“I am very pleased to announce the birth of a new scientific outreach program.” With these words, in a long post published on Facebook, Alberto Angela answered a question that many have been asking themselves for months: who will try to fill the great void left by Piero Angela on Italian television? A new name, an updated format, but respect for the glory of the past. This is the formula with which, starting next summer, the popularizer will collect the television legacy of his father, who died last August, and SuperQuark.
“After my father’s disappearance – says Angela – I often thought about what he left behind for all of us. I decided to pick up the torch lying on the ground and continue the path of spread – said Angela -. It wasn’t an easy decision. The weight of responsibility for such a delicate task, the inevitable comparisons and an increasingly difficult television landscape for such important issues must be taken into account. But I also thought that in my 30+ years in television I have almost always faced very difficult, sometimes prohibitive, challenges. And I’ve always met them with composure, bringing focus, humility, supreme quality, ideas and a group of exceptional people to the table. Then, at the end, add optimism, that is, throwing the heart over the obstacle, disregarding the fears ».
The name
The new program will not be called SuperQuark
. A choice based on the belief that this name is (and always will be) inseparable from his father’s name and face: “It was his dress, the magnificent ship, that he ruled for decades in the seas of knowledge. It’s right that it stays forever. I have asked Rai to retire this name, as is the case with the jerseys of a team’s most popular player. However, as you will see, the tradition of the program remains, we will not reveal its many languages. The intention is that you always feel at home.
The format
As for the name, the format will also be slightly different, while retaining many of the characteristics that have established SuperQuark’s success: “Of course, there will be some changes: the ability to communicate this to the science of the crew ship will be the experience.” of the seas added to prime time collected by those who made Ulysses, Tonight at, Wonders and also the Northwest Passage with me. We’ll expand on the themes of the show and talk more about Archaeology, Geopolitics, Anthropology and Psychology while keeping the typical SuperQuark themes related to scientific dissemination alive and strong for those who loved this show. I think in this way an impressive and wonderful team has been created that will do their best to talk to you about science. And above all, the dissemination of scientific thought, which is its ultimate goal».
A thoughtful choice
Alberto Angela emphasizes that the decision to recruit a witness who thinks like this was not easy, but the result of long deliberations: “There are at least three reasons that prompted me to carry out this project. Firstly, because I didn’t want to interrupt the course that Piero has been following for so many years. A way, a vision based on the basic intuition of using television, which in many ways was and is one of the most powerful means of communication, to explain science and culture. Secondly, because the flagship of public service television has to have a popular science program in prime time».
Intended for young people
However, Alberto Angela considers the most important reason for the conclusion: «For so many years, both my father and I have met many people almost every day, from ordinary people to archaeologists, researchers, engineers, doctors, entrepreneurs, pilots and even astronauts they told us, “I’m doing this job because I watched Piero’s dissemination programs as a kid”. It was these programs that showed them the path they then chose to follow. And often it is the world of research or innovation that is so crucial to our country and our future. The new program doesn’t want to let down all the girls and boys, girls and boys, who are in school now and who by watching this program who knows might decide to make decisions, to go into a career, to go direction in life. whatever it is Not only in relation to school or university, but to be able to make a choice in everyday life with knowledge, with the intellect».
“Right now,” he continued, “the new generations need help understanding how to direct their lives, their knowledge, and their passions. Well, we want to do our part. Giving useful tools to think about and then leaving the freedom to choose the paths you want to take in life. I pick up the torch from the ground and carry it on. Because that’s right. For the new generations. Because the journey of knowledge never ends – concluded Angela -. I hope you will join us on this new journey».