At 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 8, 1966, NBC aired the premiere of a new series called Star Trek. The episode was “The Man Trap.” The star date was 1513.1, in case you’re interested in that kind of thing.
I am not interested in that kind of thing.
The Star Trek canon encompasses 10 television shows — 811 episodes, so far — and 13 movies. I’ve just never been into it. I tried to get into it for this show, but it didn’t work.
But here’s the thing: It doesn’t matter. “Beam me up.” “Live long and prosper.” “Redshirt.” “Vulcan.” “Klingon.” The English language’s best known split infinitive. Regardless of whether or not you’re a fan of Star Trek, Star Trek is a big damn deal, with nearly boundless influence.
“Star Trek is more than pop culture; it’s 20th century mythology,” according to The AV Club’s Caroline Siede. This hour, a look at some of the more than 36,000 minutes — more than 25 days — of television and movies that is Star Trek.
GUESTS:
- Sam Hatch - Co-host of The Culture Dogs on WWUH
- Timothy Sandefur - Author of The Permission Society: How the Ruling Class Turns Our Freedoms Into Privileges and What We Can Do About It; he wrote an essay on the politics of Star Trek
- Caroline Siede - Freelance writer
- Linda Wetzel - Associate professor of philosophy at Georgetown University
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Colin McEnroe, Rebecca Castellani, Greg Hill, Chion Wolf, and Alan Yu contributed to this show, which originally aired September 8, 2016.
