Primitive Culture: A Star Trek History and Culture Podcast

Ocean’s 11 (1960) and “Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang.”

Long before George Clooney assembled his star-studded gang of high-rolling thieves, the original Danny Ocean—Frank Sinatra—successfully knocked off five casinos in a single night in the original 1960 Ocean’s 11. With help from Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., and the rest of the Rat Pack, Sinatra brought his own brand of cool to the caper genre in a film that, arguably, proved more iconic than creatively successful. Three decades later, when the producers of Deep Space Nine began plotting their own casino heist in “Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang,” it was to Sinatra’s job that they turned for inspiration, even renting particular period-specific costumes because they matched those featured in the movie.

In this episode of Primitive Culture, host Duncan Barrett is joined by Justin Oser to look at the links between Ocean’s 11 and “Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang,” two stories in which a crack team of decorated war veterans must pull off the most audacious mission of their careers. We consider what the DS9 writers added to the mix (not least a bit of nifty shapeshifting), as well as ponder how high the stakes can be in a film about rich people getting richer—not to mention a robbery committed by those who barely understand the concept of money.

Chapters Intro (00:00:00) Hanging with the Rat Pack (00:03:55) The Lie (00:15:25) The Eyes Have It (00:40:35) Monopoly Money (00:54:25)

Host Duncan Barrett Guest Justin Oser

Production Tony Black (Editor) Duncan Barrett (Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) Tony Black (Associate Producer) Clara Cook (Associate Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer) Amy Nelson (Associate Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager)

Cold War Détente and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. When Nicholas Meyer returned to the Star Trek cinematic universe with Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, he produced one of the franchise’s most flagrant—and successful—examples of “ripped from the headlines” storytelling, reimagining the collapse of the USSR in space. Gorbachev became Gorkon and Chernobyl became Praxis. And, in the story’s imagined cabal, who will stop at nothing to preserve the Cold War status quo, the film tapped into an anxiety that lingered around this pivotal moment. After the “end of history,” as Francis Fukuyama memorably described it, what kind of future might lie around the corner? Would the old cold warriors still find a place for themselves in this new, as-yet-undiscovered era?

In this episode of Primitive Culture, host Duncan Barrett is joined by Tony Black for a look at Fukuyama’s seminal 1989 essay “The End of History” and its influence on The Undiscovered Country. We consider some of the inherent risks—as well as the pleasures—in borrowing from current events and also ponder a tricky question: If only Nixon could go to China, does that make Kirk, who once seemed like an echo of JFK resurrected on the bridge of a starship, the heroic president’s most cynical and untrustworthy successor?

Chapters Intro (00:00:00) Discovered Countries (00:08:55) Make Peace or Die (00:15:36) Dinosaurs (00:40:55) Klingon Lives? (00:55:25)

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

Voyager’s “Critical Care” and the current global pandemic. A healthcare system struggling with inadequate resources. Patients dying, untreated, as politicians and administrators grapple with a humanitarian crisis. In some ways, the Star Trek: Voyager episode “Critical Care” seems eerily prescient. Originally intended as classic Trek-style social commentary on the health maintenance organizations that exercise a vise-like grip on the US healthcare system, this dystopian parable has been interpreted as a swipe at numerous other medical models around the globe, including the “socialized” healthcare provided in the UK and continental Europe.

In this episode of Primitive Culture, recorded during the height of the coronavirus lockdown, host Duncan Barrett is joined by Clara Cook to look at some of the parallels between this 20-year-old Voyager episode and the current global pandemic. We focus in particular on its critique of the US healthcare model and consider how our own health service in the UK—the NHS—is coping during the most challenging time in its history.

Chapters Intro (00:00:00) The NHS (00:07:09) Getting Critical (00:09:15) Sicko (00:34:45) Intensive Care (01:03:03) Classic Trek-Style Social Commentary (01:29:00) Final Thoughts (01:35:44)

Host Duncan Barrett

Guest Clara Cook

Production Duncan Barrett (Editor and Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) Tony Black (Associate Producer) Clara Cook (Associate Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer) Amy Nelson (Associate Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager)

Picard Season 1, Part II.

Ancient utopias? Lovecraftian monsters? A quixotic quest, where the windmills may be giants after all? The second half of Picard’s first season continues to draw on a rich well of inspiration. In this episode of Primitive Culture, host Duncan Barrett is once again joined by Tony Black to continue their discussion of the historical and cultural influences on Star Trek: Picard, this time focusing on the back half of the season. From impossible boxes to Arcadian golems, join us as we continue our trek through the show’s freshman season.

Chapters Intro (00:00:00) Invisible Doors and Impossible Boxes (00:05:15) Like Tears in Rain (00:15:40) Forget Me Not (00:52:05) The Tragic Sense of Life (01:05:05) Arcadia (01:20:25)

Host Duncan Barrett

Guest Tony Black

Production Tony Black (Editor) Duncan Barrett (Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) Tony Black (Associate Producer) Clara Cook (Associate Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer) Amy Nelson (Associate Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager)

Picard Season 1, Part I.

With a Pulitzer Prize-winning author at the helm, it’s perhaps no surprise that the first season of Star Trek: Picard should be one of the richest in Star Trek history, at least in terms of literary, cultural, and historical allusions. From Miguel de Cervantes’s classic novel Don Quixote to the Dunkirk evacuation of World War II, the show delights in its real-world reference points. Often, it wears its influences proudly—very much in keeping with showrunner Michael Chabon’s stated belief that all fiction is fan fiction.

In this episode of Primitive Culture, the first of a two-part discussion, host Duncan Barrett is joined by Tony Black for a look at some of the key influences on the first half of Star Trek: Picard’s freshman season. Next time, we’ll be back to do the same for the back half—golems and all.

Chapters Intro (00:00:00) Mars Attacks (00:06:04) Romulan Lives Matter (00:18:55) A Bridge Too Far? (00:33:13) Earthed and Grounded (00:44:55) Family Business (00:52:17) Candid Observations (01:12:25) What’s in a Rag? (01:33:15)

Host Duncan Barrett

Guest Tony Black

Production Tony Black (Editor) Duncan Barrett (Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) Tony Black (Associate Producer) Clara Cook (Associate Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer) Amy Nelson (Associate Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager)

Nicholas Meyer interview: On writing Star Trek and Sherlock Holmes.

To Star Trek fans, Nicholas Meyer is one of the most highly regarded writers to have played in Gene Roddenberry’s sandbox. As someone with only a passing familiarity with the original 1960s TV series, his outsider’s perspective was invaluable when it came to working on Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan—a film that reinvigorated the franchise after the disappointing performance of The Motion Picture.

But Meyer is equally adept at working in another long-standing fictional universe: that of Sherlock Holmes. In 1974, his Holmes pastiche The Seven Per-Cent Solution, in which the great detective teams up with Sigmund Freud in Vienna, became a massive bestseller that spawned a successful movie adaptation. Over the decades, three more Holmes novels followed, most recently The Adventure of the Peculiar Protocols (2019), in which Holmes and Watson investigate a notorious true story of “fake news”: the publication of the deeply anti-Semitic forgery known as The Protocols of the Meetings of the Learned Elders of Zion.

In this episode of Primitive Culture, a companion piece to our previous episode on Star Trek’s debt to Sherlock Holmes, host Duncan Barrett speaks with Nicholas Meyer about his work in both fictional universes. They discuss creative inspiration, recycling material, and the vexed questions of canon and continuity that can arise when working with popular long-established characters. Join as us we touch on everything from The Wrath of Khan to the first season of Star Trek: Discovery. The game’s afoot!

Chapters

Intro (00:00:00) Meeting the Great Detective (00:02:05) The Original Trekkies: The Sherlockians (00:15:24) Playing in Someone Else’s Sandbox (00:28:30) Star Trek: Discovery (00:33:10)

Host Duncan Barrett

Guest Nicholas Meyer

Production Duncan Barrett (Editor, Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) Tony Black (Associate Producer) Clara Cook (Associate Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer) Amy Nelson (Associate Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager)

Nicholas Meyer interview: On writing Star Trek and Sherlock Holmes.

To Star Trek fans, Nicholas Meyer is one of the most highly regarded writers to have played in Gene Roddenberry’s sandbox. As someone with only a passing familiarity with the original 1960s TV series, his outsider’s perspective was invaluable when it came to working on Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan—a film that reinvigorated the franchise after the disappointing performance of The Motion Picture.

But Meyer is equally adept at working in another long-standing fictional universe: that of Sherlock Holmes. In 1974, his Holmes pastiche The Seven Per-Cent Solution, in which the great detective teams up with Sigmund Freud in Vienna, became a massive bestseller that spawned a successful movie adaptation. Over the decades, three more Holmes novels followed, most recently The Adventure of the Peculiar Protocols (2019), in which Holmes and Watson investigate a notorious true story of “fake news”: the publication of the deeply anti-Semitic forgery known as The Protocols of the Meetings of the Learned Elders of Zion.

In this episode of Primitive Culture, a companion piece to our previous episode on Star Trek’s debt to Sherlock Holmes, host Duncan Barrett speaks with Nicholas Meyer about his work in both fictional universes. They discuss creative inspiration, recycling material, and the vexed questions of canon and continuity that can arise when working with popular long-established characters. Join as us we touch on everything from The Wrath of Khan to the first season of Star Trek: Discovery. The game’s afoot!

Chapters Intro (00:00:00) Meeting the Great Detective (00:02:05) The Original Trekkies: The Sherlockians (00:15:24) Playing in Someone Else’s Sandbox (00:28:30) Star Trek: Discovery (00:33:10)

Host Duncan Barrett

Guest Nicholas Meyer

Production Duncan Barrett (Editor, Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) Tony Black (Associate Producer) Clara Cook (Associate Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer) Amy Nelson (Associate Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager)

Star Trek and Sherlock Holmes.

“When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” Sherlock Holmes’s famous maxim is one that any self-respecting Starfleet science officer could live by. So it should come as no surprise that Star Trek’s two most-celebrated rational minds—Spock and Data—should both draw comparisons with the great detective. When Spock, in The Undiscovered Country, suggested that Holmes was an ancestor on his human side, the joke was two-fold: first, because it cheekily suggested that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s literary creation was, in fact, a flesh-and-blood human being; and, second, because Leonard Nimoy had famously played Holmes on stage. Brent Spiner, meanwhile, got to give his own take on the character—a parodic performance modeled on the great 20th-century Holmes, Basil Rathbone—in three episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation: “Lonely Among Us,” “Elementary, Dear Data,” and “Ship in a Bottle.”

In this episode of Primitive Culture, Duncan Barrett is joined by former co-host (and avowed Sherlockian) Clara Cook to investigate the curious links between these two sprawling fictional universes. In particular, we focus on the role of “canon” and its relationship to the freer realm of ancillary literary materials. Although many people credit the original Star Trek fans with inventing the idea of fan fiction, Sherlockians were, in fact, way ahead of them. The followers of the great detective participate in a kind of collective fantasy known as “The Game,” in which they presume Doyle’s writings to be statements of absolute truth and try to fit them into their own narratives, and their own investigations, into the cracks between them. It’s no coincidence that one of the most celebrated Sherlockians, Nicholas Meyer—whose bestselling novel The Seven-Per-Cent Solution saw Holmes and Watson team up with Sigmund Freud—was the writer who cheekily suggested that Spock was descended from Holmes himself. Join us as we slip on our smoking jackets, light up our pipes, and embark on The Adventure of the Intertwined Franchises.

Chapters Intro (00:00:00) The Rules (00:05:10) Cold Reason(00:23:55) The Napoleon of Crime (00:41:40) Enduring Archetypes (01:10:35) Unseen Adventures (01:34:15) Final Thoughts (01:42:25)

Hosts Duncan Barrett

Guest Clara Cook

Production Tony Black (Editor) Duncan Barrett (Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer) Amy Nelson (Associate Producer) Tony Black (Associate Producer) Clara Cook (Associate Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager)

The Legacy of The Original Series.

Of all Star Trek’s live-action iterations, it was The Original Series that was cut short the soonest, managing just three seasons and 79 episodes before succumbing to the axe of cancelation. But as Star Trek was reborn time and again over the ensuing 50 years, those 79 episodes have remained a touchstone for the almost 700 that have followed. But throughout the 1990s, as Star Trek attempted to chart a new course, the relationship between old and new was a fraught one.

In this episode of Primitive Culture, our own 79th outing, host Duncan Barrett is joined by Tony Black for a look at how Star Trek has influenced itself—specifically the impact that the legacy of The Original Series has had on the various series and movies. Looking at Deep Space Nine’s “Trials and Tribble-ations” and Voyager’s “Flashback”—the celebratory episodes that marked the 30th anniversary of the franchise—as well as the move towards TOS nostalgia in Enterprise, the Kelvin Timeline films, and Star Trek: Discovery, we consider some of the ways in which those original 79 stories have remained at the heart of this trek to the stars.

Chapters Intro (00:00:00) The Next Generation (00:06:20) Deep Space Nine (00:45:00) Voyager (00:54:55) Enterprise (01:04:30) Discovery and the Kelvin Timeline (01:13:15) Treks to Come (01:34:35)

Host Duncan Barret Guest Tony Black Production Tony Black (Editor) Duncan Barrett (Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) Tony Black (Associate Producer) Clara Cook (Associate Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer) Amy Nelson (Associate Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager)

The Eugenics Wars, with Greg Cox. For a high-tech futuristic utopia, the United Federation of Planets can seem surprisingly cautious when it comes to new technologies. Time and again, Star Trek has played out the science fiction staple of technology run amok. In some cases, the response we have seen has been a kind of retrenchment, a refusal to make use of certain technologies because of their perceived moral cost. The complex web of problems surrounding the banning of synthetic lifeforms in Star Trek: Picard calls to mind the extremely strict rules on genetic modification seen in episodes of The Next Generation and Voyager, all of which stem from the Eugenics Wars—a particularly dark period of Earth’s history in Star Trek’s timeline.

In this episode of Primitive Culture, host Duncan Barrett is joined by prolific Star Trek novelist Greg Cox, author of a trilogy of tie-in novels filling in the history of Khan and the Eugenics Wars, for a look at how Star Trek has approached the subject of genetic engineering and the ethical problems it raises. We discuss the retconning of the Nazi-inflected eugenics described in the Original Series episode “Space Seed” and how that carried through to genetic manipulation and the creation of augmented humans in The Wrath of Khan. We also consider, with the benefit of hindsight, whether real-world advancements in genetics over the half century since Star Trek was born make the Federation’s position seem a little too restrictive.

Chapters Intro (00:00:00) Writing the Eugenics Wars (00:03:00) From Eugenics to Genetic Manipulation (00:15:43) Brave New Worlds (00:33:08) Towing the Trek Line (00:44:00) Future Projects (01:09:55) Host Duncan Barrett Guest Greg Cox Production Duncan Barrett (Editor and Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) Tony Black (Associate Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer) Amy Nelson (Associate Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager)