Starbase Indy Podcast

Starbase Indy Podcast

On the Starbase Indy Podcast we talk to and about people who are inspired by Star Trek and science fiction to work towards a hopeful future in the real world. Many of our guests have been or will be presenters at the live Starbase Indy convention, which brings together fans, creators, academics, and scientists to celebrate, educate, and connect. Learn more about the live event and the mission at www.starbaseindy.org

Episodes

February 24, 2026 52 mins

Recorded live at the 2025 Starbase Indy event, this episode features Franklin Oliver and Ronald Craig talking about what Afrofuturism is, how it shows up in Star Trek and other science fiction, and how it can influence our future

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Recorded live at the 2025 Starbase Indy event, this panel discusses the joys and adventures fandom can bring into our lives. Hugo Award-winning Christopher Barkley tells the story of the controversial 2023 Hugo Awards, and why he didn't get posession of his physical award for more than 2 years after he got home from the ceremonies. Moxie Magnus tells about her adventures as a fannish icon, and Joe Campbell talks about his experienc...

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The Starbase Indy Podcast is back for its 5th season with an interview with Justin C. Key. Key's new book tells the story of a world where AI has taken over the practice of medicine everywhere except the hospital at the end of the world. The book is filled not only with fascinating concepts, but with Key's extraordinary use of language. 

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November 21, 2025 23 mins

Da'Rell Miller is a filmmaker, cosplayer, game designer, artist, comic creator, and....well, you get the idea! Listen to him talk about what inspires him, and about the process of creating and sharing the ideas he has with the world.

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November 16, 2025 42 mins

Listen to half a dozen of the contributors to the Starbase Indy Anthology discuss what inspired their work in this volume, and what they like about the convention itself.

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November 9, 2025 19 mins

Jean Lee runs the Academy of Chaos, where she teaches in a different way than we're used to hearing about. Listen to her talk about how and what she's teaching the kids in her pod.

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November 9, 2025 56 mins

Tom Rathjen is back on the podcast this week. He is a human factors engineer whose 30 year career at NASA and subsequent work with Blue Origins and Space X gives him a unique perspective on getting us off the planet. Listen to him talk about the latest news, about why public - private partnerships in space travel are so powerful, and about when he thinks folks might go to space on a more casual basis.

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October 31, 2025 56 mins

Keith R.A. DeCandido has been watching Star Trek since birth - but it's only one of the universes in which he's written novels. Listen to him talk about his work and the unique perspective working with tie-in fiction gives him into the universes we all love.

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October 19, 2025 26 mins

Vinod Agrowal and his son created Kids Explore Robotics because they experienced what kids were being taught about robotics, and had some ideas about how to do it better. Listen to Vinod talk about their inspirations, what they do, and the fun they'll be bringing to this year's Starbase Indy.

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October 19, 2025 37 mins

Come hear what this year's Con Chair is excited about for Starbase Indy.

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October 12, 2025 33 mins

For the first time ever, Starbase Indy is releasing an anthology of Science Fiction and Speculative Poetry submitted by members of the Starbase Indy community. This collection was made possible through collaboration  with Dragon's Edge Press, and will be available at the 2025 Starbase Indy event over Thanksgiving Weekend.

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Join a panel of queer creators as they talk about what sort of representation they have seen in Star Trek, and what sort of stories they would like the franchise to explore in the future.

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September 28, 2025 34 mins

Recorded during our 2024 live event, this discussion of the Science of Cats features KJ McGlinn, the Kitty Correspondent, creator of The Cat Conversation and PurrCon talking about the science of house cats and what it can do to help us keep them safe and happy in our homes.

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September 14, 2025 47 mins

Dr. Caroline Christoff and Richard Parrington discuss issues of bioethics that are referenced in various Star Trek series.

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September 7, 2025 54 mins

In this perennial favorite panel, experts discuss the science in the latest science fiction - what could be real, what's just wrong, and what are the possibilities.

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May 11, 2025 46 mins

What does the role of faith have in common with the role of science fiction? Both explore reasons, and ways the world does or could function. Listen to experts discuss more similarities and differences.

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May 11, 2025 51 mins

Listen as Dr. James McGrath and Dr. Ankur Gupta discuss the ways AI (or, more accurately the large language models that are being advertised as AI) help us to explore new worlds.

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March 30, 2025 56 mins

Enjoy this conversation on how created language communities use language to expand what we understand about invented cultures. How does one create an alien language? What grammatical tricks can be used to indicate a vastly different culture? How do you balance the desire to create an alien language with the need to have touchpoints that human audiences will understand? What does language teach us about a culture?

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Listen to Julia Whitehead (Director of the Kurt Vonnegut Museum), Max Gollier (Tour guide for the Bradbury Museum) and Dr. Barrett Caldwell (Professor of Engineering) discuss the impact Science Fiction literature has had on our world.

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February 17, 2025 59 mins

Listen to two experts in human space flight talk about what human space flight has taught us about the nature of humanity.

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