Treknobabble Psychobabble: A Star Trek Podcast

This week, Elizabeth and Elliott unravel the lore around Star Trek’s go-to pirate folk, the alluring and mysterious Orions. Featured Trek Content: [01:28] TOS "Whom Gods Destroy" [17:26] ENT "Bound" [36:33] LD "Something Borrowed, Something Green" [49:04] On the couch [01:04:06] Conclusions Copyright 2023 Elliott Encarnacion, Elizabeth Kimble 

This week, …Happy Hallowe’en! Elizabeth and I are taking Beelzebub to task. The Devil is in the details. Featured Trek Content: [01:25] TAS "The Magicks of Megas-Tu" [13:39] TNG "Devil's Due" [36:43] VOY "Barge of the Dead" [01:00:29] On the couch [01:19:27] Conclusions Copyright 2023 Elliott Encarnacion, Elizabeth Kimble 

This week, Elizabeth corrects Elliott's diagnoses of three infamous psychopaths from the canon. Featured Trek Content: [01:32] TOS "Space Seed" [27:31] VOY "Meld" [54:03] DS9 "Field of Fire" [01:07:30] On the couch [01:25:27] Conclusions Copyright 2023 Elliott Encarnacion, Elizabeth Kimble 

This week, Elizabeth and Elliott are taking a look at the human mutants from a trilogy of DS9 episodes. The Eugenics Wars may be over, but the Federation definitely isn’t over it. Featured Trek Content: Star Trek Deep Space Nine [01:32] "Doctor Bashir, I Presume" [27:23] "Statistical Probabilities" [56:17] "Chrysalis" [01:11:02] On the couch [01:32:56] Conclusions Copyright 2023 Elliott Encarnacio...

This week, Elizabeth and Elliott discuss characters coming back to life. For a Space United Nations full of atheists, this sure does happen a lot around here. Featured Trek Content: [02:41] DS9 "Resurrection" [24:15] PIC "Et in Arcadia Ego" [50:30] LD "We'll Always Have Tom Paris" [59:17] On the couch [01:22:41] Conclusions Copyright 2023 Elliott Encarnacion, Elizabeth Kimble 

This week, Elizabeth and Elliott take a very serious look at the most fearsome foe in the galaxy, the mighty and terrible tribble. They’re celebrating 30 episodes of Treknobabble Psychobabble by looking at Trek’s mid-90s 30th Anniversary broadcast celebration. Featured Trek Content: [03:06] VOY "Flashback" [23:15] TOS "The Trouble with Tribbles" [41:56] DS9 "Trials and Tribble-ations" [58:01] On t...

Elizabeth and Elliott are celebrating having broadcast 30 episodes by spending a couple weeks looking at how Star Trek celebrated its own 30th anniversary. To set that up, they’re delighted to be doing movie night again to have a chat about Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. [01:45] Summary [06:51] A flawed protagonist [24:22] The Cold War [39:58] Shakespeare! [53:54] Conclusions Copyright 20...

Elizabeth and Elliott have a look at scapegoats. The word has its roots in the ancient practice during the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, wherein the community would figuratively lay their sins on the back of a goat and then literally send the goat off into the wilderness, carrying their sins with it.  Featured Trek Content: [01:40] TNG: “Sins of the Father” [17:18] ENT: “Shadows of P’Jem” [30...

Elizabeth and I wrap up their 5-part series on the Maquis by taking some time to look at the aftermath of the insurrection. Content Warning for discussions of self-harm Spoiler Warning for Star Trek: Picard season 3 Featured Trek Content: [01:45] VOY: “Hunters” [14:04] VOY: “Extreme Risk” [40:28] PIC: “Imposters” [58:03] On the couch [01:12:00] Conclusions Copyright 2023 Elliott Encarnacion, Eliza...

Elizabeth and Elliott continue their deep dive into the Maquis with a character spotlight on Michael Eddington, the self-styled Val Jean to Ben Sisko’s Javert. Featured Trek Content: Star Trek Deep Space Nine [01:52] “For the Cause” [24:20] “For the Uniform” [40:59] “Blaze of Glory” [58:09] On the couch [01:07:57] Conclusions Copyright 2023 Elliott Encarnacion, Elizabeth Kimble 

This week, Elizabeth and Elliott continue their series on the Maquis and delve into the series for which they were created, Voyager. They are exploring what makes a Maquis a Maquis. Featured Trek Content: [01:37] "Parallax" [23:07] "Learning Curve" [42:04] "Repression" [57:16] On the couch [01:11:10] Conclusions Copyright 2023 Elliott Encarnacion, Elizabeth Kimble 

Elizabeth and Elliott continue their five part series on the Maquis and discuss the origins of their political movement. Featured Trek Content: [01:59] TNG: “The Wounded” [23:32] DS9: “The Maquis” [48:46] TNG: “Preëmptive Strike” [01:06:23] On the couch [01:20:34] Conclusions Copyright 2023 Elliott Encarnacion, Elizabeth Kimble 

Elizabeth and Elliott begin a five part series delving into the Maquis. Before they look at those stories directly, they want to set the stage with some ancillary stories about terrorism in Star Trek Featured Trek Content: [01:35] TNG: “The High Ground” [16:30] DS9: “Shakaar” [36:16] ENT: “Desert Crossing” [52:09] On the couch [01:09:38] Conclusions Copyright 2023 Elliott Encarnacion, Elizabeth Ki...

Elizabeth and Elliott look into the psychology and ethics of revenge, and while they will of course do “Wrath of Khan” at some point, today they are taking a look at three humbler examples from the Berman era. Featured Trek Content: [01:39] TNG: “The Vengeance Factor” [17:42] DS9: “The Darkness and the Light” [35:06] VOY: “Repentance” [54:57] On the couch [01:13:36] Conclusions Copyright 2023 Elli...

Elizabeth and Elliott are spending some time on the holodeck in search of deeper meaning. Featured Trek Content: [01:31] DS9: “Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang” [21:52] VOY: “Pathfinder” [45:48] LD: “Crisis Point” & “Crisis Point 2: Paradoxus” [01:07:58] On the couch [01:22:34] Conclusions Copyright 2023 Elliott Encarnacion, Elizabeth Kimble 

Elizabeth and Elliott are again looking at Trek allegories over hot-button social issues. This time, they’re dealing with mostly accidental abortion allegories, because irony is the only true constant in the universe. Content warning for discussions around reproductive healthcare. Featured Trek Content: [01:23] TNG: “Up The Long Ladder” [19:23] VOY: “Tuvix” [40:53] ENT: “Similitude” [01:03:20] On...

Elizabeth and Elliott tackle the topic of non-monogamy in Star Trek, specifically within established relationships. Featured Trek Content: [02:01] TNG: “Second Chances” [18:20] VOY: “Warlord” [38:27] ENT: “Stigma” [59:45] On the couch [01:11:50] Conclusions Copyright 2023 Elliott Encarnacion, Elizabeth Kimble 

Elizabeth and Elliott spend some time with the Enterprise D’s chief engineer, Geordi LaForge, and discuss the unfortunate depiction of his love life, or lack thereof. Featured Trek Content: [01:43] TNG: “Booby Trap” [18:17] TNG: “Galaxy’ Child” [37:48] TNG: “Aquiel” [53:59] On the couch [01:11:52] Conclusions Copyright 2023 Elliott Encarnacion, Elizabeth Kimble 

Elizabeth and Elliott continue their discussion on drugs by shifting focus to a more recreational view: what are our Star Trek heroes like when they’re drunk? Content Warning for drug use and addiction. Featured Trek Content: [01:10] TOS: “The Naked Time” [21:55] TNG: “The Naked Now” [42:42] DS9: “Fascination” [01:00:34] On the couch [01:13:50] Conclusions Copyright 2023 Elliott Encarnacion, Eliza...

Elizabeth and Elliott take a look at drug abuse and addiction in Star Trek. Content Warning for drug use and addiction. Featured Trek Content: [02:02] TNG: “Symbiosis” [23:21] DS9: “The Wire” [40:07] ENT: “Damage” [57:18] On the couch [01:09:10] Conclusions Copyright 2023 Elliott Encarnacion, Elizabeth Kimble 

Elizabeth and Elliott are very pleased to be doing their first patron-chosen topic. They want to thank Wellington for their suggestion for today which is accidental leadership. If you’d like to become a Patron, we’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions!  Featured Trek Content: [01:37] TNG: “Disaster” [24:07] DS9: “Valiant” [45:46] DIS: “All Is Possible” [01:08:10] On the couch [01:21:14...

This week, Elizabeth and Elliott take a deep dive into Spock’s semi-estranged father, with some defining takes on the character of Ambassador Sarek. Featured Trek Content: [01:35] TAS "Yesteryear" [22:35] DIS "Lethe" [40:35] TNG "Sarek" [56:34] On the couch [01:08:37] Conclusions Copyright 2023 Elliott Encarnacion, Elizabeth Kimble 

This week, Elizabeth and Elliott enjoy another in-person movie night, keeping an eye on the Sarek-Spock dynamic with “The Voyage Home.” Featured Trek Content: Star Trek IV: “The Voyage Home” (1986) [01:52] Thoughts on Plot [20:00] 1980s Ecology [26:41] Spock Resurrected [35:24] What is Home? [46:11] The Fractured Self [01:00:12] Conclusions Copyright 2023 Elliott Encarnacion, Elizabeth Kimble 

This week, Elizabeth and Elliott discuss such and such topic. Featured Trek Content: [01:32] TOS "Journey to Babel" [20:14] TNG "The Icarus Factor" [37:58] DS9 "The Visitor" [56:51] On the couch [01:06:50] Conclusions Copyright 2023 Elliott Encarnacion, Elizabeth Kimble 

This week, Elizabeth and Elliott discuss good parenting and adolescent psychology. Featured Trek Content: [01:23] TNG "Evolution" [28:02] DS9 "Explorers" [47:56] PIC "Nepenthe" [01:10:34] On the couch [01:22:45] Conclusions Copyright 2023 Elliott Encarnacion, Elizabeth Kimble