Primitive Culture: A Star Trek History and Culture Podcast

Star Trek and Human Rights.

Star Trek’s progressive, humanist outlook has always involved the extension of legal protection to a wide range of non-human entities. The courtroom battles fought by Data and Voyager’s EMH reflect how legal status is called into question in our own world as a way of justifying exploitation. Although Starfleet—for the most part—upholds the same moral principles enshrined in the UN and European rights charters, other species, such as the Cardassians, show a systematic disregard for the rights of individuals—human or not.

In this episode of Primitive Culture, host Duncan Barrett is joined by Guinevere Nell of The Briar Patch and Clara Cook for a special episode to mark International Human Rights Day, recorded live at the London School of Economics. We consider how Star Trek has engaged with real-world debates about human and animal rights, the impact of war on our most dearly held principles, and the limitations placed on the Federation’s role as an interstellar moral police force.

Chapters Intro (00:00:00) Rights for Non-humans (00:09:37) Moral Dilemmas vs. Legal Debates (00:29:20) Rights in Other Cultures (00:34:40) Cardassian Rights Abuses (00:41:50) When the Laws Fall Silent (00:57:00) Privacy (01:02:25) Collective Rights (01:08:00)

Hosts Duncan Barrett Guests Clara Cook and Guinevere Nell Production Tony Black (Editor) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer) Amy Nelson (Associate Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager) Brandon-Shea Mutala (Patreon Manager)

Live from London: Star Trek and Director’s Cuts.

As Star Trek fans, we know there may be more to a story than what we see on screen. We pore over deleted scenes, read novelizations and comic books, listen to behind-the-scenes stories, and scour unrealized versions of shooting scripts—all to find subtle nuances of character and plot as we imagine how things might have been. But what does it mean when the creator themselves decides that the original cut isn’t final?

Three of the six movies featuring the crew of the original Enterprise 1701 now exist in multiple versions, creating a dilemma for the most devoted audiences. Is it better to experience them as originally released, or should we trust that those who take the time to tweak them have the right to say which version is final?

In this episode of Primitive Culture, recorded live at the Prince Charles Cinema in London ahead of the UK premiere of the extended director’s cut of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, hosts Duncan Barrett and Tony Black are joined by Clara Cook and Tony Robinson to discuss the director’s cut phenomenon and how it affects the relationship between a film and its audience. In addition to the changes made to the 1982 classic, we consider the alternate versions of The Motion Picture and The Undiscovered Country—along with other films—and debate which Star Trek movies might benefit the most from another go-around.

Chapters Intro (00:00:00) A Special Message from Nicholas Meyer (00:02:45) Star Trek: The Motion Picture (00:08:27) For Better or Worse? (00:12:56) How Long Is a Piece of String? (00:21:25) Blade Runner (00:25:25) Beyond the Farthest Shot (00:29:44) Final Thoughts (00:50:28)

Hosts Duncan Barrett and Tony Black

Guests Clara Cook and Tony Robinson

Production Tony Black (Editor) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer) Amy Neslon (Associate Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager) Brandon-Shea Mutala (Patreon Manager)

Time Loops in Star Trek.

Time’s up! Or is it? For those Starfleet officers unfortunate enough to find themselves trapped in a temporal causality loop, the mental strain of repeating the same moments again and again can be hard to bear. And for the writers and directors faced with the challenge of making a deeply repetitive story exciting, the logistical problems are significant. Nonetheless, time-loop stories have become a science fiction staple, running the gamut from comedy (Groundhog Day) to action thriller (Source Code). Within Star Trek, “Cause and Effect” (TNG) and “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad” (DSC) share a structural similarity. But while one is a dramatic ensemble mystery, the other is a quirky character drama. The time loop proves itself to be anything but repetitive.

In this episode of Primitive Culture, recorded live in London’s West End, hosts Tony Black and Duncan Barrett explore this unique storytelling device, both within Star Trek and beyond. From the 1973 short story “12:01 PM” by American writer Richard A. Lupoff right up to the eighth episode of Star Trek: Discovery, they consider the role time-loop stories play in science fiction, asking whether there is more to these tales than simple entertainment? What are the darker issues at play when the loops begin to unravel, and what can they tell us about our own distinctly linear lives?

Chapters Intro (00:00:00) “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad” (00:05:10) “Cause and Effect” (00:08:09) General Discussion (00:16:21) Timings (00:31:21) Loopy Morality (00:35:20) Groovy Futility (00:39:27) The Eternal Loop (00:44:14) Circles of Hell (00:47:15) Final Thoughts (00:50:42)

Hosts Tony Black and Duncan Barrett

Production Tony Black (Editor) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer) Amy Nelson (Associate Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager) Brandon-Shea Mutala (Patreon Manager)

The X-Files and Star Trek. Just like Kirk and Spock, Mulder and Scully have become pop-culture icons, outgrowing the some 200 television episodes and two films in which they appear. Although The X-Files has yet to achieve Star Trek’s level of longevity, the property will soon mark its twenty-fifth anniversary, and is returning next year for the further adventures of the two indefatigable FBI agents—now both in their fifties. In Star Trek terms, it has made it from “The Man Trap” all the way through to The Undiscovered Country.

In this special Halloween episode of Primitive Culture, Tony returns from his long vacation on Risa to talk with Duncan about the only show he might love more than Star Trek. We discuss the thematic connections between these two science fiction behemoths, looking at their shared interest in UFO culture, preoccupation with the historical legacies of World War II, and the various ways in which the huge success of The X-Files in the 1990s might have shaped the Trek that followed—from the shady shenanigans of Section 31 in Deep Space Nine to the latest episodes of Discovery.

Chapters Intro (00:00:00) Longevity and Nostalgia (00:03:40) The Nineties’ Zeitgeist and Mistrust of Authority (00:17:19) World War II Guilt and Conspiracy (00:22:35) 9/11 and the Restarting of History (00:48:14) Closing (00:58:23) Hosts Tony Black and Duncan Barrett Production Tony Black (Editor) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer) Amy Nelson (Associate Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager) Brandon-Shea Mutala (Patreon Manager)

The Federation’s Field of Dreams.

“Death to the opposition!” Starfleet officers are expected to be good sports and, for many of them, the lessons they’ve learned while playing their favorite games—tennis, fencing, even water polo—are ones they’ve brought with them onto the bridges of their starships. But no Star Trek character is as closely identified with his personal sporting passion than Captain Benjamin Sisko, whose deep love of baseball shines through all seven seasons of Deep Space Nine.

In this episode of Primitive Culture, host Duncan Barrett—who doesn’t know a bunt from a fancy dan—is joined by major-league baseball enthusiasts Mike Schindler and Zach Moore for a lesson on what makes this quintessentially American sport so meaningful to its fans. Along the way, they puzzle over why baseball is such a good fit for Star Trek’s storytelling, and what it means to be a good loser when you’re fighting a seemingly unwinnable war.

Chapters Intro (00:00:00) Inside Baseball (00:04:25) The In-Field Fly Rule (00:25:13) The Ball of the Emissary (00:41:15) Sisko the Jerk (00:52:00) Buck Bokai (00:56:20) Final Thoughts (01:01:40)

Host Duncan Barrett

Guests Mike Schindler and Zach Moore

Production Tony Black (Editor) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer) Amy Nelson (Associate Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager) Brandon-Shea Mutala (Patreon Manager)

Star Trek and Allegory.

In February 1964, Gene Roddenberry’s television show The Lieutenant produced an episode dealing with racism in the US military. The episode proved so controversial that NBC refused to pay for it, let alone broadcast it. A month later, Roddenberry pitched Star Trek, a science-fiction format that would allow him to address such incendiary issues indirectly, by telling stories set in the future as allegories of contemporary concerns. Although occasionally ham-fisted, Star Trek’s early allegories trod provocative new ground, and, half a century later, the allegorical mode is still a key part of Trek’s storytelling.

In this episode of Primitive Culture, host Duncan Barrett is joined by Zachary Fruhling of Meta Treks and To The Journey to discuss the relationship between Star Trek and allegory, considering both Star Trek as allegory and instances of allegorical narrative within individual episodes. From Aesop’s Fables to medieval romance—and beyond—we trace a line of allegorical writing that leads all the way to the twenty-fourth century.

Chapters Intro (00:00:00) Morals, Meanings, and Messages (00:06:15) Loose Canons (00:17:13) An Allegorical Taxonomy (00:35:55) Fables and Fools (00:42:07) Personification (01:09:45) Closing (01:22:15)

Host Duncan Barrett

Guest Zachary Fruhling

Production Tony Black (Editor) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer) Amy Nelson (Associate Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager) Brandon-Shea Mutala (Patreon Manager)

Star Trek and Epic Heroes.



“Sokath, his eyes uncovered!” When Captain Jean-Luc Picard finally cracked the Tamarian language, he countered “Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra” with an ancient myth of his own: the Epic of Gilgamesh. One of the earliest known works of literature, this deeply strange but profoundly beautiful Mesopotamian poem, predating the Old Testament by more than a thousand years, offers an unlikely bridge between two very different spacefaring cultures.

In this episode of Primitive Culture, host Duncan Barrett is joined by Clara Cook to discuss Star Trek’s engagement with epic narratives, focusing on the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Old English poem Beowulf, as played out in TNG’s “Darmok” and Voyager’s “Heroes and Demons.” Do Starfleet’s brave and brilliant officers share a common heritage with the epic heroes of yore? And to what extent can a twenty-fourth-century reader understand a poem written in a culture so alien from their own?

Chapters  Intro (00:00:00)   Epic of Gilgamesh and “Darmok” (00:03:31)   Beowulf and “Heroes and Demons” (00:31:46)   Heroic Qualities and Epic Tropes (00:43:16)   Monsters and Realism (01:07:02)   High and Low Culture (01:24:34)   Final Thoughts (01:36:59)

Host Duncan Barrett

Guest 
Clara Cook

Production 
Justin Oser (Editor) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer) Amy Nelson (Associate Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager) Brandon-Shea Mutala (Patreon Manager)

Star Trek’s Design Influences.

Matt Jefferies, designer of the original Starship Enterprise, was less than complimentary when he saw its 24th-century incarnation in Star Trek: The Next Generation: “Gene asked me how I liked the show, and I said that he had taken the bridge of my ship and turned it into the lobby of the Hilton.” But throughout its 50-year history, Star Trek’s aesthetic has always moved with the times, assimilating current fashion trends and adapting basic designs to accommodate new ideas and new technologies.

In this episode of Primitive Culture, host Duncan Barrett is joined by Trek.fm Art Director Aaron Harvey, who also hosts our Star Trek: The Animated Series show Saturday Morning Trek, to talk about the design influences that have shaped the look of Star Trek over the course of half a century—from the sleek, contoured stylings of Kirk’s original Enterprise to the rough-and-ready look of the USS Discovery.

Chapters Intro (00:00:00) Matt Jefferies’s Aeronautical Influences (00:02:45) Color in TOS (00:17:02) The Motion Picture’s Sense of Scale (00:23:03) Nick Meyer’s Gritty Rebranding (00:28:46) Fan Designers and the USS Discovery (00:36:04) The Enterprise-D (00:45:45) Voyager’s Open-Plan Office (00:53:06) Okudagrams and LCARS (00:54:54) Deep Space Nine’s Alien Aesthetic (00:59:20) Designing for Prequels (01:05:15) Final Thoughts (01:15:04)

Host Duncan Barrett

Guest Aaron Harvey

Production Tony Black (Editor) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer) Amy Nelson (Associate Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager) Brandon-Shea Mutala (Patreon Manager)

Star Trek and Action Movies.     Lights! Camera! Action? Compared to the other science fiction franchise with which it shares half its name, Star Trek has always been distinctly contemplative, as much morality play as spectacular entertainment. But right from the start, there were moves to punch up the action. In 1965, the show’s original pilot was rejected by NBC executives for being too “cerebral.” A quarter-century later, Patrick Stewart expressed a similar view, begging Gene Roddenberry to offer the enlightened Captain Picard more opportunities for “sex and shooting.” By the time Picard was reinvented for the silver screen, the wise, unflappable diplomat had become a man of action, with bulging muscles rippling under his sweat-stained vest.

In this episode of Primitive Culture, hosts Tony Black and Duncan Barrett look at what Star Trek has borrowed from the action movie genre, focusing on the episodes “Starship Mine” and “Macrocosm,” and their debt to Die Hard and Aliens. What does it mean when Starfleet’s most idealistic captains are forced to forgo diplomacy and get out their guns? And to what extent can Star Trek absorb action-movie tropes without sacrificing its own unique qualities? Join us as we saddle up, lock and load, and get ready to boldly kick some alien butt. 

Chapters  Intro (00:00:00)   Ellen Ripley (00:10:05)  Sex and Shooting (00:16:00)  The Changing Face of Action (00:21:06)  Gender-blind Casting (00:31:05)  Evaluating the Episodes (00:34:28)  Adult Content (00:40:50)  Babes vs. Badasses (00:46:14)  Final Thoughts (00:54:13)   Hosts Tony Black and Duncan Barrett   Production Tony Black (Editor) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer) Amy Nelson (Associate Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager) Brandon-Shea Mutala (Patreon Manager)

The French Resistance and Star Trek’s Maquis.

In the mid-1990s, when the writers of Star Trek were dreaming up a new terrorist splinter group that would threaten the Federation’s delicate treaty with Cardassia, they turned to the history books to choose a name for the controversial organization. The term maquis, a Corsican word meaning hilly brushland, had originally been adopted by French Resistance fighters who fled to the hills to escape the Nazis. From the relative safety of their rustic bases, these maquis plotted raids against their German overlords, like latter-day Robin Hoods hiding from the Sherrif of Nottingham.

In this episode of Primitive Culture, hosts Tony Black and Duncan Barrett consider legacies of the French Resistance in the Star Trek universe, focusing in particular on the presentation of the Bajoran Resistance and the Maquis, who planned their raids on Cardassian strongholds from secret bases in the caves and hills of rural provinces. What is it about these rebels of World War II that proved so irresistible to Star Trek’s writers half a century later? And what exactly does such rebellion represent in the supposedly utopian future of the Federation?

Chapters Intro (00:00:00) “The Killing Game” (00:04:05) Resistance vs. Collaboration (00:09:15) Charles De Gaulle and Bajoran Resistance Cells (00:13:38) Provisional Governments and the Challenges of Post-war Reconstruction (00:19:48) Heroes, Terrorists, and Collaborators (00:26:48) The Maquis and Les Misérables (00:32:57) Voyager’s Maquis (00:44:21) Authority and Authoritarianism (00:52:32) Moral Ambiguity in Deep Space Nine (01:00:59) The Cardassian Resistance (01:05:52) Final Thoughts (01:18:52)

Hosts Tony Black and Duncan Barrett Production Tony Black (Editor) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer) Amy Nelson (Associate Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager) Brandon-Shea Mutala (Patreon Manager)