Starbase Indy Podcast

Body Snatching Aliens

Shannon Eichorn is a scientist and a science fiction writer who has been writing about body snatching aliens since 8th grade. She talks about her work on Project Black Book, and about the engineers who have inspired her work and her life

Talking with Dr. Trek

Larry Nemecek is the biggest Star Trek fan in the universe - having written books like the Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion and Star Trek: Stellar Cartography. He got his start decades ago, and has interviewed more than 500 people about their involvement in Star Trek. Along the way, he's worked on fan films and his own documentary, as well as podcasts like PORTAL 47 and TREKLAND. We talk to him about the origins of Star Trek fandom, and about what's changing as Trek moves into its new incarnations.

A Comical Life

Paul Allor was just announced as the winner of the 2022 Indiana Author Award in the Genre category for Hollow Heart, his independent comic. His history with comics includes highly recognizable universes like Star Trek, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, GI Joe, Samurai Jack and many others. We talk about his writing process, what people get wrong in their heads about comic book production, and his history of adding in queer characters, often for the first time in a well known comic cannon. 

Submerge Universe

Award-winning filmmaker Demetrius Witherspoon created the Submerge Universe, which includes not only live action movies, animated movies, comic books, novels, and a wide variety of merchandise. We talk about what he likes about creating across such a wide spectrum of possibilities, and how he got his start in filmmaking.

Learning about Alternative Realities

Travis Faas teaches interactive media experience design. His interests include not only a variety of alternative realities (Virtual Reality / Augmented Reality), but also in how people learn to create and design in those spaces. 

Vendor Spotlight: Author ES Fein

Author ES Fein is making his first appearance in the Starbase Indy vendor room this year. He's lived and worked around the world, using those experiences to inform his science and speculative fiction. 

Maker Spaces

Our guest Austin Owens describes maker spaces as "community gardens for your mind." He should know, he's been involved with local maker space Cyberia for 12 years, and leading it as its president for the past half decade. Austin is studying engineering at IUPUI, and we talk a bit about his research project on the strongest infill for 3D printing (it's not what everyone thinks it is.) 

Miss Liz the ScienceWiz

Liz Bolger loves her job, teaching science to kids. She talks about how she got started, how she engages her audience, and gives advice for parents on how they can get their kids engaged in exploring the worlds around them.

Humanities and Aeronautics

Dr. Barrett Caldwell is a professor of Industrial Engineering with a courtesy appointment in Aeronautics at Purdue University (which has graduated more astronauts than any other public university in the country). He directs the Indiana Space Grant Consortium, and has worked on human factors engineering with NASA. We talk about how the humanities affect our ability to travel in space, some of the practical barriers, and he has a great answer to the question "What is it about West Lafayette that makes people want to leave the planet?"

Science and Creativity

Matthew Barron has been a speaker and attendee at Starbase Indy for years. He's also an author of books, creator of graphic novels, playwright, and moviemaker. In addition to all of this, he works in the sciences. We talk about the joys of conventions, the practical realities of a career in the sciences, and the dreams of the human digestive tract. Join us for this fun conversation.
 
One of the things we talk about is the Flash Fiction workshop he ran at the last Starbase Indy, which you can find here.