The Clonestar Podcast

Did Star Trek Into Darkness waste the fresh start of the 2009 reboot by returning to The Wrath of Khan? Seo and Ed English revisit J.J. Abrams’ sequel to ask where the spectacle works—and where the story falls apart. Continuing our Kelvin timeline movie reviews, we explore Benedict Cumberbatch’s Khan, Kirk’s struggle to earn the captain’s chair, and a finale that leans heavily on one of Star Trek’...

Did Star Trek (2009) give the franchise the fresh start it needed—or trade too much substance for spectacle? Seo welcomes returning guest Ed English to CloneStar Podcast for a spoiler-filled review of J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek reboot, bringing a longtime fan’s perspective together with a more casual viewer’s take. From the emotional USS Kelvin opening to Kirk’s remarkably quick promotion, we explore...

Did Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 push the boundaries in the right direction — or let its genre experiments overshadow the stories? Ellie Littlechild from TrekCulture and WhoCulture joins Mike and Jodi for a full-season review, and we don’t all agree! From puppets and prehistoric adventures to horror, soap opera and fairy tales, we break down all ten episodes and debate whether the charac...

Two Enterprises. Two Uhuras. One year apart. Does “Tomorrow’s Enterprise” give Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 the finale it deserves? Mike and Jodi return to Ten Forward for a full-spoiler review of Season 4, Episode 10—and a look back at the season as a whole. Celia Rose Gooding’s performance gives us plenty to celebrate as Uhura encounters her future self, confronts her doubts, and disco...

Did Pelia and La’an deserve better? Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4, Episode 9 returns to the fantasy world of The Elysium Kingdom—but Mike and Jodi question whether its character resolutions feel earned. In this spoiler-filled Ten Forward review, we discuss Pelia’s decision to stay behind, the missing farewell with Scotty and why La’an’s journey towards self-acceptance feels rushed after s...

A rogue admiral, a stranded away team and orders that deserve to be questioned: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds S4E8, “Orders of Magnitude,” brings back the classic Trek ingredients Mike wanted. In this spoiler-filled Ten Forward review, Mike and Jodi discuss Kirk’s growing confidence as a leader, Uhura’s standout rescue mission and why a familiar premise can still deliver compelling character devel...

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds goes full soap opera in Season 4, Episode 7—but does the experiment work? Mike gives it 5/10, while Jodi awards 7.5/10. In this spoiler-filled Ten Forward review, we explore why the American daytime-soap parody lands differently for a British host and an American host—and why we both find meaningful character development beneath the exaggerated drama.

Strange New Worlds season four reaches its midpoint with Off-Hour. Jodi and Mike break it all down — watch it first, then join the conversation.

Episode five of Strange New Worlds season four is here. Jodi and Mike break it all down — no spoilers in the intro, just hit play once you've watched.

A Case of Chiaroscuro puts Una Chin-Riley in the spotlight. Jodi and Mike talk through what season four is doing with Number One — and whether this episode delivers.

Human Best Friend puts Ortegas front and centre in one of Strange New Worlds' most unexpected episodes yet. Jodi and Mike discuss whether it works — and why it just might be a fan favourite.

The Griffin Incident puts Spock and Kirk front and centre in an episode that nods to one of the Original Series' most memorable stories. Jodi and Mike break it all down.

Strange New Worlds season four is here. Jodi and Mike talk through the premiere — what it means for Pike, the crew, and the season ahead. Watch it first, then join the conversation.

Star Trek: First Contact turns 30. Jodi sits down with Ashlyn and Rhianna from The Duras Sisters Podcast to celebrate the film and the woman at its emotional core — Lily Sloane. A survivor, a builder, and the only person in the 24th century willing to tell Picard he was wrong.

Ron Jones scored 42 episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation — including The Best of Both Worlds — before being let go for making the music too good. He joins Seo to talk about TNG, the Borg, DuckTales, Family Guy, and a career built on refusing to write sonic wallpaper.

Cadet Pickford swallowed her combadge on the first day. Raffa Virago — the Brazilian-Canadian actress behind the role — joins Jodi to talk about life at Starfleet Academy, winning the 2024 Imagen Award for Dying in Plain Sight, and what it means to be part of a brand new era of Trek.

André Dae Kim played Transporter Chief Kyle on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Christian Ozera in Vampire Academy, and spent years as Winston Chu on Degrassi. Mike sits down with André to talk about all three worlds — what it means to step into a character with TOS roots, and how you build a career across some of Canada's biggest genre productions.

Hannah Cheesman played Lt. Commander Airiam in Star Trek Discovery — a character whose death stopped fans in their tracks. Mike and Jodi sit down with Hannah to talk about taking on that role, the experience of performing under full prosthetics, and a creative career that goes well beyond acting into writing, directing, and producing.

Raven Dauda played Dr. Tracy Pollard across all five seasons of Star Trek: Discovery — and she'll tell you it was the best set she's ever worked on. Mike and Jodi sit down with Raven to talk about life on the USS Discovery, working with Sonequa Martin-Green and Doug Jones, and a career built across stage, indie film, and some of Canada's biggest TV productions.

Ronnie Rowe Jr. won a major Canadian film award for playing a Black cop navigating racism from both sides of the law. Then he joined the crew of the USS Discovery. Mike and Seo sit down with Ronnie to talk about both worlds — indie film, Star Trek, representation, and what it means to build a career on your own terms.

Rekha Sharma is a Canadian actress of Indo-Fijian descent, best known for her role as Tory Foster on Battlestar Galactica (2006–2009), and Ellen Landry on Star Trek: Discovery. Mike and Seo sit down with Rekha to talk about two of sci-fi's most iconic roles and what it's like to be a beloved fixture in the genre. Sharma played the tough, doomed Commander Ellen Landry in the episodes "Context Is fo...

Michael Horton has appeared in over 150 network television shows, a dozen films, and 1500+ commercials. He's been Lt. Daniels in Star Trek: First Contact and Insurrection, Kovin in Voyager's "Retrospect," Grady Fletcher on Murder, She Wrote, voiced Chip Chase in Transformers, and appeared in Dances with Wolves. Seo and Jodi sit down with Michael to talk about a career that spans...

Director David Carson is known for Star Trek: Generations (1994)  IMDb , the historic film that brought together the Original and Next Generation casts. Mike and Seo talk with David about helming this iconic film and the creative decisions that shaped it. During production, Carson fought to change Kirk's death from the original script, and after poor test screenings, the ending was re-written...

Actor Doug Jones has often been referred to as the Boris Karloff of our time, and this in-depth feature-length documentary seeks to find how this actor and mime went on to become one of Hollywood's most sought-after actors  IMDb . Mike sits down with Doug and Derek Maki to talk about "Get Me Doug Jones"—the documentary that tells his complete story. From his early struggles in Hollyw...

Tara Rosling played T'Rina, the President of Ni'Var, in Star Trek: Discovery's third through fifth seasons Memory Alpha. But her journey to the final frontier started decades earlier on the stages of Canada—and that's where our conversation really begins. Mike and Jodi sit down with Tara to talk about her path from Vancouver to York University to the Stratford Festival, where she b...