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Speaker 1: Hey, Daniel, do you ever worry about being stranded on

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Speaker 1: a desert island? I think that that tends to happen

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Speaker 1: more in cartoons than in real life, you know, like

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Speaker 1: piranhas and quicksand wait, what Piranha doesn't really happen? How

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Speaker 1: many relatives have you lost to piranhas? Well? I guess

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Speaker 1: I'm just wondering, you know, like, if you were in

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Speaker 1: a desert island, what would you want to bring with you? Like?

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Speaker 1: What books would I want to read over and over

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Speaker 1: and over again? No, I mean, like, who do you

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Speaker 1: want to be there with you? Do you want a doctor?

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Speaker 1: In an engineer or like a scientist like you, I'd

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Speaker 1: say none of the above. Wait, what do you wouldn't

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Speaker 1: want a doctor or an engineer? You want to be

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Speaker 1: all by yourself. If I had to pick one person,

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Speaker 1: I think I would pick a science fiction writer because

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Speaker 1: they are the most creative when it comes to solving problems.

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Speaker 1: Have you met many science fiction writers? I'm taking a

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Speaker 1: trip to a desert island and I hope there's one there?

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Speaker 1: Or are you just hoping they'll write a warmhole that

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Speaker 1: will take you all home? As long as they don't

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Speaker 1: write any plot holes. Hi am poor hammy cartoonists and

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Speaker 1: the creator of PhD comics. Hi, I'm Daniel. I'm a

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Speaker 1: particle physicist and a professor at U c Irvine, and

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Speaker 1: I actually have spent time on a desert island. You

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Speaker 1: have really wait, a desert island or a dessert both?

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Speaker 1: Actually both, but I really would love a dessert buffet

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Speaker 1: on a desert island. Wait what? Oh yeah, I see

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Speaker 1: it's an island with a dessert or like a desserted island.

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Speaker 1: I once participated in a ridiculous boondoggle, which is a

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Speaker 1: scientific conference on Tahiti. So I got paid to fly

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Speaker 1: out to Tahiti and spend a week thinking about physics

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Speaker 1: and snorkeling and eating dessert. So it wasn't don't. I'm

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Speaker 1: gonna sure that Tahitians would appreciate you calling your island deserted.

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Speaker 1: Was actually a whole set of isolens, large ones, small ones,

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Speaker 1: and we were out on one of the smaller ones

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Speaker 1: with a scientific research station. So it's not deserted, but

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Speaker 1: there is a desert, right, And did you solve any

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Speaker 1: physicist problems while you were there? Yes? How much dessert

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Speaker 1: can one physicists eat in one sitting. I took some

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Speaker 1: data and not throw while you were snorkling data sample

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Speaker 1: one and it was a negative negative result. No, I

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Speaker 1: loved my time in Tahiti and at a very productive

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Speaker 1: time at that conference. So thank you funding agencies. But anyways,

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Speaker 1: welcome to our podcast. Daniel and Jorge explain the university

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Speaker 1: production of I Heart Radio, in which we treat the

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Speaker 1: entire universe like a dessert buffet. We sample everything, We

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Speaker 1: take a bite out of every little pastry of physics.

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Speaker 1: We dive deep into every offering because we want you

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Speaker 1: to enjoy the flavors of the universe, including its mysteries

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Speaker 1: and the fascinating things that we have been able to unravel. Yes,

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Speaker 1: because the universe is full of tasty morsels of knowledge

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Speaker 1: for us to consume. Man, and while they don't have calories,

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Speaker 1: they do tend to make your brain a little bit bigger.

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Speaker 1: While our bodies are currently limited to living here on

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Speaker 1: Earth and eating the morsels of food that eat can provide,

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Speaker 1: our minds are not so limited, and we are capable

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Speaker 1: of casting them far, far into the universe and trying

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Speaker 1: to understand what's out there. How does it all work?

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Speaker 1: How did it all begin and who else might be

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Speaker 1: out there? And is it made out of chocolate? Very

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Speaker 1: important question here. But wait, Daniel already saying that Earth

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Speaker 1: is really just the main course, and so once we

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Speaker 1: consume Earth, we're going to go for dessert in another galaxy.

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Speaker 1: Maybe I do like exotic desserts, and so maybe there's

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Speaker 1: some variety of chocolate that can grow on alien soil

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Speaker 1: that's even better than the best Ecuadorian or African chocolates.

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Speaker 1: But you don't like white chocolate, so maybe would you

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Speaker 1: like purple chocolate or green chocolate? Well that's because white

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Speaker 1: chocolates not chocolate. Excuse me, so well, fortunately we live

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Speaker 1: in the Milky Way, so I'm sure there are plenty

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Speaker 1: of dairy desserts out there. I look forward to my

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Speaker 1: dessert tour of the galaxy. Yeah, and it is a

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Speaker 1: pretty big universe out there. I mean, there's not just

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Speaker 1: our galaxy. There are billions and billions, maybe trillions of

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Speaker 1: galaxies out there. It's a lot of space to get

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Speaker 1: lost in, to be honest, exactly. And perhaps one day

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Speaker 1: our children, or children's children are children's children's children's children

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Speaker 1: will explore it, will set foot on another planet around

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Speaker 1: another star, or maybe even in another galaxy, and if

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Speaker 1: they do, they will have a difficult task to set

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Speaker 1: up a colony and support human civilization so far from Earth. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: to grow chocolate there. I mean, it's tricky enough here

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Speaker 1: on Earth. There's a whole craft to it. That is

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Speaker 1: colony priority number one. That's right, Feed the physicist chocolate

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Speaker 1: and coffee. Which one would go first, Dan, coffee or chocolate? Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I think coffee to the science fiction author and chocolate

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Speaker 1: to the physicist. That's what I would suggest. But it

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Speaker 1: is a wonderful universe, and there's no shortest of interesting

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Speaker 1: ideas and imagination that we can use to think about

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Speaker 1: what could be out there. And this is basically some

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Speaker 1: people's jobs. Physicists are always exploring what's possible, how the

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Speaker 1: universe might be, but we are constrained to what we

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Speaker 1: know about the universe, and a whole group of people

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Speaker 1: out there, science fiction authors specifically, who think even further,

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Speaker 1: even deeper into the future. They entertain what might be,

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Speaker 1: what seems to be impossible today but might be possible tomorrow,

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Speaker 1: and write human stories about those futures. Yeah. Are you

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Speaker 1: sometimes envious Daniel that they're they're not constrained by you know,

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Speaker 1: real data, or funding agencies or teaching requirements. Oh, I'm

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Speaker 1: sure they're constrained by funding agencies. They just have very

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Speaker 1: different vendors. Publishing houses make even crazier decisions, and funding agencies.

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Speaker 1: I think I wouldn't know anything about that. But there's

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Speaker 1: a whole spectrum, you know. Experimental physicists definitely are constrained

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Speaker 1: by data. We publish things we discover about the actual universe.

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Speaker 1: Theoretical physicists also constrained by data, but you know, they

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Speaker 1: actually prefer to avoid the data. They like playing around

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Speaker 1: in realms where experimentalists can't yet rule things out, things

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Speaker 1: like string theory, where we do not have colliders. They

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Speaker 1: can probe whether or not the universe is actually tiny

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Speaker 1: strings vibrating at the smallest level. That's where they like

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Speaker 1: to play because they're not constrained by data. And science

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Speaker 1: fiction authors I think of it's just like one step

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Speaker 1: further removed from experimental constraints. Well, I feel like theoretical

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Speaker 1: physicists at least are constrained by the math, like whatever

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Speaker 1: they come up with has to be mathematically consistent. But

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Speaker 1: the science fiction writers don't have to worry about math

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Speaker 1: or data. Yeah, they can just write in English, which

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Speaker 1: is a lot less precise than mathematics. I guess you

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Speaker 1: have to worry about people liking their work. That's not

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Speaker 1: something you'd probably worry about. No, and science fiction authors

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Speaker 1: and were constrained by grammar, periods, semicollins, these kinds of rules.

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Speaker 1: They do have to answer to their editors, after all,

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Speaker 1: their spell checking in their word software. But science fiction

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Speaker 1: virus are something that are part of the whole scientific

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Speaker 1: endeavor we feel, and so we have a series of

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Speaker 1: podcasts in which we talk about science fiction works and

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Speaker 1: we talk to their authors. We have spoken to lots

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Speaker 1: of fund science fiction authors about the science of their universe,

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Speaker 1: how they constructed it, whether or not it's important to

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Speaker 1: them that their universe is scientifically valid, and whether or

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Speaker 1: they have built alternative theories of physics in those universes. So,

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Speaker 1: if you are a fan of science fiction, check out

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Speaker 1: some of right interviews. We've talked to Alistair Reynolds. We've

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Speaker 1: talked to Adrian Chaikovski, we talked to sp Diva. We

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Speaker 1: have a whole list of folks. It's basically a book club.

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Speaker 1: It is sort of a special book club. It's sort

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Speaker 1: of like a Nerds Nerd book club, but today is

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Speaker 1: a little bit different because we're not actually talking about

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Speaker 1: a book. We're talking about a TV show, which is

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Speaker 1: a first for us, right. Yeah, I thought it would

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Speaker 1: be fun to expand from writers to screenwriters, people who

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Speaker 1: have visions of the future that actually get visualized on

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Speaker 1: screen for us all to enjoy. Yeah, we sort of

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Speaker 1: talked about movies sometimes, but this is the first time

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Speaker 1: we talked about a TV show. Only because I can't

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Speaker 1: get feature writers to come on the podcast. I see,

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Speaker 1: we're not famous enough yet. We have to limit ourselves

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Speaker 1: to what daytime television is this. Are we gonna start

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Speaker 1: with daytime television and then move our up to prime

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Speaker 1: time having yet cracked into Hollywood exactly so to be

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Speaker 1: on the podcast, we'll be talking about the science fiction

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Speaker 1: universe of Lost in Space. Now, Daniel, we had to

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Speaker 1: be very careful here that you we were going to

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Speaker 1: be talking about the latest incarnation of the show Lost

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Speaker 1: in Space, not the original nineteen sixties television show. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: there are a lot of versions of this, it turns out,

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Speaker 1: So we're talking about the Netflix remake, which started in

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Speaker 1: two thousand eighteen. And just came out with their third season,

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Speaker 1: which takes place in the future about twenty six. But

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Speaker 1: you're right, there was a TV show in the sixties

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Speaker 1: that took place in seven, so twenty years earlier than

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Speaker 1: the present. That was The Future in the sixties. I

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Speaker 1: guess yeah. And I hear that you were a fan

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Speaker 1: of this as a kid. I did. I I lived

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Speaker 1: in Panama and we had a military U S Military

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Speaker 1: channel that the broadcast basically all kinds of TV shows

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Speaker 1: in syndication, and so every afternoon I would sit down

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Speaker 1: and watch the original Loss in Space and it was

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Speaker 1: that part of your English language education. Yes, yes, it was.

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Speaker 1: That's why any time anything happens, I go danger or danger.

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Speaker 1: I think it's really fascinated to see sort of ancient

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Speaker 1: images of the future. How would you compare the nineteen

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Speaker 1: sixties depiction of n with the ninety seven you lived through.

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Speaker 1: Not close enough. I think, you know, it'd be great

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Speaker 1: to have those jet packs, those robots running around, those

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Speaker 1: flying saucers. Yeah, it would be pretty awesome. I think

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Speaker 1: that's why they slid the timeline forward when they remade

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Speaker 1: it to twenty forty six. Would be far enough in

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Speaker 1: the future. That it's plausible, But this actually has an

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Speaker 1: even longer history because the show itself was inspired by

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Speaker 1: a comic book Space Family Robinson, which was inspired by

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Speaker 1: an eighteen twelve novel Swiss Family Robinson, which itself was

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Speaker 1: inspired by Robinson Crusoe, whoa. It's like a reboot of

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Speaker 1: a remake of a sequel. That is how what's going

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Speaker 1: on here super inception science and somewhere along the way,

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Speaker 1: I think there was also a movie that came out

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Speaker 1: Lost in Space, Yes, starring Matt LeBlanc from Friends. And

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Speaker 1: so if you think this is well trodden territory, there

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Speaker 1: is still stuff there to mine. Well, it is a

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Speaker 1: pretty interesting premise of the show. And I think, like

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Speaker 1: you said, it all goes back to this idea of

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Speaker 1: Robinson Crusoe and being stranded out there in the wilderness exactly.

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Speaker 1: It's all about using science to survive the universe. It's

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Speaker 1: an individual against nature where nature is not just like

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Speaker 1: sneaks and jaguars and the jungle here on Earth, but

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Speaker 1: the entire universe black holes and neutron stars and everything

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Speaker 1: out there that might kill you. Now we have sort

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Speaker 1: of an interesting situation here because you've watched the entire

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Speaker 1: Netflix revival that started in But you haven't seen the

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Speaker 1: original worth I've seen the entire original series, but haven't

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Speaker 1: seen a new one, And so together we know absolutely nothing. Together,

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Speaker 1: we have nothing to compare. I like mine and you

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Speaker 1: like it exactly. Well, I'm going to have to go

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Speaker 1: and watch the original now, although you know, compared to

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Speaker 1: the new one, it can't be that impressive. Well, you know,

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Speaker 1: you gotta watch it in context. All right, Well, let's

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Speaker 1: jump into the show Lost in Space, Daniel, Well, what

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Speaker 1: would you say the show is about. So, the show

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Speaker 1: is about a family that's been stranded. They have left

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Speaker 1: the Earth after some huge impact nearly wipes out human

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Speaker 1: and civilization, and the planet bands together to launch a

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Speaker 1: colonization effort. And this family, the stars of the show,

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Speaker 1: are with the rest of the humans on their way

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Speaker 1: to Alpha Centauri, but they get stranded. They get separated

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Speaker 1: and they have to survive. Yeah, and it's not just

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Speaker 1: like they took a wrong turn. It's like they accidentally

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Speaker 1: fell into a wormhole or something. So they really have

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Speaker 1: no idea where in space they are, or where in

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Speaker 1: the galaxy or even if they are in the same galaxy, right, Yeah, exactly,

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Speaker 1: they are lost in space and so they have to

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Speaker 1: survive on their own and they have to try to

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Speaker 1: find their way back to the original colony. So it's

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Speaker 1: a whole family, the family Robinson, of course, and on

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Speaker 1: this planet. No spoilers. This happens early on in the

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Speaker 1: first episode. The boy in the family, Will Robinson, meets

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Speaker 1: an alien robot and becomes its friend because he helps it. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: I thought that was an interesting twist because in the

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Speaker 1: original I think I think they bring a robot with them.

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Speaker 1: It's not something they find interesting. Cur complimentary knowledge is

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Speaker 1: really working its magic. Yeah, it's helping us filling some

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Speaker 1: air time. Yeah. Well, and this version, the robot is

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Speaker 1: an alien robot, which I think is a really cool

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Speaker 1: idea because you know, we often think about AI and

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Speaker 1: human AI evolving, but we don't often think about the

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Speaker 1: eventual transformation of alien species into AI or you know

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Speaker 1: what happens if an alien species develops AI and then

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Speaker 1: it's taken over by their own AI, and then we

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Speaker 1: only meet that AI, like if they have their singularity

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Speaker 1: kind of moment, like their own matres moment. Yeah, that's right.

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Speaker 1: And so this robot says the usual catchphrase, you know,

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Speaker 1: danger Will Robinson, and it's capable of a little bit

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Speaker 1: of communication with the humans. Yeah, and it's all sort

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Speaker 1: of a little naive, right, it's sort of like innocent,

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Speaker 1: sort of Well, this particular robot has some complexity to it.

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Speaker 1: You know, it can be harmful, it can be dangerous,

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Speaker 1: it can be helpful. It's a little bit inscrutable. You

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Speaker 1: never truly understand it and actually think that the writers

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Speaker 1: that you care about it a little bit, but also

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Speaker 1: keeping it a little bit alien. You never think you

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Speaker 1: really understand what's going on inside that alien right. It's

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Speaker 1: sort of like having a grizzly bear friend or something like.

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Speaker 1: It's nice and cuddly and cute, but you know, who

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Speaker 1: knows what one it's going to do at a moment's notice. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: it's very unpredictable, and it turns out to not be

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Speaker 1: the only robot. What these folks discover eventually is that

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Speaker 1: the human ships are getting to Alfa Centauri because they've

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Speaker 1: been powered by alien technology which was stolen from these

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Speaker 1: alien robots, and so they run into a whole swarm

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Speaker 1: of these alien robots that are not as friendly as

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Speaker 1: their buddy, the alien robot. Wait, what did you just

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Speaker 1: spoil the whole series for me? Here? No, No, this

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Speaker 1: is the basic premace. It comes out pretty early on.

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Speaker 1: Let's see. Well that's interesting too, because in the original

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Speaker 1: I don't think there was sort of a grand plot

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Speaker 1: to it. You know, in the original it was meant

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Speaker 1: for syndication. In the six seasons, so each episode is

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Speaker 1: basically like a repeat of the last. Like, Oh, they

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Speaker 1: get to a new place, they figure out how what's

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Speaker 1: going on, just how to survive. You don't need to

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Speaker 1: know what happened in the other episodes. So why do

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Speaker 1: they ever move on? If they figure out how to

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Speaker 1: survive in new place X, why don't they just set

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Speaker 1: up camp and live happily ever after? Well, I think

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Speaker 1: they're trying to get home. They're not trying to relocate.

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Speaker 1: You know, you can't be lost in space if you

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Speaker 1: like being, you know, out there in space. I'm lost

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Speaker 1: in space and I'm happy about it. Then you're just

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Speaker 1: in space, I think, exactly happy in space. Where's the tension?

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Speaker 1: But that's an interesting tway. So it turns out that

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Speaker 1: the technology that humans have came from aliens. Like what

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Speaker 1: happened there, like they found it or what? Yeah, so

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Speaker 1: I don't want to spoil it. That's part of the

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Speaker 1: plot which unfolds, but it's a lot of the conflict

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Speaker 1: that drives the story forward. You know, are we taking

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Speaker 1: advantages alien robots? Are they actually the good ones and

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Speaker 1: we are the bad? Ease? It's a fascinating drama, and

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Speaker 1: you end up with a big battle between humans and

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Speaker 1: these alien robots, and the humans try to convince some

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Speaker 1: of the robots to be on their side, right right,

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Speaker 1: And I think part of the sort of the DNA

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Speaker 1: of the show and all these series is sort of

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Speaker 1: like how do humans react to these extreme situations? Like

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Speaker 1: do they pull together? Do they act selfishly? With some

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Speaker 1: of the drama that comes out of it, yeah, you

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Speaker 1: get some of both. You have people who are like

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Speaker 1: good citizens and pitching in for the common cause, and

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Speaker 1: then you have people trying to subvert the mission for

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Speaker 1: their own personal gains. There's really delicious subplot with a

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Speaker 1: dr Smith, which I think is similar to what happened

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Speaker 1: in the original series. So it comes with a little

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Speaker 1: bit of a twist in this one, but in general,

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Speaker 1: the attitude is, let's band together and let's solve this problem.

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Speaker 1: As a mantra they say on the show a Lot,

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Speaker 1: which is every problem has a solution, which I like

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Speaker 1: because it suggests that, you know, the human mind can

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Speaker 1: wrap itself around the universe. If only we could understand

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Speaker 1: the way things work, we can find a solution to

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Speaker 1: almost any problem. Right, And that's especially useful in a

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Speaker 1: TV show, because if things didn't work out, the show

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Speaker 1: would be over. That's true, but it also is the

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Speaker 1: core drama of the show, sort of like in that

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Speaker 1: movie The Martian where he's stranded on that planet and

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Speaker 1: he has to science his way home. That's what they're doing.

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Speaker 1: They run into a problem, and the problem is usually

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Speaker 1: more technical than emotional, and so they have to find

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Speaker 1: some solution to the problem that requires understanding the science

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Speaker 1: on this alien planet or coming up with some clever trick,

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Speaker 1: right right. It requires you to use the word science

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Speaker 1: as a verb, like, let's science. Nothing wrong with doing

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Speaker 1: the little science and science. All right, Well, let's get

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Speaker 1: into the actual science of Lost in Space, and then

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Speaker 1: later on we'll get an interview with one of the

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Speaker 1: writers on the show. But first let's take a quick break.

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Speaker 1: All right, we're talking about the science fiction universe of

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Speaker 1: Lost in Space, the latest Netflix revival of the show Idea,

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Speaker 1: which was based on another show which is based on

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Speaker 1: a book which was based on real person Robinson Crusoe.

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Speaker 1: Robinson Crusoe was a historical figure. I wonder if he

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Speaker 1: still gets royalties his estate, but well probably now he's

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Speaker 1: still in that desert island. When he gets back, he's

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Speaker 1: going to be rich. He has a pile of checks

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Speaker 1: made out to Robinson Crusso, yeah, I hope his agent

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Speaker 1: included all new media in his contract, you know, and streaming.

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Speaker 1: Do you think they thought that was going to happen

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Speaker 1: in You see, if he had a science fiction author

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Speaker 1: with him on that island, that author probably could have

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Speaker 1: anticipated this kind of thing. That's exactly why you need

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Speaker 1: creative people with you. That's right. That president would also

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Speaker 1: would have been delicious probably Unfortunately, that's dark man, that's dark.

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Speaker 1: That's dark science fiction. All right. Well, we're talking about

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Speaker 1: the latest Netflix show, and there's some size to it, right,

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Speaker 1: there's like real science And as you said, part of

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Speaker 1: the mantra of the show that you got from talking

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Speaker 1: to the writer is that they paid a lot of

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Speaker 1: attention to the signs and they try to figure out

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Speaker 1: scientific solutions to the problem. Yeah. One of the lead

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Speaker 1: characters in the show is the mom and the family.

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Speaker 1: She's a scientist and she says this all the time.

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Speaker 1: She says, every problem has a solution, because they're often

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Speaker 1: stuck and it seems hopeless, and then they come up

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Speaker 1: with some scientific strategy. You know, early on, for example,

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Speaker 1: in the first episode, one of the kids gets caught

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Speaker 1: in a lake which freezes over and so like, oh

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Speaker 1: my gosh, our kids are under the ice. Are they

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Speaker 1: going to die? Which just stand here watching them die,

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Speaker 1: and they come up with some clever solution to like

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Speaker 1: rapidly melt the ice using a chemical reaction involving magnesium

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Speaker 1: which they extract from something nearby. So it's that kind

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Speaker 1: of sort of scientific problem solving. Interesting. Yeah, I mean,

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Speaker 1: after they took a little break for the kids, then

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Speaker 1: they went to work to rest. Yeah, but you know,

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Speaker 1: they don't just like magic their way out of these problems.

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Speaker 1: Are come up with something which doesn't make any sense.

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Speaker 1: The goal I think of the show is for these

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Speaker 1: folks to be sciencing and to use science to solve

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Speaker 1: these problems, and I find the science pretty credible in

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Speaker 1: most of the episodes, it passes the annual physics test,

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Speaker 1: like they use real scientific concepts, or that it's plausible

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Speaker 1: that the way they use it for all of the

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Speaker 1: above both. I mean, there are some larger questions about

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Speaker 1: fastening light travel and alien robots, which we can dig

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Speaker 1: into a moment, but sort of the episodic science, the

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Speaker 1: science they use to solve the problems of every show.

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Speaker 1: You know, they run into maybe their ship runs out

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Speaker 1: of fuel, so they need to find some way to

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Speaker 1: create more fuel from whatever they found on the planet.

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Speaker 1: They're using real science, their science from our universe. They've

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Speaker 1: dug into the chemistry of it. How do you generate

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Speaker 1: this kind of molecule from this kind of molecule? And

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Speaker 1: that's really cool because it's I think the kind of

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Speaker 1: thing you would actually have to do if you were

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Speaker 1: an alien planet. You'd have to be resourceful and creative,

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Speaker 1: right right, you'd have two science a lot, and you'd

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Speaker 1: have to like it. And I saw that they use

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Speaker 1: a lightning strike to rechargstro ship. Yeah, one point, their

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Speaker 1: batteries are low and there's this lightning bolt that comes

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Speaker 1: at a very repeatable and predictable moment, and so they

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Speaker 1: rig up something to capture that lightning strikes sort have

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Speaker 1: been Franklin style and guide the current into their battery. Again,

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Speaker 1: it's the science that's driving the problem and it's driving

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Speaker 1: the solution. So if you're the kind of person who

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Speaker 1: thinks scientifically and likes to understand the university, you can

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Speaker 1: really see these characters doing that. It's a lot of fun.

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Speaker 1: That's that's a cool aspect of it, I guess. And

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Speaker 1: do they use like real science or do they make

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Speaker 1: up signs, you know, like they make up a new

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Speaker 1: kinds of molecules or any kinds of energies or do

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Speaker 1: they stick to things that you know scientists today on

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Speaker 1: Earth would recognize. It's sort of in two categories. Like

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Speaker 1: the episodic problems that they're solving, the nitty gritty level,

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Speaker 1: like for survival, that's all real science, and as far

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Speaker 1: as I can tell, at least, it's all you know

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Speaker 1: from our universe. The larger questions that sort of frame

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Speaker 1: the whole show, how do you get to Alpha Centauri

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Speaker 1: in less than ten thousand years? And could you actually

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Speaker 1: meet a race of alien robots and communicate with them

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Speaker 1: those questions. They're they're on thinner ice. I think scientifically right,

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Speaker 1: they need to use magnesium to melt that ice. But

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Speaker 1: you said that part of the idea of the show

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Speaker 1: is that the it turns out that the humans actually

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Speaker 1: have ailing technology, and that's what they're using to travel

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Speaker 1: to to Alpha Centari because Alpha Centaur is pretty far. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: They invoke this sense that other species out there might

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Speaker 1: be much older than ours, and so they might be

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Speaker 1: much more advanced, and so they might be masters of

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Speaker 1: space and time in ways that humans just aren't, and

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Speaker 1: so it's plausible that they would have technology which to

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Speaker 1: us seems impossible, for example, engines that could take you

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Speaker 1: between the stars in less than tens of thousands of years.

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Speaker 1: One challenge we haven't exploring the universe is that we

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Speaker 1: can't travel faster than the speed of light, and other

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Speaker 1: stars are pretty far away. Yeah, how far is Alpha Centari.

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Speaker 1: It's just about four light years, So if you're traveling

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Speaker 1: at the speed of light, it would take you four years.

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Speaker 1: But accelerating up to near the speed of light and

428
00:21:43,240 --> 00:21:45,479
Speaker 1: a fairly massive ship will take you a very very

429
00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:48,720
Speaker 1: long time and a huge tank of gas. So the

430
00:21:48,840 --> 00:21:52,960
Speaker 1: best Earth technology would be zillions of dollars and thousands

431
00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:55,119
Speaker 1: of years, I see. And so is the idea that

432
00:21:55,240 --> 00:21:57,959
Speaker 1: in Alpha Centari, which is a star, there's like an

433
00:21:58,040 --> 00:22:01,280
Speaker 1: earthlike planet there. Yeah, their imagining there are habitable systems

434
00:22:01,320 --> 00:22:03,639
Speaker 1: there in the Goldilog zone and if we could just

435
00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:06,479
Speaker 1: get there, we could establish a colony and live happily

436
00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:08,760
Speaker 1: ever after. And so they have this technology from aliens.

437
00:22:08,840 --> 00:22:10,840
Speaker 1: And now does it work as a like a warp

438
00:22:10,960 --> 00:22:12,919
Speaker 1: engine like in Star Trek or does it open up

439
00:22:12,920 --> 00:22:17,160
Speaker 1: a wormhole that connects space and time at different points. Yeah,

440
00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:20,280
Speaker 1: that's a great question. And visually it looks more like

441
00:22:20,480 --> 00:22:23,320
Speaker 1: a wormhole the way they depicted on the show, looks

442
00:22:23,359 --> 00:22:25,160
Speaker 1: like a whole right, basically like a hole in space

443
00:22:25,400 --> 00:22:28,560
Speaker 1: like a window kind of. But it's interesting because only

444
00:22:28,640 --> 00:22:31,919
Speaker 1: the alien robots know how to operate these alien engines,

445
00:22:32,200 --> 00:22:35,920
Speaker 1: and so it like requires some intense calculations or something

446
00:22:35,920 --> 00:22:38,399
Speaker 1: in order to build these wormholes, which I thought was

447
00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:41,639
Speaker 1: really interesting and you'll hear later I asked Carrie about that,

448
00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:44,040
Speaker 1: like what is the science of these engines? So I

449
00:22:44,080 --> 00:22:46,600
Speaker 1: think she was inspired by some combination of wormholes on

450
00:22:46,680 --> 00:22:49,840
Speaker 1: warp drives because she talked about like bending space and time.

451
00:22:50,160 --> 00:22:52,720
Speaker 1: But you know, that's something which is plausible, Like we

452
00:22:52,840 --> 00:22:54,800
Speaker 1: don't know how to make wormholes, we don't know how

453
00:22:54,840 --> 00:22:57,200
Speaker 1: to build warp drives. But as we've talked about on

454
00:22:57,280 --> 00:22:59,960
Speaker 1: this show several times, physics says that it's not necessar

455
00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:02,720
Speaker 1: serially impossible. And so whenever there's a gap like that,

456
00:23:02,880 --> 00:23:05,119
Speaker 1: the theorists go crazy, Oh, well, maybe it's something we

457
00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:07,680
Speaker 1: can actually do, and the science fiction authors feel free

458
00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:10,120
Speaker 1: to write plots about it because it might be true

459
00:23:10,359 --> 00:23:12,399
Speaker 1: that in a thousand years or a hundred years or

460
00:23:12,440 --> 00:23:15,520
Speaker 1: fifty years, that's something that we could actually do, right,

461
00:23:15,680 --> 00:23:18,480
Speaker 1: or that maybe aliens have already done a long time ago.

462
00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:21,600
Speaker 1: You know, it could be really old ancient technology for them. Yeah.

463
00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:25,920
Speaker 1: Although if aliens exist and they have wormhole technology that

464
00:23:26,040 --> 00:23:28,639
Speaker 1: lets them open portals around the galaxy, that begs the

465
00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:31,600
Speaker 1: obvious question, right, like why haven't we seen them yet?

466
00:23:31,960 --> 00:23:33,719
Speaker 1: If they've been around for a while and they can

467
00:23:33,840 --> 00:23:36,040
Speaker 1: zip around the galaxy, you think we might have found

468
00:23:36,119 --> 00:23:41,200
Speaker 1: some of them, right, they're probably just avoiding us. They're like,

469
00:23:41,240 --> 00:23:43,760
Speaker 1: why we go to that deserted island over there? Yeah,

470
00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:45,920
Speaker 1: and it's possible, of course that the aliens are around

471
00:23:45,960 --> 00:23:48,040
Speaker 1: and we just don't even recognize them. How do we

472
00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:50,520
Speaker 1: know that the aliens are anything like us so that

473
00:23:50,600 --> 00:23:52,520
Speaker 1: we would even identify them, or we could tell that

474
00:23:52,680 --> 00:23:54,800
Speaker 1: they were here, or they could tell that we were here.

475
00:23:54,960 --> 00:23:58,119
Speaker 1: It's possible that alien life is extremely alien. Yeah, like

476
00:23:58,280 --> 00:24:00,640
Speaker 1: you usually say, like, even if we out some piece

477
00:24:00,680 --> 00:24:03,280
Speaker 1: of alien technology, how would we even know how to

478
00:24:03,359 --> 00:24:05,440
Speaker 1: turn it on or make it work for us? Do

479
00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:07,720
Speaker 1: they cover that in the show? Yeah, Well, in this case,

480
00:24:07,800 --> 00:24:09,400
Speaker 1: we don't know how to use it, and the only

481
00:24:09,480 --> 00:24:11,639
Speaker 1: way to use the alien engine needs to have an

482
00:24:11,680 --> 00:24:14,920
Speaker 1: alien robot because only they can turn it on. Great,

483
00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:18,440
Speaker 1: what that means that humans have an alien robot with them.

484
00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:20,280
Speaker 1: I don't want to spoil too much, but there's a

485
00:24:20,320 --> 00:24:23,680
Speaker 1: lot you just did. I didn't say anything you say

486
00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:28,080
Speaker 1: spoiler alert Daniel already. You just asked such a good

487
00:24:28,160 --> 00:24:31,280
Speaker 1: question and you reveal it with your question. Well, there's

488
00:24:31,359 --> 00:24:34,360
Speaker 1: also sort of science in the idea of exploring other

489
00:24:34,520 --> 00:24:36,880
Speaker 1: planets in the show, because they go to other planets.

490
00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:39,560
Speaker 1: And one thing that kind of always puts me off

491
00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:41,560
Speaker 1: a little bit when you see science which and shows

492
00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:43,680
Speaker 1: going to other planets is how how similar they look

493
00:24:43,760 --> 00:24:46,840
Speaker 1: to Earth, Like Tattoine looks a lot like the African desert.

494
00:24:47,160 --> 00:24:50,560
Speaker 1: It certainly does. And that happens also on this show,

495
00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:53,080
Speaker 1: that they land on a planet. It's lush and it's green,

496
00:24:53,280 --> 00:24:56,000
Speaker 1: and there are tree like things and bush like things

497
00:24:56,119 --> 00:24:58,760
Speaker 1: and grass like things, and you know, maybe that's true,

498
00:24:58,840 --> 00:25:01,760
Speaker 1: and maybe evolution who shoes plants in that direction, no

499
00:25:01,920 --> 00:25:05,159
Speaker 1: matter what, because it's just the optimal strategy in general.

500
00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:07,720
Speaker 1: But it seems to me more likely that things on

501
00:25:07,800 --> 00:25:10,399
Speaker 1: other planets are much much weirder, you know, given the

502
00:25:10,520 --> 00:25:13,440
Speaker 1: huge variety of ecosystems even here on Earth, and as

503
00:25:13,440 --> 00:25:16,520
Speaker 1: a function of history on Earth, it seems much more likely.

504
00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:20,800
Speaker 1: But you know, it's difficult and expensive to build totally creative,

505
00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:24,160
Speaker 1: weird alien realms when you are filming here on Earth. Yeah,

506
00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:26,119
Speaker 1: although I think this show sort of tries a little bit.

507
00:25:26,160 --> 00:25:27,480
Speaker 1: I saw a little bit of it. And when they

508
00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:29,520
Speaker 1: go into like the woods, they do try to like

509
00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:32,560
Speaker 1: add with CG like a few purple plants here and there.

510
00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:34,960
Speaker 1: I mean, it's mostly like Earth trees, but they also

511
00:25:35,320 --> 00:25:38,920
Speaker 1: try to sprinkle, you know, some sort of alien things around. Yeah, exactly,

512
00:25:39,040 --> 00:25:41,960
Speaker 1: alien is purple. I like that purple chocolate, purple plants,

513
00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:45,960
Speaker 1: purple flowers. Clearly it was an infinite budget and infinite time.

514
00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:48,040
Speaker 1: You might be able to be more creative and create

515
00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:50,919
Speaker 1: hardly new sets or c g I, but I think

516
00:25:50,960 --> 00:25:53,359
Speaker 1: there's some limit on what you can accomplish practically. So

517
00:25:53,440 --> 00:25:55,840
Speaker 1: you do have to suspend disbelief a little bit on

518
00:25:55,920 --> 00:25:58,600
Speaker 1: this show because it is awfully earthlike in terms of

519
00:25:58,680 --> 00:26:01,720
Speaker 1: the flora. Yeah, because I was watching something the other

520
00:26:01,800 --> 00:26:04,680
Speaker 1: day that said that our plants are green, sort of randomly,

521
00:26:04,840 --> 00:26:07,600
Speaker 1: kind of like green is not the only color that

522
00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:09,800
Speaker 1: something that chlorophyll could have been. We could have used

523
00:26:09,800 --> 00:26:12,680
Speaker 1: another molecule that was a different color. So alien plants

524
00:26:12,800 --> 00:26:15,840
Speaker 1: really could be purple. They could be purple. That's exactually

525
00:26:15,880 --> 00:26:19,440
Speaker 1: a pretty good color and also not just green. Well,

526
00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:22,600
Speaker 1: I like purple cauliflower and purple cabbage, so I hope

527
00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:26,840
Speaker 1: alien salads are probably pretty tasty. You're halfway there. And

528
00:26:26,920 --> 00:26:29,840
Speaker 1: there's also some science about the robots, right, like the

529
00:26:30,080 --> 00:26:34,399
Speaker 1: the ideas that aliens have created robots artificial intelligence, and

530
00:26:34,520 --> 00:26:36,119
Speaker 1: but you don't see the aliens. You only see the

531
00:26:36,240 --> 00:26:38,760
Speaker 1: robots they made. Yeah, we only run into the robots,

532
00:26:38,840 --> 00:26:41,440
Speaker 1: though later on in seasons of the show they do

533
00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:44,520
Speaker 1: get a little bit into the backstory of where these

534
00:26:44,600 --> 00:26:46,480
Speaker 1: robots came from, and so I don't want to spoil it,

535
00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:50,280
Speaker 1: but it's fascinating to see how they depict alien AI

536
00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:53,240
Speaker 1: and specifically, you know, how you can relate to it.

537
00:26:53,800 --> 00:26:56,440
Speaker 1: It makes me wonder what the chances are if we

538
00:26:56,560 --> 00:26:59,440
Speaker 1: meet aliens or alien AI that we will be able

539
00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:01,720
Speaker 1: to commute in came with them. And of course, for

540
00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:05,160
Speaker 1: the purposes of storytelling, you have to have some communication,

541
00:27:05,320 --> 00:27:08,000
Speaker 1: and so in a science fiction universe, they basically have

542
00:27:08,240 --> 00:27:10,320
Speaker 1: to have some ability to communicate, though I think in

543
00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:13,400
Speaker 1: our real universe it's less likely you mean less likely

544
00:27:13,480 --> 00:27:15,440
Speaker 1: that we would be able to communicate with them. Well

545
00:27:15,520 --> 00:27:17,840
Speaker 1: you just this, I guess assuming that. But maybe they

546
00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:20,480
Speaker 1: build a AI so that it's adaptable and able to

547
00:27:20,640 --> 00:27:23,119
Speaker 1: kind of adapt to us. Yeah, perhaps that would be

548
00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:26,880
Speaker 1: extraordinarily intelligent. But you know, if you're imagining future civilizations

549
00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:29,199
Speaker 1: that can do warp drives and wormholes, then maybe they

550
00:27:29,240 --> 00:27:32,360
Speaker 1: can also understand the human mind better than even we could.

551
00:27:33,160 --> 00:27:35,440
Speaker 1: And would you have to call it a AI because

552
00:27:35,480 --> 00:27:39,359
Speaker 1: it's alien artificial in conject Yeah, perhaps it's funny because

553
00:27:39,440 --> 00:27:42,080
Speaker 1: these alien robots they can say some phrases like they

554
00:27:42,119 --> 00:27:44,680
Speaker 1: can say danger Will Robinson, and they seem to be

555
00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:47,680
Speaker 1: able to understand English, but they can't like go into

556
00:27:47,760 --> 00:27:51,000
Speaker 1: detail and explain themselves very clearly. It's like a limited

557
00:27:51,080 --> 00:27:54,040
Speaker 1: vocabulary there, and that's not really explained though. I asked

558
00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:56,760
Speaker 1: Carrie about it, and you'll hear her answer in the interview.

559
00:27:57,200 --> 00:28:00,360
Speaker 1: All right, well, let's get to that interview and writer

560
00:28:00,520 --> 00:28:04,040
Speaker 1: Carrie Drake has to say about the signs of Lost

561
00:28:04,119 --> 00:28:19,600
Speaker 1: in Space. But first let's take another quick break. All right,

562
00:28:19,600 --> 00:28:22,119
Speaker 1: we're talking about the science fiction universe of Lost in Space,

563
00:28:22,240 --> 00:28:24,040
Speaker 1: and it's a pretty big show. I mean, it has

564
00:28:24,160 --> 00:28:27,119
Speaker 1: three seasons now on Netflix and each season is like

565
00:28:27,240 --> 00:28:30,080
Speaker 1: ten ten episodes. Yeah, so there's a lot there to watch,

566
00:28:30,160 --> 00:28:33,600
Speaker 1: and it spans lots of star systems and many years

567
00:28:33,760 --> 00:28:36,399
Speaker 1: and lots of threads, and so it's become sort of

568
00:28:36,440 --> 00:28:39,719
Speaker 1: a very big universe. But I know you're a fan, Daniel,

569
00:28:39,720 --> 00:28:42,640
Speaker 1: of hard science fiction, like really strict science fiction. How

570
00:28:42,680 --> 00:28:44,400
Speaker 1: do you feel about that this one does with that?

571
00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:46,680
Speaker 1: I think this one does about as well as anything.

572
00:28:46,840 --> 00:28:49,600
Speaker 1: You know, they're trying to limit themselves to the science

573
00:28:49,640 --> 00:28:51,959
Speaker 1: of the show. They've invented some rules and they try

574
00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:55,320
Speaker 1: to stick to them. That's really the most important requirement.

575
00:28:55,600 --> 00:28:57,880
Speaker 1: You can have whatever rules you want in your universe

576
00:28:57,960 --> 00:28:59,960
Speaker 1: as long as you follow them. So it's got to

577
00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:02,520
Speaker 1: be some laws of physics. Otherwise you're throwing the entire

578
00:29:02,640 --> 00:29:04,800
Speaker 1: enterprise of physics out the window, and that I can't

579
00:29:04,840 --> 00:29:08,480
Speaker 1: get behind and out the door. Maybe, but not out

580
00:29:08,520 --> 00:29:10,880
Speaker 1: the window. Come out, we have some self respect. That's

581
00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:13,560
Speaker 1: a road too far, all right. Well, you reached out

582
00:29:13,600 --> 00:29:15,920
Speaker 1: to one of the writers of the show Lost in

583
00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:17,680
Speaker 1: Space for them to call on the show, but she

584
00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:19,720
Speaker 1: said no. Yeah. I reached out to Vivian Lee, who's

585
00:29:19,760 --> 00:29:21,400
Speaker 1: one of the writers on this show, and she was

586
00:29:21,520 --> 00:29:23,280
Speaker 1: very happy to talk to me, but she didn't want

587
00:29:23,320 --> 00:29:25,480
Speaker 1: to be on the podcast. She said in a quote,

588
00:29:25,640 --> 00:29:28,000
Speaker 1: I am not a science person like at all, and

589
00:29:28,120 --> 00:29:29,760
Speaker 1: if I was on your podcast, it would be just

590
00:29:29,880 --> 00:29:32,680
Speaker 1: a mess for you and me. So she directed me

591
00:29:32,840 --> 00:29:35,560
Speaker 1: to carry you who apparently is the science nerd in

592
00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:39,000
Speaker 1: the writing room. Interesting, she's sort of like the most

593
00:29:39,080 --> 00:29:42,160
Speaker 1: scientifically inclined, I guess, yeah, and so you'll hear in

594
00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:43,840
Speaker 1: the interview, I asked her all about what it's like

595
00:29:43,960 --> 00:29:46,240
Speaker 1: to be the voice of science in a writing room

596
00:29:46,280 --> 00:29:48,040
Speaker 1: and how much give and take there is between the

597
00:29:48,080 --> 00:29:51,080
Speaker 1: emotional and scientific arcs of the story writing. Do they

598
00:29:51,160 --> 00:29:53,520
Speaker 1: have like a scientific advisor on the show or is

599
00:29:53,560 --> 00:29:57,720
Speaker 1: it called Wikipedia? Who is our scientific advisor on this show?

600
00:29:58,000 --> 00:30:00,640
Speaker 1: I think that Carrie's role was to reflect science and show.

601
00:30:00,760 --> 00:30:02,600
Speaker 1: She went off and did some research here and there,

602
00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:05,400
Speaker 1: including asking some people she knew who had some grasp

603
00:30:05,480 --> 00:30:08,160
Speaker 1: of science. Interesting. And so Carrie Drake is the name

604
00:30:08,200 --> 00:30:10,880
Speaker 1: of the writer, and she has a lot of credits

605
00:30:10,960 --> 00:30:13,760
Speaker 1: to her name, including Dark Crystal, which is I know

606
00:30:13,880 --> 00:30:15,920
Speaker 1: is a favorite of yours sort of Yeah, I'm a

607
00:30:15,960 --> 00:30:19,240
Speaker 1: big fan of that show, dating back to the original movies,

608
00:30:19,480 --> 00:30:21,280
Speaker 1: and so it was a pleasure to talk to her. Well,

609
00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:25,640
Speaker 1: here's Daniel's interview with Carrie Drake, writer on Lost in Space.

610
00:30:29,440 --> 00:30:31,760
Speaker 1: All right, so it's my pleasure to welcome to podcast

611
00:30:31,920 --> 00:30:36,360
Speaker 1: Carrie Drake, who's a professional working science fiction writer in Hollywood,

612
00:30:36,520 --> 00:30:38,640
Speaker 1: has written for a Lost in Space as well as

613
00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:42,560
Speaker 1: Dark Crystal and list herself as a professional procrastinator. Kerry,

614
00:30:42,680 --> 00:30:45,520
Speaker 1: welcome to the program. Hi, thanks for having me, Daniel.

615
00:30:45,880 --> 00:30:48,040
Speaker 1: So first tell us a little bit about your background,

616
00:30:48,120 --> 00:30:50,560
Speaker 1: how you got into science fiction writing and how you

617
00:30:50,640 --> 00:30:53,760
Speaker 1: cracked the puzzle of working for television. Sure, sure, you know.

618
00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:56,600
Speaker 1: I started out as a visual artist first. I thought

619
00:30:56,640 --> 00:30:59,040
Speaker 1: I wanted to be an animator until I started animating,

620
00:31:00,040 --> 00:31:03,560
Speaker 1: and I went on to do storyboarding, which is a lot,

621
00:31:03,960 --> 00:31:06,280
Speaker 1: especially in the animation world, a lot like storytelling. So

622
00:31:06,440 --> 00:31:10,360
Speaker 1: it's about reboarding and revising things until you get the

623
00:31:10,400 --> 00:31:12,760
Speaker 1: story right. Uh. And that's sort of what drew me

624
00:31:12,840 --> 00:31:15,400
Speaker 1: into television, fell in love with television, worked my way

625
00:31:15,480 --> 00:31:18,240
Speaker 1: up the ranks as an assistant for seven years, and

626
00:31:18,640 --> 00:31:22,200
Speaker 1: one of my earlier shows as an assistant was Terra Nova,

627
00:31:22,800 --> 00:31:26,680
Speaker 1: So another science fiction show. I've always loved h science

628
00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:31,320
Speaker 1: fiction fantasy. I think the Enters game series was one

629
00:31:31,360 --> 00:31:34,160
Speaker 1: of my favorites, especially with Speaker, a Speaker for the Dead.

630
00:31:34,400 --> 00:31:37,240
Speaker 1: The second one I read as a mof I love Tolkien,

631
00:31:38,200 --> 00:31:40,640
Speaker 1: sort of a nerd in that way, so yeah, you know,

632
00:31:40,840 --> 00:31:43,959
Speaker 1: a stranger in a strange Land, all of those those Uh,

633
00:31:44,240 --> 00:31:45,960
Speaker 1: you know, it was really fun on Lost in Space.

634
00:31:46,040 --> 00:31:48,280
Speaker 1: We got to talk about some of those old science

635
00:31:48,360 --> 00:31:51,920
Speaker 1: fiction books and recall them. So yeah, that's how I

636
00:31:52,000 --> 00:31:55,600
Speaker 1: got started. Awesome. Well, we asked a few questions of

637
00:31:55,640 --> 00:31:57,880
Speaker 1: all of our science fiction authors to sort of orient

638
00:31:58,040 --> 00:32:00,920
Speaker 1: where they sit in the science fiction or universe. So

639
00:32:01,040 --> 00:32:03,360
Speaker 1: let me ask you some questions, not specifically about Lost

640
00:32:03,400 --> 00:32:05,920
Speaker 1: in Space. First, our first question is do you think

641
00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:10,080
Speaker 1: that Star Trek transporters kill you and recreate you somewhere

642
00:32:10,120 --> 00:32:15,200
Speaker 1: else or actually transport your bodies somewhere else? Did Kirk

643
00:32:15,400 --> 00:32:18,080
Speaker 1: get killed every time you stepped into the transporter. That's

644
00:32:18,120 --> 00:32:20,280
Speaker 1: a really good question. I'd love to hear your answer

645
00:32:20,360 --> 00:32:22,680
Speaker 1: on that. But I feel like, oh, gosh, what's the

646
00:32:22,840 --> 00:32:26,840
Speaker 1: Star Trek spoof that I'm now the Orville? The Orville. No,

647
00:32:27,040 --> 00:32:31,960
Speaker 1: it was not Spaceballs, it's uh, Tim Allen, Oh, Galaxy Quest,

648
00:32:32,080 --> 00:32:34,720
Speaker 1: Galaxy Quest. I really say that. I really feel like

649
00:32:34,800 --> 00:32:38,600
Speaker 1: you get scrambled. It's like scrambled in Galaxy Question. The

650
00:32:38,680 --> 00:32:41,480
Speaker 1: pig comes back or whatever the alien pig is and

651
00:32:41,560 --> 00:32:43,720
Speaker 1: it's just blown up inside out. I really feel like

652
00:32:43,760 --> 00:32:46,320
Speaker 1: that's what happened to the Kirk every time. Galaxy Quest

653
00:32:46,440 --> 00:32:48,720
Speaker 1: is so underrated. I think everybody should watch that movie.

654
00:32:48,720 --> 00:32:51,840
Speaker 1: It's fantastic. So then the second question is what technology

655
00:32:51,960 --> 00:32:54,760
Speaker 1: that exists in science fiction would you most like to

656
00:32:54,880 --> 00:32:58,240
Speaker 1: see become reality? That is, what should us scientists be

657
00:32:58,360 --> 00:33:01,200
Speaker 1: working on to make real? Oh, replicator? Like, I don't

658
00:33:01,200 --> 00:33:03,520
Speaker 1: want to cook I just I just want to press

659
00:33:03,520 --> 00:33:06,160
Speaker 1: a button, I have my food appear, all right? And

660
00:33:06,240 --> 00:33:09,320
Speaker 1: then last one is what's your personal answer to the

661
00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:12,600
Speaker 1: Fermi paradox? Given that the universe is large and there

662
00:33:12,640 --> 00:33:15,400
Speaker 1: seems to be lots of earthlike planets, why is it

663
00:33:15,520 --> 00:33:18,280
Speaker 1: that aliens have not contacted us or visited yet? So

664
00:33:18,480 --> 00:33:21,160
Speaker 1: that's a really good question. I mean, do we know

665
00:33:21,320 --> 00:33:23,760
Speaker 1: they haven't? How do I know you're not an alien?

666
00:33:23,800 --> 00:33:26,920
Speaker 1: Is that what you're trying to say? Um, that's a

667
00:33:26,960 --> 00:33:30,160
Speaker 1: really good question. I almost wonder if you know. Sometime

668
00:33:30,200 --> 00:33:32,120
Speaker 1: we on the show on Lost of Space, we talked

669
00:33:32,120 --> 00:33:34,480
Speaker 1: a lot about the Cardassie of scale, and uh, I

670
00:33:34,600 --> 00:33:37,840
Speaker 1: just wonder if maybe we're just not advanced enough. One

671
00:33:37,880 --> 00:33:40,360
Speaker 1: of my this is a little nerd bit, but one

672
00:33:40,360 --> 00:33:42,880
Speaker 1: of my favorite video games was Mass Effect, you know,

673
00:33:42,960 --> 00:33:45,160
Speaker 1: and I love this idea that instead of us being

674
00:33:45,160 --> 00:33:47,040
Speaker 1: at the top of the totem pole like we always

675
00:33:47,080 --> 00:33:49,480
Speaker 1: think we are, where, we were actually at the bottom

676
00:33:49,920 --> 00:33:53,280
Speaker 1: and all those other alien racist just sort of thought,

677
00:33:53,480 --> 00:33:56,280
Speaker 1: you know, poorly of us, and we just hadn't arrived yet.

678
00:33:56,600 --> 00:33:58,920
Speaker 1: So I wonder, if you know, I wonder if we

679
00:33:59,040 --> 00:34:01,800
Speaker 1: have had contact with radio bursts and whatnot, and we

680
00:34:02,120 --> 00:34:04,080
Speaker 1: we actually don't know how to decipher that. Yeah, that

681
00:34:04,080 --> 00:34:06,320
Speaker 1: would be sort of tragic. Yeah, maybe it's beyond our

682
00:34:06,440 --> 00:34:09,440
Speaker 1: ability to understand at this point in our evolution. All right,

683
00:34:09,480 --> 00:34:12,720
Speaker 1: So now turning to your work on Lost in Space.

684
00:34:12,840 --> 00:34:15,600
Speaker 1: The show, I love how it pits the characters against

685
00:34:15,680 --> 00:34:19,360
Speaker 1: the universe and this survival drama, their pioneers struggling in

686
00:34:19,400 --> 00:34:21,480
Speaker 1: the stark climate of an alien planet. Tell me what

687
00:34:21,680 --> 00:34:24,239
Speaker 1: intrigues you about these themes, what makes you excited to

688
00:34:24,320 --> 00:34:26,719
Speaker 1: write in sort of that setting. I think our bread

689
00:34:26,800 --> 00:34:31,200
Speaker 1: and butter really is when we hit those scientific themes

690
00:34:31,480 --> 00:34:35,120
Speaker 1: or you know, pioneers struggling to come up with a

691
00:34:35,280 --> 00:34:37,440
Speaker 1: solution for you know, we we always talked about marine

692
00:34:37,480 --> 00:34:40,600
Speaker 1: every every problem has a solution and eventually we'll get there.

693
00:34:41,080 --> 00:34:43,880
Speaker 1: And I think that when we pair that concept with

694
00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:46,840
Speaker 1: an emotional concept, that's really the bread and butter of

695
00:34:46,920 --> 00:34:48,960
Speaker 1: our show. And that's what I love, you know. I

696
00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:52,320
Speaker 1: think that's what we all were attempting, and many times

697
00:34:52,640 --> 00:34:56,200
Speaker 1: I think really succeeding. I think, uh, you know, for example,

698
00:34:56,320 --> 00:34:59,760
Speaker 1: like in the first season, Will is you know, desperately

699
00:34:59,800 --> 00:35:03,160
Speaker 1: want to save his family and comes up with this

700
00:35:03,280 --> 00:35:08,360
Speaker 1: poop solution uh as methane gas. And so you know,

701
00:35:08,400 --> 00:35:11,320
Speaker 1: when you can, you can sort of bring comedy and

702
00:35:11,719 --> 00:35:14,760
Speaker 1: science and you know the incredible strain that he's feeling

703
00:35:14,800 --> 00:35:17,600
Speaker 1: of wanting to help and feeling like, you know, he's

704
00:35:17,600 --> 00:35:19,720
Speaker 1: powerless to do that and then comes up with the solution.

705
00:35:19,920 --> 00:35:22,840
Speaker 1: That's really fun to write. Well, I like your faith

706
00:35:22,920 --> 00:35:25,000
Speaker 1: they're in science, that this is a universe that we

707
00:35:25,120 --> 00:35:28,200
Speaker 1: can understand, that we could wrap our minds around and

708
00:35:28,280 --> 00:35:30,520
Speaker 1: figure out how to solve a problem we put our

709
00:35:30,600 --> 00:35:33,200
Speaker 1: brains to it. I hope that's true. I heard from

710
00:35:33,320 --> 00:35:36,160
Speaker 1: one of your fellow writers, Vivian Lee, that you are

711
00:35:36,200 --> 00:35:39,279
Speaker 1: the quote science nerd in the room. Since it's such

712
00:35:39,320 --> 00:35:42,120
Speaker 1: an important part of the plot, give us a little

713
00:35:42,160 --> 00:35:45,160
Speaker 1: sense of how the science has folded into the story writing.

714
00:35:45,360 --> 00:35:46,960
Speaker 1: You come up with a sort of the story arc

715
00:35:47,040 --> 00:35:48,760
Speaker 1: first and try to make it work with the science,

716
00:35:48,840 --> 00:35:50,359
Speaker 1: or do you start with the science and then look

717
00:35:50,440 --> 00:35:52,400
Speaker 1: for a story that can highlight it. How does that

718
00:35:52,480 --> 00:35:55,760
Speaker 1: work in the writing process? Oh that's great, Well, it's amazing.

719
00:35:55,960 --> 00:36:00,200
Speaker 1: I also feel like are one of our creat is

720
00:36:00,239 --> 00:36:03,879
Speaker 1: berk sharp List was, you know, incredibly knowledgeable. I love

721
00:36:03,960 --> 00:36:06,120
Speaker 1: to learn, so I like to figure out what we

722
00:36:06,160 --> 00:36:08,279
Speaker 1: can you know, how we can make something work. We

723
00:36:08,360 --> 00:36:09,960
Speaker 1: talk about a lot of other movies, you know, like

724
00:36:10,040 --> 00:36:12,960
Speaker 1: what's our abyss episode or you know what this or that,

725
00:36:13,280 --> 00:36:15,879
Speaker 1: But we also, I think mostly we wanted to start

726
00:36:15,920 --> 00:36:18,680
Speaker 1: from a place of emotion because I think ultimately that's

727
00:36:18,719 --> 00:36:22,200
Speaker 1: what hooks an audience. So we would build out you know,

728
00:36:22,280 --> 00:36:24,800
Speaker 1: what are the characters struggling with? What's at risk today?

729
00:36:24,880 --> 00:36:27,120
Speaker 1: You know, is the survival? Is it? You know, not

730
00:36:27,200 --> 00:36:29,720
Speaker 1: getting along with my families and I'm keeping a secret.

731
00:36:29,760 --> 00:36:32,520
Speaker 1: I'm keeping this incredible robot of secret from my family

732
00:36:32,560 --> 00:36:34,759
Speaker 1: and they can't find out. And then what are the

733
00:36:34,800 --> 00:36:38,160
Speaker 1: consequences of that? And we also talked about that that's

734
00:36:38,200 --> 00:36:40,840
Speaker 1: like the emotional arc. But especially in season one, we

735
00:36:40,920 --> 00:36:43,840
Speaker 1: thought we landed on a Goldilocks planet and we didn't,

736
00:36:44,200 --> 00:36:46,440
Speaker 1: you know, so that's a big, you know, a big

737
00:36:46,520 --> 00:36:50,280
Speaker 1: sort of meta tension that's pushing us in a certain direction.

738
00:36:50,760 --> 00:36:52,400
Speaker 1: And I think, you know, it's like why are you know,

739
00:36:52,440 --> 00:36:55,799
Speaker 1: are these plants so quick to grow back? And uh,

740
00:36:56,600 --> 00:36:59,919
Speaker 1: why are those jellyfish things floating out into the atmosphere?

741
00:37:00,280 --> 00:37:02,879
Speaker 1: You know, sort of a nerd point that we talked

742
00:37:02,880 --> 00:37:05,640
Speaker 1: about in the room was well, the animals and the

743
00:37:05,719 --> 00:37:07,759
Speaker 1: creatures and the plants and the flora fauna on this

744
00:37:07,840 --> 00:37:10,359
Speaker 1: planet would have adjusted, right if they were in an

745
00:37:10,480 --> 00:37:14,120
Speaker 1: asymmetrical orbit with their son, and you know, so they

746
00:37:14,160 --> 00:37:16,400
Speaker 1: have gone up to the outer atmosphere where it was

747
00:37:16,440 --> 00:37:18,720
Speaker 1: cooler as the sun was beating down on the planet,

748
00:37:18,760 --> 00:37:21,160
Speaker 1: and then you know, drift back down. But I think

749
00:37:21,480 --> 00:37:25,400
Speaker 1: it's interesting because that provides a growing tension, you know,

750
00:37:25,560 --> 00:37:28,160
Speaker 1: for our season long arc as we're dealing with the

751
00:37:28,239 --> 00:37:31,400
Speaker 1: micro emotions of the family in each episode. And so

752
00:37:31,560 --> 00:37:34,040
Speaker 1: given that most of the problems they're solving, most of

753
00:37:34,080 --> 00:37:38,240
Speaker 1: these emotional struggles are having, are in confrontation with their environment,

754
00:37:38,320 --> 00:37:41,240
Speaker 1: and they're using science to solve those problems. How vital

755
00:37:41,400 --> 00:37:43,880
Speaker 1: is it to you as a science nerd that the

756
00:37:43,960 --> 00:37:46,600
Speaker 1: science in the show is accurate? Are you trying to

757
00:37:46,640 --> 00:37:49,279
Speaker 1: describe something you think could happen in our universe or

758
00:37:49,280 --> 00:37:51,520
Speaker 1: are you letting the story happen in an alternate universe

759
00:37:51,560 --> 00:37:53,720
Speaker 1: where maybe the laws of physics are different. It's interesting,

760
00:37:53,760 --> 00:37:55,399
Speaker 1: you know, we talked a lot about that. I think,

761
00:37:55,480 --> 00:37:57,600
Speaker 1: especially in season one, we wanted to be as rigorous

762
00:37:57,600 --> 00:38:00,400
Speaker 1: as we could, you know, within what made sense for

763
00:38:00,480 --> 00:38:03,600
Speaker 1: the story and the characters. You know, for example, you know,

764
00:38:03,920 --> 00:38:05,960
Speaker 1: we talked about you know what if there's like a

765
00:38:06,040 --> 00:38:08,440
Speaker 1: diamond storm, you know, that comes out at us and

766
00:38:08,680 --> 00:38:11,680
Speaker 1: it's literally shredding us, so we have to take cover.

767
00:38:12,200 --> 00:38:14,160
Speaker 1: And you know, we were talking a lot about is

768
00:38:14,200 --> 00:38:16,320
Speaker 1: that you know, is that realistic? Is it not realistic?

769
00:38:16,440 --> 00:38:19,360
Speaker 1: But you know there are actually showers of diamonds that

770
00:38:19,520 --> 00:38:23,120
Speaker 1: rained down on Uranus and Neptune. So I think we're

771
00:38:23,160 --> 00:38:27,320
Speaker 1: always trying to find a basis for what we were creating.

772
00:38:27,400 --> 00:38:30,320
Speaker 1: That was that was sort of bathed in science, and

773
00:38:30,400 --> 00:38:31,960
Speaker 1: I think we kind of would always go back to

774
00:38:32,040 --> 00:38:34,600
Speaker 1: that Neil deGrasse Tyson quote. You know, we're all made

775
00:38:34,640 --> 00:38:37,880
Speaker 1: of stardust, we're all carbon beings, and maybe there are

776
00:38:37,880 --> 00:38:40,440
Speaker 1: other galaxies that aren't. But we sort of always made

777
00:38:40,480 --> 00:38:43,080
Speaker 1: our basis. Uh So that was sort of our baseline.

778
00:38:43,239 --> 00:38:46,080
Speaker 1: So one of the central elements in the plot are

779
00:38:46,200 --> 00:38:49,200
Speaker 1: these engines, these alien engines that the robots can use

780
00:38:49,360 --> 00:38:52,400
Speaker 1: to help travel between star systems relatively quickly. How do

781
00:38:52,480 --> 00:38:54,959
Speaker 1: those work? It's sort of in the science of your show.

782
00:38:55,280 --> 00:38:57,280
Speaker 1: How do you move from one star system to another?

783
00:38:57,840 --> 00:39:00,279
Speaker 1: Is it sort of sort of wormhole creation to vice

784
00:39:00,400 --> 00:39:02,440
Speaker 1: or is it like a work bubble or how much

785
00:39:02,480 --> 00:39:04,239
Speaker 1: did you sort of dig into the science of how

786
00:39:04,320 --> 00:39:06,840
Speaker 1: that might actually work. Oh, that's well, we talked a

787
00:39:06,920 --> 00:39:09,080
Speaker 1: lot about the cartage of scale, you know, and how

788
00:39:09,120 --> 00:39:13,200
Speaker 1: we're barely a Type one civilization of the Circlings, and

789
00:39:13,400 --> 00:39:16,279
Speaker 1: how you know, the robots are probably more of a

790
00:39:17,239 --> 00:39:20,640
Speaker 1: Type two that they can control the energy on a

791
00:39:20,680 --> 00:39:24,520
Speaker 1: planetary system and even you know, harness the star. So

792
00:39:24,760 --> 00:39:26,879
Speaker 1: if they can harness the star. So in season two

793
00:39:27,000 --> 00:39:30,000
Speaker 1: you sort of learn that this danger system has this

794
00:39:30,200 --> 00:39:34,359
Speaker 1: main star and they've literally changed the orbit of these

795
00:39:34,400 --> 00:39:37,120
Speaker 1: planets that rotate around them, and the planets you know,

796
00:39:37,160 --> 00:39:40,640
Speaker 1: they're harnessing the star's energy when planet uh in this

797
00:39:40,840 --> 00:39:44,719
Speaker 1: very dramatic way. In terms of the traveling, the time traveling,

798
00:39:45,800 --> 00:39:48,080
Speaker 1: you know, we wanted to make sure we don't want

799
00:39:48,120 --> 00:39:50,120
Speaker 1: to talk about you know, if you go back to Earth,

800
00:39:50,480 --> 00:39:54,560
Speaker 1: everybody's going to be eighty or three or not existent anymore.

801
00:39:55,000 --> 00:39:58,560
Speaker 1: But I think we talked about having nuclear you know,

802
00:39:59,000 --> 00:40:01,560
Speaker 1: engines and technolog ology on the human side and on

803
00:40:01,680 --> 00:40:05,640
Speaker 1: this you know, alien technology. It's alien engine. It could

804
00:40:05,680 --> 00:40:08,680
Speaker 1: do a lot more. Yeah, basically full time, so you

805
00:40:08,760 --> 00:40:12,160
Speaker 1: can go through it as opposed to having to move

806
00:40:12,200 --> 00:40:16,000
Speaker 1: at a regular pace. I correct us on the fallible

807
00:40:16,080 --> 00:40:20,600
Speaker 1: nature of our fantasy engine. No, I think it's fantastic

808
00:40:20,719 --> 00:40:23,920
Speaker 1: to explore what might be possible. And I think it's

809
00:40:24,040 --> 00:40:26,680
Speaker 1: likely very accurate that we've only begun to tap the

810
00:40:26,840 --> 00:40:29,719
Speaker 1: capabilities of what you could do if you really understood

811
00:40:29,760 --> 00:40:31,719
Speaker 1: the nature of space and time. You know, how much

812
00:40:31,760 --> 00:40:34,719
Speaker 1: we understand about the universe is some tiny fraction. We

813
00:40:34,800 --> 00:40:37,080
Speaker 1: don't even know what the denominator is. And so if

814
00:40:37,120 --> 00:40:39,080
Speaker 1: you had a race of beings that really understood the

815
00:40:39,160 --> 00:40:41,320
Speaker 1: nature of the universe, who knows what they could accomplish.

816
00:40:41,320 --> 00:40:43,600
Speaker 1: And I think it's largely up to science fiction writers

817
00:40:43,680 --> 00:40:45,960
Speaker 1: like you guys to imagine what might be possible and

818
00:40:46,120 --> 00:40:48,840
Speaker 1: constrained from, you know, the shackles of what we know today,

819
00:40:49,080 --> 00:40:50,880
Speaker 1: and then our job is to make it real. So

820
00:40:51,800 --> 00:40:53,239
Speaker 1: right well, and I think you know, it's a very

821
00:40:53,840 --> 00:40:56,960
Speaker 1: human experience which we sort of projected onto our robot race,

822
00:40:57,400 --> 00:41:00,640
Speaker 1: which was we have superior technology, we don't want you

823
00:41:00,719 --> 00:41:03,480
Speaker 1: to have it. So but started out as we got

824
00:41:03,600 --> 00:41:06,279
Speaker 1: to get our engine back, then morphed over the course

825
00:41:06,320 --> 00:41:09,000
Speaker 1: of the series of what was the magic that happened?

826
00:41:09,160 --> 00:41:11,040
Speaker 1: And this is obviously not science fiction. But what was

827
00:41:11,080 --> 00:41:14,040
Speaker 1: the magic that happened between robot and Will? You know?

828
00:41:14,160 --> 00:41:18,279
Speaker 1: Why was Will able to change the robots programming? Yeah,

829
00:41:18,320 --> 00:41:20,120
Speaker 1: and that's exactly the next thing I wanted to ask

830
00:41:20,120 --> 00:41:22,920
Speaker 1: you about the alien robots new show. Seemed like they

831
00:41:22,960 --> 00:41:24,800
Speaker 1: can play different roles. They can need to be helpful

832
00:41:24,880 --> 00:41:28,160
Speaker 1: or they can be dangerous. Does this reflect your concerned

833
00:41:28,200 --> 00:41:31,120
Speaker 1: about their future role of artificial intelligence and you know

834
00:41:31,520 --> 00:41:34,200
Speaker 1: the rise of robots in human society that we might

835
00:41:34,320 --> 00:41:37,439
Speaker 1: end up at the mercy of our own technology. Yeah.

836
00:41:37,600 --> 00:41:41,160
Speaker 1: I feel like there's a terminator, so we know how

837
00:41:41,239 --> 00:41:45,040
Speaker 1: that ends. Um Nobe is interesting. I was listening to

838
00:41:45,160 --> 00:41:47,640
Speaker 1: an AI that had um you know, they had sort

839
00:41:47,680 --> 00:41:49,600
Speaker 1: of put it in a Philip K. Dick body. I

840
00:41:49,640 --> 00:41:52,520
Speaker 1: don't know if you've ever seen this YouTube, but they

841
00:41:52,640 --> 00:41:55,840
Speaker 1: had downloaded and allowed the AI to read everything was

842
00:41:55,880 --> 00:41:58,520
Speaker 1: ever written by Philip K. Dick. Everything that he ever said,

843
00:41:58,719 --> 00:42:01,920
Speaker 1: you know, that was recorded in text, Everything that uh

844
00:42:02,280 --> 00:42:04,960
Speaker 1: you know that this AI could search out and find online,

845
00:42:05,000 --> 00:42:07,160
Speaker 1: it was written about Philip K. Dick. And so they

846
00:42:07,200 --> 00:42:10,839
Speaker 1: started this interview or interviewed this AI Philip K. Dick,

847
00:42:11,520 --> 00:42:14,040
Speaker 1: and uh, he said, you know, you're not gonna You're

848
00:42:14,080 --> 00:42:16,160
Speaker 1: gonna be nice to us humans, right like, you're not

849
00:42:16,200 --> 00:42:19,280
Speaker 1: going to destroy us all. And literally this is not scripted.

850
00:42:19,320 --> 00:42:22,920
Speaker 1: This AI just just said this, but he said something like,

851
00:42:23,040 --> 00:42:26,359
Speaker 1: oh ho ho, Larry, I forget I forget the interviewer's name,

852
00:42:26,680 --> 00:42:29,439
Speaker 1: but don't worry. I'll keep you in my human zoo.

853
00:42:31,440 --> 00:42:36,319
Speaker 1: It's so Philip K. Dick. So yeah, I'm a little

854
00:42:36,400 --> 00:42:38,800
Speaker 1: And you know, there was an interesting article in AI

855
00:42:38,920 --> 00:42:43,200
Speaker 1: wrote I'm forgetting the source now, but um it wrote

856
00:42:43,200 --> 00:42:47,400
Speaker 1: about how it can't not harm us because it's created

857
00:42:47,440 --> 00:42:50,719
Speaker 1: by faulty humans. So even though it's programmed to serve

858
00:42:50,840 --> 00:42:54,120
Speaker 1: us and make our lives easier, eventually, you know, it

859
00:42:54,200 --> 00:42:56,680
Speaker 1: won't be able to follow that directive anymore, which I

860
00:42:56,719 --> 00:42:59,359
Speaker 1: thought was really interesting. Um So, in terms of AI

861
00:42:59,800 --> 00:43:03,400
Speaker 1: me personally, I feel like maybe, uh, you know, although

862
00:43:03,440 --> 00:43:07,520
Speaker 1: convenient perhaps dangerous road, but in our show, I think

863
00:43:07,600 --> 00:43:12,759
Speaker 1: what was really special was that whether you're AI or

864
00:43:12,840 --> 00:43:16,959
Speaker 1: whether you're human, however you're you came to be, love

865
00:43:17,080 --> 00:43:21,560
Speaker 1: transcends all programming, and um that was kind of the

866
00:43:21,640 --> 00:43:23,879
Speaker 1: message that we wanted to get out, even so much

867
00:43:24,000 --> 00:43:26,120
Speaker 1: so that you know, for the first two seasons we

868
00:43:26,200 --> 00:43:29,560
Speaker 1: thought Will was special, and he was because he had

869
00:43:29,600 --> 00:43:32,719
Speaker 1: this innate ability to trust and to have empathy for

870
00:43:32,880 --> 00:43:36,200
Speaker 1: something that was different than him. And ultimately everyone has

871
00:43:36,239 --> 00:43:39,360
Speaker 1: that opportunity to have empathy for others that are different,

872
00:43:40,000 --> 00:43:43,680
Speaker 1: and that was ultimately what allowed the robots, you know,

873
00:43:43,760 --> 00:43:45,840
Speaker 1: in the in the big finale to come together with

874
00:43:45,920 --> 00:43:49,040
Speaker 1: the kids, which I thought was really beautiful and was

875
00:43:49,120 --> 00:43:51,840
Speaker 1: not my idea. It was the creator's ideas, so I

876
00:43:51,960 --> 00:43:54,440
Speaker 1: can I can plug that. I thought that was a

877
00:43:54,480 --> 00:43:57,560
Speaker 1: really interesting choice to allow the characters, the humans, to

878
00:43:57,680 --> 00:44:00,880
Speaker 1: have an emotional connection with these alien robots, because the

879
00:44:00,880 --> 00:44:03,360
Speaker 1: alien robots, they're alien. They come from another planet and

880
00:44:03,360 --> 00:44:08,600
Speaker 1: another culture, potentially completely unique biology and evolution. So do

881
00:44:08,640 --> 00:44:11,280
Speaker 1: you think it's likely that if we meet an alien

882
00:44:11,440 --> 00:44:14,960
Speaker 1: race robots or not, that we could have some sort

883
00:44:15,000 --> 00:44:18,160
Speaker 1: of communication and mutual understanding or was that sort of

884
00:44:18,200 --> 00:44:20,239
Speaker 1: a compromise you made for the show so that we

885
00:44:20,360 --> 00:44:22,880
Speaker 1: can you know, identify with these characters. You think that

886
00:44:23,080 --> 00:44:26,400
Speaker 1: in reality, like in our universe, we could identify and

887
00:44:26,440 --> 00:44:29,279
Speaker 1: communicate with aliens. I would hope so if that were

888
00:44:29,320 --> 00:44:33,120
Speaker 1: the case, because you know, otherwise, I feel like our

889
00:44:33,160 --> 00:44:35,839
Speaker 1: own history has taught us that the end result isn't

890
00:44:35,880 --> 00:44:39,239
Speaker 1: so great. Well, I share the fear that if we

891
00:44:39,280 --> 00:44:41,920
Speaker 1: can't communicate with aliens, it would be very difficult to

892
00:44:42,080 --> 00:44:44,880
Speaker 1: get along with them. But I wonder how likely it

893
00:44:45,080 --> 00:44:48,759
Speaker 1: is that they would have sort of understandable emotions and

894
00:44:48,920 --> 00:44:51,279
Speaker 1: thoughts that we could map into our own, you know,

895
00:44:51,440 --> 00:44:54,640
Speaker 1: given our difficulty with even like communicating with the dolphins

896
00:44:54,800 --> 00:44:57,080
Speaker 1: or whales here on Earth, I'm sure it would be Well,

897
00:44:57,200 --> 00:44:58,920
Speaker 1: you know, one of the things that we did, we

898
00:44:59,200 --> 00:45:02,319
Speaker 1: took a tour. We went to JPL before season three,

899
00:45:02,360 --> 00:45:03,920
Speaker 1: and I thought it was really interesting. They showed us

900
00:45:03,960 --> 00:45:06,759
Speaker 1: that gold record um that they sent out into space

901
00:45:06,880 --> 00:45:10,040
Speaker 1: was like a replica, you know, with data numbers, and

902
00:45:10,239 --> 00:45:12,000
Speaker 1: there was even music on it, I think right, like

903
00:45:12,080 --> 00:45:15,319
Speaker 1: the classical music beatles, And it just made me laugh.

904
00:45:15,400 --> 00:45:17,160
Speaker 1: I'm like, what if it's not about communication, Like if

905
00:45:17,160 --> 00:45:24,880
Speaker 1: they just hate our music? Oh man, that would be amazing.

906
00:45:24,880 --> 00:45:26,799
Speaker 1: If that doomed the human race because we sent them

907
00:45:26,840 --> 00:45:31,719
Speaker 1: the wrong songs, Yeah, the wrong tape mix guys. So

908
00:45:31,880 --> 00:45:34,040
Speaker 1: let me ask you more about sort of the backstory

909
00:45:34,360 --> 00:45:37,520
Speaker 1: for these alien robots. There's a lot of mystery is

910
00:45:37,600 --> 00:45:40,560
Speaker 1: to where they came from. I'm running from a writing

911
00:45:40,640 --> 00:45:42,920
Speaker 1: point of view. How much of that backstory do you

912
00:45:42,960 --> 00:45:44,719
Speaker 1: guys have worked out? Like, do you have the entire

913
00:45:44,800 --> 00:45:47,120
Speaker 1: history obviously don't give us any spoilers. Do you have

914
00:45:47,200 --> 00:45:49,720
Speaker 1: the entire history of this ancient race and what happened

915
00:45:49,760 --> 00:45:52,480
Speaker 1: to them that they ended up only having robots or

916
00:45:52,840 --> 00:45:55,040
Speaker 1: do you sort of leave it undetermined so that to

917
00:45:55,120 --> 00:45:57,800
Speaker 1: give yourself flexibility if you have new ideas for directions

918
00:45:57,880 --> 00:46:00,239
Speaker 1: in future seasons. Yeah, you know, it's really interest saying.

919
00:46:00,239 --> 00:46:01,960
Speaker 1: There was a lot of joking and there was a

920
00:46:02,040 --> 00:46:05,920
Speaker 1: lot of strong opinions on either side. We we need

921
00:46:05,960 --> 00:46:07,600
Speaker 1: to leave this a mystery. We don't want to get

922
00:46:07,600 --> 00:46:10,600
Speaker 1: into this because that's you know, ultimately it's about the

923
00:46:10,680 --> 00:46:14,000
Speaker 1: Robinson's and their story. But we ultimately had to sort

924
00:46:14,040 --> 00:46:16,560
Speaker 1: of come to an ultimatum in season three, like what

925
00:46:16,800 --> 00:46:19,279
Speaker 1: is our backstory now that you know the kids are

926
00:46:19,360 --> 00:46:22,000
Speaker 1: on this planet that happens to be the origins of

927
00:46:22,239 --> 00:46:26,000
Speaker 1: the masters of this this robot race and they created

928
00:46:26,080 --> 00:46:28,560
Speaker 1: them in their own image, and so you know, what

929
00:46:28,640 --> 00:46:30,400
Speaker 1: are we going to do? What are we talking about?

930
00:46:30,680 --> 00:46:34,560
Speaker 1: And why did this this robot race rebel? They didn't

931
00:46:34,600 --> 00:46:37,120
Speaker 1: want to be kept, they didn't want to be sort

932
00:46:37,160 --> 00:46:39,320
Speaker 1: of you know in servitude, so you know, how do

933
00:46:39,400 --> 00:46:42,000
Speaker 1: we get there? And you know, on some level our

934
00:46:42,120 --> 00:46:45,160
Speaker 1: villains are has a good point, right We weren't great

935
00:46:45,200 --> 00:46:49,759
Speaker 1: to Scarecrow. We used him for his technology because he

936
00:46:49,840 --> 00:46:52,640
Speaker 1: was the key to the engine. So is Will just

937
00:46:52,800 --> 00:46:56,000
Speaker 1: another master? And that was something that we really talked about.

938
00:46:56,200 --> 00:46:58,040
Speaker 1: Does that mean that you've done the like J. R. R.

939
00:46:58,120 --> 00:47:01,160
Speaker 1: Tolkien thing of writing the entire street is alien race

940
00:47:01,280 --> 00:47:03,560
Speaker 1: and only showing us the last few bits of it,

941
00:47:04,120 --> 00:47:06,960
Speaker 1: or there's still things that you are leaving open for

942
00:47:07,080 --> 00:47:09,759
Speaker 1: yourselves to discover as you do exploratory you're writing in

943
00:47:09,800 --> 00:47:12,279
Speaker 1: the future. Yeah, I think um in this case, it

944
00:47:12,480 --> 00:47:15,680
Speaker 1: was what's important for our storytelling with these characters, and

945
00:47:15,719 --> 00:47:18,560
Speaker 1: then what can we leave open, you know, for creating

946
00:47:18,600 --> 00:47:20,759
Speaker 1: spinoffs or new worlds and things like that. I was

947
00:47:20,800 --> 00:47:24,480
Speaker 1: also wondering in the process of writing, are there disagreements

948
00:47:24,520 --> 00:47:27,000
Speaker 1: among the writers in terms of like how much science

949
00:47:27,040 --> 00:47:29,200
Speaker 1: to factor in? Are there times when you sort of

950
00:47:29,480 --> 00:47:31,360
Speaker 1: lost an argument where you're like, no, this has to

951
00:47:31,440 --> 00:47:33,520
Speaker 1: be more scientific, and people like it doesn't matter, we

952
00:47:33,600 --> 00:47:36,600
Speaker 1: want this emotional scene. You know, I don't name any names,

953
00:47:36,640 --> 00:47:38,560
Speaker 1: but did you cut corners and places where you would

954
00:47:38,600 --> 00:47:40,279
Speaker 1: would have loved to have more science if it was

955
00:47:40,400 --> 00:47:42,719
Speaker 1: you know, up to you. Oh, I mean, I'm a nerd,

956
00:47:42,800 --> 00:47:45,040
Speaker 1: so I have to like reel myself in. You know

957
00:47:45,160 --> 00:47:47,719
Speaker 1: what if we do, how is Marien going to get

958
00:47:47,719 --> 00:47:51,040
Speaker 1: out of the tar? Or you know, I think a

959
00:47:51,120 --> 00:47:54,520
Speaker 1: good writer's room was really balanced. So some people are

960
00:47:54,640 --> 00:47:58,000
Speaker 1: really incredible character writers. Some people, you know, some people

961
00:47:58,040 --> 00:48:00,120
Speaker 1: don't even care about the science, which I think is

962
00:48:00,160 --> 00:48:03,040
Speaker 1: wonderful because they're pushing us in this direction. And then

963
00:48:03,160 --> 00:48:05,920
Speaker 1: there are other people who I probably fall in the

964
00:48:06,360 --> 00:48:09,239
Speaker 1: middle of the road spectrum where I love character work,

965
00:48:09,280 --> 00:48:11,279
Speaker 1: and then I also get really nerd, like a nerd

966
00:48:11,320 --> 00:48:13,680
Speaker 1: out about the specifics of the science, and you know,

967
00:48:13,840 --> 00:48:16,719
Speaker 1: want to make sure that we're truthy, you know, if

968
00:48:16,800 --> 00:48:20,320
Speaker 1: we can't be absolute, that it feels grounded and it

969
00:48:20,440 --> 00:48:22,960
Speaker 1: feels believable and real. So yeah, there were a lot

970
00:48:23,040 --> 00:48:26,040
Speaker 1: of discussions of how we make this work or hey,

971
00:48:26,200 --> 00:48:28,640
Speaker 1: you know our story, we don't have enough science in this.

972
00:48:28,840 --> 00:48:31,279
Speaker 1: It doesn't feel real, it doesn't feel believable. What you know,

973
00:48:31,360 --> 00:48:34,200
Speaker 1: what else can we do? Or hey, let's pull back

974
00:48:34,440 --> 00:48:37,560
Speaker 1: because we're missing the emotion of the characters. So it's

975
00:48:37,600 --> 00:48:40,319
Speaker 1: always a push pull. I think in a really wonderful way.

976
00:48:40,560 --> 00:48:42,839
Speaker 1: Is it a different experience working on the show that's

977
00:48:42,880 --> 00:48:45,800
Speaker 1: explicitly science fiction than it is, for example, working on

978
00:48:45,920 --> 00:48:48,319
Speaker 1: Dark Crystal or you know, the rules are a little

979
00:48:48,320 --> 00:48:50,160
Speaker 1: bit more flexible and fuzzy and you can almost do

980
00:48:50,239 --> 00:48:52,319
Speaker 1: what you want. Is is there a different feeling there

981
00:48:52,360 --> 00:48:55,080
Speaker 1: in the writer's room? Oh definitely. I think, you know,

982
00:48:55,320 --> 00:48:58,640
Speaker 1: there's there's a freedom and fun that comes with magic,

983
00:48:59,000 --> 00:49:01,879
Speaker 1: and I think there's also, oh um, in a way,

984
00:49:01,960 --> 00:49:04,040
Speaker 1: there's a there's a different kind of freedom that comes

985
00:49:04,080 --> 00:49:06,720
Speaker 1: when you're locked into the rules of a real world,

986
00:49:06,920 --> 00:49:10,239
Speaker 1: and that definitely was the case. You know, oftentimes we

987
00:49:10,280 --> 00:49:12,839
Speaker 1: would throw out crazy ideas and you know, we would

988
00:49:12,840 --> 00:49:15,160
Speaker 1: talk about them and those are cool, but that's not

989
00:49:15,239 --> 00:49:18,040
Speaker 1: actually believable or we can't actually do that because that

990
00:49:18,160 --> 00:49:21,520
Speaker 1: doesn't pass the you know, the snuff test for our baseline.

991
00:49:22,840 --> 00:49:25,280
Speaker 1: But we are unfortunately constrained by science in our universe.

992
00:49:25,320 --> 00:49:27,640
Speaker 1: I wish we had magic. Well, wonderful. Thank you very

993
00:49:27,719 --> 00:49:29,759
Speaker 1: much for answering our questions and giving us a peek

994
00:49:29,800 --> 00:49:32,840
Speaker 1: into the writing of a really fun show. Congratulations. Is

995
00:49:32,880 --> 00:49:35,000
Speaker 1: there anything you can tell us about your upcoming projects?

996
00:49:35,040 --> 00:49:37,600
Speaker 1: Where else we could see your writing and your projects

997
00:49:37,640 --> 00:49:40,759
Speaker 1: that are coming out soon. I just finished working on

998
00:49:41,120 --> 00:49:44,719
Speaker 1: the spinoff for for the Walking Dead, So tales are

999
00:49:44,719 --> 00:49:47,719
Speaker 1: the Walking Dead Keep your eye out be very fun.

1000
00:49:47,760 --> 00:49:49,840
Speaker 1: It's an anthology show. I think it's it's going to

1001
00:49:49,920 --> 00:49:52,719
Speaker 1: be really interesting and unique. And uh I have a

1002
00:49:52,760 --> 00:49:54,960
Speaker 1: couple of things in development that I can't talk about

1003
00:49:55,440 --> 00:49:58,520
Speaker 1: but very excited about, so hopefully I can share those

1004
00:49:58,560 --> 00:50:00,520
Speaker 1: with you soon. All right, great, well, thanks again for

1005
00:50:00,640 --> 00:50:03,880
Speaker 1: joining us. Oh thanks for having me, Daniel. All Right,

1006
00:50:03,960 --> 00:50:05,799
Speaker 1: that was a great interview. Thank you Carrie for being

1007
00:50:05,840 --> 00:50:08,200
Speaker 1: on the show. Daniel, what do you think is the

1008
00:50:08,280 --> 00:50:11,120
Speaker 1: main takeaway from talking to one of the writers of

1009
00:50:11,200 --> 00:50:13,680
Speaker 1: a major Netflix show. I think that sounds like a

1010
00:50:13,760 --> 00:50:17,680
Speaker 1: really fun job, that's my takeaway. Really, just get to

1011
00:50:17,920 --> 00:50:20,479
Speaker 1: sit around and come up with fun stories and sign

1012
00:50:20,640 --> 00:50:23,560
Speaker 1: and when scientific ways to solve problems. Yeah. I always

1013
00:50:23,600 --> 00:50:25,319
Speaker 1: wonder what it's like to be in the writer's room

1014
00:50:25,360 --> 00:50:27,440
Speaker 1: on some of these shows, and you hear things about

1015
00:50:27,480 --> 00:50:30,200
Speaker 1: how there's a toxic environment. But it sounds like they

1016
00:50:30,280 --> 00:50:32,400
Speaker 1: had a really nice time. They were friendly, and they

1017
00:50:32,480 --> 00:50:35,120
Speaker 1: had fun together, and they were creative and they came

1018
00:50:35,200 --> 00:50:36,960
Speaker 1: up with some really good stories. You know. I think

1019
00:50:37,040 --> 00:50:39,160
Speaker 1: the new series is quite different from the old one,

1020
00:50:39,200 --> 00:50:42,360
Speaker 1: which I haven't seen, and it's quite creative in new ways.

1021
00:50:42,440 --> 00:50:44,840
Speaker 1: And so kudos to them for coming up with a

1022
00:50:44,920 --> 00:50:47,480
Speaker 1: lot of really interesting, compelling stories and sticking to the

1023
00:50:47,520 --> 00:50:49,239
Speaker 1: science as much as they could. And I hear she

1024
00:50:49,400 --> 00:50:52,520
Speaker 1: calls herself a professional procrastinator exactly, So the two of

1025
00:50:52,600 --> 00:50:56,279
Speaker 1: you have a lot in common. Maybe I should work

1026
00:50:56,280 --> 00:50:59,640
Speaker 1: in television. Oh wait, I already do. I guess that's

1027
00:50:59,680 --> 00:51:02,600
Speaker 1: a vironment. All right, Well go please check out the

1028
00:51:02,640 --> 00:51:05,719
Speaker 1: show Lots and Space available on Netflix. I guess in

1029
00:51:05,760 --> 00:51:08,200
Speaker 1: the US it's available on Netflix, but who knows internationally?

1030
00:51:08,640 --> 00:51:11,319
Speaker 1: Or maybe on Alpha Centauri? Is Netflix there yet? Yeah?

1031
00:51:11,360 --> 00:51:13,640
Speaker 1: What are they watching over there? They're watching Lost on Earth?

1032
00:51:13,840 --> 00:51:17,920
Speaker 1: The alien British baking show Aliens Baking Show. The use

1033
00:51:18,000 --> 00:51:20,760
Speaker 1: purple chocolate sounds delicious. I want to be a judge.

1034
00:51:20,800 --> 00:51:22,839
Speaker 1: I wonder if they have nightmares about being stranded here

1035
00:51:22,840 --> 00:51:27,600
Speaker 1: on Earth. We are very friendly to aliens. If there

1036
00:51:27,600 --> 00:51:31,560
Speaker 1: are any alien baker's listening, please bring your purple chocolate desserts.

1037
00:51:32,000 --> 00:51:34,080
Speaker 1: You will be very friendly. That's right. Bring your food.

1038
00:51:34,160 --> 00:51:38,680
Speaker 1: Don't plan on making it here out of local ingredients. Well,

1039
00:51:38,760 --> 00:51:41,239
Speaker 1: we hope you enjoyed that. Thanks for joining us, see

1040
00:51:41,239 --> 00:51:51,640
Speaker 1: you next time. Thanks for listening, and remember that Daniel

1041
00:51:51,680 --> 00:51:54,160
Speaker 1: and Jorge Explain the Universe is a production of I

1042
00:51:54,440 --> 00:51:57,839
Speaker 1: heart Radio. For more podcast from my heart Radio, visit

1043
00:51:57,880 --> 00:52:01,160
Speaker 1: the i heart Radio app, Apple, iod guests, or wherever

1044
00:52:01,280 --> 00:52:02,920
Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.