Crew Collective

When Bill Mitchell took his family on vacation in 1957, he kept finding himself drawn to unique roadside attractions: small stands shaped like oranges, selling fresh-squeezed orange juice. As a food scientist, Mitchell believed he could make an instant breakfast drink that tasted like OJ without the hassle of squeezing oranges. And that's how Tang was born..

From its inception, to its trip to the moon, to its status as a cultural phenomenon, to its continued sale all over the world today, Tang is like no other drink mix in history.

There's just something interesting about a powder that dissolves in water and becomes a whole new drink. Join host and producer Stuart as he takes a deep dive into the history of Tang.

Links

Richard Foss books

The Cult of Convenience by Dr. Maggie Weber

Original music for this series is written and record by Doug Hoyer
[additional tracks come from Blue Dot Sessions and Storyblocks ]

More episodes can be found at crewcollectivepodcast.com

Support the show by getting some our new merch

Executive Producers:  Matt Medeiros, Carl Hancock and Travis Totz

Graphic and web design by Melissa Jelich-Stohmaier

This episode was written, researched, edited, produced and narrated by Stuart Barefoot

Sources:

Foss, R. (2015). Food in the air and space: The surprising history of food and drink in the skies. Rowman & Littlefield.

WEBER M. The Cult of Convenience: Marketing and Food in Postwar America. Enterprise & Society. 2021;22(3):605-634. doi:10.1017/eso.2020.7

Steyn, M. (2004, November). Tastemaker with a sweet tooth. The Atlantic, 294(4), 186-187. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2004/11/tastemaker-with-a-sweet-tooth/303577/

"A Match Made in Heaven," The Baltimore Sun, July 20, 1999 – Read it here

On April 16, 1972, three men set off for the moon as part of NASA's Apollo 16 mission. Charlie Duke was one of those men. As the missions' Lunar Module Pilot, Charlie played a crucial role in landing safely on the moon. He's the only remaining member of the mission still alive and he spoke at length with host/producer, Stuart about his time on the moon.

But it was his personal journey when he returned home that seems to the most poignant to Charlie.

charlieduke.com

Music
Doug's Space Theme, written and recorded by Doug Hoyer. doughoyer.com
Doug Hoyer on Bandcamp

Additional music comes from Blue Dot Sessions and Storyblocks

This episode was produced, researched, written, co-produced and edited by Stuart Barefoot and executive produced by Matt Medeiros, Travis Totz, and Carl Hancock.

Other Links and Resources

stuartproduces.com
rocketgenius.com

Sources:
Duke, C., & Duke, D. (1990). Moonwalker. Thomas Nelson.

Jones, E. M., & Glover, K. (Eds.). (2006, September 14). Descartes surprise. In Apollo 16 lunar surface journal. NASA. https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a16/a16.summary.html

All archived audio is sourced through the public domain or under Fair Use practices 

Season Two is almost here. New story drops October 8th

crewcollectivepodcast.com

Presented by Rocketgenius rocketgenius.com
Executive Producers:  Carl Hancock, Matt Medeiros, and Travis Totz

Original Music is written and performed by Doug Hoyer doughoyer.com
Each episode is researched, written, edited, produced and narrated by Stuart Barefoot stuartproduces.com 

Coming soon, Season Two of Crew Collective! Season One was all about 'stories from space." Season Two will explore 'objects in space.' Executive producer, Matt Medeiros and host/producer Stuart Barefoot talk shop. 

More to come later

https://gravity.com/

https://crewcollectivepodcast.com/

That's a wrap on season one. Be sure to stay tuned to this feed as we'll have updates on the future of the show soon

https://crewcollectivepodcast.com/

In our final episode of Season one, Stuart talks to Eric, from the indie rock band, Say Hi. Since 2002, Say Hi has been a mainstay on the indie rock scene with 12 studio albums, and a constant presence on the college radio airwaves. While not strictly outer space themed, the music often kind of feels spacey, at least according to Stuart. 

Say Hi Tracks in the Episode

• Pantone Chrysanthemums
• Instructional Astrology
• Constellation Afterlife

Links

Say Hi Website/Merch:  https://sayhitoyourmom.com/

Watch:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLMcrAGr0OCo6bY5w8-S3dw

Listen:  https://sayhi.bandcamp.com/

Rocketgenius:  https://rocketgenius.com/

Stuart's Website:  https://www.stuartproduces.com/

Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning, was a no-budget, fan-made sci-fi parody that evolved into a full-length feature film in 2005. Directed by Timo Vuorensola and created by a group of Finnish friends over the course of seven years, the project grew in ambition, technical skill, and cultural impact. Timo shares behind-the-scenes challenges, humorous setbacks, lessons learned, and how the film’s success unexpectedly positioned it as a pioneer in digital distribution and a touchstone for Finnish film culture.

Themes and Topics Explore

1. DIY Filmmaking & Learning by Doing

2. Time, Youth, and Long-Term Projects

3. Cultural Innovation & Internet Pioneering

4. The Role of Satire in Political Commentary

5. Challenges of Finnish Film Culture

6. Sci-Fi as Social Mirror

Links

Star Wreck Movie:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GOoMowFpZs

Behind the Scenes Documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4V3HDzUaldg

Timo's Website:  https://vuorensola.com/2025/02/06/subtitles-in-english-please/

Rocketgenius:  https://rocketgenius.com/

Stuart's Website:  https://www.stuartproduces.com/

Jackson Tyler began collecting NASA’s public domain footage as a teenager and over time, compiled them into long form documentaries for his YouTube channel, Homemade Documentaries.

Through his videos, Jackson curates a series about some of NASA’s most famous missions, like Project Gemini, Apollo and others. 

With a minimal online presence and virtually no marketing, Homemade Documentaries has racked up tens of millions of views, and is entirely viewer funded (through Patreon.) 

He joins Stuart for this episode for a conversation about how he's turned a hobby into a beloved documentary series.

Themes and Topics Explored:

Homemade Craftsmanship vs. Mass Production

Education vs. Self-Taught Mastery

Archival Work as Investigative Storytelling

Access to the Public Domain

DIY Spirit & Digital Preservation

Crowdsourcing

Links

Homemade Documentaries:  https://www.youtube.com/@JacksonTyler

Rocketgenius:  https://rocketgenius.com/

Citizen DJ:  https://citizen-dj.labs.loc.gov/

Stuart's Website:  https://www.stuartproduces.com/

Prism Stalker is a graphic novel series from cartoonist and writer Sloane Leong. The story follows a refugee named Vep, who is forced into a life of indentured service when her home planet is destroyed. When she's offered a way out, he sense of duty to her family will battle with her conscience.

Links

Sloane Leong:  https://sloanesloane.com/

Prism Stalker Soundtrack fron Neotenomie:  https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mDWLfo2sE_hOnuGUz_i2NQyiNsB43qmv4&si=iqU5FmY_59xKUP2c

Rocketgenius:  https://rocketgenius.com/

Stuart’s Website:  https://www.stuartproduces.com/

Themes and Topics Explored:

Colonialism, Assimilation & Complicity

Progress vs. Preservation

Indigenous Identity, and Spiritual Philosophy

The Creative Process & Artistic Vision

Labor, Freelancing and Creative Industry Challenges

Notable Quotes

"You have to assimilate to survive. You become complicit in so many horrible things."

"Our progress is actually killing us. So is it really progress?"

"I err on the side of not handholding. I prefer to deliver what’s relevant to the scene at hand."

"It’s this illusion of progress, really."

Anthologies and Science Fiction go a ways back. From early short story collections like The Other Worlds in 1941, to mega hit classic TV shows like The Twilight Zone to current shows, like Black Mirror, it just feels like science fiction and anthology were made for each other

Strange New Worlds and Spaced Out Tales continues this tradition. As an audio drama each episode varies in length, tone and theme, though it fits squarely in the SciFi genre. 

As Jim puts it:   It's a wonderful thing and if you, you get a brilliant idea and you can make it into something that contained, uh, that's great. And then it's one and done, and you move on to the next one, and you can do something completely different. You get the option to absolutely flip it on its head the following episode.

You can do something in a completely different style or a different method of storytelling.

As you might expect with a SciFi, many episodes from SNWASOT take place in outer space. Some are funny, some are intense and others just flat out zany, but that’s what makes anthologies so cool.

Links

Strange New Worlds and Spaced Out Tales:  https://snwasot.com/

Rocketgenius:  https://rocketgenius.com/

Stuart’s Website:  https://www.stuartproduces.com/

Themes and Topics

• A very brief history of SciFi anthologies
• The commercialization of outer space
• Gritty, blue collar characters
• Hiring and directing voice actors from all over the world