Polygamer - A Podcast of Equality & Diversity in Gaming & Video Games
  • About
  • Episodes
  • Guests
  • Subscribe
  • Contact

Tag Archives: Star Trek

Polygamer #119: Bonnie Gordon of Star Trek & Con Artist

Posted on November 29, 2021 by Ken Gagne

Bonnie Gordon is an actor, voice actor, and musician extraordinaire. Having previously been a Starfleet ensign at Star Trek: The Experience in Las Vegas, she now voices the ship’s computer on the animated series Star Trek: Prodigy. And as part of the Library Bards musical comedy duo, she sings pop culture songs rewritten with nerdy lyrics, from Spider-Man to the Princess Bride. Now she’s back on Kickstarter to crowdfund a solo jazz album, Con Artist, which will blend cover songs with her own original compositions.

In this interview, Bonnie and I talk about what it’s like to be inducted into the annals of Star Trek canon and to continue the legacy of Majel Barrett-Roddenberry; her brief stint reading for Kate Mulgrew’s character of Captain Kathryn Janeway; her creative method for writing parody songs; what motivated her to pursue a solo album, and musicians she’ll be collaborating with; and the defining moments in her life that she hopes to capture in song with Con Artist.

This episode is a collaboration with the Transporter Lock podcast, where it can also be found as episode #84.

Stream the audio edition of this interview below or from Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, Overcast, Pandora, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, RadioPublic, or the Internet Archive. Click past the jump for a transcript and links to resources mentioned in this episode.

https://media.blubrry.com/polygamer/www.polygamer.net/wp-content/uploads/podcast/pg119-bonnie_gordon.mp3

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:16:20 — 88.3MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Pandora | iHeartRadio | Stitcher | TuneIn | RSS | More

Continue reading →
Posted in Podcast | Tags: acting, actor, Bonnie Gordon, Con Artist, crowdfunding, Library Bards, musician, Prodigy, Star Trek, voice acting, voice actor |

Side Quest #1: Star Trek Beyond with Sabriel Mastin

Posted on August 3, 2016 by Ken Gagne

Star Trek Beyond has hit theaters, and it’s astounding. Featuring a script that balances character development with jaw-dropping action from a diverse cast that includes the villain Krall, the alien heroine Jaylah, and respectful nods to Star Trek Enterprise and The Original Series, this third film in the franchise’s rebooted ‘Kelvin’ universe corrects all the missteps in its predecessor, Star Trek Into Darkness.

It may not be a video game, but this movie needs a dedicated podcast episode — so Polygamer alumna Sabriel Mastin and I are co-opting the show this week for a bonus “Side Quest”. We discuss what co-scriptwriters Simon Pegg and Doug Jung got right in this film, whether Beyond passes the Bechdel–Wallace test, what we wore to opening night, the appearance of saucer separation on a TOS-era starship, our favorite scenes (including one that led Ken to disrupt an entire theater), what scientific developments led to the creation of Starbase Yorktown, what happened to Krall in the Prime universe, and what era and timeline the new CBS show, Star Trek Discovery, will be set in.

Stream the audio edition of this interview below or from Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Overcast, Pandora, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, RadioPublic, or the Internet Archive. Click past the jump for links to resources mentioned in this episode.

Continue reading →
https://media.blubrry.com/polygamer/www.polygamer.net/wp-content/uploads/podcast/pg-sq1-star_trek_beyond.mp3

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:03:28 — 29.9MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Pandora | iHeartRadio | Stitcher | TuneIn | RSS | More

Posted in Podcast | Tags: Bones, CBS, Chekhov, Discovery, Gene Roddenberry, Jaylah, Kelvin, Kirk, McCoy, movie, movies, Paramount, Prime, Sabriel Mastin, Scotty, Side Quest, Spock, Star Trek, Star Trek Beyond, Star Trek Discovery, Star Trek Into Darkness, Sulu, Uhura | 1 Comment |

Polygamer #24: Happy Father’s Day, Edward F. Gagne

Posted on June 24, 2015 by Ken Gagne

In celebration of Father’s Day, this week’s guest is the host’s father, Edward F. Gagne. Born in the 1940s, Ed has witnessed the evolution of entertainment across the better half of a century, from early radio shows to black-and-white televisions to the latest home game consoles. Often a curious and early adopter of technology, Ed brought into his household such toys as a pinball table, Atari 2600 game console, and Apple II computer, exposing his four sons to advances that would revolutionize industries. He also fed their love of fantasy and science fiction, tuning the family into Star Trek and bringing home the earliest novels of R. A. Salvatore — when Ed himself wasn’t playing Tetris for literally decades on end!

In this interview, Ken asks his dad what passed for fun in each decade of his life; what it was about each medium that appealed to him; how he hoped to influence his children’s passions and interests with these decisions; and his thoughts on modern video games’ ability to positively or negatively influence today’s youth. Unlike a previous Polygamer episode that interviewed parents currently in the trenches, this episode provides the unique perspective of someone who has already raised the next generation of geek as he reflects back on his life and roles.

Download the audio edition of this interview below or from Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Overcast, Pandora, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, RadioPublic, or the Internet Archive. Click past the jump for links to resources mentioned in this episode as well as a transcript.

Continue reading →
https://media.blubrry.com/polygamer/www.polygamer.net/wp-content/uploads/podcast/pg24-edward_f_gagne.mp3

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:12:36 — 34.2MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Pandora | iHeartRadio | Stitcher | TuneIn | RSS | More

Posted in Podcast | Tags: Apple II, Chrysler, comic books, dad, Edward F. Gagne, EFG, father, Father's Day, Imperial, Kick the Can, parenting, pinball, Pong, programming, Star Trek, Tetris, Visicalc | 1 Comment |

Polygamer #05: Khadeja Merenkov on Cultural Gatekeepers & White Privilege

Posted on September 10, 2014 by Ken Gagne

I recently attended a talk by Boston-based voice actor and ethnographer Khadeja Merenkov about the need to use cultural artifacts accurately and respectfully in video games. Don’t just use a mosque because you like mosques, she advocated; recognize what those objects represent to the culture they come from. I hadn’t previously considered that the inspirations one draws from when creating a fictional game or story need to be taken in context. I asked her onto Polygamer to talk more about how different (non-American) cultures and peoples are portrayed in games. Our discussion ranged from President Obama to Jake Gyllenhaal to Star Trek‘s Captain Sisko.

Watch the video below, or download the audio edition from Apple Podcasts or Stitcher.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

  • Introduction
    • Let’s Play Destiny (PS4)
    • AlterConf
    • Ashe Dryden on Less Than or Equal
    • Women as Background Decoration: Part 2 – Tropes vs Women in Video Games, by Anita Sarkeesian of Feminist Frequency
    • Isometric on GamerGate
    • Indie Investigations interviews Read Only Memories’ Matt Conn
  • Interview
    • Khadeja Merenkov on Twitter
    • Codename Cygnus & Children of Liberty
    • ‘Indieology’: Indies in the Boston Area
    • Boston Indies Lightning Talk: Khadeja Merenkov
    • Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang"
    • Peggy McIntosh’s "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack"
    • Khadeja’s AlterConf profile
    • Women in Games Boston
    • The Complete Djinn Story
    • Jagged Alliance 2 by Darius Kazemi on Kickstarter
    • Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal by Zach Weinersmith

Polygamer explores issues of equality and diversity in the gaming industry. New episodes air every other Wednesday on YouTube and in Apple Podcasts and Stitcher.

https://media.blubrry.com/polygamer/www.polygamer.net/wp-content/uploads/podcast/pg05-khadeja_merenkov.mp3

Podcast: Download (Duration: 58:07 — 30.3MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Pandora | iHeartRadio | Stitcher | TuneIn | RSS | More

Posted in Podcast | Tags: cultural, culture, Deep Space Nine, gatekeeper, gatekeeping, Jake Gyllenhaal, Khadeja Merenkov, Prince of Persia, privilege, Star Trek, voice acting, voice actor |

Subscribe

Get our free email newsletter for updates on equality, diversity, podcasts, and more!
Send voicemailSend voicemail

Leave us a message, and we'll answer it on a future episode!

My Tweets

My Tweets

Recent Posts

  • Polygamer #128: Reflecting on Eight Years
  • Polygamer #127: Helene Utterback on polyamory
  • Polygamer #126: Aenne Schumann of Arcade Spirits
  • Polygamer #125: Game to Grow
  • Polygamer #124: Cyndi Wiley, Iowa State University’s Digital Accessibility Lead

Other podcasts

  • Character Reveal
  • Checkpoint
  • Ethics and Video Games
  • Feminist Frequency Radio
  • Spawn On Me
  • The Weekly Cooldown

Archived podcasts

  • +7 Intelligence
  • Diversi
  • Engage!
  • Fresh Out of Tokens
  • Gayme On
  • Girl on Guy
  • Less Than or Equal
  • Not Just a Game
  • Nuchallenger
  • Take This

CyberChimps WordPress Themes

Creative Commons License Polygamer by Gamebits is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Based on a work at https://www.polygamer.net/. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at https://www.polygamer.net/about/.