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Meta Treks: A Star Trek Philosophy Podcast

Meta Treks is a Trek.fm podcast dedicated to a deep examination of the philosophical ideas found in Star Trek. In each episode, Zachary Fruhling and Mike Morrison take you on a fascinating journey into the inner workings of Star Trek storytelling, deeper into subspace than you've ever traveled before.
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Now displaying: June, 2016
Jun 27, 2016

Voyager Season 7 - Essential Trek Philosophy. 

In this episode of Meta Treks: A Star Trek Philosophy Podcast, hosts Mike Morrison and Zachary Fruhling compare their selections for "Essential Trek Philosophy" from season 7 of Star Trek: Voyager. From Cartesian skepticism in "Unimatrix Zero" and "Workforce," to medical ethics and the ethics of bioengineering in "Critical Care" and "Lineage," season 7 of Voyager continues Star Trek's philosophical exploration of the human condition right up until the very end of the Voyager journey. 

Chapters
Welcome to Episode 32 (00:01:06)
Initial Thoughts about Voyager and Season 7 (00:01:43)
New iTunes Review of Meta Treks (00:06:30)
About our "Essential Trek Philosophy" Series (00:09:57)
Critical Care (00:12:29)
Unimatrix Zero (00:23:04)
Lineage (00:30:08)
Repentance (00:41:08)
Workforce (00:54:55)
Body and Soul (01:02:34)
Prophecy (01:21:48)
Final Thoughts (01:29:56) 

Hosts
Mike Morrison and Zachary Fruhling 

Production
Mike Morrison (Editor and Producer) Norman C. Lao (Executive Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Charlynn Schmiedt (Executive Producer) Patrick Devlin (Associate Producer) Kay Elizabeth Janeway (Associate Producer) Will Nguyen (Content Manager) Richard Marquez (Production Manager) 

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Become a Trek.fm Patron on Patreon and help us keep Star Trek talk coming every week. We have great perks for you at http://patreon.com/trekfm 

Jun 20, 2016

Speech Acts and Performative Utterances. 

In this episode of Meta Treks, hosts Zachary Fruhling and Mike Morrison discuss the philosophical and linguistic issues of speech acts and performative utterances. Many different kinds of speech acts can be found inside Star Trek, including taking oaths and granting promotions, saying wedding vows and pronouncing marriages, naming androids and christening starships, auto-destruct commands, replicator orders, and transfers of command, to name a few. Zachary and Mike discuss different examples of performative utterances in Star Trek and the role they play in a free society.  In addition, Zachary and Mike consider objections to the concepts of speech acts and performative utterances from the philosophical standpoints of relativism and reductionism. 

Chapters
Welcome to Episode 31 (00:01:23)
What are Speech Acts and Performative Utterances? (00:02:25)
Wedding Vows in Star Trek (00:12:32)
Speech Acts and Cultural Relativism (00:25:25)
Klingons and Ritual Storytelling (00:29:24)
Promotions and Transfers of Command (00:32:35)
Does Reductionism Undermine the Concept of Speech Acts? (00:35:30)
The Importance of Speech Acts in a Free Society (00:43:42)
Finding the Essentials in Promotions and Pageantry (00:47:32)
Christening the Enterprise - The Strange Act of Naming (00:50:34)
Oaths and Voting as Speech Acts (00:54:04)
Auto-Destruct Commands (01:01:24)
"Tea, Earl Grey, Hot" - Creating Reality with Words (01:03:43)
Final Thoughts (01:10:41) 

Hosts
Zachary Fruhling and Mike Morrison 

Production
Mike Morrison (Editor and Producer) Norman C. Lao (Executive Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Charlynn Schmiedt (Executive Producer) Patrick Devlin (Associate Producer) Kay Elizabeth Janeway (Associate Producer) Will Nguyen (Content Manager) Richard Marquez (Production Manager) 

Send us your feedback!
Twitter: @trekfm
Facebook: http://facebook.com/trekfm
Voicemail: http://www.speakpipe.com/trekfm
Contact Form: http://www.trek.fm/contact
Visit the Trek.fm website at http://www.trek.fm/
Subscribe in iTunes: http://itunes.com/trekfm

Support the Network!
Become a Trek.fm Patron on Patreon and help us keep Star Trek talk coming every week. We have great perks for you at http://patreon.com/trekfm

Jun 6, 2016

The Philosophy of Insurrection.  

Coming off the heels of the blockbuster success of Star Trek: First Contact, the next TNG-era feature film Star Trek: Insurrection returned to Star Trek's philosophical roots by focusing on a strong moral dilemma, social commentary, and character interaction. Although Insurrection is not usually cited as a fan-favorite among TNG-era Star Trek films, Insurrection is a classic Star Trek morality play containing an impressive number of philosophical layers, given its otherwise lighthearted tone.  

In this episode of Meta Treks: A Star Trek Philosophy Podcast, hosts Mike Morrison and Zachary Fruhling explain their fondness for Star Trek: Insurrection and discuss its interwoven philosophical themes, such as the ethics of forced relocation and eminent domain, balancing the needs of the many with the rights of the few, civil disobedience and the responsibility to act on moral conviction, anti-technological social commentary, the themes of family and reconciliation, the Ba'ku Fountain of Youth and the meaning of life in the 24th Century, and the importance of finding joy in small moments, even in the face of great trials.  

Chapters 
Welcome to Episode 30 (00:01:32) 
Memories of Star Trek: Insurrection (00:03:36) 
Initial Thoughts (00:06:27) 
Relocating the Ba'ku - The Needs of the Many vs. the Rights of the Few (00:16:14) 
Comparing Insurrection and TNG "Journey's End" (00:26:04) 
Moral Conviction and Civil Disobedience - The Responsibility to Act (00:29:14) 
The Ba'ku and Anti-Technological Social Commentary (00:34:57) 
Reconciliation Theme (00:39:40) 
The Fountain of Youth and the Meaning of Life (00:43:07) 
The Human Condition - Finding Joy in Small Moments (00:51:31) 
Son'a as Prodigal Children (00:55:14) 
Are the Son'a in Thomas Hobbes's State of Nature? (00:59:39) 
Final Thoughts (01:06:25)  

Hosts 
Mike Morrison and Zachary Fruhling  

Production 
Dennis Castello (Editor and Producer) Norman C. Lao (Executive Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Charlynn Schmiedt (Executive Producer) Patrick Devlin (Associate Producer) Will Nguyen (Content Manager) Richard Marquez (Production Manager)  

Send us your feedback! 
Twitter: @trekfm 
Facebook: http://facebook.com/trekfm 
Voicemail: http://www.speakpipe.com/trekfm 
Contact Form: http://www.trek.fm/contact 
Visit the Trek.fm website at http://www.trek.fm/ 
Subscribe in iTunes: http://itunes.com/trekfm  

Support the Network! 
Become a Trek.fm Patron on Patreon and help us keep Star Trek talk coming every week. We have great perks for you at http://patreon.com/trekfm

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