Conquering Fear with Alex Honnold

Conquering Fear with Alex Honnold

From StarTalk Radio by Neil deGrasse Tyson

June 12, 2026 · 58 min · Season 17 · Episode 35

About this episode

Neil deGrasse Tyson and guests discuss the nature of fear and how to overcome it with insights from neuroscience and rock climbing.

Is the fear of heights innate or learned? Neil deGrasse Tyson, Chuck Nice, and Gary O'Reilly explore taking risks, the neuroscience of fear, and how to overcome it with freestyle rock climber and subject of the film Free Solo, Alex Honnold, and neuroscientist Heather Berlin.

People in this episode

Hosts: Neil deGrasse Tyson, Chuck Nice, Gary O'Reilly

Guests: Alex Honnold, Heather Berlin

Topics covered

  • fear
  • neuroscience
  • rock climbing
  • risk-taking
  • psychology

Keywords

  • fear of heights
  • neuroscience of fear
  • rock climbing
  • risk
  • overcoming fear

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Free Solo

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