Trek Politics | A Star Trek podcast with Mary L. Trump and Bob Cesca
Episodes
Star Trek Legend Jeri Ryan Torches MAGA Brainwashing | Trek Politics Interview
16 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Recorded in 2023, Star Trek icon Jeri Ryan sits down with Mary Trump and Bob Cesca and sounds the alarm on MAGA brainwashing, cult politics, and Ameri...
Star Trek's Gross Take on Misogyny and A.I. Sex | "I, Mudd" (TOS)
09 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
This week on #TrekPolitics it's "I, Mudd" -- another problematic and, frankly, gross Harry Mudd episode in which we learn he's been having sex with 50...
Human Trafficking, Sexism, and Drug Addiction in Star Trek | "Mudd's Women" (TOS)
02 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
"Mudd's Women" could've been a decent early episode of the original series, but instead it forgave Mudd for enslaving women, keeping them addicted to ...
When Captain Kirk Warned Us About the Dangers of AI | "The Ultimate Computer" (TOS)
23 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Star Trek predicted AI six decades before its arrival. We also get into the billionaires who are exploiting their technology to make themse...
Captain Kirk's Woke Stand Against Bigotry | "Balance of Terror" (TOS)
16 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mary and Bob discuss the greatest episode of Star Trek (original series) and one of the greatest episodes of any Star Trek series. Utterly suspenseful...
Star Trek’s Most Disturbing Political Allegory | "Plato's Stepchildren" (TOS)
09 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
It's the one with the interracial kiss. Beyond the groundbreaking kiss, Mary and Bob try to make sense of the vast weirdness of this episode and disco...
Star Trek’s Complicated Take on Racism | "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" (TOS)
02 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mary and Bob discuss one of the best known episodes of the original series and all of its commentary on racism, slavery, civil rights, Jim Crow, and t...
Star Trek's Wokeness Frightens and Confuses MAGA | Ep. 1 and 2 of Starfleet Academy
26 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mary and Bob review the first two episodes of Starfleet Academy and discuss the MAGA backlash to Star Trek's 60 history of wokeness. Stick around for ...
Star Trek Warns About Climate Hubris | "The Devil in the Dark" (TOS)
19 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mary Trump and Bob Cesca unravel the mystery of the Horta monster in an allegory about industry versus the environment and, by extension, the climate ...
Star Trek’s Most Sexist Episode—Explained | "Turnabout Intruder" (TOS)
12 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Mary Trump and I discuss arguably the most sexist episode of Star Trek (TOS) called “Turnabout Intruder.” And don't forget to like and subscribe, ...
Our Top Three Favorite Episodes of Star Trek (TOS)
05 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
To kick off the 60th anniversary year of Star Trek, Mary Trump and Bob Cesca discuss their top three favorite original series episodes. Make sure to a...
Star Trek's Trippy Take on Empathy in the Face of Cruelty | "The Empath" (TOS)
29 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Mary Trump and Bob Cesca deconstruct the original series episode "The Empath." Kirk, Spock, and Bones encounter an Empath who's being force...
Captain Kirk's Mercy vs Donald Trump’s Cruelty | "Arena" (TOS)
22 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mary Trump and Bob Cesca discuss the classic TOS episode "Arena" about the Enterprise's confrontation with the Gorn and the Metrons. Captain Kirk's ac...
Class Warfare and Torture in "The Cloud Minders" (TOS)
08 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mary Trump and Bob Cesca discuss the season 3 episode of the original series, "The Cloud Minders" about class warfare, income inequality, anti-masking...
The Political Murder Mystery of "Journey to Babel" (TOS)
24 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Mary Trump and Bob Cesca discuss the amazing original series episode JOURNEY TO BABEL, complete with its political intrigue, Federation wor...
Endless War and "A Taste of Armageddon" (TOS)
17 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's episode of Trek Politics, we discuss the original series episode "A Taste of Armageddon" in which Captain Kirk attempts to broker piece...
A Private Little War: When Star Trek Took On America’s War Crimes
10 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mary Trump and Bob Cesca dig into the original series episode "A Private Little War" and it's Vietnam War allegory. What did Gene Roddenberry and the ...
Star Trek's Most Poweful Episode with Actor Spencer Garrett
02 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week's Trek Politics is a companion to our previous podcast about the incredible Next Generation episode "The Drumhead". Bob talks with actor Spe...
It's The One With The Nazis
26 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mary and Bob discuss the S2E23 original series episode "Patterns of Force," in which Kirk and Spock attempt to rescue a history professor who accident...
"The Omega Glory" and the U.S. Constitution
19 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mary Trump and Bob Cesca discuss the dumpster fire that is the original series episode "The Omega Glory." It's a hot mess but its use of the Constitut...
TNG's The Drumhead and Donald's Political Witch Hunts
05 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mary Trump and Bob Cesca discuss The Next Generation episode "The Drumhead" in which an overzealous investigator played by Jean Simmons turns an espio...
Writer Mike Sussman on the Politics of 'Star Trek United' and 'Enterprise'
28 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mary Trump and Bob Cesca catch up with Enterprise and Voyager writer/producer Mike Sussman about his highly anticipated pitch for a proposed series ca...
'Day of the Dove' and Political Violence
21 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mary and Bob review the original series Season 3 episode "Day of the Dove" in which a malevolent entity (that resembles an ocular migraine) feeds off ...
Tim Russ on Donald Trump's Revisionist History
14 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The great Tim Russ returns to Trek Politics to talk about an episode of Voyager he directed called "Living Witness," in which revisionist history is f...
What Is Starfleet? Star Trek values in the Skydance era
06 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Our new season dives into the question raised in Strange New Worlds Season 3: What is Starfleet? Mary and Bob discuss whether Starfleet and the Federa...
Star Trek Las Vegas Politics Panel
18 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We're back with all new episodes! Our first show back is the audio of the Politics of Trek panel from this year's Star Trek Las Vegas convention. The ...
Trek Politics Is On Strike
26 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mary and Bob announce a temporary hiatus for this podcast until the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes are resolved, in essence Trek Politics is joining the vi...
Hollywood on Strike and Kirk Acevedo
19 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We're standing in solidarity with the actors and writers by restricting our conversations to discussions about the strike and the myriad reasons for i...
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tim Russ
12 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mary and Bob talk with the brilliant, funny, and insightful Tim Russ, who played the Vulcan Tuvok on Voyager and Picard Season 3. We dig into Tim's po...
Ad Astra Per Aspera and Todd Stashwick
28 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mary and Bob recap Strange New Worlds S2E2 "Ad Astra Per Aspera" plus civil rights and non-human personhood in Starfleet. And then the spectacular Tod...
Strange New Worlds and Jeri Ryan
21 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We discuss Strange New Worlds S2E1, including false flags and punching Klingons. And then we talked with the inimitable Jeri Ryan, Seven of Nine on Vo...
Introductions and Terry Matalas
14 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to the premiere episode of Trek Politics with Mary Trump and Bob Cesca. The incredible Terry Matalas, showrunner, writer, and director of Star...
Trek Politics Trailer
31 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Premieres June 2023! Subscribe for free here! Trek Politics with Mary L. Trump and Bob Cesca is a deep dive into the socio-political and cultural alle...