Antimatter Pod

Antimatter Pod

By Anika and LizTV & Film
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Antimatter Pod episodes

  • 19. The Idea of a Mother

    We're joined by special guest Caroline (aka rikerssexblouse) to discuss mothers in Star Trek. 

    Anika ran the stats, and we talked about specific characters, including...

    • Beverly Crusher (TNG)
  • Lwaxana Troi (TNG, DS9)
  • Keiko O'Brien (TNG, DS9)
  • Ishka (DS9)
  • Samantha Wildman (VOY)
  • Winona Kirk (ST2009)
  • Tom Paris's mother (who didn't even get a name!) (VOY)
  • Miral Torres (VOY)
  • Amanda Grayson (TOS, ST2009, DSC)
  • Philippa Georgiou (DSC)
  • Gabrielle Burnham (DSC)

    • We also discussed recurring themes, such as...

    • mothers who don't get to parent their own children (Beverly Crusher, Samantha Wildman)
  • parenthood and career paths in a post-scarcity future
  • the complicated feminism of Jeri Taylor
  • D. C. Fontana and "Friday's Child" (TOS)
  • Cersei Lannister versus Philippa Georgiou -- redeeming monsters
  • bad mothers and bad fathers -- who does the audience forgive?

    • See https://antimatterpod.tumblr.com/post/185048185909/19-the-idea-of-a-mother for further notes and links. 

    1 hr 24 min
  • 18. Justice for Necheyev

    We're talking about Starfleet's admiralty!

    • Just how many Starfleet admirals are evil? Liz ran the numbers!
  • Why are so many admirals antagonistic, if not outright villains?
  • And what are the qualities which make a good admiral?
  • Apparently we have more sympathy for Admiral Norah Satie than most people
  • We're still pretty mad that Kat died
  • Anika proposes a game: which Star Trek characters should or definitely should not be admirals?
  • Career paths of the future: in a utopia where people are free to choose their paths achieving/not achieving flag rank shouldn't be the measure of a character's worth

    • Specific characters discussed: 

    • Patterson (VOY - "Relativity")
  • Hanson (TNG - "The Best of Both Worlds")
  • Haftel (TNG - "The Offspring)
  • Patar (DSC - "Project Daedalus")
  • Cornwell (DSC)
  • Satie (TNG - "The Drumhead")
  • Necheyev (TNG -- particularly the "Chain of Command" and "Descent" two-parters)
  • Janeway (VOY and Star Trek: Nemesis)
  • Kirk (TOS and Star Trek: The Motion Picture, The Wrath of Khan and The Search for Spock)

    • Content note: We discuss the telepathic sexual assault of Deanna Troi in Star Trek: Nemesis for about sixty seconds, starting at around the 40 minute mark. 

    See antimatterpod.tumblr.com for more detailed show notes and links.

    1 hr 3 min
  • 17. Disco 214 - Making the 23rd Century Great Again

    Join us as we discuss the season finale of Star Trek: Discovery season 2, and ... well, we were not hugely positive about it. 

    Along the way, we talk about:

    • space battles!
  • ensemble moments we loved!
  • we have ... concerns ... about the Ba'ul's wellbeing!
  • Klingons!
  • poorly executed character deaths!
  • why doesn't Discovery trust its audience?!
  • we hate the epilogue so much!
  • why is season 2 such a mess?!?!
  • Is it possible to overuse the interrobang? Okay, but unlimited exclamation marks are okay, right?!

    • Other highlights include Liz almost crying -- three times! And Anika pitches a Trekkish take on The Clone Wars. 

    1 hr 9 min
  • 16. Disco 213 - Vengeance Eyelashes

    It's the penultimate episode of Star Trek: Discovery's second season, and we're talking about...

    • how Michael is still Alice (in Wonderland)
  • should we maybe not overthink the time crystals?
  • a brief fantasy about Admiral Cornwell mentoring Kirk
  • Enterprise bridge squee
  • shipping the ships (and various people)
  • eyeliner (seriously, we have a lot of thoughts about the eyeliner in this episode)
  • a digression about Seska

    • Also discussed along the way...

    • Various Short Treks: "Runaway", "Calypso", "The Escape Artist"
  • Once Upon A Time
  • the Seska arc in Voyager, particularly "Stage of Flux"

    •  

    1 hr 2 min
  • 15. Disco 212 - I Know! A Halo!

    We're talking season 2, episode 12 of Star Trek: Discovery, "Through the Valley of Shadows". And...

    • Pike's character ("He is Starfleet")
  • Can the ableism of "The Menagerie" be fixed? Signs point to no! 
  • Ken Mitchell: he will play all the Klingons
  • (Proposal: Mary Chieffo as the new Suzie Plakson)
  • The L'Rell-Voq | Ash-Michael family unit and love triangle
  • A very obvious plant
  • Adventures in self-destruct sequences

    • This episode is short because big chunks of it were lost to audio malfunctions, as Liz's microphone started blipping in and out. Among the discussions lost were "Does Jett's wife being dead add to the dead lesbians trope?" and "But seriously, how many ships does Starfleet have?" Apologies! 

    44 min
  • 14. Disco 211 - Definitely Sad and Gross

    This week, we're talking about season 2, episode 11 of Star Trek: Discovery: "Perpetual Infinity". And, along the way...

    • Does the time travel stuff make sense? Does it need to make sense?
  • How is Dr Burnham getting her puffy vests?
  • Gabrielle and Philippa
  • Poor old Leland
  • Biological and adoptive families
  • Alternate timelines
  • Borg????????
  • Anika and Liz have very different approaches to world domination

    • Other Star Trek discussed:

    • "Dark Frontier" and "Unimatrix Zero" (VOY)
  • Star Trek (2009)
  • "Parallels" (TNG)

    • And some other media, whose endings we absolutely spoil...

    • Neon Genesis Evangelion
  • Fringe
    • 56 min
  • 13. Disco 210 - Nearly Shatnerian

    A short episode ("only" 50 minutes!) in which we discuss the events of "The Red Angel", including key issues such as...

    • Mothers, and why Anika identifies with Michael
  • RIP Leland? 
  • We were so wrong about Control!
  • Sonequa Martin-Green, the extraordinary talents thereof
  • Ash: give this man a new job
  • Kat and Hugh
  • Philippa, please stop sexually harassing your colleagues
  • Costumes
  • And more!

    • Links: 

    • Aristrofranes on season 2's structure ("structure") so far
  • Wilson Cruz discussing his costume on Twitter
    • 50 min
  • 12. Disco 209 - A Super-Powered Google

    We discuss Discovery's "Project Daedalus", including...

    • Airiam's history and fate
  • BUT THE PACING
  • the Short Trek "Calypso"
  • artificial intelligence in Star Trek and real life
  • (this is why Dr Soong couldn't get funding)
  • Anika will make you sympathise with Control
  • RIP Admiral Patar, we hardly knew ye or your alleged extremism
  • Admiral Cornwell, queen of our extremely biased hearts

    • Other media we found a way to make relevant: 

    • Solo: A Star Wars Story
  • Droids in Star Wars generally, with particular attention to the Clone Wars arc "Downfall of a Droid"/"Duel of the Droids"

    • Links: 

    • The Greatest Generation's discussion of Jonathan Frakes's directing style in TNG came in their episode covering "The Drumhead". Among others, but that's the most recent one Liz has listened to.
  • Liz's Tumblr post mentioning the interesting way conflict is being portrayed this season
    • 1 hr 7 min
  • 11. Disco 208 - Walking Around With A Head Vina

    Previously on Antimatter Pod:

    "Reckon we'll see Vina?"

    "Nah, seems unlikely." 

    Which goes to show what we know. 

    This episode, we're talking about: 

    • Vina
  • retreads, reboots and recreations
  • Michael and Spock
  • Who is the Red Angel, round 5,847. Anika's new theory: Gamora, basically
  • Mirror Talos
  • Section 31
  • Paul and Hugh (and also Ash)
  • mental health care, and health care overall, in Discovery -- does the series suffer for not having a chief medical officer in the regular cast? 

    • Our weekly digressions into random other pop culture media: 

    • various Spider-men
  • Person of Interest
  • Anika just straight up spoils the end of La Femme Nikita, Liz really does need to watch it sometime, it sounds amazing

    • See antimatterpod.tumblr.com for more shownotes!

    58 min
  • 10. Disco 207 - The Squid Ships It

    It's our tenth episode! But we're too busy talking about Discovery's "Light and Shadows" to notice. 

    What we did notice and talk about: 

    • Michael Burnham, the sensible middle child of the family
  • Amanda Grayson, 1960s archetypes and disposable mothers in SF
  • Sarek: still the worst, but at least he ... tries? And has an improbable yet charming amount of faith in Section 31?
  • Alice in Wonderland
  • Pike and Tyler
  • We have divergent takes on Leland and where his story is likely to take him
  • Revisiting and retelling old stories

    • See antimatterpod.tumblr.com for more detailed show notes. 

    1 hr 2 min

About Antimatter Pod

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The Star Trek podcast where we talk fashion, feminism, subtext and subspace.

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