Star Trek: The Pod Directive

Jeff Russo

Star Trek: The Pod Directive

Show Notes

We couldn’t have asked for a better guest for the final episode of Star Trek: The Pod Directive! Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Picard composer Jeff Russo joins Tawny and Paul in the studio. A former member of the rock band Tonic, Russo walks us through his transition from studio albums to film and television composition, and the trio discusses what makes Star Trek’s music so iconic.

Stay subscribed! Star Trek: The Pod Directive will return to this feed soon for season 2, featuring all new episodes, out of this world guests, and your favorite hosts: Tawny Newsome and Paul F. Tompkins!

More from Star Trek: The Pod Directive

Aug 8, 2023

Where do fictional languages come from? How are they devised? Hear from the creator of the Klingon language, Marc Okrand, on his process of designing the famous conlang (constructed language) and his first few Star Trek gigs. You'd be surprised by the amount of vocabulary, syntax, and grammar that go into inventing the conlang. Host David Pogue also interviews language creator David Peterson on his conlangs, including Dothraki and High Valyrian from Game of Thrones, and Angela Carpenter, a linguistics professor at Wellesley College on the history of constructed languages. We'll be back with a new episode of the Pod Directive soon!

Jul 25, 2023

Ever wondered how warping would work in real life? Astrophysicist Dr. Erin Macdonald knows. Erin takes the inner workings of science and makes them possible in the science fiction universe we love on Star Trek. She also highlights one of her favorite Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes, “The Magnificent Ferengi”, because everyone loves an Iggy Pop appearance. This episode originally aired on May 17, 2021.

Jun 27, 2023

Author and actor John Hodgman is throwing it back with Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: The Original Series. He and our hosts analyze how these shows have impacted their views on interpersonal relationships and John dives into one of his favorite Next Generation episodes, “Lonely Among Us”. He is also desperately looking for a Judge Q costume if anyone has a spare! This episode originally aired on April 12, 2021.

Jun 13, 2023

Sir Patrick Stewart makes a special appearance on The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert. Following Colbert's commentary, he and Stewart discuss the final season of Star Trek: Picard. Stewart also shares tidbits about himself including how he stays so young, his role as King Oberon, and what he sees as the best way to start your day. This is an episode of The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert originally aired in February 2023.

May 30, 2023

Creator of “All the Asians On Star Trek” and the “Angry Asian Man” blog, Phil Yu, discusses Asian representation in Star Trek and beyond. He speaks to his own experiences from watching Rosalind Chao as a kid to making it a mission to interview every Asian actor who has appeared on Star Trek. Throughout the years diversity has developed, but we’re also asking: What is meaningful representation? How is Asian representation doing in Star Trek and beyond? This episode originally aired on April 26, 2021.

See all episodes →