Primitive Culture: A Star Trek History and Culture Podcast

Cold War Détente and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. When Nicholas Meyer returned to the Star Trek cinematic universe with Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, he produced one of the franchise’s most flagrant—and successful—examples of “ripped from the headlines” storytelling, reimagining the collapse of the USSR in space. Gorbachev became Gorkon and Chernobyl became Praxis. And, in the story’s imagined cabal, who will stop at nothing to preserve the Cold War status quo, the film tapped into an anxiety that lingered around this pivotal moment. After the “end of history,” as Francis Fukuyama memorably described it, what kind of future might lie around the corner? Would the old cold warriors still find a place for themselves in this new, as-yet-undiscovered era?

In this episode of Primitive Culture, host Duncan Barrett is joined by Tony Black for a look at Fukuyama’s seminal 1989 essay “The End of History” and its influence on The Undiscovered Country. We consider some of the inherent risks—as well as the pleasures—in borrowing from current events and also ponder a tricky question: If only Nixon could go to China, does that make Kirk, who once seemed like an echo of JFK resurrected on the bridge of a starship, the heroic president’s most cynical and untrustworthy successor?

Chapters Intro (00:00:00) Discovered Countries (00:08:55) Make Peace or Die (00:15:36) Dinosaurs (00:40:55) Klingon Lives? (00:55:25)

Host Duncan Barrett Guest Tony Black Production Tony Black (Editor) Duncan Barrett (Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) Tony Black (Associate Producer) Clara Cook (Associate Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer) Amy Nelson (Associate Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager) Brandon-Shea Mutala (Patreon Manager)

Cinematic Influences on Star Trek: First Contact. As a first-time movie director, the stakes could not have been higher for Jonathan Frakes when he signed on to helm the Next Generation crew’s first solo outing, Star Trek: First Contact. Aware that his small-screen experience might not cut it at the cinema, he immersed himself in the work of three science-fiction masters-Ridley Scott, Steven Spielberg, and James Cameron-from whom he borrowed cinematic touches. It was an approach that paid off handsomely, as the resulting film was both a commercial and critical success, cementing Frakes’s reputation as a safe pair of hands.

In this episode of Primitive Culture, host Duncan Barrett is joined by Chris Nunn, a lecturer in film at Greenwich University in London, to look at some of the movies that influenced the making of First Contact. Together, they put themselves into Jonathan Frakes’s screening room, teasing out connections between the works he viewed and the movie he ended up making, and how First Contact’s mélange of cinematic nods and styles contributes to its success as a work of art in its own right.

Chapters Intro (00:00:00) Jaws (00:03:25) Close Encounters of the Third Kind (00:24:15) Alien (00:37:00) Blade Runner (00:52:10) Terminator (01:13:55) Final Thoughts (01:19:40)

Host Duncan Barrett Guest Chris Nunn Production Clara Cook (Editor) Duncan Barrett (Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer) Amy Nelson (Associate Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager) Brandon-Shea Mutala (Patreon Manager)

The X-Files and Star Trek. Just like Kirk and Spock, Mulder and Scully have become pop-culture icons, outgrowing the some 200 television episodes and two films in which they appear. Although The X-Files has yet to achieve Star Trek’s level of longevity, the property will soon mark its twenty-fifth anniversary, and is returning next year for the further adventures of the two indefatigable FBI agents—now both in their fifties. In Star Trek terms, it has made it from “The Man Trap” all the way through to The Undiscovered Country.

In this special Halloween episode of Primitive Culture, Tony returns from his long vacation on Risa to talk with Duncan about the only show he might love more than Star Trek. We discuss the thematic connections between these two science fiction behemoths, looking at their shared interest in UFO culture, preoccupation with the historical legacies of World War II, and the various ways in which the huge success of The X-Files in the 1990s might have shaped the Trek that followed—from the shady shenanigans of Section 31 in Deep Space Nine to the latest episodes of Discovery.

Chapters Intro (00:00:00) Longevity and Nostalgia (00:03:40) The Nineties’ Zeitgeist and Mistrust of Authority (00:17:19) World War II Guilt and Conspiracy (00:22:35) 9/11 and the Restarting of History (00:48:14) Closing (00:58:23) Hosts Tony Black and Duncan Barrett Production Tony Black (Editor) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer) Amy Nelson (Associate Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager) Brandon-Shea Mutala (Patreon Manager)

Stuart Baird and Star Trek: Nemesis.

The lowest-grossing of the Star Trek films, 2002’s outing by The Next Generation crew—Star Trek: Nemesis—was the first installment to open below number one at the box office. Losing out on the top spot to the Jennifer Lopez rom-com Maid in Manhattan may seem bad, the fourth TNG trip to the cinema performed so poorly that it proved to be their last. In fact, it killed off Star Trek’s silver screen prospects for more than half a decade.

For years, many fans have blamed the failures of Nemesis—both commercially and critically—on its director, Stuart Baird. Better known for his work as an Academy Award-winning editor than for his three less lauded directorial outings, Baird apparently had minimal interest in the Star Trek franchise. This is said to have been true both before and, perhaps more surprisingly, during the making of the film. But is it fair to lay all the blame squarely at the feet of its director?

In this episode of Primitive Culture, host Duncan Barrett is joined by Dr. Chris Nunn, a lecturer in film at the University of Greenwich in London, to take a fresh look at Nemesis in relation to Baird’s two other Hollywood movies: Executive Decision and U.S. Marshals. Will an examination of the director’s previous work change the longstanding view among Star Trek fans that Braid broke the odd-numbered curse for all the wrong reasons? Is it right to blame one man for a broth that had plenty of cooks around to spoil it? And, most importantly, is Nemesis really as bad as it’s cracked up to be?

Chapters The Presence of Time (00:01:25) New Beginnings (00:12:16) Baird to the Bridge (00:22:26) Khan Revisited (00:37:20) Post-Nemesis (00:58:20) Meanwhile, in a Parallel Universe ... (01:05:00)

Host Duncan Barrett

Guest Chris Nunn

Production Duncan Barrett (Editor) Duncan Barrett (Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) Tony Black (Associate Producer) Clara Cook (Associate Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer) Amy Nelson (Associate Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager) Brandon-Shea Mutala (Patreon Manager)

Star Trek and Human Rights.

Star Trek’s progressive, humanist outlook has always involved the extension of legal protection to a wide range of non-human entities. The courtroom battles fought by Data and Voyager’s EMH reflect how legal status is called into question in our own world as a way of justifying exploitation. Although Starfleet—for the most part—upholds the same moral principles enshrined in the UN and European rights charters, other species, such as the Cardassians, show a systematic disregard for the rights of individuals—human or not.

In this episode of Primitive Culture, host Duncan Barrett is joined by Guinevere Nell of The Briar Patch and Clara Cook for a special episode to mark International Human Rights Day, recorded live at the London School of Economics. We consider how Star Trek has engaged with real-world debates about human and animal rights, the impact of war on our most dearly held principles, and the limitations placed on the Federation’s role as an interstellar moral police force.

Chapters Intro (00:00:00) Rights for Non-humans (00:09:37) Moral Dilemmas vs. Legal Debates (00:29:20) Rights in Other Cultures (00:34:40) Cardassian Rights Abuses (00:41:50) When the Laws Fall Silent (00:57:00) Privacy (01:02:25) Collective Rights (01:08:00)

Hosts Duncan Barrett Guests Clara Cook and Guinevere Nell Production Tony Black (Editor) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer) Amy Nelson (Associate Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager) Brandon-Shea Mutala (Patreon Manager)