Antimatter Pod

81. Super Probbo

Liz and Anika discuss shipping in Star Trek: The Next Generation -- at least until Liz suddenly realises she's messed up her calendar and has to flee to an appointment.

We are very good at this whole podcasting business.

• Social media: it's good, actually
• "I stayed to watch, and there was something very important that she had to tell Jean-Luc, and I was like, 'Oh my gosh, she loves him!' And 30 years later, here I am."
• Liz's friend Lauren shares their opinions as a first-time TNG viewer
• Early widowhood probably wasn't great for Beverly's sex life
• Is anyone out there shipping Geordi/Leah Brahms?
• Riker/Troi, a pairing which somehow achieved perfection after the series ended
• Why are there MULTIPLE incidents where consensual encounters between Riker and Troi are hijacked by telepathic rapists? How did that happen? 
• "Peter David is … problematic."
• Deanna/Worf: the very best end of series random relationship
• How Worf is like Kylo Ren
• Picard/Ro Laren shippers: there are dozens of us
• Is Picard demisexual?

Content notes:

We get a little more explicit than usual in this episode, particularly when it comes to the logistics of sex with Klingons. And there is discussion of sexual assault from 24 minutes to 26:23.

Sound notes:

Despite doing every single thing normally, there are a few points where there's a hissing noise behind Liz if Anika's track is muted. For that reason, we have a bit more overtalk than usual.

80. A Really Great Personality

Anika and Liz watch the TOS episode "Is There In Truth No Beauty". And wow, we have a LOT to discuss:

• Liz attempts to summarise the episode and we learn an important lesson about taking notes
• A Medusan character in Prodigy
• As a story about disability, this is … interesting. There's a lot to unpack. Including Kollos, because he lives in a box
• We only want the best for Miranda Jones
• "Both the Spock stuff and the Miranda stuff are actually all about how you present yourself versus who you are to yourself."
• Telepathy and mental health professionals in Gene Roddenberry's future
• Human telepathy in SF generally and Star Trek in particular
• #releasethesenenskycut
• Assistive technology but make it fashion
• Anika's Scotty impression
• Infinite Cash in Gene Roddenberry's Pocket

 

79. #OwnVoices Fan Fiction

Anika and Liz take a trip back to 1995 and the first three stories in the Talking Stick/Circle fic series by Macedon and Peg Robinson, and discuss: 

• Usenet memories
• Decolonising Star Trek
• Chakotay, the significance of a Native American writer handling a Native American character, and the … notable lack thereof in the show itself
• Another round of religion in Star Trek
• “People need to understand that Chakotay/Seven was not endgame.”
• Fandom, homophobia and het that's not heteronormative

It's the episode where we look back and go, "Oh, YIKES."

 

78. Space Benghazi

Liz and Anika watch an episode of Star Trek: Continues, and just because it's not canon doesn't mean we aren't going to waaaaaay overthink it!

• we are maybe the wrong audience for a loving tribute to The Original Series…
• a loving recreation of a ‘60s aesthetic … that ends when women sit in the hair and make-up chair
• no one needed an explanation for “Turnabout Intruder”
• imagine a metaphor for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign … but with Spock as Trump
• “Canon should be elastic. Canon should not be a rigid line. Ever.”
• Dr McKennah, the major original character in this series — she’s a total Mary Sue and we love her

It's the episode where Anika says, "He's doing a Chekov accent, not a Russian accent," and we're not entirely sure if that's good or bad.

77. Why Are Space Dads

We follow up our mothers-in-Trek episode by looking at ... dads! And, guys, there are so many terrible fathers in Star Trek. So. Many.

• Bonus points to the Hansens, where BOTH parents are terriblel
• Digressions: that careful balance where you don’t want to give up your whole life because you have a child, but also maybe you shouldn’t take that child into Borg space??????
• Sisko, single fatherhood and parenting goals.
• Rom, DS9’s other Good Dad.
• O’Brien, a better dad in TNG than DS9 (brief digression: why Keiko and Miles really ought to consider divorce).
• Worf. Just … Worf.
• In defence of Kirk.
• Data is a good dad. Soong and Maddox: not so much.
• Our Azetbur headcanons are approximately on topic!
• The L’Rell/Tuvok shipping is not, but that isn’t going to stop us.

We came to drink tea and make fun of Sarek ... and we're all out of tea.

76. Space Zoom

Pour a shot of tequila and carve up the salmon, Liz and Anika are here to discuss the news and trailers coming out of First Contact Day -- along with the whole idea of fannish "holidays".

• The official Star Trek con will be held next year in Chicago, Liz's favourite city in the US. She still can't go, but…
• Star Trek: Prodigy and Long Janeway
• The Christine Baranski Cinematic Universe
• A new Star Trek movie! With ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO GO ON, we are speculating wildly
  • We want multiverses! We want Kelvin!Michael! We want new characters we've never even heard of yet!
• Liz was completely underwhelmed by the promise of Q's return in Star Trek: Picard, but Anika has an idea which CHANGES EVERYTHING
• We have a good, solid rant about Akiva Goldsman's recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter
• Why is Q such a dick, anyway?
• We are extremely excited for the next season of Discovery
• Fannish anniversaries and holidays: they're kind of weird
• How Anika created PadMay
• Stay tuned for Katoberfest

75. It's Ruined Childhoods Again

We're joined by friend of the podcast Tim, who tells us about the IMDB ratings system and how it reflects fandom's biases. Sounds dry? No, it's fascinating! At least to us…

[Note: we had some audio challenges with this episode, and Tim is not always as audible as we'd like -- apologies.]

• What is the IMDB ratings systems and why should Anika, specifically, care?
• The short answer: sexism 
• That is, certain Treks (you can probably guess which ones) are rated higher by women than men (the IMDB system is purely binary), and far more men rate things than women
• "It's ruined childhoods again, that's what it is."
• This week's digression takes us into Doctor Who fandom
• Discovery versus The Orville (but only in terms of IMDB ratings because Anika and Liz have so far declined to watch The Orville)
• Star Trek: Continues weirdly has the highest rating of any non-TNG Trek

74. Talking Dolphins

We are a seaQuest DSV podcast. We have always been a seaQuest DSV podcast. Specifically, we're discussing the pilot episode, "To Be Or Not To Be".

• The near future: 2018
• So where's our reboot?
• Underwater Tom Paris
• Liz's very first Cranky Older Woman In A Position Of Authority
• Hitchcock/Kreig: okay, imagine B'Elanna and Neelix were married...
• Marilyn Stark: we want to love her, but she is not a good character
• Does modern television need more talking dolphins?
• he younger and sexier season 2
• That thing where you glom onto a minor character actor and try to follow their career … without the internet
• A conversation about following career actors evolves into Liz just straight-up spoiling the end of Major Crimes.

It's the podcast that leaves us thinking, man, maybe we SHOULD do a full seaQuest rewatch pod...

73. The Rick Berman Problem

Anika and Liz discuss bisexuality in Star Trek -- a topic which has been on our agenda since the only on-screen representation was the Mirror Universe. Thank heavens times have changed! ...Right?

• Because, wow, the MU is not the place to go for good rep!
• Headcanons are not the same as canonical representation
• Pine is a top-tier Chris
• Deniable, erasable and word-of-God queerness in media
• The Trill Problem, part 1: We need to talk about Jadzia
• An unpopular opinion? On Antimatter Pod? It's more likely than you think!
• The Trill Problem, part 2: Beverly and Odan
• Headcanon is not canon, but let's talk about Will Riker anyway
  
• Raffi Musiker and Beckett Mariner: a tale of two showrunners
• "Every Starfleet officer is probably, at baseline, bisexual in a way."
• But why IS Michael Chabon the arbiter of what constitutes "organic" queer representation?
• Biphobia in media and fandom

72. What About Manperson?

Liz and Anika go back to the '70s and discuss a write-up of a panel on feminism in Treklit. "Treklit?" you ask. We young'uns call it fan fiction these days.

Topics covered include:

• Changes in the way we talk about fic
• Reminiscences about mailing lists
• How fic reflects the time it’s written
• Early fandom racism
• Anti-feminism in fic
• The thorny question of content curation, warnings, ratings and acceptable content in fic
• Fic as a valid subject for critical analysis
• Liz makes a confession about her sockpuppet past
• “Again, I don’t wanna be an anti…”
• A brief digression into X-Men, Anika’s Mary Sue marriage to Sarek, and WandaVision
• “Are women people?” (Related: How do you write a good female character? We are still having these discussions?)
• Is it possible to have … too much feminism?!
• “At least a third of Trekfen are male.” Why is fic dominated by women? The ladies of the '70s had some theories...

Please note there's a discussion about incest in fic between 31:08 and 31:02.