It looks like this year’s Trek Talks is going to be a great one with a stellar lineup. Courtesy of TrekMovie.com, this year’s slate of speakers on the special podcast is a good lineup of Trek stars past and present. First up on the schedule is "From the VO booth to the writer's room." This will feature Gates McFadden (Dr. Beverly Crusher) talking to Tawny Newsome, who played Mariner on Lower Decks.
The talk will center on McFadden bringing up her experiences playing Crusher and how she struggled to have her voice heard in the The Next Generation's writers room. That should be a nice showcase for how actresses and their opinions are taken more seriously today.
Next up is a special look at the Star Trek: Voyager episode “Critical Care’ with Robert Picardo, who played the EMH Doctor. This episode is eerily timely as Voyager finds a planet where medical treatment decisions are based on a patient's social standing, meaning dying patients are ignored as not "worthy."
Picardo will talk with writer Ken Biller and infectious disease expert Dr. Elizabeth Hudson on how the episode's themes resonate even stronger in today's world.
For those who don’t know, Trek Talks was established in 2022, headed up by John Billingsley, who played Doctor Phlox on Enterprise. Co-hosted by Bonnie Gordon of Prodigy, the annual five-day podcast telethon raises funds for the Hollywood Food Coalition via various panels discussing Trek history and its impact on culture.
This is only the first day’s events and more announcements will be coming soon so keep an eye out for updates on who’s taking part in Trek Talks!
Trek Talks begins at 12:45 p.m. ET Saturday, March 28, on YouTube. And for more Star Trek content, visit the Redshirts Always Die Facebook and X pages.