Starbase Indy Podcast

Matthew Barron is an author, comic creator, filmmaker, playwright, and next weeek he gets to add Convention Guest of Honor to his list of accomplishments. Listen to Matthew talk about the role conventions have played in his creative journey, and what he does when his stories scream at him.

Dr. Lawrence M. Schoen is an award winning science fiction author, a hyponitist, a psychologist, and the founder of the Klingon Language Institute. In this episode he talks about his writing, and gives us advice for kickstarting the second volume of the Starbase Indy Anthology.

Talking to Sami was so much fun I didn't want to stop after an hour - so here's some more time with my favorite anime showrunner and all around amazing human!

Samantha Inoue-Harte calls herself Neurospicy - but talking to her for more than a few minutes reveals that the brain works is definitely a superpower. She's a showrunner - but when that gets boring she dabbles in animating (for Disney among others), voice acting, writing, and whatever else keeps her remarkable brain from being bored. When I met her, we quickly bonded over Star Trek. In this conve...

When the aliens arrive, it will change a lot about how we see the universe. This conversation explores what we know about changing our understanding of the world around us.

The Science of Science fiction is back, with Rufus Cochran of Indiana Sciences leading us through what some recent (and not so recent) science fiction gets right, wrong, and the questions that it explores either way.

The conversation delves into the dynamic archetypes present in fiction shows, highlighting the common character dynamics and their storytelling impact. It also explores the inversion of cliches in the show Farscape, offering a fresh perspective on character portrayal and development.

The conversation covers the future of education, the changing work landscape, the impact of technology on education, agricultural research and technology, evaluation in education, customization and personalization in education, meta-learning and metacognition, and the challenge of learning and expertise.

Dr. Barrett Caldwell has been the head of the Indiana Space Grant Consortium for 20 years, interfacing Indiana concerns with NASA programs. He leads Purdue University's GROUPER lab, and had been teaching in the aerospace program for decades. He came into this work, in part, because he grew up fascinated by space in both fact and fiction. It's always a joy to talk with Dr. Caldwell, and I hope you...

Listen to Starbase Indy historian talk about the history of the event and some of the adventures we've had in the past 20 years.

The conversation delves into the impact of community on individual perspectives and the influence of fandom on expanding one's mindset.

This conversation highlights the challenges and ethical considerations in human-robot relationships and the impact of automation on various industries.

Zeitgeist means the culture and feel of an age. What difference do art and media make in the zeitgeist?

Music has been used across the ages to inspire people to action. In this episode we discuss the ways that has worked through history and what makes it work well still today.

Recorded live at the 2025 Starbase Indy event, this episode features Franklin Oliver and Ronald Craig talking about what Afrofuturism is, how it shows up in Star Trek and other science fiction, and how it can influence our future

Recorded live at the 2025 Starbase Indy event, this panel discusses the joys and adventures fandom can bring into our lives. Hugo Award-winning Christopher Barkley tells the story of the controversial 2023 Hugo Awards, and why he didn't get posession of his physical award for more than 2 years after he got home from the ceremonies. Moxie Magnus tells about her adventures as a fannish icon, and Joe...

The Starbase Indy Podcast is back for its 5th season with an interview with Justin C. Key. Key's new book tells the story of a world where AI has taken over the practice of medicine everywhere except the hospital at the end of the world. The book is filled not only with fascinating concepts, but with Key's extraordinary use of language. 

Da'Rell Miller is a filmmaker, cosplayer, game designer, artist, comic creator, and....well, you get the idea! Listen to him talk about what inspires him, and about the process of creating and sharing the ideas he has with the world.

Listen to half a dozen of the contributors to the Starbase Indy Anthology discuss what inspired their work in this volume, and what they like about the convention itself.

Jean Lee runs the Academy of Chaos, where she teaches in a different way than we're used to hearing about. Listen to her talk about how and what she's teaching the kids in her pod.

Tom Rathjen is back on the podcast this week. He is a human factors engineer whose 30 year career at NASA and subsequent work with Blue Origins and Space X gives him a unique perspective on getting us off the planet. Listen to him talk about the latest news, about why public - private partnerships in space travel are so powerful, and about when he thinks folks might go to space on a more casual ba...

Keith R.A. DeCandido has been watching Star Trek since birth - but it's only one of the universes in which he's written novels. Listen to him talk about his work and the unique perspective working with tie-in fiction gives him into the universes we all love.

Vinod Agrowal and his son created Kids Explore Robotics because they experienced what kids were being taught about robotics, and had some ideas about how to do it better. Listen to Vinod talk about their inspirations, what they do, and the fun they'll be bringing to this year's Starbase Indy.

Come hear what this year's Con Chair is excited about for Starbase Indy.

For the first time ever, Starbase Indy is releasing an anthology of Science Fiction and Speculative Poetry submitted by members of the Starbase Indy community. This collection was made possible through collaboration  with Dragon's Edge Press, and will be available at the 2025 Starbase Indy event over Thanksgiving Weekend.