Enterprising Individuals

Cut yourself a slice of pecan pie and use it as ransom in a coerced cultural exchange as we consider "Prime Factors"!

Producer and writer Eric A. Stillwell joins the show this week to talk about an early episode of Star Trek: Voyager that he wrote the story for, along with David R. George III. When Voyager meets the Sikarians, a race with technology that could cut their journey home in half, they're ready to trade everything they have to shorten their trip. However, the Sikarians have their own version of the Prime Directive, and the ideological clash that results threatens to fracture the crew's fragile unity!

Eric has worked in Hollywood for over 30 years and helped Trek return to primetime TV in the 1980s, going from a Paramount page to a writer and story editor for Star Trek: The Next Generation. On this episode, we talk about the origins of "Prime Factors", its roots in Assignment: Earth, its connection to The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, flipping the Prime Directive on its head, turning Tuvok traitor, the perils of imperialism, and his struggle (along with David George) to get credit for his contributions!

Eric also wrote the story for a little episode called "Yesterday's Enterprise", Entertainment Weekly's pick for best TNG episode, and we talk the origins of that idea and why Captain Garrett is named after a pizza place. Plus, Eric shares behind-the-scenes stories of his 10 years working on Trek, from being hired by Bob Justman, to naming Romulans for Maurice Hurley, to ghostwriting for Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, to pitching to Michael Piller, to giving character advice to Patrick Stewart and Jonathan Frakes, to the career-threatening shenanigans of David Livingston's son! Also, Eric talks about the "space ghost pitch board," bringing Tasha Yar back to life, Tarantino's "Yesterday's Enterprise," having your Original Series sequel pitches shot down, and he shares the inspiration for his book with David George and Armin Shimerman, "The 34th Rule"!

When Eric asks, "Do you really want to hear these stories?", the answer is, "Yes!" You do!

Get the story of the story with Eric's book, "The Making of Yesterday's Enterprise"!
https://amzn.to/2BYMLvG

Read Eric, Dave, and Armin's novel, "The 34th Rule", and check out Dave's DS9 book, "The Long Mirage"!
The 34th Rule
https://amzn.to/2LBI2iZ
The Long Mirage
https://amzn.to/2LBF9ib

Listen to our episode about "Yesterday's Enterprise"!
http://enterprisingindividuals.com/blog/2016/07/25/enterprising-individuals-episode-7/

Follow Eric on Facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/eric.stillwell

Hear our live episode with Melinda Snodgrass from CONvergence 2018!
https://www.patreon.com/posts/20122260

Share some pecan pie recipes with us on Facebook and Twitter!
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The party continues this week as Mikanhana of the Just Enough Trope podcast joins the show to discuss the good, the bad, and the clunky parts of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's fourth season! We cover Alan Moore textual whiplash, Lil' Fantastic Four, getting the "wheel spinning" out of the way, avoiding that "Troi contract", humanization via butt-rubbing, bat'leth lawyering, and Evil-Lyn working for Section 31!

Plus, news about new Trek projects, contract disputes, and the latest word from "The Kurtz!"

If the ship explodes, you wear prisoner clothes!

Star Trek: Discovery Season One is available for pre-order on Blu-ray!
https://amzn.to/2MagK7W

Last chance to get David Mack's Destiny Trilogy for a buck a book!
Gods of Night
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Mere Mortals
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Lost Souls
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Join our crew on Patreon and get access to our new feature, Stellar Commentaries!
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Sharpen your bat'leth and pour yourself a tall glass of prune juice as we walk "The Way of the Warrior"!

New York Times bestselling author and lecturer Dr. Una McCormack joins the show this week as we examine an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine that opens a new chapter of the "Russian novel" that is Trek's most complicated series. The Klingons, spoiling for a fight with the Dominion, have barged their way onto the station and into Bajoran space, and Lt. Commander Worf is dispatched to assess the worsening situation in the sector. But when a Klingon Empire plot to preemptively invade Cardassia is revealed, Sisko and crew must race to protect the Detapa Council, and Starfleet's lone Klingon officer must choose between his people and his principles!

This highly regarded, feature length episode serves as a soft reboot of the series, adding fan-favorite Worf to DS9's "Island of Misfit Toys" crew, while setting the growing threat of the Dominion at center stage. As we discuss the episode, we touch on the producers' efforts to "shake up" the show, the trials and responsibilities of being an outsider, the realism of being trapped into making bad decisions, the satisfying pairings within the cast, and we ask, "What's more important to drama: conflict or stakes?"

Plus, we contrast DS9 with that *other* space station show, compare Sherlocks, praise the "shirty" Dr. Pulaski, have a bit of a chin wag about Blake's 7, and we question if a massage is really a massage. Also, we recoil at the Health and Safety nightmare of blood tests, talk about making the right decision . . . or at least having a good defense at your court martial, making your own teleport bracelets, Aaron continues his love affair with Gowron, and Una talks about her crazy, TNG-on-VHS Friday nights at university!

You should never cut Garak and you shouldn't miss this episode!

Pre-order Una's Star Trek: Discovery novel, The Way to the Stars!
https://amzn.to/2PaVYUj

Follow the continuing story of Cardassia with Una's DS9 novels!
Enigma Tales
https://amzn.to/2MkPG67
The Never Ending Sacrifice
https://amzn.to/2MkPPXd
https://www.amazon.com/Una-McCormack/e/B001IQXCF0/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_ebooks_1

Listen to Una's Doctor Who and Blake's 7 audioplays for Big Finish!
https://www.bigfinish.com/search_results?txtSearch=una+mccormack&x=0&y=0

Follow Una on Twitter!
http://www.twitter.com/unamccormack

Hear our live episode with Melinda Snodgrass from CONvergence 2018!
https://www.patreon.com/posts/20122260

Argue over old BBC shows with us on Facebook and Twitter!
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This week, we've got news from Star Trek Las Vegas, plus, we get a Hawk confused with a hand phaser as we look at the connection between Shakespeare and Trek!

What a piece of work is Patrick Stewart!

Star Trek: Discovery Season One is available for pre-order on Blu-ray!
https://amzn.to/2MagK7W

Gird thyself with Shakespearean and Trek works!
The Oxford Complete Works
https://amzn.to/2OVTUPR
The Klingon Hamlet
https://amzn.to/2MwwDlS
The Autobiography of Jean Luc Picard
https://amzn.to/2vywCHG

Get David Mack's Destiny Trilogy for a buck a book!
Gods of Night
https://amzn.to/2MwVPJ8
Mere Mortals
https://amzn.to/2vvePBp
Lost Souls
https://amzn.to/2vwASrb

Feel old and young simultaneously with Generations Geek!
http://www.generationsgeek.com

Join our crew on Patreon and get access to our new feature, Stellar Commentaries!
http://www.patreon.com/eistpod

Click through our Amazon link on enterprisingindividuals.com to support the show!
http://www.enterprisingindividuals.com
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The players are strutting and fretting and the stage is set for MURDER as we catch "The Conscience of the King"!

Author and game designer Robin D. Laws joins the show this week as we investigate an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series that's a little bit noir, a little bit Shakespeare, and 100% SPACE MYSTERY! When Kirk meets an actor that he suspects is Kodos the Executioner, he invites the former governor and his troupe aboard. But when the bodies begin piling up like Act V of Hamlet, he'll have to confront his past connection to the massacre on Tarsus IV and an unexpected assassin!

Our examination of low-rated but high-quality Trek episodes continues with this "talky" tribute to epic pathos and noirish fatalism, where the "bad guy" is sympathetic, the hero is devious, and the femme fatale is extra fatal. During the show, we talk about Trek's intersections with the Bard, how to light your ship for "noir", the police procedural roots of the show, finding emergent play in RPGs, Kirk getting a little "Bond", and the parallels between Shakespearean dialogue and technobabble!

Plus, we discuss the lethality of Windex, having red wine with fish, the classic "half-a-fur-coat" look, the Satanic Panic of the 1980s, sexy diegetic cocktail themes, Star Trek: Discovery as a Belgian Sour, the return of the Myth of the Sexy Kirk, Last Unicorn Trek RPG, Aaron talks his dissolute actor past, and Robin plants a maple leaf flag in William Shakespeare! This show is the stuff dreams are made of!

Red alert's double, toil and trouble!

Get Robin's books on Amazon!
Hamlet's Hitpoints
https://amzn.to/2Kg9ylB
Beating the Story
https://amzn.to/2Ma1VyO

Pre-order the Yellow King RPG from Pelgrane Press!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1721105501/the-yellow-king-roleplaying-game-from-robin-d-laws

Follow Robin on Twitter and listen to Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff!
http://www.twitter.com/robindlaws
http://www.kenandrobintalkaboutstuff.com

Hear our live episode with Melinda Snodgrass from CONvergence 2018!
https://www.patreon.com/posts/20122260

Sing us a song on Facebook and Twitter!
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The nerds have left SDCC and we've picked up all the Star Trek: Discovery news and brought it right to your ears! Plus, updates on Star Trek 4, Tarantino Trek, and Star Trek vodka!

We don't know our port from our starboard!

Get Melinda Snodgrass's novel The Tears of the Singers from Amazon!
https://amzn.to/2uRTvpp

Pick up Dan Gearino's book, Comic Shop, and check out his website!
https://amzn.to/2uTFQxV
http://www.dangearino.com

Listen to Kevin Lauderdale talk about The City on the Edge of Forever!
http://enterprisingindividuals.com/blog/2017/05/10/season-2-episode-8-the-city-on-the-edge-of-forever-tos-with-kevin-lauderdale/

Check out From the Bridge!
http://www.fromthebridgemovie.com

Join our crew on Patreon and get access to our new feature, Stellar Commentaries!
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Click through our Amazon link on enterprisingindividuals.com to support the show!
http://www.enterprisingindividuals.com
https://www.amazon.com/?tag=jet01-20&linkCode=ez

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Finish that bottle of Chateau Picard '49 and let the mudslinging begin as we pay a visit to "Family"!

Author Jeffrey Lang is back on the show to talk about one of Star Trek: The Next Generation's most offbeat and heartfelt episodes. Picard has escaped the clutches of the Borg and saved the Federation once again, but he can't win the battle against the memory of his traumatic experience without the tough love of his estranged brother, Robert . . . and a well-timed mud fight.

Join us as we look at one of TNG's only epilogues, an episode that was literally underrated, but one that shows, more than any other, the true, beating heart of Trek. Along the way, we talk about the growing maturity in storytelling of TNG's middle years, the key performances that make this episode work, the small flashes of continuity afforded on a procedural show, and how sometimes being screwed up is exactly right.

Plus, we discuss the horse thief Crusher, Gene hating Picard's fear, the best old guy fight in sci-fi television, the drawbacks of synthehol, the myth of the effective admiral, whether Kennedys cry, the literal lost art of matte painting, Jeff checks TV Guide circa 1991 for Macguyver times, and Kal posits the existence of exoeconomists!

Make Atlantis Dry Again!

Check out Jeff's fascinating Trek novels!
The Left Hand of Destiny
https://amzn.to/2uvj27D
Section 31: Abyss
https://amzn.to/2NoFqX6
Force and Motion
https://amzn.to/2LhPUKE

Hear our live episode with Melinda Snodgrass from CONvergence 2018!
https://www.patreon.com/posts/20122260

Be our nephew on Facebook and Twitter!
http://www.facebook.com/eistpod
http://www.twitter.com/eistpod

Buy us some Chateau Picard on Patreon!
http://www.patreon.com/eistpod

Subscribe to the show on iTunes!
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/enterprising-individuals/id1113165661?mt=2

We are back from CONvergence 2018 and an amazing live show with Melinda Snodgrass. Here more about it on the show!

And, we sadly say good bye to a titan of sci-fi and Star Trek. Former guests on the show share their memories and stories of Harlan Ellison. Come join a celebration of his life and work!

Here's our City on the Edge of Forever show with Kevin Lauderdale where we talk about Harlan
http://enterprisingindividuals.com/blog/2017/05/10/season-2-episode-8-the-city-on-the-edge-of-forever-tos-with-kevin-lauderdale/

Check out the amazing stories that Harlan left behind!
I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream: Stories
https://amzn.to/2ul6foi
Dangerous Visions
https://amzn.to/2zAZHH3
The City on the Edge of Forever original teleplay
https://amzn.to/2uzhDfw
City on the Edge of Forever audio reading
https://amzn.to/2uzbpfH
Dreams With Sharp Teeth documentary
https://amzn.to/2KUqhA5

Join our crew on Patreon!
http://www.patreon.com/eistpod

Click through our Amazon link on enterprisingindividuals.com to support the show!
http://www.enterprisingindividuals.com
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We're running both silent and deep this week as we play cat-and-mouse with "Balance of Terror"!

New York Times best-selling author and John W. Campbell Award winner Andy Weir joins the show to discuss the best submarine movie in space! The Enterprise is tracking a mysterious foe, but their prey proves far from helpless, leading to a deadly game of chess between two skilled commanders and their brave crews!

Join us as we break down the Original Series episode that gave us the Romulans, cloaking devices, the Neutral Zone, the fabulous Mark Lenard, and more Cold War parallels than you can shake a sickle at! We talk the claustrophobic feel of ship-to-ship combat, the deftness of Trek's many retcons, the byzantine process of the Enterprise's workflow, choosing who you'll save by the act's thematic resonance, the makings of a good "villain", and the dogged persistence of the "we have met the enemy and he is us" trope!

Plus, we discuss the Pentateuch Cinematic Universe, the Wrath of Wah Chang, Farmer Hoggett's invention of warp drive, sexist Tellarites, lunching with Joss Whedon, slow talkin' Klingons, and why Starfleet self-destructs should make you use a special character.

All that and a space wedding, too! Dive in today!

Follow Andy on Facebook and Twitter and check out his webpage!
https://www.facebook.com/AndyWeirAuthor/?ref=br_rs
https://twitter.com/andyweirauthor
http://www.andyweirauthor.com

Pick up Andy's new novel, Artemis!
https://amzn.to/2tTAEd4

Read Andy's article on Moon city economics!
http://www.businessinsider.com/andy-weir-artemis-moon-city-economics-the-martian-2017-11

Enterprising Individuals will be LIVE at CONvergence 2018! Here's more info!
http://schedule.convergence-con.org/event/F0w3/enterprising-individuals-live-the-measure-of-a-man
http://www.convergence-con.org

There's still time to share your Harlan Ellison stories for our upcoming tribute episode; call 612-234-5232 or email the show at [email protected] and share your recollections of Harlan!

Escape the Neutral Zone with us on Facebook and Twitter!
http://www.facebook.com/eistpod
http://www.twitter.com/eistpod

Buy us a new fiancé on Patreon!
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While we wait for the second season of Star Trek: Discovery, our recap show Discoverage looks back at Discovery's bombastic first season! Ella Pearson of Generations Geek, writer and graphic designer Sara Lynn Michener, and writer and editor Eleanor Tremeer join the show to discuss the adventures of the USS Discovery and the return of Star Trek to TV after 13 years.

Along the way, we discuss the "one long episode" that is season one, as well as the evolution of TV storytelling, the mechanics of reaching utopia, getting a poker game started on the Disco, pretentious episode titles, getting better shows from smaller budgets, fan reactions, the deafening silence of Tumblr, and blueberries!

Plus, Aaron pines for the future of the future, Sara is screening calls from Drugs, Eleanor goes schinken on German cuisine, and Ella's cat Ripley has to save herself!

This is the definitive retrospective of a Discovery season . . . at least until season 2!

Note: this recap was recorded before the announcement of Berg and Harberts leaving the show and being replaced by Kurtzman and the announcement of new Trek shows in development

Here's a link to Ella's excellent media studies video on Star Trek: Discovery!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WpFYz7Ig8w&feature=youtu.be

Follow Ella and Generations Geek on Twitter!
http://www.twitter.com/gondorgold
http://www.twitter.com/generationsgeek

Follow Sara on Facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/michener

Follow Eleanor on Twitter!
http://www.twitter.com/extratremeerial

Want to hear our individual recaps for Star Trek: Discovery? You can at http://enterprisingindividuals.com/blog/2017/09/15/discoverage!

Join our crew on Patreon!
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Click through our Amazon link on enterprisingindividuals.com to support the show!
http://www.enterprisingindividuals.com
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Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for Trek news and updates!
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