The Trek Files: A Roddenberry Star Trek Podcast

On September 8, 1966, Star Trek made its American television debut. But just days earlier, Gene Roddenberry was in Cleveland trying to convince some science fictionfans that his new television series deserved to be taken seriously.
On this special 60th anniversary edition of The Trek Files, Glen E. Swanson, author of Inspired Enterprise, returns to examine Roddenberry's appearance at Tricon, the 24th World Science Fiction Convention, over Labor Day weekend in 1966. Our document of the week is the March 8 invitation from Tricon chairman Ben Jason asking Roddenberry to attend the convention, speak to the fans, and bring along both Star Trek pilots. The original Tricon program provides another remarkable artifact: a "sneak preview" of two episodes of a new science-fiction television series called Star Trek.
Television science fiction still had a credibility problem, particularly among fans and writers who had seen Hollywood turn sophisticated ideas into bug-eyed monsters and juvenile adventure. Roddenberry arrived with something to prove: that Star Trek intended to treat science fiction with respect. Glen and Larry explore the expectations surrounding the convention, Roddenberry's deliberate courtship of the science-fiction community, and why taking time away from a frantic production schedule to spend Labor Day weekend in Cleveland may have been one of the smartest promotional decisions he could make.
And that's only half the story. Next week, Glen returns for Part Two, as we examine what actually happened when the lights went down, the Star Trek pilots went up on the screen, and the legend of Tricon began.
Related Documents
Letter from Ben Jason to Gene Roddenberry — March 8, 1966
Tricon Program Book — 24th World Science Fiction Convention, Cleveland, Ohio, 1966
Additional References
Glen E. Swanson – official website
Glen E. Swanson at the Internet Movie Database
Inspired Enterprise
"Mission Impossible: How Star Trek Used the Aerospace Community to Try and Win an Emmy" — Glen E. Swanson, The Space Review

Recorded live at STLV, filmmaker and author Jeffrey Morris returns to The Trek Files with a 1989 research report on the landmark Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Who Watches the Watchers." The production notes scrutinize everything from radiation exposure and memory modification to the logic of sending Riker and Troi undercover, and even question whether Picard telling a Mintakan to "shoot me" feels a little too much like a Kirk move.
Morris calls "Who Watches the Watchers" not his favorite or even the best episode of Star Trek, but the most important: a story about a society struggling out of superstition and fear, and Picard's determination not to push it backward. Drawing from his book "A Future Askew," Morris and Larry Nemecek consider whether our own civilization is approaching a similar crossroads, retreating from science, diplomacy and accumulated knowledge at precisely the moment we need them most. 
From the Prime Directive to fandom activism to the responsibilities of ordinary people, the discussion comes back to a simple idea: Star Trek was never really promising us better gadgets. It was imagining what might happen if humanity finally chose to grow up.
Document of the week:
David Paige Research Report — "Who Watches the Watchers," Second Draft Outline — June 19, 1989

Additional references:
Jeffrey Morris — A Future Askew: Urgent Essays Inspired by the 60th Anniversary of Star Trek
"Who Watches the Watchers"
Michael Okuda
The Making of Star Trek

Norman Spinrad's original March 1967 story outline for "The Planet Eater" introduced Star Trek to an unstoppable machine roaming the galaxy, consuming planets for fuel and leaving destruction in its wake. By the time it reached television, the story had a new title, "The Doomsday Machine," and became one of the most celebrated episodes of the original series.
Author and filmmaker Jeffrey Morris joins Larry Nemecek at Star Trek Las Vegas to revisit that original outline and consider its warning through a distinctly 21st-century lens. Drawing from his new book, A Future Askew, Jeffrey explores artificial intelligence, social media, technological disruption, and the increasingly complicated distance between the optimistic future Star Trek imagined and the one we're actually building.
Could today's rapidly developing technology become our own version of the Planet Eater: enormously powerful, increasingly autonomous, and ultimately beyond the understanding of its creators? Sixty years after Star Trek began imagining the future, an old-fashioned doomsday machine provides a surprisingly timely place to ask where we're headed next.

Document of the week:
"The Planet Eater" by Norman Spinrad — Story Outline, March 6, 1967
Additional references:
Jeffrey Morris — A Future Askew: Urgent Essays Inspired by the 60th Anniversary of Star Trek
"The Doomsday Machine"
If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies: Why Superhuman AI Would Kill Us All - by Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares 
Center for Humane Technology
The Social Dilemma
Borg
V'Ger

What did Star Trek fans have to say in 1976?
John Champion returns to The Trek Files for a look through Gene Roddenberry's fan correspondence. This season's selection captures a moment in Star Trek history, ten years after the original series debuted, but before the arrival of Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
A Cincinnati attorney credits Spock's logic for helping persuade a jury. An artist shares his hand-painted "Mr. Spock" portrait… on an egg. A teacher explains how she's bringing Star Trek into the classroom, while another fan gently reminds Gene that he still owes her friend for a videotape.
Documents and Additional References
Fan corresponsence with Gene Roddemberry - 1976
Letters to Star Trek by Susan Sackett
Gene Roddenberry's Inside Star Trek album
NASA's Space Shuttle Enterprise

Authors John and Maria Jose Tenuto return to The Trek Files to share a seemingly ordinary filming notice distributed to guests at the Monterey Bay Aquarium during production of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. But for John, it's much more than a production handout, it's a family keepsake.
In April 1986, John's parents unknowingly visited the aquarium on a day when Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, and the Star Trek IV cast were filming. They saved the notice, recorded the production on a home VHS camcorder, and brought home an extraordinary piece of behind-the-scenes history. Decades later, that footage and flyer helped document one of the franchise's most beloved films.
Larry, John, and Mary Jo explore the logistics of filming at a working public aquarium, Leonard Nimoy's commitment to the film's environmental message, and how a family vacation unexpectedly became part of Star Trek history.
Documents and Additional References
Document of the Week
Monterey Bay Aquarium visitor filming notice for Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (April 1986)
Additional References
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Leonard Nimoy
William Shatner
John Tenuto
Maria Jose Tenuto
The Making of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home by John and Maria Jose Tenuto (Titan Books)
Previous The Trek Files appearance by John and Maria Jose Tenuto discussing Star Trek II, Star Trek III, and Star Trek IV production history.