Starbase Indy Podcast

Travis Faas teaches interactive media experience design. His interests include not only a variety of alternative realities (Virtual Reality / Augmented Reality), but also in how people learn to create and design in those spaces. 

Author ES Fein is making his first appearance in the Starbase Indy vendor room this year. He's lived and worked around the world, using those experiences to inform his science and speculative fiction. 

Our guest Austin Owens describes maker spaces as "community gardens for your mind." He should know, he's been involved with local maker space Cyberia for 12 years, and leading it as its president for the past half decade. Austin is studying engineering at IUPUI, and we talk a bit about his research project on the strongest infill for 3D printing (it's not what everyone thinks it is.) 

Liz Bolger loves her job, teaching science to kids. She talks about how she got started, how she engages her audience, and gives advice for parents on how they can get their kids engaged in exploring the worlds around them.

Dr. Barrett Caldwell is a professor of Industrial Engineering with a courtesy appointment in Aeronautics at Purdue University (which has graduated more astronauts than any other public university in the country). He directs the Indiana Space Grant Consortium, and has worked on human factors engineering with NASA. We talk about how the humanities affect our ability to travel in space, some of the p...

Matthew Barron has been a speaker and attendee at Starbase Indy for years. He's also an author of books, creator of graphic novels, playwright, and moviemaker. In addition to all of this, he works in the sciences. We talk about the joys of conventions, the practical realities of a career in the sciences, and the dreams of the human digestive tract. Join us for this fun conversation.   One of the t...

This week’s podcast features one of our returning vendors, Baby Boomer Rebellion. Jeff Bruce has been working conventions for decades, and so in addition to talking about what he brings to our vendor room, we’ll also chat some on his experience with conventions and the changes he’s seen over the years.

This week on the Starbase Indy Podcast we talk with longtime Starbase Indy speaker Dr. Colin McKinney. Dr. McKinney is an Associate Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science at Wabash College. The conversation ranges from how math is a language (with mild spoilers for Discover Season 4) to how the movies get math and robotics right and (and wrong) to the possibly sentient AI that’s been in the...

For many years, Starbase saturday morning at 10am meant the Philosophy of Star Trek panel was going on with Dr. Jason Eberle. This week we get Dr. Eberle back to Starbase Indy through the podcast. We talk about medical ethics, the nature of humanity and the philosophy of transhumanism, and what makes Star Trek unique, philosophically.  Be warned - there are some spoilers for the Battlestar Galacti...

Actor Bill Blair, holds the Guiness Book of world record for most special effects makeup characters portrayed in the career. Hear him talk about how he puts together an alien performance to bring the worlds we love to life, and hear some of his behind scenes stories. Bill also wrote a book on how to achieve success in show business, and we talk about some of the tips and tricks he’s not only picke...

More than 200 people came to hear Thomas Rathjen when he talked about human space flight at Mission Chicago. Come hear about what it’s like to work for NASA, and about what he sees in the future of human space flight. His 30 years included everything from designing the galley of the space shuttle to his current work on programmatic and strategic integration. Listen to him discuss the challenges he...

Dr. Lawrence Schoen founded the Klingon Language Institute, has an advanced degree in linguistics  - but insists that he's terrible with languages. Hear more about that, his novels, and hypnosis. 

Dr. Mohamed is the Dean of Natural Sciences at Duke University, with academic specialties in evolution, genetics, and genomics. He is also the BioTrekkie, consulting on several Star Trek series in the areas of biology and genetics. 

Grab your coffee and listen in as we talk to the Janeway Collective about the relatively new monument to Katherine Janeway located in Bloomington, Indiana. 

Dr. James McGrath is a long time Starbase Indy speaker, and he's also the Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University. He's long been fascinated with the way Theology and Science Fiction both look at ideas about the world around us, and his book Theology and Science Fiction talks about the way both of these areas play together to enhance our understandin...

We sit down with the Salt Vampire! That’s right, Sandy Gimpel was well into her career as a stunt woman, costumed monster and dancer when she portrayed the shapeshifting M-113 creature in The Man Trap, the first episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. Her career spans more than 50 years – she was a veiny Talosian in The Cage pilot – and she’s still working on projects today. This #starbaseindyp...

Keith RA DeCandido, or KRAD as he's sometimes known on the internet, has written in 39 universes created by other people (as well as a couple of his own creation.) We talk with him about the work he's done in the Star Trek universes, what makes an engaging science fiction world, and his other creative endeavors. You can find more information on his website, here , including links to all of his oth...

Alan Anderson is one of the Klingon translators working on Star Trek: Discovery, and he will be the primary translator for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds when it comes out. We talk to him about how he got started with Klingon, his favorite Klingon puns, and also about his work with the Indiana First robot competitions.   During the episode, Alan mentions the Mt. Vernon's Klingon Visitation Guide (w...

jenbom, the Klingon Pop Warrior, sings popular songs in their original Klingon. We talk to her about how the project got started, the charitable contributions she's been able to make because of it, and her favorite Klingon pun.

Foz Rotten is the founder of the punk rock band Boldly Go!, which was inspired by Star Trek. He talks to us about what Star Trek has in common with Punk Rock, and about his experiences at the 2021 Starbase Indy.

Dr. Bill Sullivan is the Showalter Professor of Pharmacology & Toxicology and Microbiology & Immunology at the Indiana University School of Medicine. His book,  Pleased to Meet Me: Genes, Germs, and the Curious Forces that Make Us Who We Are mixes cutting-edge research and relatable humor to shine a light on who we really are, and how we might become our best selves.  Dr. Sullivan is passi...

Nichelle Nichols portrayed Nyota Uhura, a character that made history when she debuted on Star Trek in 1966. Nichelle Nichols affected the history of space travel, as well, working to change the face of NASA. Dr. Leah Leach has been a fan of both Nichols and Uhura. She created the Uhura Training Academy to provide programming at Starbase Indy. We talk a little bit about the convention, but primari...

Listen to our host Lisa Meece explain the vision for the podcast, and how it connects to the mission of Starbase Indy: Celebrating Star Trek's vision of the future through humanitarianism and STEM education today.