All of This Has Happened Before (Episode 1: Remembrance)
InterTREKtional Season 3: Picard! is here with your first dose of feminist analysis of Star Trek: Picard. Episode 1: Remembrance. *****SPOILERS ABOUND***** Data is pretty busy playing poker, painting, and teaching cryptic lessons about bluffing in Picard's dreams. While awake, Jean-Luc takes his tea sans caffeine (but continues to indulge in the real stuff where wine is concerned), shares his home with kindly Romulan refugees, and bombs a cable news interview. He meets a very special graduate student named Dahj and pledges his eternal assistance and protection to her for reasons we won't reveal in this summary. 9/11 is still on Michael Chabon's mind.
Star Wars: How Can You Not Be Pansexual in Space? Teaser
Becca and Ryan discuss what they watched over winter break. (Star Wars!) Also: how a podcast gets made, and how to hear more of our lovely voices.
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It's hard to be twelve
This week, Becca and Ryan take a quick trip back to school as we recap the Short Trek episode "Children of Mars," (S2:E6) [spoilers abound]. We follow two twelve-year-old girls on a regular school day which takes a turn for the worse. They lead us, somehow, to 9/11, how bad is it really to doodle in class, and a 'Where are They Now' on our fav Admiral Picard. Oh, and we really must know, "Does it Fart?"
Bonus: We are InterTREKtional
Welcome to InterTREKtional! If you're new to the podcast, this is a great place to start. You'll get to know who we are, what Star Trek means to us, and why we're making this show. (Originally aired as the beginning of our very first episode Smashing the Matriarchy.)
Are You My (Naked) Mother?
Take your mama out! We look at our two favorite matriarchs of Trek, Lwaxana Troi, and Ishka, aka Moogie. We watched The Next Generation "The Cost of Living," (S5:E20), and Deep Space Nine's "Family Business" (S3:E23)
Jews in Space
Content Warning: discussion of the Holocaust, anti-Semitism, and the history of Israel and Palestine.
Kira interrogates a Cardassian and Nog tries to join Starfleet with his bar mitzvah money this week as we look at two Deep Space Nine episodes to ask: who are the real mensches of the Alpha Quadrant? No, really, we examine the perennial criticism that the Ferengi are anti-Semitic caricatures, and it's rejoinder, that the Bajorans are the real Jews of Trek, and they're pretty great. Does either theory hold water? Kinda! We watched "Duet" (DS9 S1:E19) and "Heart of Stone" (DS9 S3:E13).
One is the Trekiest Number
What are we doing New Year's? Watching the Short Treks! We watch Q&A and Ask Not and discuss the trio du jour, Number One, Spock, and Captain Pike, with a heavy focus on the enigmatic and uber-competent Number One. Bonus discussion of Star Trek: Picard's trailers and the upcoming season.
Women in Boxes
The wickedly funny Molly Sanchez from Red All Over stops by to discuss classics Mudd's Women (TOS S1:E6) and The Perfect Mate (TNG S5:E21). Star Trek imagines women with supernatural powers of...being sexy...being transported as cargo. We ask: why? Exactly?
Why Are Men?
We look at the myth of uncontrollable male sexuality. Kirk gets split into two, Orion women take over Enterprise, T’Pol and Trip suck face, and we have our first ever guests. 😎 Trekkies Kevin Hebenstreit and Robin Casares dazzle us with their wit and insight. We watched TOS “The Enemy Within” and Enterprise “Bound”.
The Borgeousie
InterTREKtional dives into the Borg's first appearances to talk about ambitious women, "The Picard Song", Guinan's role on the Enterprise, and what's so wrong with assimilation, anyway. TNG's The Best of Both Worlds (S3:E26 and S4:E1) and I, Borg (S5:E23) are covered.
She's a Killer Queen
Repulsive yet seductive, powerful and enigmatic, the Borg Queen is one of our favorite Star Trek villains. In preparation for Star Trek: Picard, Becca and Ryan kick off InterTREKtional Season Two with this deep look at the Borg's baddest bitch. The film Star Trek: First Contact, and Voyager episodes "Dark Frontier" (S5:E15/16) and "Unimatrix Zero" (S6:E26; S7:E:1) are discussed.
The Solution is Not Ghettos
Deep Space Nine’s prediction of 2024 San Francisco is a bit closer to 2019 San Francisco than we would like. Tandarans holding Suliban in detention centers may have been an allegory to Japanese internment, but 2019 USA has its own modern take. Join Ryan and Becca as we discuss why it’s never a good idea to detain entire groups of people. We discuss Deep Space Nine episodes “Past Tense (Parts 1 & 2)” and Enterprise episode “Detained.”
Klingon Family Values
When B’elanna goes on a mind-trip on the Barge of the Dead, she meets her mom. Worf gets flummoxed when he’s made responsible for the care of his son, Alexander. Becca and Ryan use these family-centric episodes to dissect these two characters and what it means to be Klingon. We also investigate the ways their “other” status affects how they are treated and how they think about themselves. We discuss The Next Generation episode “New Ground” and Voyager episode “Barge of the Dead.”
Michael Burham: Uhura of Our Time
Content Warning: this episode contains a brief discussion of sexual assault.
From Nyota Uhura to Michael Burnham, badass women of color have been making history in the Star Trek universe since its inception. Come along with Becca and Ryan as we explore these two characters and how they are portrayed. Nichelle Nichols and Sonequa Martin-Green are heroes forever! We discuss Original Series Episode "Plato's Stepchildren" and Discovery's "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad."
Toxic Masculinity with a Side of Space Whales
Content Warning: this episode contains a brief discussion of date rape.
Two fan-favorite characters are displaying signs of toxic masculinity: Lt Cdr Geordi La Forge and Neelix. Ryan and Becca shine a light on these characters' upsetting behaviors, and how they reflect real-life situations, especially in the workplace. Also featuring large space-dwelling creatures that are somehow never called space whales. We look at The Next Generation episode “Galaxy's Child” (S4:E16) and Voyager episode “Elogium” (S2:E4).
My Dear Doctor
Doctor Julian Bashir and Elim Garak are sex-frenemies, and Ryan and Becca have the receipts. Continue the Slash deep dive with us in Part 2 of our 2-part discussion (for Part 1, listen to last week's episode Kirk Heart Spock 4EVA.) Also, we discuss the trope of male bonding via objectifying women, and the fact that Odo is a fascist.
Kirk Heart Spock 4EVA
Come along with Becca and Ryan as they uncover the truth behind Kirk and Spock's undying love! We do a deep dive into TOS and the Motion Picture to figure out what all the Slash writers out there are using as fodder.
Much Ado About Nazis
It’s our old enemy...fascism! Captain Kirk, Captain Janeway and Captain Archer all confront aliens in the guise of Nazis. Why does Star Trek return to Nazism again and again, and what exactly is it trying to say?
Mind Rape is Still Rape
Trigger warning: discussion of rape, assault and medical assault.
Becca and Ryan discuss how Star Trek handles the stories of physical and psychic assault on Deanna Troi, Seven of Nine, and T’Pol, with widely varying degrees of success. We look at The Next Generation episode “Violations,” (S5:E12), Voyager episode “Retrospect,” (S4:E17), and Enterprise episode “Fusion,” (S1:E17).
National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673.
Space Gays in Space
InterTREKtional explores two very special episodes about being born this way and asks: did they get it right? First, Ryan and Becca look at Enterprise’s “Stigma,” (S2:E14) which compares a Vulcan neurological disorder to AIDS. Then, they discuss TNG’s “The Outcast,” (S5:E4) about a genderless alien who secretly identifies as a woman.