Starbase Indy Podcast

Feb 04 2025 62 ep. 43 mins 10

Starbase Indy Podcast artwork

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 takes place in Indianapolis every year over Thanksgiving weekend. We talk to actors, scientists, musicians, writers, creators, fans, engineers, and geeks. Learn more about the live event and the mission at www.starbaseindy.org

Fiction Science Society & Culture

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Exploring New Worlds Through Voice

Feb 04 2025 54 mins

Listen to Bonnie Gordon and Nick Ramey talk about their work performing characters and conveying information through the power of the human voice.

Commanding Starfleet with Fleet Admiral Anthony Scott

Sep 15 2024 46 mins

Anthony Scott has been a part of fandom for many years, and is currently Fleet Admiral of Starfleet Command. We talk about how fandom has enriched his life.

Entering the Star Trek Universe

Jul 08 2024 48 mins

Derek Tyler Attico has won the Star Trek short fiction contest more than once, and recently published The Autobiography of Benjamin Sisko. We talk with him about how his writing practice, the universes he’s written in, and how his writing connects to his passion for justice.

The Science of Science Fiction

Mar 03 2024 50 mins

What does our favorite science fiction get right about the universe as we know it, and what does it get wrong? Listen to Rufus Cochran, Dr. Mohamed Noor, and Dr. Paul Kwiat as they talk about artificial intelligence, quantum computing, the nature of evolution, and other places science intersects with our favorite science fiction.

Writing Diverse Worlds

Feb 25 2024 63 mins

All of fiction, and especially science fiction, revolves around balancing the need to make characters believable. Science fiction adds in an additional challenge - creating characters who are different from what the readers expect, sometimes in surprising ways. Listen to Dr. Mohamed Noor, Maurice Broaddus, John Scalzi, and Dr. James McGrath discuss their work in creating worlds tha

Protopia vs Utopia

Feb 18 2024 50 mins

The word Protopia refers to a vision of of the future in which today is better than yesterday, at least a little bit. In the article coining the word, futurist Kevin Kelly asks us to name a single science fiction future that is both plausible and desirable. Is Star Trek that example? This panel will discuss the possibilities of protopia.

Afrofuturism: Building a Hopeful Future in Indianapolis

Feb 11 2024 24 mins

Afrofuturism is about not only critiquing the present, but working towards a future that we all want to experience. While some of the live session recording was lost, this episode captures the second half of the conversation, and includes information about the history of Indianapolis, how the Khprew Institute is working towards shaping the future, and why so many science fiction st

AI and the Nature of Truth

Feb 04 2024 52 mins

AI is often depicted as a way to find answers to questions. Is this the same as finding truth? Are our current AI technologies structured to find truth? Or are they designed to do something different, and how does that affect their functionality and how they are (and how they should be) used?

AI, Sentience, and the Rights of Robots

Feb 04 2024 51 mins

The episode you are about to hear was recorded during our live event in November of 2023, and is a part of our series on the Humanities of Artificial Intelligence. This series was awarded an Action Grant by Indiana Humanities, and received support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The Ethics of Machine Learning

Feb 04 2024 54 mins

Machine learning holds great potential - but also comes with some significant ethical challenges. Listen to experts discuss the technology, and the ethical concerns it creates.