Enterprising Individuals

We are talking the #StarTrekDiscovery #ShortTrek “Ask Not” LIVE! Tweet at @eistpod with the hashtag #discoverage to join the conversation!

Mikanhana of the Just Enough Trope podcast returns this week to talk Trek news, meeting veteran Trek stars, and going on a virtual away mission! Plus, we're putting the first season of Star Trek: Voyager on trial and asking ourselves: "Is it worth it to cross the Threshold?"

I need my gooses!

Follow Mikanhana on Twitter and check out Just Enough Trope and the new JET network show, Sailor Noob!
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Kiss the Blarney Stone and rub the Buddha's belly 'cause we're getting involved in "The Andorian Incident"!

Musician and podcaster Gooey Fame returns to the show this week to discuss an episode of Star Trek: Enterprise that spotlights the complex political situation in the Alpha Quadrant and Archer's indelicate but noble approach to it! When the NX-01's visit to a Vulcan monastery evolves into a tense hostage situation, the crew finds themselves at the mercy of suspicious and trigger-happy Andorians. As Archer works to free the landing party, he learns a shocking truth that threatens to bring the Vulcan-Andorian conflict to a boiling point!

Enterprise debuted at a turning point in world history, and as it tried to rewrite and expand the past of the Star Trek universe, it couldn't help but be influenced by events in the real world. Trek's first prequel series may have struggled to define itself, but the talented and experienced crew behind the show were often still capable of delivering an exciting hour of action and introspection in the Trek style. On this episode, we talk about the influence of nostalgia in Trek and genre storytelling, how 9/11 affected pop culture, the polish evident in Enterprise's early episodes, the reasons behind fandom's rejection of later Trek series, the T'Pol problem, Trek's deep bench of character actors, the imperfect heroes of the 22nd century, and the genius of Jeffrey Combs.

We also discuss stress-type Pokemon, retro video gaming, eating food off the ground, "you're not my real space dad!", Web of Fries, the scent of a human, shoehorning intimacy, blowing up the face, Vulcan horses, introducing "playing possum" to the galaxy, meddling Earthers, Kelsey Grammer as Garak, Kal thinks they should have sent a diplomat, and Gooey tempts fate by asking "What is a Farscape?"

If you're sick of Enterprise, you're sick of TREK!

Follow Gooey on Twitter and listen to his other shows!
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Check out the newest member of the Just Enough Trope family, Sailor Noob!
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We're giving Star Trek a rest (in peace) this week as we discuss some of sci-fi's smartest and spookiest films! Plus, author Mary Fan joins the show to continue last week's discussion about the links between science fiction and fantasy storytelling. During our interview, Mary and I talk about her writing process, the artificial divisions between sci-fi and fantasy, the importance of depicting utopian worlds, technobabble and arcane language, our hopes for DS9: The Next Generation, Marvel "magic", getting to Skellig Michael, circus lessons, and why seeing "yourself" in fiction can change your life.

Happy Halloween!

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Find out more info about Brave New Girls!
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Wave goodbye to the Milky Way and meet us at the corner of thought and reality as we go "Where No One Has Gone Before"!

New York Times Bestselling author Catherynne M. Valente joins the show this week to discuss an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation that posits that the real final frontier exists within the human mind! The USS Enterprise receives a visit from a Federation scientist who claims to have developed a technique that will revolutionize warp travel. But, when his ministrations take the ship beyond the boundaries of our galaxy and reality itself, only Wesley and the scientist's strange companion stand a chance of returning everyone home again.

Since its very inception, Star Trek storytelling has drawn on both science fiction and fantasy tropes to create the world of the future. Starfleet officers may employ logic and technology to explore the galaxy, but they often find themselves stymied by beings and phenomena that challenge their scientific assumptions about our universe. But like any hero, whether fantastic or science-fictional, their purity of spirit and sense of wonder are their most noble traits. On this episode, we talk about the distinctions between Star Trek and space opera, the presumed hard sci-fi and harder atheism of Roddenberry's universe, sci-fi's roots in fantasy storytelling, the traditionally heroic qualities of Trek characters, the way early TNG channeled TOS, the progressive masculinity of Captain Picard, the religion of discovery, and Trek's pioneering of continuity in genre television.

We also discuss comfort-watching TNG, Slacking with your commanding officer, the lovable dorks of the Federation, starting with hard sci-fi and ending up with magic and angels, all-time Wesley sweaters, the cosmic Mr. Rogers, riffing on Scotty, the endearing quality of fallibility, Riker as an HR nightmare, psychics are OP, grilling your alien tea mom, Starfleet is the real Mary Sue, the alien in striped pajamas, being a massive fan of Mass Effect, and Cath organically brings up Farscape and you better believe that Kal takes advantage of it!

Trek just wants to HUG YOU!

Follow Catherynne on Twitter, Facebook, and Patreon!
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Buy Cath's book "Space Opera" and pre-order her Minecraft novel, "The End"!
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We're on the case this week as Jen Dallman of the Rosemary's Ladies podcast joins the show to talk about law in the Star Trek universe! A society with no money and no scarcity should need no lawyers . . . or so thought Gene Roddenberry . . . but it turns out to be a little more complicated than that because people and things mean laws and lawyers, no matter what century you live in.

On the episode, we talk about the legal training Starfleet officers must get, the crazy conflicts of interest in most Trek trials, what you "own" in a scarcity-free society, trombones and Camaros, legal jurisdictions in the Human Diaspora, crime and punishment in the Star Trek universe, the twisted Cardassian legal system, legislative intent re: crushed flowers, the measure of a hologram, and of course, Lawyer Picard!

What’s the difference between a lawyer and a horta? One is a spineless, subterranean creature and the other is a horta.

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Join our crew on Patreon and get access to our live episodes, DS9/VOY recaps and more!
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Click through our Amazon link on enterprisingindividuals.com to support the show!
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We are talking the #StarTrekDiscovery #ShortTrek “The Trouble With Edward” LIVE! Tweet at @eistpod with the hashtag #discoverage to join the conversation!

Lock us in our quarters this week as we merge with "Meld"!

Author Scott Pearson is back on the show to discuss an episode of Star Trek: Voyager that asks questions with no easy answers. When a crew member is mysteriously murdered, Tuvok is prepared to investigate and apprehend the killer. But when the killer is revealed to be a motiveless, violent sociopath, Voyager's resident Vulcan will find himself struggling with such a senseless, brutal act, and he'll put his own mind at risk to find logic in actions that have none.

"No conflict between Starfleet characters" got left behind in the Alpha Quadrant, as many of Voyager's storylines and even its central conceits require tension in the crew. But, mere disagreement pales in comparison to the kind of violence and disregard for human life shown by the character of Suder, a Betazed who lacks empathy, even for himself. Tuvok's knowledge and logic prepare him for a "whodunnit", but not, in this case, a "whydunnit", and the greatest mystery is sometimes why we do the things we do. On this episode, we talk about the legendary Brad Dourif, the also not-too-shabby Tim Russ, the way their performances spark off each other, the rare times where Trek sensitively explores mental illness, crime and punishment in the Trek universe, the therapeutic applications of the holodeck, eliminating crime by eliminating want, the violence of mind melds, and the requirements for Federation membership.

We also discuss selling a pitch on your last day, the vocational applications of cocaine, too much Tom Paris, aggro bro Tuvok, whether people with no money are thrifty, turning Neelix up to 11, "going full Dexter", making Trek "younger and more relevant", some Sarah Connor Chronicles talk, kick-ass Vulcan martial arts, Scott talks about rappin' with Anson Mount and Ethan Peck, and Kal debuts the "myopia of contemporaneity!"

There's a sucker stuck in the Delta Quadrant every minute!

Follow Scott on Twitter and Generations Geek on Twitter!
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We are talking the #StarTrekDiscovery #ShortTrek “Q & A” LIVE! Tweet at @eistpod with the hashtag #discoverage to join the conversation!

This week, we're going back to school to study education (or the lack thereof) in the Star Trek universe! Every Starfleet officer is an alum of the same university, Starfleet Academy, and the egalitarian, scarcity-free world of the Federation would be a learning paradise, so why do we see classrooms so infrequently on Trek shows?

Writer and educator Kelli Fitzpatrick joins the show to examine how learning has changed in the 24th century, and we discuss topics such as the way education breaks down our societal barriers, the promise of a multi-discipline, wallless classroom with an unlimited budget, the questionable testing practices of Starfleet Academy, and why teachers won't be replaced with learning bubbles anytime soon.

This will be on the test!

Follow Kelli on Twitter and visit her website!
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Tell your own stories with the Star Trek Adventures RPG Core Book!
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Come chat with us on the JET Discord!
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Join our crew on Patreon and get access to our live episodes, DS9/VOY recaps and more!
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Click through our Amazon link on enterprisingindividuals.com to support the show!
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https://www.amazon.com/?tag=jet01-20&linkCode=ez

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for Trek news and updates!
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