Trek Politics with Mary L. Trump and Bob Cesca

To kick off the 60th anniversary year of Star Trek, Mary Trump and Bob Cesca discuss their top three favorite original series episodes. Make sure to add your top three faves in the comments under the video edition of this episode at trekpolitics.com . And don't forget to like, subscribe, and if you dig the show consider giving us a five star rating and review on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or whereve...

This week, Mary Trump and Bob Cesca deconstruct the original series episode "The Empath." Kirk, Spock, and Bones encounter an Empath who's being forced to sacrifice herself to save her species. Torture, murder, indefinite detention, a black void, and a lot of Bible references. Sounds like a party at Mar-a-lago. Stick around for BOBSERVATIONS -- and spread the word to all your Trekkie friends. Make...

Mary Trump and Bob Cesca discuss the classic TOS episode "Arena" about the Enterprise's confrontation with the Gorn and the Metrons. Captain Kirk's act of mercy after wounding the Gorn captain is a lesson Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth need to learn about leadership, compassion, and a view on the long term ramifications of violent follow-up strikes. Makes sure to catch the video edition at trekpoli...

Mary Trump and Bob Cesca discuss the season 3 episode of the original series, "The Cloud Minders" about class warfare, income inequality, anti-masking, eugenics, and more. And don't forget to stick around BOBSERVATIONS, featuring the nerdy details about this episode. Make sure to subscribe and share! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com...

This week, Mary Trump and Bob Cesca discuss the amazing original series episode JOURNEY TO BABEL, complete with its political intrigue, Federation world building, false flag murder mystery, family drama, medical drama, and more. When it rains it pours. Stick around for #Bobservations ! Like, subscribe, and spread the word on YouTube: trekpolitics.com . See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/priva...

In this week's episode of Trek Politics, we discuss the original series episode "A Taste of Armageddon" in which Captain Kirk attempts to broker piece between two planets at war, only to discover that the war is a computer simulation that requires actual deaths through "disintegration machines." What does this episode teach us about the absurdity of war? And how it relate to our own politics? Stic...

Mary Trump and Bob Cesca dig into the original series episode "A Private Little War" and it's Vietnam War allegory. What did Gene Roddenberry and the crew of the USS Enterprise conclude about the question of whether the U.S. should have gotten involved in Vietnam? Stick around for Bob's nerdy observations about the episode, including how best to defeat the shrieking Mugato creature. Make sure to s...

This week's Trek Politics is a companion to our previous podcast about the incredible Next Generation episode "The Drumhead". Bob talks with actor Spencer Garrett who played Crewman Simon Tarses, who's caught up in a McCarthyite witch hunt aboard the Enterprise. You might also know Spencer from Once Upon A Time in Hollywood, Bosch, For All Mankind, The Comey Rule, The Residence , and so many other...

Mary and Bob discuss the S2E23 original series episode "Patterns of Force," in which Kirk and Spock attempt to rescue a history professor who accidentally brings the Third Reich to an alien planet, leading to all the horrible things from Nazi Germany including a genocide against a neighboring planet. There's even a Stephen Miller-type character. Stick around for Bob's weird observations about the...

Mary Trump and Bob Cesca discuss the dumpster fire that is the original series episode "The Omega Glory." It's a hot mess but its use of the Constitution offers a valuable lesson about today's politics and how constitutional rights apply to all people, not just citizens. Stick around for some nerdy odds and ends from the episode, including Bob's dramatic re-enactment of Captain Kirk's Eed Plebnist...

Mary Trump and Bob Cesca discuss The Next Generation episode "The Drumhead" in which an overzealous investigator played by Jean Simmons turns an espionage investigation into a full blown witch hunt in which Captain Picard and his crew are accused of treason. From political prosecutions to racial profiling to investigatory creep, Mary and Bob examine the lessons of The Drumhead in our modern politi...

Mary Trump and Bob Cesca catch up with Enterprise and Voyager writer/producer Mike Sussman about his highly anticipated pitch for a proposed series called Star Trek United about Jonathan Archer's presidency. Plus, we discuss an episode of Enterprise Mike co-wrote called Detained about indefinite detention and internment camps. What does Detained tell us about our current mass deportation camps? St...

Mary and Bob review the original series Season 3 episode "Day of the Dove" in which a malevolent entity (that resembles an ocular migraine) feeds off negative energy, forcing the crew of the Enterprise and the Klingons to brink of war. What does this episode tell us about social media algorithms that incite outrage, and a president who thrives on chaos? Stick around for some weird odds and ends fr...

The great Tim Russ returns to Trek Politics to talk about an episode of Voyager he directed called "Living Witness," in which revisionist history is front and center. Mary, Bob, and Tim also discussed the Lost Cause myth, as well as Donald Trump's attempts to censor the Smithsonian and the National Parks. Be sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast app, and don't miss the video edition of this e...

Our new season dives into the question raised in Strange New Worlds Season 3: What is Starfleet? Mary and Bob discuss whether Starfleet and the Federation are benevolent forces for good or imperialistic colonizers. Plus, will Star Trek's woke values endure after the Donald Trump-endorsed merger between Paramount and Skydance? Or will its values be replaced with more punching and space battles? Be...

We're back with all new episodes! Our first show back is the audio of the Politics of Trek panel from this year's Star Trek Las Vegas convention. The panel was organized and co-moderated by Mark Altman from The Inglorious Treksperts podcast and David Goodman, former president of the WGA. The panelists included Mary and Bob, along with Ande Kindryd who worked on the original series, Oscar-nominated...

Mary and Bob announce a temporary hiatus for this podcast until the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes are resolved, in essence Trek Politics is joining the virtual picket line in support of the actors and writers. Per the SAG-AFTRA guidelines, our guests are unable to publicly discuss or promote Star Trek or any studio or network projects, and it's a gray area in terms of whether we, as podcasters, can di...

We're standing in solidarity with the actors and writers by restricting our conversations to discussions about the strike and the myriad reasons for it. This means no Trek conversations for the time being. Instead, we'll speak with some familiar names about how Hollywood corporations and the strike itself are affecting the actors and writers, beginning with legendary actor Kirk Acevedo. You can fo...

Mary and Bob talk with the brilliant, funny, and insightful Tim Russ, who played the Vulcan Tuvok on Voyager and Picard Season 3. We dig into Tim's politics, the most culturally poignant episode of Voyager, the downsides to AI, how we get to a Star Trek future, sci-fi pet peeves, and of course Subspace Pancakes! Plus, we review Strange New Worlds episodes three and four, "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and...

Mary and Bob recap Strange New Worlds S2E2 "Ad Astra Per Aspera" plus civil rights and non-human personhood in Starfleet. And then the spectacular Todd Stashwick, Captain Liam Shaw from Picard S3, arrives to discuss playing a grease monkey from Chicago, nerd culture, his breathtaking Wolf 359 speech, toxic fandom, dead naming, whether Captain Shaw has a bong in his ready room, and so much more. Ma...

We discuss Strange New Worlds S2E1, including false flags and punching Klingons. And then we talked with the inimitable Jeri Ryan, Seven of Nine on Voyager and Picard. Jeri talked about her Dungeons and Dragons experience at Todd Stashwick's house, plus: what it was like joining Voyager at the end of season two; how separating from the Borg collective might inform how to deprogram family members f...

Welcome to the premiere episode of Trek Politics with Mary Trump and Bob Cesca. The incredible Terry Matalas, showrunner, writer, and director of Star Trek Picard Season 3, joins us to discuss everything from the huge success of season three to to the progressive values of the Trek future to conservative Star Trek fans, plus the performances, the score, the process of assembling the season, why Te...

Premieres June 2023! Subscribe for free here! Trek Politics with Mary L. Trump and Bob Cesca is a deep dive into the socio-political and cultural allegories of Star Trek across all the series and movies, plus guest interviews with Star Trek actors, crew, and famous fans. The show idea began as a Star Trek discussion on Bob's podcast as you'll hear in this trailer. See Privacy Policy at https://art...