Starfleet Academy Truants

Happy New Year, Truants! This week Kris and Mouse reveal themselves as traitors by talking about the new Star Wars film on what is ostensibly a Star Trek podcast. But don't worry, we spend some time on other things, too: the new Star Trek movie trailer, our internal and external conflicts about J.J. Abrams, and what it sounds like when we eat corn.

CBS recently announced a new Trek TV show going into production, so Kris and Mouse got in touch with a few past guests to see what they're hoping for in the new series. Max, Guttormur, Iris and Nero all drop in to give us a little piece of their fan fiction that they hope becomes fan fact.

How do you introduce someone else to Star Trek? What is it about this universe that makes us so eager to convert people? Mouse and Kris talk to their friend Chris (with a C), who volunteered to play guinea pig for this episode, and listener-turned-guest Steve Masuch, who suggested an introductory episode from each of the first three Trek series.

J.J. Abrams doesn't really like Star Trek, and it shows. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But why would you hand over the franchise to someone who's just not into it? Mouse and Kris are back after a long hiatus, and we're complaining about Star Trek movies again. We can find something to like about the modern reboots, but it's tough going in a world where everything is gray and imbued with the constant threat of being erotically sucked into space.

After Leonard Nimoy wrote and directed two Star Trek films, Bill Shatner got his turn at the helm--and left us with a piece of incoherent, bewildering fanfiction. This week our friend Max Eddy is back to talk to us about our least favorite movie, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. Share our pain, and join us on a journey to the center of the galaxy, where we will shoot God.

This week we talk about Star Trek's post-scarcity society with Guttormur, a friend from Iceland. How close are we to that type of utopian economic system? How do we get there? If everyone's needs are met and money isn't necessary, does authenticity become the new currency? And how do you deal with civilizations that still use money?

This week's guest, Mark Popham, joins us for a conversation on just how the heck money and trade work in the Star Trek universe. We discuss the important questions, like: "Why would you ever ship stuff you can just get out of a replicator?" and "Just how amazing are our Ferengi impressions?"

We talk with our favorite webcomics power couple, Iris Jay and Nero O’Reilly, about the running theme of outsiders throughout the various Star Trek series.