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Episode 36: Alexander Perry

In this episode, we speak with Alex Perry, host of the Weekly Trek news digest show over on the Tricorder Transmissions Podcast Network. Alex and I had a very frank and sometimes philosophical discussion about Star Trek and what parts of it speak to him. Enjoy!

Alex in the center seat.

Topics

  • Beaver Scouts in the UK
  • Matt Frewer
  • The old Star Trek VHS tapes
  • Seeing Star Trek completely out of order
  • Alex’s viewing tracker and rating system as a kid
  • The TrekRanks podcast
  • John’s Star Trek rating scale
  • The futility of trying to decide what is good Star Trek
  • Alex’s preference for the “Season-Based Viewing Order” of Star Trek
    • Will Discovery S3 cause problems for this viewing order?
  • The T’Kon Empire
  • The role of Animated Series in Trek history
  • The number of TAS references in modern Trek
  • Alex put Star Trek away in college
  • A pilgrimage to the Star Trek Experience
  • Alex’s contributions to TrekCore
  • Thoughts on constructive ways to spend your time on fandom
  • The Star Trek tour in Ticonderoga, NY
  • Alex talks about his first scoop
  • On combating misinformation in the fandom
  • Similarities between the fandom wars and the current political climate
  • AwesomeCon & Shore Leave conventions
  • Photo Ops vs Autographs
  • Alex’s personal rules for photo ops
  • Eaglemoss ships
  • On collecting Star Trek novels
  • Alex’s collecting of screen-used props (See gallery pictures below)
  • Screen-used props and what they mean
  • The limits of knowledge in the Star Trek universe
  • Starfleet as a bureaucracy
  • Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
  • Life in the Federation outside of Starfleet: idyllic or is it less so?
  • The future as seen in the show versus what fans have been told outside of what’s on the screen
  • The futility of trying to make sense of the Federation economy
  • The “End of History” by Fukuyama
  • The concept of eudaimonia, or Human Flourishing
  • John Stuart Mill and Experiments in Living
  • Logic versus brawn in Star Trek
  • The Picard show as a challenge to the idea of who John-Luc Picard is as a Captain and as a person
  • Would people be capable of making the decisions to create a Federation?
  • The novel “Control” is the final boss
  • The messages of the UFP trilogy from ENT S4, especially as compared to the Control novel
  • The strange kind of Star Trek episodes that are ham-handed yet still powerful in their message
  • What is Star Trek trying to do?
  • The contrasting styles of some of the writers who have worked on Star Trek at various times
  • The hidden charms of Star Trek Generations
  • Soren as one of the most interesting of all Star Trek movie villains
  • The Last Temptation of Christ and Picard in the Nexus
  • The age of the viewer changing the interpretation of messages in an episode
  • The fine balance of the documentary Trekkies
  • Alex’s feelings about the fandom changing over time
  • Rejecting Star Trek while in college
  • Star Trek at its most confident
  • Living, eating, sleeping, and breathing Star Trek
  • Alex contemplates on his personal connection to Star Trek
  • The YouTube video that had John in stitches about the Kurlan Naiskos
  • Alex Perry's collection of screen used props from Star Trek
    Part of Alex’s Collection of screen-used Star Trek items
  • Patches and comm badges as used on screen in Star Trek from Alex Perry's collection
    Alex’s Shadowbox case of patches and comm badges
  • Additional shots of Alex's collection of screen-used props from Star Trek
    More of Alex’s collection of screen-used props.

Episodes Discussed

  • A Matter of Time TNG S5E09
  • Violations TNG S5E12
  • Hero Worship TNG S5E11
  • Basics Part II VOY S3E01
  • Flashback VOY S3E02
  • City on the Edge of Forever TOS S1E28
  • The Battle TNG S1E09
  • Yesteryear TAS S1E02
  • Stardust City Rag STP S1E05
  • The Omega Directive VOY S4E21
  • Homefront & Paradise Lost DS9 S4E11 & S4E12
  • The Devil in the Dark TOS S1E25
  • This Side of Paradise TOS S1E24
  • Remembrance STP S01E01
  • Section:31 Control (Novel, 2017)
  • The UFP trilogy from ENT S04E12 S04E13 S04E14
  • A Taste of Armageddon TOS S1E23
  • Let That Be Your Last Battlefield TOS S3E15
  • Spock’s Brain TOS S3E01
  • Star Trek Generations (1994)
  • Rascals TNG S6E07
  • Tapestry TNG S6E15
  • Real Life VOY S3E22
  • Homestead VOY S7E23
  • The 37s VOY S2E01
  • Trekkies (Documentary 1997)
  • Improbable Cause & The Die is Cast DS9 S3E20 S3E21
  • Alex Perry in a Borg Assimilation Chamber at the Star Trek Experience
    Alex Perry being assimilated at the Star Trek Experience
  • Alex Perry on the Bridge of the NCC-1701-D at the Star Trek Experience
    Alex Perry on the Bridge on the Enterprise D.

Connect

Honorary Star Trek title awarded: Curator of Fandom Collections at the Federation Museum on Memory Alpha

Background photo by Jason Weingardt on Unsplash.

Published in Episodes