Primitive Culture: A Star Trek History and Culture Podcast
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108: I Want to Direct NOW!
Primitive Culture: A Star Trek History and Culture Podcast
07/19/21 • 63 min
Robert Duncan McNeill on Star Trek's Directors' School.
To Star Trek fans, he is Tom Paris, the cocksure pilot of the USS Voyager. But in Hollywood, Robert Duncan McNeill is better known as a different kind of helmsman. From his first day of filming on the Voyager pilot "Caretaker," McNeill declared his intention to take a shot at the director's chair, following in the footsteps of fellow Trek such as stars Jonathan Frakes, Levar Burton, and Leonard Nimoy. Two years later, when Frakes was forced to pull out of shooting the third-season episode "Sacred Ground," McNeill got his chance. It was to be the first of eight Star Trek episodes he directed, four on Voyager and four on Enterprise, and would lead to an illustrious career working on everything from Dawson's Creek to The Orville.
In this episode of Primitive Culture, host Duncan Barrett is joined by McNeill to look back on his time at the Star Trek Directors' School, and to consider how those early experiences helped shape his career. We discuss the limited scope for auteurist flamboyance when playing within Trek's strict sandbox, the varied approaches that hired guns brought to the Voyager set week by week, and how the deftly handled comedy of "Someone to Watch Over Me" helped prepare him for his most recent work on Resident Alien and Turner & Hooch.
Chapters Intro (00:00:00) Eyeing Up the Chair (00:02:27) In Berman's Box (00:12:15) Voyager (00:27:25) Enterprise (00:45:50) Tom Paris Returns? (00:58:49)
Host Duncan Barrett
Guest Robert Duncan McNeill
Production Duncan Barrett (Editor and Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer)
64: Would I Lie To You?
Primitive Culture: A Star Trek History and Culture Podcast
08/28/19 • 90 min
The Rashomon Effect in Star Trek and Beyond.
Two podcasters meet on the internet. They watch a classic film that one has seen and the other hasn’t. They compare it to an episode of Star Trek—or maybe two, or even three or four. They consider the broader cultural implications of the film’s central themes of uncertainty, subjectivity, and the unknowability of truth. Or perhaps they don’t. Listening at home, you wonder: Did any of these things really happen? Can you trust your ears? Are you sure you can really remember what you’ve heard?
In this episode of Primitive Culture, host Duncan Barrett is joined by Tony Black to look at famed Japanese director Akira Kurosawa’s seminal 1950 film Rashomon and its influences on Star Trek—in particular on “A Matter of Perspective” from The Next Generation and “Rules of Engagement” from Deep Space Nine.
The so-called Rashomon Effect—a cultural trope in which multiple unreliable narrators produce different accounts of the same event—has become so popular that it has eclipsed the fame of the story that inspired it. Comparing the black-and-white Japanese film, about the frustrated attempt to understand an act of extreme violence that takes place in a secluded bamboo grove, with the episodes of Star Trek and The X-Files that borrowed from it—along with the 1998 play Copenhagen—we ask whether the film’s fascination with the impossibility of reconstructing an objective history of events may be peculiarly relevant in the current “post-truth” world.
Chapters Rashomon and What We Left Behind (00:03:55) A Matter of Perspective (00:13:51) Rules of Engagement (00:23:47) The X-Files (00:27:30) “Living Witness” and “Author, Author” (00:36:28) Alternative Facts (00:41:00) Copenhagen (00:53:15) Final Thoughts (01:07:15)
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)
120: Resurrecting Nightmares
Primitive Culture: A Star Trek History and Culture Podcast
06/30/22 • 69 min
The Alien franchise and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
In space, no one can hear you scream. But for unlucky Starfleet landing parties, meeting a nightmarish alien menace can prove as traumatic as deadly. For La'an Noonien-Singh, who carries the burden of having survived captivity in a Gorn breeding colony during childhood, another encounter with the monstrous lizards proves both physically and mentally challenging. And to make sure the audience is equally freaked out by the terrifying encounter, Strange New Worlds leans heavily on the imagery of the Alien franchise—the epitome of sf horror.
In this episode of Primitive Culture, host Duncan Barrett is joined by Lee Hutchison to look at the latest episode of Star Trek: trange New Worlds, “All Those Who Wander,” alongside the films that inspired it, from the chest-burster scene in the original 1979 movie to Ripley’s final moments in Alien 3. We also take in reference points from the beloved movies we grew up with, including Predator, Jurassic Park, The Thing, and more. What new life forms are birthed when these iconic stories creep in through the Star Trek airlock? Grab a flamethrower and join us on the express elevator to hell as we attempt to find out.
Chapters Intro (00:00:00) Gorn Yesterday (00:09:50) Strange Newt Worlds (00:23:55) No Sex, Please, We’re Star Trek (00:31:15) That Which Survives (00:50:00) La'an Time No See? (01:04:00)
Host Duncan Barrett
Guest Lee Hutchison Production Duncan Barrett (Editor and Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer)
76: Me Too
Primitive Culture: A Star Trek History and Culture Podcast
02/12/20 • 93 min
Star Trek and Sexual Assault, Part 1.
In 2017, the #MeToo movement brought stories of sexual assault and harassment to the forefront of public consciousness. Some of the key figures in the campaign are part of the Star Trek family—most notably Ashley Judd and Anthony Rapp. Their willingness to share their stories played a major role in bringing many uncomfortable truths to light, particularly in relation to appalling behavior in the entertainment industry. But Star Trek is not itself immune from such shocking stories, as anyone who has read Grace Lee Whitney’s autobiography will know. The circumstances surrounding Janice Rand’s disappearance from The Original Series more than 50 years ago offer a sobering glimpse at the treatment of women by powerful men in Hollywood.
In this episode of Primitive Culture, the first of a two-part discussion of sexual assault in Star Trek, host Duncan Barrett is joined by Clara Cook for a look at some of the links between the franchise and the #MeToo movement. We also speak to Marina Sirtis about her own experiences as a young actress working in Hollywood in the 1980s, and some of the difficult storylines she performed as Deanna Troi. Tune in next week for Part 2 of the conversation as we explore the various ways—some literal and some allegorical—in which Star Trek has presented these important issues on screen.
Chapters Intro (00:00:00) The #MeToo Movement (00:04:06) Grace Lee Whitney and the Physiology of Trauma (00:27:05) Marina Sirtis Interview (00:54:00) Nana Visitor, Kate Mulgrew, and Anthony Rapp (01:09:05) Sexual Assault in Star Trek: Discovery (01:22:25)
Host Duncan Barrett Guest Clara Cook Production Duncan Barrett (Editor and Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) Tony Black (Associate Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer) Amy Nelson (Associate Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager) Brandon-Shea Mutala (Patreon Manager)
85: The End of History
Primitive Culture: A Star Trek History and Culture Podcast
05/30/20 • 83 min
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)
22: Finding the Big Mama
Primitive Culture: A Star Trek History and Culture Podcast
02/21/18 • 93 min
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)
14: The Trek Is Out There
Primitive Culture: A Star Trek History and Culture Podcast
10/31/17 • 66 min
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)
9: Yippee Ki-Ay!
Primitive Culture: A Star Trek History and Culture Podcast
09/06/17 • 66 min
Star Trek and Action Movies. Lights! Camera! Action? Compared to the other science fiction franchise with which it shares half its name, Star Trek has always been distinctly contemplative, as much morality play as spectacular entertainment. But right from the start, there were moves to punch up the action. In 1965, the show’s original pilot was rejected by NBC executives for being too “cerebral.” A quarter-century later, Patrick Stewart expressed a similar view, begging Gene Roddenberry to offer the enlightened Captain Picard more opportunities for “sex and shooting.” By the time Picard was reinvented for the silver screen, the wise, unflappable diplomat had become a man of action, with bulging muscles rippling under his sweat-stained vest.
In this episode of Primitive Culture, hosts Tony Black and Duncan Barrett look at what Star Trek has borrowed from the action movie genre, focusing on the episodes “Starship Mine” and “Macrocosm,” and their debt to Die Hard and Aliens. What does it mean when Starfleet’s most idealistic captains are forced to forgo diplomacy and get out their guns? And to what extent can Star Trek absorb action-movie tropes without sacrificing its own unique qualities? Join us as we saddle up, lock and load, and get ready to boldly kick some alien butt.
Chapters Intro (00:00:00) Ellen Ripley (00:10:05) Sex and Shooting (00:16:00) The Changing Face of Action (00:21:06) Gender-blind Casting (00:31:05) Evaluating the Episodes (00:34:28) Adult Content (00:40:50) Babes vs. Badasses (00:46:14) Final Thoughts (00:54:13) 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)
46: A Lesson in Empathy
Primitive Culture: A Star Trek History and Culture Podcast
12/04/18 • 96 min
The Attica Prison Uprising and DS9’s Past Tense.
Typically, Star Trek’s two-parters have skewed toward the action-adventure formula rather than hard-hitting social commentary. But in Deep Space Nine’s third season, the writers decided to use the longer ninety-minute running time to delve into a weighty contemporary subject: the homeless crisis in the United States. The resulting story, “Past Tense,” took Trek in a surprisingly dark direction and offered a future that was distinctly dystopian.
“Past Tense” succeeded in shining a light on the treatment of the homeless in 1990s America. But there was another real-world influence that, according to DS9 head writer Ira Steven Behr, was the key to making it work. That inspiration was the 1971 uprising in Attica Prison, a maximum-security facility in rural New York state. It was Attica that lent the story its hostage-taking plot and much of its bleak cynicism—in particular the catastrophic failure of empathy for those hidden away behind concrete walls.
In this episode of Primitive Culture, hosts Clara Cook and Duncan Barrett look into the history of the Attica uprising, brilliantly reconstructed in Heather Ann Thompson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book Blood in the Water. Comparing this ugly chapter of not-so-distant US history with one of Star Trek’s most biting examinations of human moral failure, we find that some of the most obvious lessons from both stories have yet to be learned—even decades later.
Chapters Intro (00:00:00) A Brief History of the Attica Uprising (00:09:15) Empathy and Understanding (00:27:49) Between Two Worlds (00:41:10) Julian 2.0 (00:50:27) Crossing Boundaries (00:59:30) Care in the Community (01:14:40) Final Thoughts (01:23:45) Hosts Clara Cook and Duncan Barrett 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) Tony Black (Associate Producer) Amy Nelson (Associate Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager) Brandon-Shea Mutala (Patreon Manager)
107: Under the Sea
Primitive Culture: A Star Trek History and Culture Podcast
07/01/21 • 76 min
Twenty Thousand Leagues across the Delta Quadrant.
Throughout Star Trek: Voyager’s seven seasons, Tom Paris repeatedly proved his credentials as a mid-20th-century history buff, with his replicated TV set, black-and-white B-movie holonovels, and even his own 3D cinema. But in the fifth-season episode “Thirty Days,” he reveals a boyhood fascination with a much earlier period of history and literature: the age of great nautical exploration. In particular, young Tom was obsessed with Jules Verne’s 1870 novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, a pioneering work of science fiction that—in its vivid depiction of the wonders of the ocean—anticipated much of Star Trek’s fascination with another vast unknown: space.
In this episode of Primitive Culture, host Duncan Barrett is joined by Lee Hutchison to discuss Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (and the popular 1954 Disney adaptation) in relation to “Thirty Days” and the fourth-season Voyager episode “Year of Hell,” which borrows much of its plot from Verne’s novel, transposing the action from Captain Nemo’s submarine Nautilus to Annorax’s temporal weapon ship. Join us for a deep-dive into the murky depths of this remarkable book, in which madness, monsters, and mutiny are never that far from the surface.
Chapters Intro (00:00:00) Diving the Starry Sea (00:05:00) “Year of Hell” (00:20:55) Temporal Psychosis (00:51:00) Mutiny (01:07:00) Final Thoughts (01:13:45)
Host Duncan Barrett
Guest Lee Hutchison
Production Duncan Barrett (Editor and Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer)
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FAQ
How many episodes does Primitive Culture: A Star Trek History and Culture Podcast have?
Primitive Culture: A Star Trek History and Culture Podcast currently has 129 episodes available.
What topics does Primitive Culture: A Star Trek History and Culture Podcast cover?
The podcast is about Culture, Society & Culture, Society, History, Enterprise, Ent, Startrek, Podcast and Podcasts.
What is the most popular episode on Primitive Culture: A Star Trek History and Culture Podcast?
The episode title '67: Everyone’s a Captain!' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Primitive Culture: A Star Trek History and Culture Podcast?
The average episode length on Primitive Culture: A Star Trek History and Culture Podcast is 84 minutes.
How often are episodes of Primitive Culture: A Star Trek History and Culture Podcast released?
Episodes of Primitive Culture: A Star Trek History and Culture Podcast are typically released every 14 days, 2 hours.
When was the first episode of Primitive Culture: A Star Trek History and Culture Podcast?
The first episode of Primitive Culture: A Star Trek History and Culture Podcast was released on May 8, 2017.
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