Trek News And Views: A Star Trek Podcast

The Doomsday Machine. Our planet may have recently found itself in the path of a large meteor, but it could have been worse. There could have been a planet-eating machine with Earth in its sights. In this episode of Trek News & Views, Colin is joined by Lou Costanzo of The Lou Trek Show and renowned Star Trek historian Larry Nemecek to discuss the classic TOS episode “The Doomsday Machine.” In addition, Larry fills us in on the latest developments involving his documentary “The Con of Wrath”… and his annual Los Angeles sleet photo.

Time Travel In the Movies. Even when it comes to time, all things must eventually come to an end. And so it is with our exploration of time travel in Star Trek. In this episode of Trek News & Views, Colin is joined by Mike and Max of Commentary: Trek Stars, Miles of the Scifi Diner Podcast, and not-co-host of The Observation Lounge Drew Stewart to discuss time travel in Star Trek’s big screen adventures. 

Vulcans of All Generations. Let’s face it. It’s really hard to resist those pointy ears. From Spock to T’Pol, we’ve all grown to love at least one Vulcan on our journey through Star Trek. In this episode of Trek News & Views, Colin is joined by Keith and George of the Sci-Fi Super Friends podcast and Brian of The Lou Trek Show to discuss Vulcans from all the different incarnations of Star Trek, as well as why you must have an ‘S’ or ‘T’ in your name to be a good Vulcan. 

Star Trek V Commentary. It’s finally here. The journey you’ve been waiting for: a trip to Paradise City. In this episode of Trek News & Views, Colin joins forces with Mike Schindler and Max Hegel of Commentary Track Stars for a crossover show as they watch—and provide commentary on—Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. 

Time Travel in Enterprise. There’s always more time to talk time. And this time we head to the 22nd century, or is it the 30th… or the 20th… to talk time travel on Enterprise. In this episode of Trek News & Views, Colin is joined by Mike Schindler and Max Hegel of Commentary: Trek Stars along with not-co-host of The Observation Lounge Drew Stewart to continue our ongoing discussion of time travel—Archer style.

News and Feedback. On this week’s Trek News & Views, host Colin Higgins catches you up on the news front with a slew of stories from the past week. Find out about Qualcomm’s upcoming Star Trek Into Darkness iPhone app, IDW’s Countdown to Darkness comics, and new Enterprise and TNG Blu-ray release details. Plus Shatner talks Trek, J.J. talks Darkness, and Cumberbatch talks villains. There are also plenty of views served up by you—the audience—in an extended feedback segment. 

The Wrath of Khan. It’s the scream that became a pop culture icon. It’s Kirk’s outburst at Khan. And in this episode of Trek News & Views, Colin is joined by Scott and Miles to discuss the fan favourite The Wrath of Khan, including Spock’s death, the briliant use of music, and how the film helped propel the franchise forward.

Portraying Women Now and Then. Over the amazing 45-year life of Star Trek, the way that women have been portrayed in the franchise has changed along with the times. In this episode of Trek News & Views, Colin is joined by Charlynn Schmiedt, Lorries Sears, and Gwen Maddison to discuss the TOS episode “Turnabout Intruder”—along with others—and to explore the role of women in Star Trek and especially how they were portrayed in the 1960s.

Time Travel in Voyager. Time keeps on slipping… slipping… slipping… into the Delta Quadrant! In this episode of Trek News & Views, Colin is joined by Drew Stewart and Max Hegel to continue our ongoing discussion of time travel—this time as it pertains to Voyager. Along the way they go down a few wormholes including one for health care, one for vowels and the British need for the letter ‘u’, and one in which they find a new storyline in which Harry Kim is the only one not to die!

Books, Comics, and Authors. It’s the Countdown to the Holidays… and the Countdown to Darkness. In this episode of Trek News & Views, Colin is joined by Matthew Rushing, Michael Clark, and Sina to discuss books, comics, e-books, and authors. In addition to delving into the upcoming IDW lead-in comics and the Ongoing series, they also give their recommendations for Star Trek holiday gifts, telling you what to look for and what to avoid.

First Contact. It was the first big-screen solo outing for Picard and his crew, and it brought back the most famous enemy from The Next Generation. After sharing the limelight with James T. Kirk in Generations and the destruction of the beloved Enterprise-D, there was some uncertainty over—and high hopes for—what would come next. But First Contact became an instant classic and set the bar high for the film franchise. In this episode of Trek News & Views, Colin is joined by Lorrie Sears, Shervin Sabeghi, and Admiral Aaron to discuss the film that brought us the Borg Queen, a drunk Troi, and a bunch of astronauts… on some kind of Star Trek.  

Crewman Daniels. He comes from the future, but he isn’t Future Guy. No, he’s Archer’s mysterious temporal sidekick with a penchant for black leather and gadgets. In this week’s Trek News & Views, Colin is joined by Joe Myers, Paul Finch, and Sam Ward to discuss Enterprise’s Crewman Daniels. 

The Big Goodbye. Holodeck malfunctions became a staple of Star Trek plot devices, and Picard’s Dixon Hill program is the glitch that started it all. In this week’s Trek News & Views, Colin offers up his commentary for this first-season episode, “The Big Goodbye.” Plus, we touch on a number of recent news items including Neil Armstrong singing Scotty’s praise, the La-La Land Records anniversary celebration, ThinkGeek’s tribble slippers and Spock oven mitt, Bruce Greenwood’s thoughts on the secrecy surrounding Star Trek Into Darkness, and Shatner’s new iOS app Shatoetry. 

Time Travel on Deep Space Nine. If you’re going to talk about time travel in Star Trek, then it’s going to take some time. And thus, in this week’s Trek News & Views, we offer the third installment in our podcasting slingshot around the sun. Colin is joined by Miles McLoughlin of the SciFi Diner Podcast, Max Hegel of Commentary Track Stars and Commentary: Trek Stars, and our TOS Editor Drew Stewart to discuss the various excursions through time taken by the crew of DS9. Plus, they examine in detail the build quality of American refrigerators.

The Three Interviews: Burton, de Lancie, Keating. For this week’s Trek News & Views, our friends Scott and Miles of the SciFi Diner Podcast have been kind enough to share with you through Trek.fm three interviews that they did with cast from The Next Generation and Enterprise. So join us for an hour of talk with LeVar Burton, John de Lancie, and Dominic Keating in three separate interviews. And then visit the SciFi Diner for more great interviews and discussion from across the world of SciFi. 

Firsthand from the heart of the London con. Having roamed the grounds of Destination Star Trek London as an official blogger, Trek News & Views host Colin Higgins gathered a wealth of firsthand experience and audio from the convention floor. In this week’s show Colin brings you that inside view through stories from the big event and the voices of the Star Trek cast and crew themselves. In addition, we kick off the show with birthday messages from around the globe, gathered by Deck Eight’s Tom Baddeley, to wish Colin all the best on reaching the one-year and fifty-show marks.

Our First Year. We’ve reached a milestone: our 50th show and our one year anniversary! And it happens to coincide with Destination Star Trek London! So to celebrate our arrival at the half-century mark we take a look back at our first year of shows. Here are some of the most memorable moments for Colin and his many guests.

William Shatner. For this week’s Trek News & Views we have a very special program compliments of our friends at 92nd Street Y. In this interview from 2008, William Shatner sits down with Budd Mishkin at the Y to talk about his life, career, Star Trek, Esperanto, kidney stones, and more. Special thanks to 92Y for allowing us to run this hilarious and enlightening chat with Captain Kirk himself. Visit 92Y at www.92y.org. 

Time Travel, Part 2. This week Colin is joined by our own Drew Stewart, Miles McLoughlin of SciFi Diner, and Mike & Max of Commentary Track Stars for the second part of their discussion of time travel in Star Trek. 

Robert Duncan McNeill. This week we bring you a very special Trek News & Views as The Delta Angels—Charlynn, Lorrie, Anna, and Kate—are joined by Star Trek: Voyager’s Tom Paris himself. In this special interview, Robert Duncan McNeill talks about his experiences taking on a role in a new Star Trek series as well as the many projects that have followed his return from the Delta Quadrant. From directing to theatre to Star Trek, join us for an enlightening look into the world of Robbie Duncan McNeill.