Feel more, to think unlike before.
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Socio Empath Podcasts
Trek Politics is a fun and insightful deep dive into the socio-political and cultural allegory of Star Trek across all series and movies, featuring author and commentator Mary Trump and political podcaster Bob Cesca.
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Star Trek's Trippy Take on Empathy in the Face of Cruelty | "The Empath" (TOS)
34:34
34:34
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34:34
This week, Mary Trump and Bob Cesca deconstruct the original series episode "The Empath." Kirk, Spock, and Bones encounter an Empath who's being forced to sacrifice herself to save her species. Torture, murder, indefinite detention, a black void, and a lot of Bible references. Sounds like a party at Mar-a-lago. Stick around for BOBSERVATIONS -- and…
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Captain Kirk's Mercy vs Donald Trump’s Cruelty | "Arena" (TOS)
27:59
27:59
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27:59
Mary Trump and Bob Cesca discuss the classic TOS episode "Arena" about the Enterprise's confrontation with the Gorn and the Metrons. Captain Kirk's act of mercy after wounding the Gorn captain is a lesson Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth need to learn about leadership, compassion, and a view on the long term ramifications of violent follow-up strikes.…
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Class Warfare and Torture in "The Cloud Minders" (TOS)
25:45
25:45
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25:45
Mary Trump and Bob Cesca discuss the season 3 episode of the original series, "The Cloud Minders" about class warfare, income inequality, anti-masking, eugenics, and more. And don't forget to stick around BOBSERVATIONS, featuring the nerdy details about this episode. Make sure to subscribe and share! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy …
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The Political Murder Mystery of "Journey to Babel" (TOS)
27:29
27:29
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27:29
This week, Mary Trump and Bob Cesca discuss the amazing original series episode JOURNEY TO BABEL, complete with its political intrigue, Federation world building, false flag murder mystery, family drama, medical drama, and more. When it rains it pours. Stick around for #Bobservations! Like, subscribe, and spread the word on YouTube: trekpolitics.co…
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Endless War and "A Taste of Armageddon" (TOS)
32:00
32:00
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32:00
In this week's episode of Trek Politics, we discuss the original series episode "A Taste of Armageddon" in which Captain Kirk attempts to broker piece between two planets at war, only to discover that the war is a computer simulation that requires actual deaths through "disintegration machines." What does this episode teach us about the absurdity o…
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When Star Trek Took On America’s War Crimes | "A Private Little War" (TOS)
35:06
35:06
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35:06
Mary Trump and Bob Cesca dig into the original series episode "A Private Little War" and it's Vietnam War allegory. What did Gene Roddenberry and the crew of the USS Enterprise conclude about the question of whether the U.S. should have gotten involved in Vietnam? Stick around for Bob's nerdy observations about the episode, including how best to de…
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Star Trek's Most Poweful Episode with Actor Spencer Garrett | "The Drumhead" (TNG)
42:05
42:05
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42:05
This week's Trek Politics is a companion to our previous podcast about the incredible Next Generation episode "The Drumhead". Bob talks with actor Spencer Garrett who played Crewman Simon Tarses, who's caught up in a McCarthyite witch hunt aboard the Enterprise. You might also know Spencer from Once Upon A Time in Hollywood, Bosch, For All Mankind,…
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It's The One With The Nazis | "Patterns of Force" (TOS)
29:16
29:16
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29:16
Mary and Bob discuss the S2E23 original series episode "Patterns of Force," in which Kirk and Spock attempt to rescue a history professor who accidentally brings the Third Reich to an alien planet, leading to all the horrible things from Nazi Germany including a genocide against a neighboring planet. There's even a Stephen Miller-type character. St…
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The Crazy Episode Where Kirk Reads the U.S. Constitution | "The Omega Glory" (TOS)
30:37
30:37
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30:37
Mary Trump and Bob Cesca discuss the dumpster fire that is the original series episode "The Omega Glory." It's a hot mess but its use of the Constitution offers a valuable lesson about today's politics and how constitutional rights apply to all people, not just citizens. Stick around for some nerdy odds and ends from the episode, including Bob's dr…
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Star Trek's Take on Political Witch Hunts | "The Drumhead" (TNG)
25:44
25:44
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25:44
Mary Trump and Bob Cesca discuss The Next Generation episode "The Drumhead" in which an overzealous investigator played by Jean Simmons turns an espionage investigation into a full blown witch hunt in which Captain Picard and his crew are accused of treason. From political prosecutions to racial profiling to investigatory creep, Mary and Bob examin…
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Mike Sussman on the Politics of 'Star Trek United' and 'Enterprise' | "Detained" (ENT)
50:19
50:19
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50:19
Mary Trump and Bob Cesca catch up with Enterprise and Voyager writer/producer Mike Sussman about his highly anticipated pitch for a proposed series called Star Trek United about Jonathan Archer's presidency. Plus, we discuss an episode of Enterprise Mike co-wrote called Detained about indefinite detention and internment camps. What does Detained te…
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When Star Trek Predicted Social Media Algorithms and Political Violence | "Day of the Dove" (TOS)
39:54
39:54
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39:54
Mary and Bob review the original series Season 3 episode "Day of the Dove" in which a malevolent entity (that resembles an ocular migraine) feeds off negative energy, forcing the crew of the Enterprise and the Klingons to brink of war. What does this episode tell us about social media algorithms that incite outrage, and a president who thrives on c…
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Tim Russ on Donald Trump's Revisionist History | "LIving Witness" (VOY)
56:21
56:21
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56:21
The great Tim Russ returns to Trek Politics to talk about an episode of Voyager he directed called "Living Witness," in which revisionist history is front and center. Mary, Bob, and Tim also discussed the Lost Cause myth, as well as Donald Trump's attempts to censor the Smithsonian and the National Parks. Be sure to subscribe on your favorite podca…
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What Is Starfleet? Star Trek values in the Skydance era
50:55
50:55
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50:55
Our new season dives into the question raised in Strange New Worlds Season 3: What is Starfleet? Mary and Bob discuss whether Starfleet and the Federation are benevolent forces for good or imperialistic colonizers. Plus, will Star Trek's woke values endure after the Donald Trump-endorsed merger between Paramount and Skydance? Or will its values be …
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We're back with all new episodes! Our first show back is the audio of the Politics of Trek panel from this year's Star Trek Las Vegas convention. The panel was organized and co-moderated by Mark Altman from The Inglorious Treksperts podcast and David Goodman, former president of the WGA. The panelists included Mary and Bob, along with Ande Kindryd …
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Mary and Bob announce a temporary hiatus for this podcast until the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes are resolved, in essence Trek Politics is joining the virtual picket line in support of the actors and writers. Per the SAG-AFTRA guidelines, our guests are unable to publicly discuss or promote Star Trek or any studio or network projects, and it's a gray …
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We're standing in solidarity with the actors and writers by restricting our conversations to discussions about the strike and the myriad reasons for it. This means no Trek conversations for the time being. Instead, we'll speak with some familiar names about how Hollywood corporations and the strike itself are affecting the actors and writers, begin…
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Mary and Bob talk with the brilliant, funny, and insightful Tim Russ, who played the Vulcan Tuvok on Voyager and Picard Season 3. We dig into Tim's politics, the most culturally poignant episode of Voyager, the downsides to AI, how we get to a Star Trek future, sci-fi pet peeves, and of course Subspace Pancakes! Plus, we review Strange New Worlds e…
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Ad Astra Per Aspera and Todd Stashwick
1:31:17
1:31:17
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1:31:17
Mary and Bob recap Strange New Worlds S2E2 "Ad Astra Per Aspera" plus civil rights and non-human personhood in Starfleet. And then the spectacular Todd Stashwick, Captain Liam Shaw from Picard S3, arrives to discuss playing a grease monkey from Chicago, nerd culture, his breathtaking Wolf 359 speech, toxic fandom, dead naming, whether Captain Shaw …
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We discuss Strange New Worlds S2E1, including false flags and punching Klingons. And then we talked with the inimitable Jeri Ryan, Seven of Nine on Voyager and Picard. Jeri talked about her Dungeons and Dragons experience at Todd Stashwick's house, plus: what it was like joining Voyager at the end of season two; how separating from the Borg collect…
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Welcome to the premiere episode of Trek Politics with Mary Trump and Bob Cesca. The incredible Terry Matalas, showrunner, writer, and director of Star Trek Picard Season 3, joins us to discuss everything from the huge success of season three to to the progressive values of the Trek future to conservative Star Trek fans, plus the performances, the s…
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Premieres June 2023! Subscribe for free here! Trek Politics with Mary L. Trump and Bob Cesca is a deep dive into the socio-political and cultural allegories of Star Trek across all the series and movies, plus guest interviews with Star Trek actors, crew, and famous fans. The show idea began as a Star Trek discussion on Bob's podcast as you'll hear …
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Our identity and freedom as individuals cannot be found in isolation from society. It is the confrontation of constraints which makes us. For that we can do with empathy and the sociological imagination.
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What did Nietzsche mean when he says, "It is hard enough to remember my opinions, without also remembering my reasons for them!"?
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This is a question which gnaws on anyone who has seen enough of life. A question which only you - perhaps not the present you, but a future you - can answer.
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Extracts from a premonitory reflection on death by Kathy Ong, a 19-year-old NUS student in Singapore, and a vivid description in the introduction of Atul Gawande's 'Being Mortal'.
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