Where No Pod Has Gone Before

We're back on the journey to Earth! Join us as we settle in and discuss the first four episodes of season 1 of Battlestar Galactica. As always, the conversation is spoiler-free so first-time viewers are welcome! Episode 1 - 33: 02:30 Episode 2 - Water: 23:55 Episode 3 - Bastille Day: 44:35 Episode 4 - Act of Contrition: 01:01:45 Thanks as always for listening and don't forget to like, subscribe &a...

RoboCop is back and shinier than ever! In this week's episode we discuss RoboCop 2, the sequel to Paul Verhoeven's iconic masterpiece. We compare the films, their use of satire, and their themes of corporatism and identity. Ultimately, we unpack where this film goes wrong in comparison to the original and list areas we would have liked to see the film explore instead. Check out our original discus...

How do you discuss one of the most talked-about sci-fi films of all time? Well, you don't. Today's special episode is on Steven Spielberg's iconic and formative "Jurassic Park," and is the first in our new short-form series called What More Can We Say? In this episode we skip the in-depth analysis with which we are all familiar and simply give a few thoughts from the worlds of science and storytel...

Join us as we discuss the infamous Worst Film Of All Time... Or is it? Of course, this means our subject this week is "Plan 9 From Outer Space," the iconic cult flop from legendary B-movie director Edward D. Wood, Jr. In this episode we get into the technical deficiencies, weird science, and surprising charm all throughout the film. We also touch on some of the behind-the-scenes stories that shape...

A new journey begins... We are taking on a full watchalong of the 2000s version of "Battlestar Galactica," one of the greatest pieces of science fiction ever made. Titan has never seen the show before so there will be no spoilers for anything past the current episode. First-timers are very welcome! Join us for our first edition as we discuss the 2003 miniseries that launched the show. We firstly g...

We're hopping back in the TARDIS this week as we have a conversation about the entirety of Doctor Who's revival era. With the news that the show has been put to tender by the BBC, we thought it was a good time to talk about one of the formative sci-fi shows of our youths. In this episode we look back on NuWho, Doctor by Doctor, giving our thoughts and connections to each, while we also unpack the...

The big day has come! Everything will be revealed... Drum roll, please... There are aliens (spoiler alert) in the new Steven Spielberg film! Join us we unpack the master's return to original sci-fi filmmaking. We discuss our initial excitement for this film in the context of modern movie-going, the joys of Spielberg's cinema, and our overall impressions of the film and its central argument. Thanks...

It's a race against time (or is it?) this week as we open up Robert Wise's adaptation of "The Andromeda Strain," a tech-/medical-thriller based on the novel by sci-fi great Michael Crichton. In today's episode we unpack the excellent aesthetics of the film, while also questioning decisions in casting, story structure, and plot mechanics. And of course, this being Crichton, we examine the science a...

It's finale week here at Where No Pod HQ as we delve into the final two episodes of Season 5 of "For All Mankind." We begin by tackling the siege of Happy Valley base in Episode 9, "Sons and Daughters" (5:20), and the ongoing search for life on Titan. We then unpack the season finale, "This Land is Our Land" (30:12), and announce a new holder of the Worst Science Moment crown - already! We conclud...

Is this The Way? This week we venture to a galaxy far, far away to unpack "The Mandalorian & Grogu," the return of Star Wars to the big screen. Join us as we unpack Mando's jump from TV to the cinema and whether or not it works. We take a deep dive and look at the performances, special effects, and its episodic structure, and we conclude with a discussion on fan culture and the reactions to th...

We're back with a very special bonus episode. Today has particular significance for sci-fi fans as the 21st of May is the day that The Last Question is first asked in iconic author Isaac Asimov's brilliant short story of the same name. Join us as we unpack the story and stick around till the end for a short discussion on its distant relative, The Last Answer, also by Asimov. We'll be back on Monda...

We're executing a burn maneuver this week and returning to Mars orbit as we catch up on the last few weeks of "For All Mankind". We begin with a short recap of our feelings of the season so far and various threads we're keeping an eye on. We begin with episode 6, "No Sudden Moves," (4:38) as our characters, in the wake of their actions last time out, ask "what's the plan, now?" We then unpack the...

It's about time we opened one of the key texts of science fiction - Doctor Who. This week we are taking a look at Doctor Who: The Movie , a failed attempt to launch an American version of the long-running classic, but an important and interesting piece of the franchise's history nonetheless. We discuss the film's muddled plot, overreliance on Who lore, and the performance of the Eighth Doctor by P...

Happy the Fourth of May! To commemorate this arbitrary day, we're taking a look back at the Disney era of the Star Wars franchise. We are also joined by a very special guest - a Star Wars expert - to help guide the conversation and fill in the gaps. Our discussion follows the franchise year by year since Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012. We look back at all the movies and most of the TV shows and...

A quick hop to Phoenix Station and down to Mars this week as we catch up on the last three weeks of "For All Mankind" Season 5. We begin with the fallout of Ed's actions from last time in Episode 3 (02:40). We then discuss the new beginnings and new characters throughout Episode 4 (46:11) and finally we unpack the heavy political intrigue of Episode 5 (01:14:07). For next Monday we will be doing a...

We're back and ready to stand up and fight against humanity's biggest threat: AI slop. This week we're taking a deep dive into the fiercely original but wildly uneven "Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die," the latest film from Gore Verbinski. We discuss the film's interesting use of AI as an apocalyptic threat, its muddled messaging and themes, and confusing ending. And of course we have to point out s...

We're going old-school this week as we discuss the 1956 classic "Forbidden Planet," a film that looms large over the history of popular science fiction (as demonstrated by the number of times we compare it to "Star Trek"). A first-time viewing for us both, the old-school charms still worked wonders, and so we discuss possible reasons why we tend to prefer old analog effects. We also take a deep di...

Hi, Bob. One of our favourite ongoing shows, "For All Mankind," is finally back and we're here to unpack the first two episodes of Season 5. We begin by catching up with all the old and familiar faces (underneath layers of make-up of course) in episode 1, "First Light" (11:29), before settling into the new season's conflicts and mysteries in episode 2, "The Hard Six" (57:59). We also weave in disc...

It's a big one this week as we tackle one of the most iconic sci-fi animes of all time, "Akira." In this episode we cover the film's groundbreaking technical scale and commercial success for the anime industry. We also dive into its themes of humanity's relationship with technology, the cyberpunk aesthetics and how they mirror 1980s Japan, and the spectre of nuclear disaster that looms over the fi...

Titan Julian discuss movie. Amaze Amaze Amaze! This week we sit down and unpack the big-budget sci-fi movie on everyone's minds, "Project Hail Mary." Join us for a spoiler-filled conversation on the film, but also the original novel by Andy Weir, as we use it to guide ourselves along. We explore the classically exciting sci-fi set up of the film, the way it addresses it in grounded scientific thin...

School's out for the summer as we take one last look at Star Trek: Starfleet Academy with its final two episodes. Join us for recaps and reviews of "300th Night," an episode that mercifully was not about prom (01:23), and season finale “Rubicon” (or is it “Rubincon”?), a decent effort in wrapping up season one (43:41). We then discuss our general feelings on this season as a whole and look ahead t...

We're back and this week we're using everything we have to try and make sense of the 2004 mind-bending cult classic "Primer." We discuss how its low-budget origins shaped it into the film it is, not just aesthetically but right down to the story and viewing experience. And of course we get into the nuts and bolts of the film's central time travel mechanics and try to make sense of that bonkers thi...

Back to school this week as we rejoin the cadets of Starfleet Academy. Join us as we open our discussions with the show's best episode so far in Come, Let's Away, as the cadets are confronted with the harsh realities of Starfleet service. We then move to one of the show's worst hours in Ko'Zeine, as we question just about every creative decision made here. We conclude with The Life of the Stars ,...

We're back for a special episode today as we welcome our first guest to the pod. Matthew is one of Julian's oldest friends and is now our in-house Alien expert. Alien: Romulus is our subject today - a film that divided opinion on release and that's no different on the pod. We get deep in the weeds on the film as we discuss the mechanics of modern franchise filmmaking, the use of practical effects...

Join us this week as we discuss Paul Verhoeven's 1987 sci-fi action satire RoboCop . We talk about the film's surprising depth as a piece of dystopian fiction, especially as it relates to Reaganomics and capitalism in general. The film also portrays media and media consumption as equally depressing and hilarious, and we discuss how this relates to our relationship with media today. It's also a fil...