Stars End: A Foundation Podcast

With Foundation Season 3 in the rearview, we attempt to take a holistic look at the entire season and put it all into perspective, not just within the show but its production. Spoilers to come as usual!We're joined by Travis Johnson, Friend of Stars End, formerly of the Black Alert Podcast and Star Trek Podigy, both Star Trek Podcasts, and much more!I feel like we're crawling from the wreckage. Travis, however, enjoyed the season and was looking forward to discussing it! I hope we didn't bring him down.But where are we? The Genetic Dynasty? Gone! Demerzel? Melted! The Luminists, Cloud Dominion, and the Galactic Council? Devastated! David Goyer and a lot of the creative staff? Shuffled off! Roxann Dawson? We don't know!Yet, the robot head we're calling Giskard has WiFi, and it looks like robots writ large will become an important force in what's to come.Season 4 has officially been greenlit, but will we actually see it? And is there hope for the narrative going forward? Once again, we try to puzzle it all out! Join us!And don't forget to vote for this year's Hari Awards for Foundational Excellence! Polls close on October 11th!

Hoo boy! That was one hell of a season finale, wasn't it? You may have noticed that none of us were exactly bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as we remonstrated about Foundation's Season 3, Episode 10, "The Darkness."Spoiler Alert, as usual. Of course, you can listen without watching first, but this one needs to be seen to be believed.But there were small photons of light trying to break through the shroud; we were joined for our conversation by Cora Buhlert, the 2022 winner of the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer. Cora has an incandescent and extensive collection of commentary and fiction. Want to check it out? Start at her blog, CoraBuhlert.com! Her latest foray into fiction is "Queen of the Communist Cannibals," published in Cliffhanger Magazine.And speaking of cannibals, how about that David Goyer? Okay, "cannibal" might not be entirely fair, but he recently said that one of the reasons he's stepping away from the show is that he "was having a hard time figuring out how to keep doing my vision of the show on a smaller budget." Is that what this is? Full Metal Belt-Tightening? Who needs to send out pink slips when you're writing the script?

In which we ruminate about Foundation, S3E09, "The Paths that Choose Us." Spoiler Alert, as if that wasn't obvious.If you thought that episode 8 was intense, this one was a philosophical gut punch after another.And they come, fast and powerful.We see the full extent of the Mule's power as Gaal tries to free Warden Greer.And we see Dusk, despite the "genetic drift," doing the most Cleonic Thing possible. If you thought the destruction of Anachreon and Thespis was intense, you'd better buckle up! Sad, alone, and desperate to matter, even his final meal is an act of spite.Demerzel is questioning. Rather than following an efficient, structured algorithm, a plethora of paths try to choose her. Can she find guidance in the Prime Radiant?And finally, Brother Dude has escaped the compost heap and is rushing toward the Imperial Palace with the Brazen Robot Head that we can only call Giskard for some reason. Can Giskard help him make amends with Demerzel? So watch the episode if you haven't yet, and then join us for the show! What does it all mean? We're teetering on the razor's edge. Come see where we fall! Let's GO!

Join us for another barn burner of an episode as we look below the surface of Foundation, S3E08, “Skin in the Game!” Brother Dude goes on trial, Brother Dawn wakes up, and Brother Dusk is up to something so sinister that Demerzel is preconfessing. We're picking up speed as we slide into the inevitable conclusion! Also, what's up with Bayta? Don't miss this one!

Foundation, S3E07, "Foundation's End" is another episode that demands analysis! And has big revelations! Don't tell anyone, but I may have squeed. We have another special guest to help us wrap our heads around this one!Spoiler alerts, as usual. And don't let the title frighten you; we're not going anywhere!In this one, she names the robot that dare not speak its name. Plus, brother dude goes on a trip that makes 2001: A Space Odyssey seem tame in comparison! And a surreal fairy tale that probably has something to do with "the Mule's" backstory! A bit, a bit. To quote the great Hari Seldon, "Tragic story, I wonder how much of it is true."We're joined, once again, by Renaissance Man Extraordinaire, Paul Levinson! Since he was last on the show, Paul has published a short story, "In the Dybbuk's Pocket," and expanded the short story we discussed last time into a novel, It's Real Life: A Natural History of The Beatles. Paul and some friends did a reading from the novel at Big Red Books. You can check that out here!But first, join us for our deconstruction of what Paul calls 'by far the best of all the episodes (of Foundation) so far!" Once again, you don't want to miss this one! Let's GO!!

Let's chat about Foundation, S3E06, "The Shape of Time!" It's a big episode and we have a big guest star to enlarge our conversation.We call this one, "The Shape of the Podcast," and people are already calling it "longer than usual!" As you proceed, be warned! Here be spoilers!If the mark of a great episode is that it becomes even more interesting on a second watch, then this one checks the box!Our big guest hails from a planet that, to paraphrase Douglas Adams, is bigger than the biggest potato ever and then some!We welcome back Rick Tetrault from the ⁠⁠Infinite Potato Alliance⁠! Rick's currently featured on ⁠⁠⁠That Star Trek Podcast⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠Unspeakable: A Call of Cthulu Actual Play Podcast⁠!It's big talk about big developments! Don't miss this one!Let's GO!

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.

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!

We conclude our coverage of The Stars Like Dust ―, with chapters 15 through 22. That corresponds to part 3 of Tyrann as published in The March 1951 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction. "We the People… Do Ordain and Establish this Podcast." As we rejoin our heroes The USS Enterprise, trailer firmly attached by tractor beam, is approaching planet Omega 4. There they find the derelict USS Exeter in orbit. Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Galloway beam over to the Exeter where the entire crew has mysteriously been turned into common rock salt, just like you can buy from any neighborhood hardware store. No, wait. I'm confused. That's the "Omega Glory," S2E23 of Star Trek. I swear, sometimes these Star Trek references just write themselves. Anyway, the beginning of the episode is actually pretty good, but the ending is very, very dumb. So dumb that it lands it in the "So bad you have to see it to believe it" category. Unfortunately for the episode, people only seem to remember that ending. To Asimov's credit, we know that he did not like that ending, Strangely he didn't like it even some 15 years or so before the episode aired. How does that work? I guess you'll have to listen to our episode. Meanwhile, being of a certain age myself, I can't seem to get this little earworm out of my head. Let's all sing along! "Ee Plannista, enor durtofo amo orper fectyoo nion..." Everybody!!

And now we settle in for the second part of the Good Doctor's second novel! Join us as we dust The Stars, Like Dust— with commentary like powdered sugar on a doughnut! Let's chat about chapters nine through fourteen! "The Podcast Was Located in a Little Niche Just Outside the Cabin" If this novel had been feeling a little non-Asenion for your tastes, this installment might be for you! If you love Golan Treveze or the version of Hari Seldon who inhabits the Foundation Prequels, you'll like Biron Ferrill better as this installment goes forward! If you think that there is a bit too much buckling and swashing in the first section, there is a bit of action where Biron overpowers a guard, tying him up with a pair of pantyhose. But once Gil and Artemisia help steal a space ship things settle down to storytelling and discussing galactic goings on as opposed to any actual going or actually doing anything story-inspiring. Plus, it's something that passes for a plot twist! So, let's go! Help us bust the stars like dust with the vacuum of space!

d novel! Join us for The Stars, Like Dust—! In this episode, we sift through chapters one through eight. The Stars, Like Dust is book #003 in the Asimov canon. That's a little misleading. Book #002 I, Robot is a fix-up; most of it had been written years before. This was the second time the Good Doctor sat down to write a book and he intended to write a Novel with a capital "N." He wasn't having a good time of it. Walter Bradbury, Asimov's editor, had liked Pebble in the Sky and wanted a follow-up but he also wanted an outline and a couple of sample chapters. Bradbury rejected the first two proposals. John Jenkins of AsimovReviews.net put it this way. "...now that he was a Novelist, Asimov was thinking he needed to write like one and was getting carried away. Rather than his sticking to his usual sparse prose, he was getting distinctly florid, and he needed to tone things down." That's what comes from trying to write a Novel with a capital "N" I suppose. To make matters worse, when Galaxy Science Fiction bought the right to serialize the novel Horace Gold insisted on a subplot that Asimov really didn't care for. But now it was time to sit down and write, which is what our good friend Isaac does best. Join us to see how the book turned out! This reading coincides with the installment published in the January 1951 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction under the title Tyrann.

We encounter the back cover of the Good Doctor's first actual book as we wrap up The Pebble in the Sky with chapters 14 through 22. If you've been around for a while you probably remember our discussions of the "Great Man Theory of History" vs the "Bottom-Up" paradigm. In other words, do remarkable individuals with unique characteristics write history or is it driven by powerful historical forces that generate great leaders when needed? It's a false dichotomy, but a useful one. In the Foundation Universe, the bottom-up theory must dominate otherwise psychohistory could not work the way it does. But Joseph Schwartz is just the right Jewish tailor with a special kind of trick memory who is accidentally thrust to an exact moment in Earth's future. Once there he is brought to the only scientist on Earth doing a particular type of brain research. He then survives a dangerous experiment that gives him an unlikely set of psychic powers which he uses to save the lives of nearly every human in the galaxy. Put those numbers into your Prime Radiant and crunch them! This probably delayed the creation of psychohistory by hundreds of years. "I just don't understand it, Hari, the math says everyone in the galaxy should be dead right now." For additional content check out Of Pebbles and Pulps, exclusively at StarsEndPodcast.com.

Here's your chance to join the discussion about Pebble in the Sky, Chapters 7 through 13! Also, we'll open up the Stars End Mailbag and talk about Star Trek: Discovery! A lot of us who are past the point where we would be culled by the 60 take supplements to, theoretically, help improve our memory. Just the other day I couldn't remember the title of the Star Trek episode "Return to Tomorrow." That was no fun. I think most of us would like to be at least a little smarter and maybe some of what would come from a device like the synapsifier could be helpful. I'll pass on the parts about being lost in the department store, wandering about the automat, or being driven mad by the thoughts of strangers. Those don't sound fun either. "Lost in the Supermarket" by the Clash might sum up all of these potential side effects. It would though, improve a podcast, to a point. Remembering what we want to say would help quite a bit. And having perfect recall would save a lot of note-taking. But telepathic communications would ruin things even with state-of-the-art recording equipment unless an hour of silence would be an improvement. In the meantime, we'll muddle through and bring you the best podcast possible with regular brains and imperfect memory!

We begin our conversation about Pebble in the Sky with Chapters 1 through 6. Isaac Asimov is famously prolific; if you know one thing about the Great and Glorious Az it might be that he wrote more than 500 books. Asimov-Reviews.net puts the number at 514 counting the Good Doctor's dissertation. Asimov.Fandom.com puts the number at a much more modest 506. Why is this relevant? Well, Pebble in the Sky is Asimov Book #001; it's the first thing he wrote that got stuck between its own two covers (unless you count his dissertation, which he did not). It's also only his first novel even though he had already been writing professionally for eleven years. Most of I, Robot and the Foundation Trilogy were in the rearview mirror; those quickly became books 002, 004, 006, and 009. Pebble in the Sky is also a lot of fun! Don't miss it as we delve into this significant moment in Asenion history! Let's GO!

In which we talk about "Cal" and "The Fun They Had" with special guest Rachel from the Menuscript Podcast. "Cal" has been called "the last great Asimov short story" and it looks like it's his very last robot story. Cal is a robot who learns how to write ficton and over the course of the story becomes an odd sort of Asimov avatar. "The Fun They Had," is one of the Great and Glorious Az's most reprinted works featuring a student thinking back to how great school must have been back in the long, long ago of the 20th century. We're joined by special guest Rachel Schwartzbard who has just started her own podcast, the Menuscript, which is excellent. She'll talk about it in this episode. You don't want to miss that and afterward, you'll want to checkout her podcast! The stories and Rachel's pocast can be found right here. The Menuscript Podcast by Rachel Schwartzbard The Fun They Had by Isaac Asimov and Cal by Isaac Asimov Let's GO!