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Speaker 1: Folks, we're returning to you this Saturday with a classic

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Speaker 1: episode that is near and dear to our hearts, both

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Speaker 1: as native sons of Atlanta or people who reside in

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Speaker 1: Atlanta now, and as longtime fans of a little franchise

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Speaker 1: called Star Trek.

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Speaker 2: A giant nerds Max, Oh, he's just giving it. He's

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Speaker 2: throwing up a throwing up the spock piece sign.

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Speaker 3: I love in the newer show lower decks the a

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Speaker 3: sarcastic thing. You can start like some characters we starcasting

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Speaker 3: on the hey, stop doing that sarcastic falcon sign.

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Speaker 1: Also, that is ancient, uh, an ancient blessing from Judaism.

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Speaker 2: They kind of just told him to do something, is something.

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Speaker 1: And he did the call it even blessing.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, he did that, And you know there's some great

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Speaker 3: stories about that.

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Speaker 2: Isn't it funny though? How sometimes the most arbitrary of

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Speaker 2: choices or ad libs or whatever become just the biggest

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Speaker 2: sticking kind of cultural I love that about history.

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Speaker 1: Similar to Popeye right the Sailor Man, which is still

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Speaker 1: fresh on our minds, folks. Today's story is about Star Trek,

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Speaker 1: but it's also about how history can hinge on such

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Speaker 1: tiny moments in our classic episode. Now we are exploring

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Speaker 1: how a single conversation with a perhaps surprising fan of

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Speaker 1: Star Trek shaped the course of the show. That is

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Speaker 1: a global phenomenon today.

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Speaker 2: We've always talked about, you know, whenever possible, whenever it,

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Speaker 2: Mas has his way talk about Star Trek on the show,

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Speaker 2: and it's such an interesting, almost like model un kind

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Speaker 2: of situation the way it depicts this sort of utopian

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Speaker 2: world where people can get along, and people with different

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Speaker 2: races and creeds and species even can coexist, and even

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Speaker 2: the battles are largely around diplomacy more so than they

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Speaker 2: are about raw you know, violent type shoot them ups.

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Speaker 2: That this is a perfect example historically speaking of how

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Speaker 2: that attitude really kind of created a big cultural high

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Speaker 2: water mark moment.

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Speaker 3: I'm just thinking about Philip J. Fry from the Futurama

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Speaker 3: Star Trek episode. He says, Star Trek giving me hope

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Speaker 3: because it didn't matter if you're white, black, Klingon, Vulcan,

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Speaker 3: or even female.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. I also, I will point out we don't get

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Speaker 1: to it in this episode, but I will point out

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Speaker 1: one thing about Star Trek as a universe is that

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Speaker 1: the cooking is weird. There is a there is a

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Speaker 1: famous scene I think it's in Next Generation somewhere in

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Speaker 1: the second season where right Riiker creates Riker is gonna

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Speaker 1: cook for a couple of the crew.

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Speaker 2: Lasky, Data, Jeordie and war Yeah, and he is.

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Speaker 1: He's cracking eggs and he's not using the replicator. He's

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Speaker 1: doing that old school. But it's insane that he gives

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Speaker 1: them each like a small bit of scrambled egg and

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Speaker 1: then serves it with whiskey. And we don't know what

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Speaker 1: time it is there at this point, but does nothing

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Speaker 1: do it with anything.

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Speaker 3: Let's all remember with Pulaski who was the doctor in

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Speaker 3: season two only Season two brought the whiskey right.

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Speaker 1: Yes, However, tell us your favorite space meals, and we

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Speaker 1: hope you enjoy this episode about how none other than

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Speaker 1: Martin Luther King Junior influenced the course of Star Trek.

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Speaker 2: Astronaut ice cream is my favorite space meal.

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Speaker 1: And Dippin' dots are space but they are the ice

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Speaker 1: cream in the future.

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Speaker 2: Let's roll it.

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Speaker 1: Ridiculous History is a production of iHeartRadio Captain's Look Sturdy

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Speaker 1: zero nine zero six nine sixty six point eight. We

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Speaker 1: have entered another episode of things both ridiculous and historical.

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Speaker 1: My name's been whoa.

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Speaker 2: That was like a Shatner meets Rod Serling kind of thing.

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Speaker 2: That was awesome.

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Speaker 1: Well, that's very kind, that's very exciting.

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Speaker 2: That was I was in rapture to the point where

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Speaker 2: I've almost forgotten my name, and it is, in fact

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Speaker 2: Noel Brown. And I am not a treky, right right,

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Speaker 2: I am.

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Speaker 1: I wouldn't describe myself as a tricky either, although I

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Speaker 1: am a fan of sci fi, and you know, you

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Speaker 1: and I don't particularly need a wealth of science fiction

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Speaker 1: here because we have our own wizard every time we

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Speaker 1: record a show, and that, ladies and gentlemen, is our

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Speaker 1: long suffering super producer, Casey Pegram.

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Speaker 2: Who has turned into a can of soda. That super

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Speaker 2: producer sure is refreshing.

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Speaker 1: And speaking of refreshing and segues, imagine yourself as a

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Speaker 1: television viewer on September ninth, nineteen sixty six in Canada.

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Speaker 2: I'm there.

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Speaker 1: Wow, If you're there, you're very very lucky, because you

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Speaker 1: are watching that evening something that no one has ever

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Speaker 1: seen before the very first episode of Star Trek.

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Speaker 2: What the super fan community calls TOS or the original series, and.

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Speaker 1: This series was revolutionary when it first aired, which was

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Speaker 1: originally I think in Canada and the later in the

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Speaker 1: United States by a couple of days. In this series,

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Speaker 1: viewers are treated to a more diverse cast than they

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Speaker 1: are used to seeing, and that should go as an understatement.

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Speaker 2: Right, Hey, you had green women, you had alien dudes

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Speaker 2: with plenty ears. Oh, you mean diverse in terms of

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Speaker 2: the actors, right, the people, right?

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Speaker 1: Oh, and the characters as well. I mean there's a

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Speaker 1: Russian what in nineteen sixty there's a Scotsman.

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Speaker 2: Yes, there is a Scotsman. Yes.

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Speaker 1: And there are also people of color on the show.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, specifically a lovely actress by the name of Nachelle

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Speaker 2: Nichols who portrayed the character of Lieutenant Uhura. And this

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Speaker 2: was important for a lot of reasons. She was not

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Speaker 2: only a person of color featured in this show very prominently,

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Speaker 2: but she had a position of power in the organization

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Speaker 2: of the Starship Enterprise. I believe she was the fourth

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Speaker 2: in charge.

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Speaker 1: Yes, that is absolutely correct, which also makes it a

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Speaker 1: prominent progressive step for the role of women or female

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Speaker 1: characters in these sorts of shows.

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Speaker 2: Okay, so I'm a little Canadian boy in the mid

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Speaker 2: nineteen sixties watching Star Trek. But what's happening at the

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Speaker 2: same time, Ben.

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Speaker 1: Right, the civil rights movement?

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Speaker 2: Ye, nothing good? I mean good. Yes, a lot of progress,

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Speaker 2: but also a lot of horrible racist violence.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely, We're talking protests, abuse by law enforcement officers, and

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Speaker 1: public moves toward nonviolence and pushes for equality alongside antagonistic

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Speaker 1: forces who are pushing for the discriminatory status quo to

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Speaker 1: remain the same. Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek,

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Speaker 1: was very much aware of this, and he set out

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Speaker 1: with the express aim of creating a show with a

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Speaker 1: multi racial cast. And the show had a lot of

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Speaker 1: fans right well.

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Speaker 2: It also had a message of cooperation working to solve

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Speaker 2: problems between race and people of other galactic origins and

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Speaker 2: species and you know green women, right, the.

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Speaker 1: Idea, the idea that in the future humanity will overcome

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Speaker 1: the current problems or the contemporary problems of the age

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Speaker 1: in which Star Trek was produced. Right, So, we had

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Speaker 1: massive discrimination, We also had the threat of war. There

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Speaker 1: was inequality and you know economic inequality, social inequality, and

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Speaker 1: Star Trek presented a picture where in human ingenuity and

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Speaker 1: the inherent drive toward curiosity and drive towards self improvement

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Speaker 1: created a world in which these problems were solved and.

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Speaker 2: That resulted in a lot of almost philosophical discussion. The

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Speaker 2: show is not super heavy on the action. A lot

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Speaker 2: of it is almost diplomacy and conversations and kind of

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Speaker 2: solving these problems without violence. And then of course you

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Speaker 2: know they'd ended up on a and have to fight

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Speaker 2: some dude in a monster suit and shoot him with

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Speaker 2: their phasers or whatever. But the big message of the

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Speaker 2: show was that we can solve these problems without resorting

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Speaker 2: to violence. Because we were talking about the civil rights

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Speaker 2: movement of the mid sixties. We're talking bombings at African

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Speaker 2: American churchesters. When Birmingham, four young black girls were killed.

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Speaker 2: Malcolm X, a very influential civil rights leader and activist,

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Speaker 2: was assassinated. There was a divide and it was a

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Speaker 2: powder keg kind of situation.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely, this is one of those times where wherein people

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Speaker 1: can feel the hinge of history as it swings and

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Speaker 1: begin to wonder what direction it will go in. Here's

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Speaker 1: the thing, folks, It turns out that the Star Trek

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Speaker 1: we are so familiar with today almost took a very

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Speaker 1: different direction because the actor Michelle Nichols, who's playing this

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Speaker 1: historically significant and profound role on television, almost quit.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's true. She had a background in the performing

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Speaker 2: arts in theater and got an offer to play on

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Speaker 2: Broadway in a satire about Hugh Hefner and his kind

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Speaker 2: of jet setting raunchy magazine Playboy entitled Kicks and co

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Speaker 2: And that she had been in this originally and then

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Speaker 2: left to do Star Trek, but after the first season

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Speaker 2: she was asked to return to that and it was

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Speaker 2: going to be taken to Broadway, and she was like, Okay,

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Speaker 2: this is what I want to do because I think

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Speaker 2: the cultural impact of Star Trek hadn't fully set in

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Speaker 2: after one season at least, the fandom that we know

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Speaker 2: today was not fully entrance. This was this is kind

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Speaker 2: of like a well, I did one season of a

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Speaker 2: kind of quirky sci fi TV show. I could take

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Speaker 2: it or leave It'll maybe I'll maybe I'll move on

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Speaker 2: and do something some more serious work, you know, right,

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Speaker 2: But you know, as fate would have it, thankfully, this

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Speaker 2: ended up not being the case.

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Speaker 1: Right when Nichols said the version of you know, thanks

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Speaker 1: so much for having me on the show, Geene Roddenberry,

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Speaker 1: I like to head out and pursue, as Noel said,

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Speaker 1: more serious or substance work or just something different. Rotten

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Speaker 1: Berry didn't take it well and reputedly said, hey, don't

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Speaker 1: rush out of this. Don't you understand what I'm trying

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Speaker 1: to do here, And he told her take the weekend.

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Speaker 1: Take the weekend and think it over. And during that weekend,

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Speaker 1: Nichols went to a fundraiser in Beverly Hills where she

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Speaker 1: was told there was a fan of this new fangled

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Speaker 1: show star Trek who really wanted to meet her.

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Speaker 2: So, yeah, based on some of these reports, I guess

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Speaker 2: the term Trek he existed after one season, which is

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Speaker 2: pretty incredible. But as it turned out, this person that

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Speaker 2: she was told about came walking up to her and

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Speaker 2: it was doctor Martin Luther King Junior, and this is

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Speaker 2: what he said to her. According to an NPR interview

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Speaker 2: where Nichols recalls this meeting, she says, and I turn

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Speaker 2: and before I could get up, I looked across the

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Speaker 2: way and there was the face of doctor Martin Luther

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Speaker 2: King smiling at me and walking towards me. And he

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Speaker 2: started laughing. By the time he reached me, he said, yes,

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Speaker 2: miss Nichols, I am that fan. I am your best,

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Speaker 2: greatest fan, and my family are your greatest fans. As

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Speaker 2: a matter of fact, this is the only show that

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Speaker 2: my wife, Coretta, and I will allow our little children

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Speaker 2: to watch, to stay up late to watch because it's

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Speaker 2: past their bedtime.

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Speaker 1: Which is such a humanizing and important detail. I'm sure

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Speaker 1: all parents will recognize. That's some rarefied air. So Nichols

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Speaker 1: clearly is aware of doctor King, and King is saying

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Speaker 1: that he admires her work on the show, and he

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Speaker 1: admires that Gene Roddenberry, along with Nichols, has created a

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Speaker 1: realistic character, right, not some sort of stereotype or object

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Speaker 1: of derision or mockery. And she says, thank you. But

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Speaker 1: then she says something that you know, sounds very understandable

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Speaker 1: from from her position this conversation. She says, you know, thanks,

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Speaker 1: and I'm glad you like the show, But I feel

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Speaker 1: like I should be out there with you, out there

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Speaker 1: marching after out there fighting for equality, pursuing the ideals

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Speaker 1: that people are putting their life in danger for.

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Speaker 2: I read this quote earlier, and then I kind of

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Speaker 2: immediately teared up for something. It just it just hit

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Speaker 2: me in a very real way. He said, no, no, no, no,

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Speaker 2: you don't understand. We don't need you to march. You

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Speaker 2: are marching. You are reflecting what we are fighting for.

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Speaker 2: He said, don't you understand what this man, Geene Roddenberry

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Speaker 2: has achieved for the first time on television. We will

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Speaker 2: be seen as we should be seen every day, as intelligent, quality,

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Speaker 2: beautiful people who can sing and dance, but who can

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Speaker 2: go into space, who can be lawyers and teachers, who

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Speaker 2: can be professors, who are in this day. Yet you

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Speaker 2: don't see it on television now.

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Speaker 1: And this is during the common part of the conversation

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Speaker 1: where she says I'm going to quit the show and

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Speaker 1: he is firmly against this, and he continues by saying,

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Speaker 1: Gene Roddenberry has opened a door for the world to

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Speaker 1: see us. If you leave, that door can be closed

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Speaker 1: because you see, your role is not a black role,

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Speaker 1: it's not a female role. He can fill it with anything,

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Speaker 1: including an alien. And this left Nichols speechless.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, there's one more line from an ama on Reddit

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Speaker 2: that Nichols did, where she said that he said something

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Speaker 2: along the lines of if you leave, they can replace

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Speaker 2: you with a blonde haired, white girl and it'll be

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Speaker 2: like you were never there. Well, you've accomplished for all

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Speaker 2: of us. Will only be real if you stay. And

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Speaker 2: she said that got her thinking about, you know, really

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Speaker 2: thinking about that audience, about how fans of color saw her,

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Speaker 2: and how it would feel if she left the show.

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Speaker 2: And you know, it's just it's a TV show, you know,

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Speaker 2: it seems even from the standpoint of someone that's in it,

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Speaker 2: you could see how it could be perceived as being

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Speaker 2: frivolous and like, why does this matter? But it does matter,

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Speaker 2: especially in those days when kids did not see themselves

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Speaker 2: or a positive reflection of themselves in popular culture, and

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Speaker 2: this was that thing.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely, And this changes Nichol's thinking, right, And a few

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Speaker 1: days later, she's talking with Roddenberry and she relays her

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Speaker 1: conversation with doctor King and as she recalls, Rodenberry thought

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Speaker 1: about it, looked at her for psycond and he said,

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Speaker 1: God bless doctor Martin Luther King. Somebody knows where I'm

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Speaker 1: coming from. And so she decided to stay on the show,

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Speaker 1: and the character Hura continues on for decades, right, not

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Speaker 1: just on the small screen, toward the world of Phil.

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Speaker 2: And it also resulted in a very monumental moment, even

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Speaker 2: if it's a little cheesy, but it was a thing

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Speaker 2: that it was important cultural lately speaking. It was the

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Speaker 2: first interracial kiss, and that was between William Shatner's Captain

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Speaker 2: Kirk and nichols Lieutenant o'hura. And let let's have that

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Speaker 2: clip right now.

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Speaker 1: I'm thinking, I'm thinking of all the times on the Enterprise,

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Speaker 1: what I was scared to dead.

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Speaker 2: And I would see you so busy at Jungle Man, and.

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Speaker 1: I would hear your voice from all parts of the ship.

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Speaker 2: And my fears would fade.

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Speaker 1: And now they're making me dre.

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Speaker 2: But I'm not afraid. I am not afraid.

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Speaker 1: And Uhura is a pivotal character on the show. This

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Speaker 1: isn't one of those characters called and what are they

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Speaker 1: called red shirts? You know, the disposable ones who are

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Speaker 1: sent down to the planet.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, she was number four man.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, she was number four, fourth in line for the throne,

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Speaker 1: the space throne. And she saw in her real life

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Speaker 1: the effects of her character's presence in The Zeitgeist. She

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Speaker 1: relays in the same interview that she met Whoopy Goldberg

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Speaker 1: during the Next Generation. The follow up franchise for Star

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Speaker 1: Trek and Whoopy Goldberg PNG right, who does have a

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Speaker 1: role in the Next Generation. She told Nichols that she

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Speaker 1: was nine years old when she saw Star Trek and

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Speaker 1: she would turn on the TV and she saw Lieutenant

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Speaker 1: Uhura and ran through the house screaming, come quick, come quick,

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Speaker 1: there's a black lady on TV. And she's not a maid.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and going back to that interracial kiss, that first monumental,

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Speaker 2: groundbreaking interracial kiss that happened a mere seven months after

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Speaker 2: Doctor King was assassinated in nineteen sixty eight, and you know,

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Speaker 2: and in that scene, it's a little hammy, and then

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Speaker 2: you look, you listen back to it now and the

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Speaker 2: dialogue is a little overwrought, but there is real chemistry

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Speaker 2: between Shatner and Nichols, and yeah, that she is a

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Speaker 2: gent She's portrayed, at least as far as I can tell. Again,

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Speaker 2: I'm not I don't have a deep knowledge of Star Trek,

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Speaker 2: but in the scene, whatever the circumstances are, there is

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Speaker 2: a genuine chemistry between them. And she has played as

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Speaker 2: what could be a genuine love interest for this character,

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Speaker 2: and you know that wasn't really a thing, you know,

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Speaker 2: like you said, African American characters were often relegated to

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Speaker 2: you know, tertiary or even lower types of roles like

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Speaker 2: maids or workmen, or a lot of times even more

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Speaker 2: horrible stereotypes like criminals and things like that.

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Speaker 1: And while this sounds like a clear cut, you know,

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Speaker 1: tidy story with a bow on top and everything, the

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Speaker 1: reality is a little bit different because behind the scenes,

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Speaker 1: Nichols and Roddenberry and the show's writers were constantly butting

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Speaker 1: heads with the studio, and the studio was a force

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Speaker 1: of the status quo here at the time. For example,

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Speaker 1: there is an episode wherein Lieutenant Uhura was written to

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Speaker 1: assume the helmsman's position because all the senior officers were

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Speaker 1: on a planet, but the script was rewritten to exclude

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Speaker 1: that action by Lieutenant Uhura, and Nichols raised Caine over

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Speaker 1: it being written out, and then, you know, her point was,

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Speaker 1: when you're out in space in a dangerous situation, you're

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Speaker 1: not going to have some female that goes, oh, captain,

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Speaker 1: save me, save me. She was bound and determined not

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Speaker 1: just to as an actor, not just to find a

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Speaker 1: more prominent role for her character, but to find prominent

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Speaker 1: roles for all female characters or more to up the representation.

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Speaker 2: And I misspoke. That was not the first interracial kiss

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Speaker 2: on American television. That was in the Wild Wild West

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Speaker 2: and I spy and that was between a white actor

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Speaker 2: and an Asian actress. That those were both in nineteen

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Speaker 2: sixty six, But it was the first scripted kiss between

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Speaker 2: a black and a white actor. And the only other

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Speaker 2: one was an improvised kiss between Sammy Davis Junior and

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Speaker 2: Nancy Sinatra on Moving with Nancy, and that was in

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Speaker 2: nineteen sixty seven. Nichols said that they got a really

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Speaker 2: big response from the episode and that she received an

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Speaker 2: insane amount of fan mail, all positive, which you know,

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Speaker 2: even in what we do, Ben, you know, every time

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Speaker 2: we get an email, it's always like if we've gone

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Speaker 2: on a limb on something, it's like are we going

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Speaker 2: to get totally shredded or are people going to be

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Speaker 2: on board? And so when you really take a chance

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Speaker 2: and do something like this, it's really nice to see

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Speaker 2: that overwhelming outpouring of positivity. And that was also an

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Speaker 2: important cultural touchdown because from their perspective, they hadn't offended anybody,

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Speaker 2: and then it, you know, became less of an issue

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Speaker 2: like you said, with those studio heads and the standards

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Speaker 2: and practices types there we go, Yeah, the S and

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Speaker 2: p s.

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Speaker 1: Right. So what we're seeing here is a fantastic and

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Speaker 1: enormously important example of the role that art can play

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Speaker 1: in a society.

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Speaker 3: You know.

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Speaker 1: And sometimes it's easy to dismiss works of fiction or

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Speaker 1: works of art as largely symbolic, we're not addressing a problem.

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Speaker 1: But we see that that is not the case. And

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Speaker 1: because of a single conversation with one of the world's

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Speaker 1: most well known civil rights icons, because of this single

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Speaker 1: conversation at this party, history changed.

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Speaker 2: Well. He also saw the importance of pop culture because

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Speaker 2: again I keep coming back to the idea of it

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Speaker 2: being entertainment, of it being pure frivolous kind of, you know,

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Speaker 2: a way to pass the time. But my kid watches

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Speaker 2: TV all the time. My kid has characters that she

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Speaker 2: identifies with and that are important in shaping her view

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Speaker 2: of herself and feeling and getting a sense of like

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Speaker 2: what's okay, what's not okay, What kind of behavior is acceptable,

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Speaker 2: kind of behavior is not? And she gets it from

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Speaker 2: me too. As a parent, you know, I try to

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Speaker 2: teach her well and what's right and to treat people

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Speaker 2: with respect. But a lot of kids, what if they

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Speaker 2: grow up and don't have good quality parents, I don't

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Speaker 2: have parents that are teaching them right from wrong, and

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Speaker 2: they're getting that primary drive from pop culture. Then they

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Speaker 2: see something like that that you can feel like you're

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Speaker 2: a part of this too, this thing that makes you

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Speaker 2: very happy, but that you have maybe up to that point,

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Speaker 2: felt sort of left out of and King saw that.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and there's there's a doubly important part here too,

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Speaker 1: because when people are seeing this and it speaks to them,

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Speaker 1: they're not just seeing a show about, you know, a

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Speaker 1: show about life in a city in nineteen sixty six,

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Speaker 1: they're seeing themselves in the future as well, you know,

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Speaker 1: and that's powerful.

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Speaker 2: That's a really good point.

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Speaker 1: So we would be remiss if we didn't mention another

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Speaker 1: work that came out recently that I guess would also

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Speaker 1: kind of qualify as science fiction, and that's the Black

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Speaker 1: Panther film.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and I took my daughter to see that and

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Speaker 2: we both loved it on the merits of it just

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Speaker 2: being a badass, exciting, incredible film that is just a

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Speaker 2: lot of fun. But it's blowing up box office numbers,

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Speaker 2: which is something that you know, is a language that

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Speaker 2: executives speak, and if you start making money on things,

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Speaker 2: you're going to see more of it. But it is,

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Speaker 2: it's such a different kind of film. What do you

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Speaker 2: think then?

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Speaker 1: Well, yeah, the question is, you know, there's this genre

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Speaker 1: that's encountering a huge moment in the sun right now,

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Speaker 1: the superhero film or the comic right film, and these films,

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Speaker 1: like many other genres, have their own problematic issues. Typically,

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Speaker 1: the protagonist is going to be, you know, a white guy, right,

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Speaker 1: and the other characters that exist are going to One

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Speaker 1: of the criticisms you'll read or they is that they're

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Speaker 1: often these two dimensional foils for the protagonist to bounce

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Speaker 1: off of. Right. But in a in any well done film,

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Speaker 1: which of course Casey can probably speak to or you

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Speaker 1: can speak to more than I can. In any well

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Speaker 1: done film, the characters might us feel real. They must

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Speaker 1: have their own dilemmas, their own motivations, right, And in

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Speaker 1: Black Panther, not only are these characters fleshed out with realistic,

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Speaker 1: understandable motivations, personal demons. Not only are they real people,

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Speaker 1: but also, at least so far as film critics are arguing, also,

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Speaker 1: it exists without what would be called the white lens,

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Speaker 1: you know what I mean, Like the the idea that

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Speaker 1: there has to be a a whitewash lack of a

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Speaker 1: better term, Like the story doesn't need to have all

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Speaker 1: of a sudden this, you know, this messianic figure who

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Speaker 1: is just white, like in you know, like in a

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Speaker 1: Last Samurai, the Tom Cruise.

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Speaker 2: Thing, any of that white savior stuff. Yeah, has crazy.

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Speaker 2: And I just want to point out that I understand

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Speaker 2: the problematic nature of two white dudes wapsying rapsotic about

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Speaker 2: this stuff, but it does it is powerful, Like you

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Speaker 2: knows as a dad, seeing my kid grow up in

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Speaker 2: a world where there is so much more inclusivity, and

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Speaker 2: she just doesn't see these things, doesn't see these lines

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Speaker 2: and these divides at all. She just doesn't have it.

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Speaker 2: It's not in her to have And that makes me

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Speaker 2: feel really hopeful. And and so that's I'm gonna I'm

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Speaker 2: gonna leave it there. But this story about Doctor King

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Speaker 2: and Star Trek, I was not expecting it to get

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Speaker 2: me as much as it did. And when I read

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Speaker 2: that quote about him saying no, no, no, no, you

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Speaker 2: don't understand you are marching, You're you're doing it right,

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Speaker 2: now that I kind of started tearing up at my desk,

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Speaker 2: and I was not expecting that in a story about

436
00:26:43,080 --> 00:26:43,600
Speaker 2: Star Trek.

437
00:26:43,640 --> 00:26:53,359
Speaker 1: And this is one aspect right of Star Trek, just

438
00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:56,760
Speaker 1: as it is one aspect of the civil rights movement,

439
00:26:57,240 --> 00:27:01,919
Speaker 1: one that people may not be entirely aware of. And

440
00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:05,320
Speaker 1: thanks so much for listening. We want to hear from you.

441
00:27:05,600 --> 00:27:10,280
Speaker 1: Do you consider yourself a trekky? If so, please please

442
00:27:10,320 --> 00:27:12,240
Speaker 1: go easy on us, right, Noel.

443
00:27:12,080 --> 00:27:16,119
Speaker 2: Oh Man, Please, we're we're very dainty, little baffodils or

444
00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:17,800
Speaker 2: very ridiculous system, So.

445
00:27:17,760 --> 00:27:20,120
Speaker 1: Please please go easy us and let us know what

446
00:27:20,280 --> 00:27:27,120
Speaker 1: other cultural impacts you believe came about via Star Trek. Also,

447
00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:30,200
Speaker 1: let us know if you have other examples of ways

448
00:27:30,320 --> 00:27:35,120
Speaker 1: in which fiction and culture in the arts moved culture

449
00:27:35,119 --> 00:27:36,520
Speaker 1: as a whole forward.

450
00:27:36,760 --> 00:27:39,480
Speaker 2: And speaking of examples, here are a few examples of

451
00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:46,080
Speaker 2: listener males that didn't hurt our feelings. All right, First,

452
00:27:46,119 --> 00:27:50,080
Speaker 2: we have one from two too and he said to

453
00:27:50,080 --> 00:27:52,680
Speaker 2: pronounce it that way, and the subject is an extra

454
00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:55,440
Speaker 2: trivia for the Great Stink episode, which was a fun

455
00:27:55,520 --> 00:27:57,679
Speaker 2: one to do for us. Dear Ben and Nola, warmest

456
00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:00,240
Speaker 2: greetings from Malaysia. I'm a listener to the show since

457
00:28:00,240 --> 00:28:02,440
Speaker 2: its inception, and I've enjoyed the various topics you guys

458
00:28:02,480 --> 00:28:05,440
Speaker 2: have put out so far. Your most recent episode on

459
00:28:05,480 --> 00:28:07,800
Speaker 2: the Great Stink of London was definitely an interesting take

460
00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:10,560
Speaker 2: on the matter, adding some depth and perspective for me

461
00:28:10,720 --> 00:28:12,880
Speaker 2: on the subject since I last heard it being mentioned

462
00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:15,840
Speaker 2: in another house Stuff Works podcast plug Stuff to Blow

463
00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:19,359
Speaker 2: Your Minds episode on miasma theory and the Evil Air.

464
00:28:19,400 --> 00:28:21,359
Speaker 2: We didn't talk about the evil air, but yeah, that

465
00:28:21,359 --> 00:28:25,320
Speaker 2: miasma theory is a doozy. Both your show and STBYM

466
00:28:25,359 --> 00:28:29,040
Speaker 2: covered the historical figure John Snow, while your show additionally

467
00:28:29,040 --> 00:28:30,960
Speaker 2: covered the figure John Harrington.

468
00:28:31,119 --> 00:28:32,040
Speaker 1: This is interesting.

469
00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:34,359
Speaker 2: What I found to be a missed opportunity for you

470
00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:36,920
Speaker 2: guys may be a little trivial, he said it was trivia.

471
00:28:37,880 --> 00:28:40,719
Speaker 2: Yet I can't help but mention that Kit Harrington, who

472
00:28:40,800 --> 00:28:44,600
Speaker 2: portrays HBO's Game of Thrones character John Snow, at least

473
00:28:44,600 --> 00:28:46,520
Speaker 2: according to the actor himself, and then he gives us

474
00:28:46,520 --> 00:28:50,520
Speaker 2: a link, is a descendant of said John Harrington.

475
00:28:51,040 --> 00:28:53,720
Speaker 1: What casey can we get a like a.

476
00:28:57,400 --> 00:29:01,080
Speaker 2: Perfect He goes on, right, he does go on, He says,

477
00:29:01,080 --> 00:29:04,640
Speaker 2: talk about coincidences. Perhaps you guys were aware, but opted

478
00:29:04,640 --> 00:29:07,280
Speaker 2: not to mention due to its triviality. No, sir, I

479
00:29:07,320 --> 00:29:09,320
Speaker 2: can tell you we were not, as you just heard

480
00:29:09,360 --> 00:29:11,720
Speaker 2: our minds being blown, and they are in fact all

481
00:29:11,760 --> 00:29:13,600
Speaker 2: over the walls right now. But just in case you

482
00:29:13,640 --> 00:29:16,360
Speaker 2: guys weren't aware, I thought you might find the little

483
00:29:16,360 --> 00:29:18,760
Speaker 2: tidbit amusing at least. Anyway, Thanks a bunch for putting

484
00:29:18,760 --> 00:29:20,560
Speaker 2: the show together. It's been a pretty cool addition to

485
00:29:20,600 --> 00:29:22,880
Speaker 2: my podcast library that I listen to during my daily

486
00:29:22,960 --> 00:29:25,960
Speaker 2: drive to work. Looking forward to more great episodes regards two.

487
00:29:26,320 --> 00:29:28,960
Speaker 1: Thanks so much too. As Reddit likes to say, today,

488
00:29:29,120 --> 00:29:33,840
Speaker 1: I learned, and we have one more listener mail here.

489
00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:37,200
Speaker 1: We been getting so many awesome listener mails it's difficult

490
00:29:37,240 --> 00:29:38,240
Speaker 1: to choose just one.

491
00:29:38,320 --> 00:29:39,000
Speaker 2: I know, it really is.

492
00:29:39,320 --> 00:29:42,120
Speaker 1: So we're going to save all the butter Smuggler stuff

493
00:29:42,160 --> 00:29:43,200
Speaker 1: for another episode.

494
00:29:43,320 --> 00:29:44,680
Speaker 2: I agree. That's going to be a fun one.

495
00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:47,280
Speaker 1: And there are some great things about language. I got

496
00:29:47,280 --> 00:29:49,560
Speaker 1: to stop telling everybody about the emails we're going to.

497
00:29:49,680 --> 00:29:51,000
Speaker 2: You know, listener mail spoilers.

498
00:29:51,080 --> 00:29:51,280
Speaker 1: Dude.

499
00:29:51,360 --> 00:29:53,800
Speaker 2: Yeah, we'll just five year statute of limitations on that.

500
00:29:54,080 --> 00:29:57,280
Speaker 1: We'll just be so great if somebody send us an

501
00:29:57,320 --> 00:29:59,560
Speaker 1: email five years before we did the show is time

502
00:29:59,600 --> 00:30:03,680
Speaker 1: travel possible different episode. Here's an email from Jared P.

503
00:30:04,320 --> 00:30:06,760
Speaker 1: Jared P writes, ohoy, fellas, I'm a new fan of

504
00:30:06,840 --> 00:30:08,880
Speaker 1: the show. I've been binge listening to catch up. You

505
00:30:08,920 --> 00:30:09,680
Speaker 1: guys are great.

506
00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:10,600
Speaker 2: Thank you, Jared.

507
00:30:11,320 --> 00:30:13,840
Speaker 1: Jared continues, I lived in Japan for three years and

508
00:30:13,880 --> 00:30:17,560
Speaker 1: my wife is Japanese. The KFC x miss I choose

509
00:30:17,560 --> 00:30:20,400
Speaker 1: to write x mess out of sheer laziness. Notes phenomenon

510
00:30:20,440 --> 00:30:23,040
Speaker 1: has been around a long time, over twenty five years.

511
00:30:23,240 --> 00:30:25,600
Speaker 1: Everything I know of it is that it caught on

512
00:30:25,720 --> 00:30:30,560
Speaker 1: after a successful ad campaign. Most Japanese folks don't celebrate Christmas,

513
00:30:30,560 --> 00:30:32,840
Speaker 1: and those that do enjoy it for the commercial side

514
00:30:32,840 --> 00:30:36,800
Speaker 1: of it more than any religious connotations. Most Japanese people

515
00:30:36,840 --> 00:30:40,360
Speaker 1: think of x mess in American stereotypes, so doing something

516
00:30:40,400 --> 00:30:44,320
Speaker 1: American on that American holiday, like eating fried chickens suddenly

517
00:30:44,400 --> 00:30:47,560
Speaker 1: isn't so crazy. They also don't consume fried chicken and

518
00:30:47,600 --> 00:30:49,600
Speaker 1: burgers at the rate we do, so it's a bit

519
00:30:49,600 --> 00:30:52,840
Speaker 1: of a special occasion to go to those fast food places.

520
00:30:53,200 --> 00:30:56,200
Speaker 1: KFC was the first successful fast food chain in Japan,

521
00:30:56,480 --> 00:30:59,880
Speaker 1: and it's still popular today. Kentucky, as it's known here,

522
00:31:00,120 --> 00:31:03,040
Speaker 1: tastes like a somehow less greasy, healthier fried chicken version

523
00:31:03,080 --> 00:31:06,360
Speaker 1: of the American original, if that makes any sense. They

524
00:31:06,400 --> 00:31:08,720
Speaker 1: offer rules, which is a bummer. If you're a biscuit fan,

525
00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:10,920
Speaker 1: it's not bad. But if you're there and wanting to

526
00:31:10,960 --> 00:31:15,400
Speaker 1: explore Japan's take on American fast food and McDonald's Tarryaki.

527
00:31:14,920 --> 00:31:18,000
Speaker 2: Burger is where it's act like a good tariokey burger,

528
00:31:18,400 --> 00:31:20,880
Speaker 2: I agree, we should go. We should try it.

529
00:31:21,640 --> 00:31:25,040
Speaker 1: Unrelated, he concludes, I love the teaser of sorts about

530
00:31:25,040 --> 00:31:27,440
Speaker 1: North Korea making a Godzilla movie. Keep up the great

531
00:31:27,480 --> 00:31:30,000
Speaker 1: show and feel free to go down the Kim Jong

532
00:31:30,240 --> 00:31:31,920
Speaker 1: Ill rabbit hole anytime.

533
00:31:32,040 --> 00:31:35,280
Speaker 2: Cheers Jeed. I'm still really gonna lean on my idea

534
00:31:35,280 --> 00:31:37,720
Speaker 2: of a rap name as being Kim Jong Ill, but

535
00:31:37,840 --> 00:31:40,880
Speaker 2: just spelled like licensed to ill, you know, like ill.

536
00:31:41,360 --> 00:31:43,400
Speaker 2: I think it'll be lost on ears, though when you

537
00:31:43,440 --> 00:31:46,200
Speaker 2: say it's me, the rapper Kim Jong Ill, people are

538
00:31:46,240 --> 00:31:48,560
Speaker 2: like booo, maybe poor taste.

539
00:31:48,720 --> 00:31:49,920
Speaker 1: Maybe Kim Jong two Ill.

540
00:31:50,640 --> 00:31:53,120
Speaker 2: That's pretty good, Kim Jong two Ill. I like that.

541
00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:56,040
Speaker 2: Speaking of burger stuff, did you hear that Sonic is

542
00:31:56,040 --> 00:31:58,920
Speaker 2: coming out with a burger that's fifty percent beef and

543
00:31:58,960 --> 00:32:02,960
Speaker 2: fifty percent mushroom and it's supposedly like this green thing

544
00:32:03,160 --> 00:32:06,040
Speaker 2: that like the conservationists are praising them for.

545
00:32:06,320 --> 00:32:07,240
Speaker 1: Really I would try it.

546
00:32:07,320 --> 00:32:09,920
Speaker 2: No, it sounds good. I love a good mushroom. I

547
00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:11,120
Speaker 2: love a good burger.

548
00:32:11,800 --> 00:32:15,080
Speaker 1: So you can probably tell by you can probably tell

549
00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:19,840
Speaker 1: folks by the theme of our conversation that it's time

550
00:32:19,880 --> 00:32:22,840
Speaker 1: for us to take a lunch break. So we are

551
00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:26,240
Speaker 1: going to head out now. We'd like to think two.

552
00:32:26,400 --> 00:32:29,360
Speaker 1: We'd like to thank Jared. Where would we be without

553
00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:31,800
Speaker 1: Casey Pegram, So thanks to him.

554
00:32:31,880 --> 00:32:35,080
Speaker 2: And also thanks to David Dennis for writing how Mlka

555
00:32:35,200 --> 00:32:37,840
Speaker 2: influenced the direction of Star Trek for how stuff Works,

556
00:32:38,120 --> 00:32:41,360
Speaker 2: and to our composer Alex Williams, who wrote our theme.

557
00:32:41,760 --> 00:32:43,080
Speaker 2: Most importantly, thanks to you.

558
00:32:43,560 --> 00:32:46,360
Speaker 1: If you want to take a page from a Jed

559
00:32:46,480 --> 00:32:49,880
Speaker 1: and Two's book, go ahead and write to us with

560
00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:55,120
Speaker 1: your suggestions, your reactions, your feedback on this and any

561
00:32:55,160 --> 00:32:56,240
Speaker 1: other episode, and.

562
00:32:56,320 --> 00:32:59,480
Speaker 2: Please do yourselves and us a favor and join us

563
00:32:59,520 --> 00:33:03,000
Speaker 2: for our next episode where we talk about animal spies.

564
00:33:03,760 --> 00:33:06,600
Speaker 2: I'm just gonna leave it right there, see you guys later.

565
00:33:15,600 --> 00:33:19,400
Speaker 2: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

566
00:33:19,520 --> 00:33:21,640
Speaker 2: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,