Starbase Indy Podcast

Exploring New Worlds through Language

Enjoy this conversation on how created language communities use language to expand what we understand about invented cultures. How does one create an alien language? What grammatical tricks can be used to indicate a vastly different culture? How do you balance the desire to create an alien language with the need to have touchpoints that human audiences will understand? What does language teach us about a culture?

Exploring New Worlds through Science Fiction

Listen to Julia Whitehead (Director of the Kurt Vonnegut Museum), Max Gollier (Tour guide for the Bradbury Museum) and Dr. Barrett Caldwell (Professor of Engineering) discuss the impact Science Fiction literature has had on our world.

Exploring New Worlds -Literally

Listen to two experts in human space flight talk about what human space flight has taught us about the nature of humanity.

Exploring New Worlds Through Comedy

Discussion of how comedy reflects our humanity, and the impact it has on the people who create and perform comedy. 

Exploring New Worlds Through Voice

Listen to Bonnie Gordon and Nick Ramey talk about their work performing characters and conveying information through the power of the human voice.

Commanding Starfleet with Fleet Admiral Anthony Scott

Anthony Scott has been a part of fandom for many years, and is currently Fleet Admiral of Starfleet Command. We talk about how fandom has enriched his life.

Entering the Star Trek Universe

Derek Tyler Attico has won the Star Trek short fiction contest more than once, and recently published The Autobiography of Benjamin Sisko. We talk with him about how his writing practice, the universes he's written in, and how his writing connects to his passion for justice.

The Science of Science Fiction

What does our favorite science fiction get right about the universe as we know it, and what does it get wrong? Listen to Rufus Cochran, Dr. Mohamed Noor, and Dr. Paul Kwiat as they talk about artificial intelligence, quantum computing, the nature of evolution, and other places science intersects with our favorite science fiction.

Writing Diverse Worlds

All of fiction, and especially science fiction, revolves around balancing the need to make characters believable. Science fiction adds in an additional challenge - creating characters who are different from what the readers expect, sometimes in surprising ways. Listen to Dr. Mohamed Noor, Maurice Broaddus, John Scalzi, and Dr. James McGrath discuss their work in creating worlds that capture our imagination and our attention.

Protopia vs Utopia

When we talk about a hopeful future, Utopia is often the word that comes to mind. Is that the vision we should be striving for, though? Is it even possible to create a state in which everything is perfect? Importantly, is it possible to make things perfect for everyone? Or are utopias for some inevitably created out of suffering for others?
The word Protopia refers to a vision of of the future in which today is better than yesterday, at least a little bit. In the article coining the word, futurist Kevin Kelly asks us to name a single science fiction future that is both plausible and desirable. Is Star Trek that example? This panel will discuss the possibilities of protopia.