Primitive Culture: A Star Trek History and Culture Podcast

Primitive Culture: A Star Trek History and Culture Podcast

Primitive Culture is a Trek.fm podcast dedicated to a deep examination of the connections between Star Trek and our own history and culture. In each episode, Duncan Barrett and his guests take you on a fascinating exploration of how our world inspires the franchise we love—and how that franchise inspires us.

  1. Progressive Nostalgia?

    09/03/2023

    Progressive Nostalgia?

    Music in Star Trek From Alexander Courage’s “bright galactic beguine” in The Original Series to Jeff Russo’s churning, Game of Thrones-style theme for Discovery, the music of Star Trek has always embodied the spirit of its time, as much as it looks to the future. Rick Berman famously sacked composer Ron Jones from The Next Generation because he felt his scores drew too much attention to themselves. In his mind, the underscore should be a kind of wallpaper, as unobtrusive as the soft pastel carpet stuck to the walls of the Enterprise-D.  And yet the music of Star Trek—in particular the film scores by Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner, and others—has become an iconic part of the franchise’s cultural legacy, and of popular culture more broadly. In this episode of Primitive Culture, host Duncan Barrett is joined by musicologists Jessica Getman and Evan Ware. Together with Brooke McCorkle Okazaki, they are the editors of the recently published Music in Star Trek: Sound, Utopia, and the Future. Here, they share some key observations from the 15 essays collected in their book, as well as consider the future of the Star Trek franchise—in music and beyond.   Chapters Intro (00:00:00) Blue Skies Thinking (00:09:15) Beware the Borg Fugue (00:17:00) Losing Faith … (00:24:45) Course Correction (00:37:20)   Scoring the Sausage (00:49:50) Host Duncan Barrett Guests Jessica Getman and Evan Ware Production Duncan Barrett (Editor and Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer)

    1 h
  2. Just Following Orders?

    06/09/2022

    Just Following Orders?

    Cardassian war crimes and The Man in the Glass Booth For many fans of Deep Space Nine, the penultimate installment of Season 1, “Duet,” is also the show’s first classic episode. A bleak exploration of guilt, responsibility, and forgiveness in the aftermath of war, it’s a story that could scarcely have been told on any other Star Trek series. One of Trek’s most popular bottle episodes, “Duet” is built on intense two-hander scenes between Nana Visitor and guest star Harris Yuelin, giving it the air of an intimate theater production. It’s perhaps no surprise, then, that the episode’s central conceit—a case of mistaken identity at the center of a potential war crimes trial—is lifted from a stage play, Robert Shaw’s The Man in the Glass Booth, which was later adapted into an Oscar-winning movie. In this episode of Primitive Culture, host Duncan Barrett is joined by Clara Cook to discuss the parallels between “Duet” and this enigmatic source material, which in turn borrows from the real-life trial of Adolf Eichmann, the original man in a (bullet-proof) glass booth. Broadening the conversation to include Star Trek’s approach to war crimes more generally, we consider whether the Eichmann trial—as well as the Nuremberg trials immediately after the war—offer a valid precedent for Federation and Bajoran justice. Host Duncan Barrett Guest Clara Cook Production Duncan Barrett (Editor and Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer)

    1 h 55 min
  3. Resurrecting Nightmares

    30/06/2022

    Resurrecting Nightmares

    The Alien franchise and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. In space, no one can hear you scream. But for unlucky Starfleet landing parties, meeting a nightmarish alien menace can prove as traumatic as deadly. For La'an Noonien-Singh, who carries the burden of having survived captivity in a Gorn breeding colony during childhood, another encounter with the monstrous lizards proves both physically and mentally challenging. And to make sure the audience is equally freaked out by the terrifying encounter, Strange New Worlds leans heavily on the imagery of the Alien franchise—the epitome of sf horror. In this episode of Primitive Culture, host Duncan Barrett is joined by Lee Hutchison to look at the latest episode of Star Trek: trange New Worlds, “All Those Who Wander,” alongside the films that inspired it, from the chest-burster scene in the original 1979 movie to Ripley’s final moments in Alien 3. We also take in reference points from the beloved movies we grew up with, including Predator, Jurassic Park, The Thing, and more. What new life forms are birthed when these iconic stories creep in through the Star Trek airlock? Grab a flamethrower and join us on the express elevator to hell as we attempt to find out. Chapters Intro (00:00:00) Gorn Yesterday (00:09:50) Strange Newt Worlds (00:23:55) No Sex, Please, We’re Star Trek (00:31:15) That Which Survives (00:50:00) La'an Time No See? (01:04:00) Host Duncan Barrett Guest Lee Hutchison Production Duncan Barrett (Editor and Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer)

    1 h 9 min
  4. Cowboy Diplomats

    29/05/2022

    Cowboy Diplomats

    How Star Trek’s leaders reflect our own. Young, charismatic, and a bit of a ladies’ man, Captain James T. Kirk was cast in the mould of President John F. Kennedy, the beloved US leader who had been killed just three years before Star Trek debuted. But over the course of more than half a century, Star Trek’s captains have often echoed the great politicians of the day; and sometimes they may even have paved the way for political careers in the real world. In this episode of Primitive Culture, originally released as an installment of The Sanctuary, Tony Black speaks to guest Mac Boyle about the parallels between Star Trek’s leaders and our own. Where do the likes of former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, former US President Donald Trump, and current US President Joe Biden find their counterparts in the Star Trek universe? And what kind of characters can we expect in the future to take their cues from Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky? With Star Trek: Discovery’s Federation President Laira Rillak taking an ongoing role, has Trek finally managed to marry the military ethos of Starfleet with the business of intergalactic politics? Chapters Intro (00:00:00) Assignment: Earth (00:03:25) The Maquis (00:16:30) Strange New Worlds (00:48:30) Hosts Duncan Barrett and Tony Black Guest Mac Boyle Production Tony Black (Editor) Duncan Barrett (Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer)

    1 h 27 min
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À propos

Primitive Culture is a Trek.fm podcast dedicated to a deep examination of the connections between Star Trek and our own history and culture. In each episode, Duncan Barrett and his guests take you on a fascinating exploration of how our world inspires the franchise we love—and how that franchise inspires us.

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