Antimatter Pod

Anika and Liz get sucked into a vortex and are mysteriously transformed from cartoons into real human beings! Yes, it's time to talk about Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, season 2, episode 7, "Those Old Scientists"! Hi, we loved this episode!  Boimler is fandom: he expects things to be a certain way and freaks out that SNW is different Mariner is also fandom: she loves Uhura and finds her inspiring...

Anika and Liz roll up to a cool-looking nebula, only to find it's alive! Hey, are we experiencing deja vu? Does the Federation mining industry need to be stopped at all costs? We're discussing Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, season 2, episode 6, "Lost in Translation"! Please stop using disabled bodies as monsters, show! It's interesting how SNW is reproducing the problems (episodic storytelling, th...

It's time to discuss Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, season 2, episode 5, "Charades". Liz eats a pile of bacon; Anika has a lot of feelings about Christine Chapel, and we discuss... This episode is a gift specifically for Anika The theme of this season is "identity" On one level, this episode is a 60-minute mother-in-law joke with bonus ethnic stereotypes, and that is not great! Have short seasons...

Anika and Liz put on their cute away mission hats and, in between high-pitched noises and Liz's neighbour revving his car, discuss the Strange New Worlds episode "Among the Lotus Eaters"... Liz had a visceral reaction to this episode: a timeskip-inducing migraine would have been preferable WORSE, Anika is indifferent Character development for Ortegas: she flies the ship!  Hey, space millennials! D...

Anika and Liz find themselves stranded in 2023 Toronto, and over some Tim Hortons and poutine, catch up to discuss the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds episode "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow"... FIRST we are very angry and sad about the cancellation of Star Trek: Prodigy SECOND, we were extremely nervous going into this episode, and then … we loved it?  Introducing Paul Wesley's Kirk via a set o...

Anika and Liz don their dress uniforms and stand trial for the crime of ... oh, something. Background bird noise and that helicopter, probably. But ALSO we are here to talk about season 2, episode 2 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: "Ad Astra Per Aspera", including... Gene Roddenberry would be SO MAD there's a civil rights lawyer in Star Trek! Which is not the ONLY reason it's great, but it's one!...

Anika and Liz are left unsupervised for a moment, so what choice do they have but to steal the Enterprise? Yes, season 2 of Strange New Worlds has begun, and we are here to discuss: This was a solid B+ of an episode! Why does The Algorithm want us to think everyone hated it? We know more about Pelia from two scenes than we've learned about Ortegas in a whole season The algorithm keeps bringing us...

Anika and Liz put on their most stylish Starfleet tactical vests and walk right into a trap. And along the way, we finish our discussion of season 3 of Star Trek: Picard, including... We are not impressed by Captain Shaw The Jack and Seven relationship is a HIGHLIGHT Worf treats Raffi better than literally anyone else in the whole of Star Trek: Picard, which is … bad. Like, it's great! But it's ba...

We're putting on our old uniforms, hijacking a starship and stealing a shuttle to rescue Beverly Crusher, and we have NO REGRETS. Yes, it's finally time for Anika and Liz to talk about Star Trek: Picard... There is a strong possibility that this was … bad In Star Trek: Picard, Borg nonsense is always on the horizon Is Terry Matalas mirror! Anika? The signs are there! A lot of our problems with thi...

Anika and Liz confront their alternate universe selves (who are them but with more trauma and different hairstyles). Along the way, we discuss... Toxic masculinity spoils the party again Track A is trauma all the way down The entire multiverse ships Picard/Crusher, which, honestly? Feels right! We shouldn't have to say this, but infidelity does not justify murder Like Come on guys Content warning:...

While Anika builds a machine that lets her enter the heart of the universe, Liz is reduced to atoms and hangs around the galactic barrier for a few centuries. OR ... we got together for part 3 of our deep dive into Peter David's Q-Squared. And we discuss... Tommy Riker versus Jean-Luc Picard Guys, don't send a deeply traumatised former POW off to have a haircut from a stranger without getting his...

Peter David is recovering from a series of strokes, along with a mild heart attack. His wife is raising money for his medical bills , and if you enjoy our coverage of his work, please consider throwing a few bucks their way. Also, this episode contains spoilers for the end of Star Trek: Picard. Anika and Liz hang out in midair in a turbolift shaft and read pages 106-214 (paperback edition) of Q-Sq...

FIRST: After we recorded this episode, we learned that Peter David is recovering from a series of strokes, along with a mild heart attack. His wife is raising money for his medical bills , and if you enjoy our coverage of his work, please consider throwing a few bucks their way. Anika and Liz hop some timelines and read pages 1-105 (paperback edition) of Q-Squared by Peter David, and along the way...

As our unofficial Festival of Beverly continues, Anika and Liz hang out in some caves and have very earnest discussions about terrorism. Yes, we're discussing "The High Ground"! Star Trek: Picard spoilers from 00:00 to 00:59 We are deeply unqualified to talk about the Troubles. Of course, so were the TNG writers… (Book credits: Just Another Kid by Torey Hayden and Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Kee...

"Hey, someone left a naked disassembled android lying around! We should definitely rebuild him!" Anika and Liz, minus their evil twins, discuss "Datalore" … with some Picard spoilers along the way.  Skip to 00:49 to avoid the big spoiler and also Liz singing (Liz actually pronounces French words even worse than she sings, so, um, apologies to France) "I apologise to everyone for comparing Beverly...

It's Valentine's Day! Or close enough. Anika and Liz settle in with chocolate, champagne and a list of their favourite OTPs. And OT3s. And … look, we have so many ships, we're practically a navy.  Picard/Crusher: our first OTP Gwyn/Dal: #OTPCatboots Fifty years and all it took to make Anika ship Spock/Chapel was letting Christine have a personality Anika's favourite Star Trek rarepair will SHOCK a...

Anika and Liz get chased by some drones, fall down a hall, and take the opportunity to discuss the first season TNG episode "The Arsenal of Freedom"... For a first season TNG episode, this is … not bad at all Is season 1 of TNG really season 4 of TOS? TNG went all-in on the anticapitalism in season 1 (it's just a shame they brought the antisemitism along for the ride) Riker's whole job is to keep...

Anika and Liz don their blue shirts and do a deep dive into depictions of depression in Star Trek. (Please note this includes discussions of suicide and self-harm.)  The early years:  Dr Elizabeth Dehner Badmirals Spock's stories can be a metaphor for a lot of things, but the emotional repression to depression pipeline is definitely one of them (Anika has a whole THING about The Motion Picture and...

Anika and Liz replicate a shuttle without seats and settle in to discuss the two-part finale of Star Trek: Prodigy's first season… Prodigy loves a Vulcan/Tellarite/Andorian trio COMMUNICATION is THE THEME Holo Janeway fulfills the dream of all Janeways everywhere Gwyn's big hero moment ALSO the Dal/Gwyn, we have been shipping it since episode one and we feel VERY GOOD about everything! Everyone sh...

Anika and Liz swap bodies and invade some holonovels as we discuss the Star Trek: Prodigy episodes "Ghost in the Machine" and "Mindwalk". And along the way, we touch on... Into the holo-verse Where is the Zero-as-Dixon-Hill story we need and deserve? Jankom Pog is NOT OKAY and we're into that Seriously, just a few weeks ago, we were like, "Jankom is the flattest character?" HOW WRONG WE WERE Murf....

Anika and Liz replicate some coffee, put on some classical music, and get into some backstory. And along the way, we discuss... Good news, Dal! We know who your family is! Bad news, they're the worst people in the galaxy. I'm sorry. You're a Soong. We continue to respectfully fangirl Aaron Waltke It's never too soon to introduce your children to bioethics Rok-Tahk is the anti Toph Beifong The Tell...

Due to real life shenanigans (Thanksgiving, a state election), Anika and Liz were unable to record last weekend. But here's a mini-ep we prepared earlier - a long rant about the state of Star Trek merchandising that was cut for time/relevance from our last full ep. Topics include: Disney knows when to merchandise a series, and more important, when not to merchandise it Paramount can't do either Wh...

Anika and Liz don their cutest Starfleet-issue hooded coats and beam down to an icy outpost in search of some fugitives, and along the way, we discuss Star Trek: Prodigy's fourteenth episode! "We have a plan but everything goes wrong" and "this could all be resolved if people talk to each other" are classic plots going back to Shakespeare and beyond, BUT that doesn't mean we have to like them! Liz...

Anika and Liz answer a distress call and wind up on the planet of the Strange New Worlds fans. We had some audio issues in recording and sound a bit like we're under flawlessly animated water, but we discuss things like… how Liz is explicitly banned from using her Shatner voice for the whole episode We have decided to ship Chakotay/The Diviner When entertainment becomes the entirety of one's cultu...

Hey, that's a nice cube. Let's steal their stuff! What could possibly go wrong?! Anika and Liz discuss Star Trek: Prodigy's "Let Sleeping Borg Lie", including… Nodding to past Borg stories while also doing something new There's a fantastic synchronicity between Lower Decks's second contact concept and Prodigy's foundation being the Federation's apparent failure to follow up after a first contact A...