Anthony and Laurie start the podcast with a deep dive into the latest goings-on with the Paramount/Skydance merger, unraveling the latest events and discussing what its impact on the Star Trek franchise (including movies as well as TV) could be. They talk about the news that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will end after season and how that will affect the arc of the show, then spend some time digging into the season 3 trailer as well as the panel discussion from the recent screening at the Tribeca Film Festival. Both podcasters also share their (mostly spoiler-free) early thoughts on the first five episodes of the third season, which has been shared in advance with the media.  Laurie gives a quick wrap-up of the Trek Long Island convention, Tony talks about the announcement for Spaceballs 2—and a hint from Tim Russ that he may return for it—and Laurie recommends a fun video of the Lower Decks show open done TOS-style.

This week, listen to the interview Laurie did at Trek Long Island with actress Susan Diol, who played Carmen Davila, the ill-fated colonist who was killed by the Crystalline Entity on TNG’s “Silicon Avatar,” and Dr. Danara Pel on Star Trek: Voyager. Susan talked about her experiences on Star Trek, other career experiences (Seinfeld!), being a woman in Hollywood, going on a couple of dates with Brent Spiner, and much more.

Anthony and Laurie welcome actor and artist Bruce Horak to the podcast to talk about getting cast as Chief Engineer Hemmer on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, doing knife-catching scenes and death scenes, singing as a Klingon, filming during Covid, and bonding with Uhura. He also tells us about his way of seeing the world and how he’s expressing that in his painting and the documentary he’s crowdfunding, Boldly Going, in which he meets others who have overcome barriers to find creative freedom and purpose and paints their portrait as he talks to them, creating a moment of connection captured on canvas.

Anthony and Laurie play the audio from all of Tony’s interviews at Universal Fan Fest’s Star Trek night, which include Starfleet Academy‘s Kerrice Brooks & Bella Shepard, Picard‘s Michelle Hurd, Deep Space Nine‘s Nana Visitor, and Lower Decks’ Jerry O’Connell and Tawny Newsome. They talk about the tone of Starfleet Academy, progress on Tawny’s Trek sitcom in development, hopes for the future of Lower Decks and Picard/Legacy, and Nana’s plan to play Janeway and Kira at the same time. They wrap up with a ticket giveaway for Star Trek Long Island, so listen for instructions!

It’s been a while, so it’s time to round up the news! Anthony and Laurie are joined by TrekMovie comics reviewer Joe Andosca to talk about Tony & Joe’s evening at Universal Fan Fest with Star Trek actors and the immersive experience on the Enteprise-D. We also have updates on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Starfleet Academy, business news about Paramount Plus, new info about Discovery‘s finale, and accolades for Lower Decks. They wrap up with post-Trek Talks and PanCAN updates and an Andor recommendation.

Anthony and Laurie welcome creature designer Neville Page to the podcast this week. Neville has designed aliens and creatures for all three of the J.J. Abrams Star Trek movies, Discovery, and Picard, not to mention a few little movies like Avatar, Cloverfield, Super 8, and more—and he has a new Kickstarter project: a book that that’s both a personal and practical field guide for anyone building a career in the creative arts. Neville talks about how he got started in his career, digs into the details on some of his Star Trek creatures like The Torchbearer, Saru, and Krall, describes the challenges of tackling legacy Star Trek aliens, and much more.

John Billingsley, Kitty Swink, Armin Shimerman, Jonathan Frakes, and Juan Carlos Coto join Anthony and Laurie to talk about the upcoming PurpleStride march to raise money and awareness for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. They talk about why it’s so important, plus key changes in research and funding over the past year. Then the gang segues into Star Trek, speculating on the state of the franchise, what caused the end of Berman-era Trek, streaming TV and the era of shorter seasons, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, and Jonathan Frakes’ farting chair.

John Billingsley (Enterprise‘s Dr. Phlox) joins Tony and Laurie to tell everyone about Trek Talks, an all-day marathon of Star Trek panels to benefit Hollywood Food Coalition happening on April 5.  John talks about how donations help the Coalition expand its mission, working with other groups to combat food insecurity and offer other vital services, then gets into the details about Trek Talks 4 and what panels and interviews to expect (as well as the superhero underwear he may be wearing for the occasion). He also talks about his time on Enterprise as #7 on the call sheet, his recent roles on shows like Manhunt and Matlock, and the practical jokes he used to play on Scott Bakula.

Brian Volk-Weiss from the Nacelle Company joins Tony and Laurie this week to talk about the new, deep cut Star Trek action figures his company has up for pre-order, as well their other Trek-related projects like Gates McFadden’s podcast and documentaries. He also gives us a preview of what’s next for the toy line and hints at some upcoming Star Trek docs too. Before the interview portion of the pod, Brian joins in to talk about the latest news, including Strange New Worlds going back into production, an actor update from Starfleet Academy, and high Nielsen ratings for Section 31, and the surprise announcement about the Star Trek: Khan audio drama. We also talk about the possible return of William Shatner to the Star Trek franchise. The pod wraps up with Brian taking a shortened version of our Star Trek Questionnaire.

The Shuttle Pod crew was recalled “by a little known, seldom used reserve activation clause” to record a quick update for our sister podcast, All Access Star Trek, to respond to questions about the Shuttle Pod’s current status and possible future. Since we recorded it, we thought we’d also release it in our podcast feed with a small bonus introduction.