Guest: Desun Oka

Historian Desun Oka beams aboard to talk about the intersection of nationalism and Star Trek. The United Federation of Planets is often likened to the United States of America, but in space. In what ways is the Federation like a modern nation state? In what ways is it not? And how might Star Trek reflect, examine, and critique what nationalism is all about?

"Imagined Communities" by Benedict Anderson: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imagined_Communities

"Ancient Earth" from PBS NOVA—featuring Mike! https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/ancient-earth-birth-of-the-sky/

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On this short solo episode, Mike shares his address to the students of the 2023 International Society for Artificial Life summer school.

Read more about the concept of "lyfe": https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/10/4/42

Read more about the concept of "genesity": https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/12/6/783

"Life Evolves. Can Attempts to Create ‘Artificial Life’ Evolve, Too?" by Shi En Kim for Scientific American: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/life-evolves-can-attempts-to-create-artificial-life-evolve-too/

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Guests: Tim Russ & Dr. Kayla Iacovino

On this episode of Strange New Worlds, we're bringing you a panel that Mike hosted for the Nichelle Nichols Foundation's "Hailing Frequencies Open!" speaker series. This panel features Star Trek actor and citizen scientist Tim Russ as well as NASA volcanologist and TrekMovie.com editor Dr. Kayla Iacovino. Together, they explore strange new worlds and seek out new life!

Watch the YouTube version of this panel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29NtHNVuGwY&ab_channel=NichelleNicholsFoundation

The Nichelle Nichols Foundation: https://nichellenichols.foundation/

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On this short solo episode, Mike reflects on his trip to the "Oxygen in Planetary Biospheres" workshop at Green Bank Observatory.

"Can You Decode an Alien Message?" by Shi En Kim: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/can-you-decode-an-alien-message/

A Sign in Space: https://asignin.space/

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On this short solo episode, Mike reflects on his trip to the "Cosmic Visions" conference at Johns Hopkins University.

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Guest: Walter Koenig

Star Trek actor Walter Koenig joins Mike to reflect upon his friendship with Nichelle Nichols and her boundary-breaking legacy. Both Walter and Mike are on the advisory board for the Nichelle Nichols Foundation, a non-profit organization whose mission is to increase diversity and inclusion in STEAM fields. Find out more about the organization and consider donating at: https://nichellenichols.foundation/.

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Guest: John Jackson Miller

New York Times bestselling author John Jackson Miller joins Mike to discuss his Star Trek: Strange New Worlds novel "The High Country"—the first piece of the Star Trek Universe that features Mike's name in it!

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: The High Country, by John Jackson Miller: https://farawaypress.com/2022/04/08/strange-new-worlds-high-country/

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Guest: Dr. Scott Perl

NASA JPL astrobiologist Dr. Scott Perl joins us to discuss the science of biosignatures and his work on developing ways to explore strange new worlds and seek out new life in the Solar System and beyond.

Scott's paper, "A Proposed Geobiology-Driven Nomenclature for Astrobiological In Situ Observations and Sample Analyses": https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/ast.2020.2318

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Guest: Dr. Peter Gao

Planetary scientist Dr. Peter Gao beams back aboard Strange New Worlds to discuss the latest JWST exoplanet findings and the Star Trek: Picard series finale. Warning: we don't hold back on spoilers!

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Guest: Dr. Anirudh Prabhu

What's the history of artificial intelligence, and where is A.I. headed next? Most importantly, how close are we to creating Data? In the second half of Mike's conversation with data scientist Dr. Anirudh Prabhu, we explore all of these questions—and more!

Anirudh's website: https://www.anirudhprabhu.com/

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