# How Stars Destroy Each Other Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/pbs-space-time-7778773/how-stars-destroy-each-other Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/pbs-space-time-7778773/how-stars-destroy-each-other.md Podcast: [PBS Space Time](https://stenobird.com/podcast/pbs-space-time-7778773) Published: 2026-07-19T21:30:00+00:00 Episode link: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/VG3347632622.mp3 Audio file: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/VG3347632622.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/pbs-space-time-7778773/episodes/how-stars-destroy-each-other Duration seconds: 1262 ## Resource PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to: http://to.pbs.org/DonateSPACE ↓ More info below ↓ Sign Up on Patreon to get access to the Space Time Discord! https://www.patreon.com/pbsspacetime Check out the Space Time Merch Store https://pbsspacetime.com/ Sign up for the mailing list to get episode notifications and hear special announcements! https://mailchi.mp/1a6eb8f2717d/spacetime Our galaxy is full of dysfunctional stellar relationships. With more than half of all stars existing in binary orbits, it’s inevitable that many stellar remnants will end up in parasitic spirals with their partners. Today we’re going to look at the worst of these - from the novae produced by white dwarfs, to X-ray binaries created by neutron stars and black holes - and much weirder things besides. Hosted by Matt O'Dowd Written by Matt O'Dowd Graphics by Leonardo Scholzer, Yago Ballarini, & Pedro Osinski Directed by: Andrew Kornhaber Camera Operator: Bahaar Gholipour Executive Producers: Eric Brown & Andrew Kornhaber End Credits Music by J.R.S. Schattenberg: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRl6-nb4iOnsij-vnpAjp0Q Special Thanks to our Patrons! Big Bang Supporters Robert Doxtator Ahmad Jodeh Caed Aldwych Radu Negulescu Alexander Tamas Morgan Hough Juan Benet Fabrice Eap Mark Rosenthal David Nicklas Quasar Supporters Alec S-L Christina Oegren Mark Heising Vinnie Falco Hypernova Supporters william bryan Drew Hart Justin Jermyn Jason Finn Антон Кочков Julian Tyacke Timothy McCulloch Syed Ansar John R. Slavik Mathew Danton Spivey Donal Botkin John Pollock Edmund Fokschaner Joseph Salomone Hank S Matthew O'Connor chuck zegar Jordan Young John Hofmann Gamma Ray Burst Supporters Michael Barton Christopher Barron James Ramsey Mr T Andrew Mann Jeremiah Johnson… ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/pbs-space-time-7778773/episodes/how-stars-destroy-each-other/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/pbs-space-time-7778773/how-stars-destroy-each-other.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.