelling and the Q&A at the end is insightful.
On Conan (pre-controversy):
Books:
In addition to a number of professional publications, Dr. Tyson has written ten books. The two I've read, The Pluto Files and The Sky Is Not The Limit: Adventures of an Urban Astrophysicist, are informative, inspiring and surprisingly funny. I'd recommend them both to anyone interested in learning about Tyson's life, general science or what it's like to be the Sexiest Astrophysicist Alive (according to People Magaine).
