In which we discuss Apple TV+'s Foundation, S3E05 - "Where Tyrants Spend Eternity."

We didn't love this episode as much as the last one. Do you remember the Star Trek Episode "Court Martial?" It's the one where Captain Kirk is accused of murdering Lt. Commander Benjamin Finney. It's a little like that.

The climax of the episode comes when Kirk's attorney, Samuel T. Cochran, deploys the Chewbacca defense. He starts with, "Ladies and gentlemen of the supposed jury, this is Chewbacca. Chewbacca is a Wookiee from the planet Kashyyyk. But Chewbacca lives on the planet Endor. Now think about it; that does not make sense!" Eventually, he concludes, "If Chewbacca lives on Endor, you must acquit," and Kirk goes free.

Also, this description does not make sense. There's a lot of that going on.

Join us as we talk about Foundation, S3E04, "The Stress of Her Regard." It's an episode so big, so intense, and so seismic that it'll take FOUR of us to talk about it!

In 1893, Nikola Tesla invented an earthquake machine! Legend has it that by 1898, the machine was so powerful that neighbors called the police, afraid that Tesla's laboratory was about to shake itself apart!

If you want to wreak that much havoc in the Foundation Universe, you ask Roxann Dawson to direct an episode! Hoo doggy, is this one a humdinger!

We're joined by Joel McKennon of the Seldon Crisis Podcast as we break down this earth-shattering, paradigm-shifting, and mind-blowing installment!

Don't miss this one! The entire galaxy might be trying to shake itself apart!

We discuss Foundation, S3E03, "When a Book Finds You."

Now, you may find yourself grooving in a Kalgan rave.

Or, you may find yourself with an intuitive giraffe.

Or, you may find yourself in the stacks of a large imperial library.

Or, you may find yourself with a dubious prince, with a dubious beard.

So you may ask yourself, "Huh, how did I get here?"

It was the book. The book found you as it found us all. But what was the book?

Was it some needlepoint mathematics in a Toblerone box, or Foundation and Empire?

It could have been The Zen of Positronic Robots by Sunmaster 74, or even How to Subjugate the Galaxy On Less Than 30 Altairian Dollars a Day by Magnifico Giganticus!

It almost certainly wasn’t The Sensuous Dirty Old Man by Dr. A.

So join us! Come along for the ride as we discuss what we’re calling “Possibly the best episode of season three so far!” You’ll be glad you did!

In which we talk about Foundation S3E02, "Shadows in the Math."

Spoiler Alert! You know what to do!

The pieces are starting to fall into place!

S3E02 begins with a brief review of how the Second Foundation has evolved over the past 150 years! We see the Mule trying to consolidate power on Kalgan and get to meet Torin and Bayta! Meanwhile, the Cleons each seem to be going off the rails in their own, wildly diverging direction.

We talk about it. Do we make sense of it all? There are still a lot more questions than answers!

Plus, our first Laura Burn! Don't miss it!

And don't forget to join the conversation at r/StarsEndPodcast on Reddit!

Let's GO!

In which we discuss Apple TV+'s Foundation, S3E01, "A Song For The End of Everything."

Now we're into the meat of our new even-numbered season as we finally have a real teevee episode to talk about! As always, this way lies spoilers. If you care about such things, get thee to the platform! We'll be here when you're ready!

The premier is dense, and it's a barn-burner! We welcome the return of friend of the podcast, Alexander Siddig! We recognize Brothers Dawn and Dusk, but we're not sure what we should call the other guy. Is Demerzel having a mid-life crisis? Is that guy really the Mule? Where's Bayta? And what is it with the name "Han," anyway?

So we have questions! Do we have answers? Tune in and see!

Let's GO!

It's an even-numbered season of the Stars End podcast! You know what that means! Our Second Interregnum has come to a close! The big news, of which you're already, no doubt, aware, is the return of Foundation to Apple TV+! New episodes are officially set to appear in a mere 65 hours or so! We're here and we're ready! We're going to watch 'em! We're gonna talk about 'em! It's why we came together as a podcast to begin with!

There's still some of Season 5 in Post-Production. We'll get that out in parallel with season 6!

And we had a question from a listener about whether we have a forum where those interested could find the three of us. Our Twitter account used to serve that purpose, but you know we've mostly evacuated from that cesspool. We've established a new beachhead on Reddit, and all three of us can now be found at r/StarsEndPodcast!

Here are the "official teaser" that came out a few weeks ago and the official trailer!

In this episode, we continue to drift along The Currents of Space, floating into chapters 7 through 12. This almost coincides with the second installment in Astounding Science Fiction for November 1952 (Chapter 7 was published in October).

This is the middle section of Asimov's middle Galactic Empire Novel (in-universe chronologically, that is). The middle layer of a current is called the laminar flow. It flows somewhat faster than the currents near the water's surface or the riverbed. We'll leave it to you to decide if this part of the novel flows better or more quickly than the rest of the book.

A lot is going on. Rik is regaining his memories and remembering the world of Spacioanalytics, the Five Great Squires are being blackmailed, Rik and Velona escape into space only to be forced into a room to discuss things with Lady Samia of Fife in classic Asimovian style and the Townsman embarks on a spree of killing and craziness that paradoxically culminates in his being stuck on a ship that he can't pilot.

Check out the chapters, then join us for the conversation! Let’s GO!

We start Asimov's third (or second) Galactic Empire Novel, The Currents of Space, by discussing chapters 1 through 6. This nearly corresponds to the first installment published in the October 1952 issue of Astounding Science Fiction which covered 1 through 7.

A friend tells me that our episodes are better when we’re enjoying the stuff that we’re reading.

We certainly enjoy reading The Stars End Mail Bag! This time when we opened it up, it inspired a short conversation about My Living Doll starring Julie Newmar and Bob Something-Or-Other.

And we’re liking The Currents of Space so far! It hits the ground running with a threat of planetary destruction and a hero in the mists of amnesia! This is the Good Doctor’s take on race relations in the American South making it a nice companion to The Caves of Steel which tackled the issue in our northern cities. This gave us a lot to think about!

Like, what year was this written? It looks like the answer is actually 1952 and not 1951 like I, Joseph, thought.

We see parallels to three (count ‘em! 3!) Star Trek episodes! But which ones? Not "The Omega Glory," I'll tell you that much.

Is Ol’ Isaac reading comic books on the side?

And how does this compare to the other Galactic Empire Novels?

Plus, another round of “Where’s Daneel?“ Have we figured that out yet?

And more! You’ll have to listen to find out!