Month: September 2021

Stars End S2E02

Season 2 Episode 2 – Podcast History is Littered with Charlatans and False Messiahs

And… here we are! The moment to which we’ve been building. After months of anticipation, we finally have episodes to watch and discuss! And discuss them we do!

Join us for a no-holds-barred conversation about Foundation: Episode 1 – “The Emperor’s Peace” and Episode 2 – “Preparing to Live!”

Don’t want spoilers? Run to your favorite streaming device, find Apple TV+, and watch the episodes! Now! We’ll be here when you’re ready!

Too excited to worry about spoilers? Us too! Dive right in! We’re happy you’re here!

This is it! A teevee series 80 years in the making! Brother Dawn may not be able to save his legacy, but we’re giving a nice polish to Philo T. Farnsworth’s as well as that of The Great and Glorious AZ!

Let’s go!

Coming Attractions

As of today, 25 September 2021, Jon, Dan, and I have watched the first two episodes of Foundation and we’ve recorded Season 2 Episode 2 which starts our analysis!

There are some minor spoilers below, so beware!

One thing that seems to be a near-universal opinion is that the series looks great! I (Joseph) think it goes a bit farther than that. There’s some skillful use of imagery to tie the themes and moments together. This shot impressed me. When we see Gaal, there are frequent images of water. Water is tied closely to her home on Synnax and her religion, or rather, Synnax’s religion. In this scene, Jerril is trying to convince her to denounce psychohistory. Betray Hari, he’s telling her and you can go home. And here, with the two of them shrouded in darkness, with all of the water and all of the mist, is where he makes the case. Jerril is pushing the Empire’s interests and the spaceship and sun are central. Further in the background, those interests are tied to the star bridge. More on this soon!.

Here are each of our first impressions.

Jon: Very different from the book. They had a lot of exposition to do and they did it intelligently. I am left wanting to see what happens. I loved Sid in the courtroom scene! No twisting 😦

Joseph: Here’s my tweet from after the first episode.

Dan: We didn’t expect Hari to end up on the ship, either!

And what about episode 2? What do we think about everything else? You’ll have to listen to our next episode to find out! We look forward to seeing you!

It’s Out! Also Bingo.

Breaking News!

The first two episodes of Asimov’s Foundation have dropped on the Apple TV+ a few hours early. We don’t know if this was by accident or by design.

So get watching! And if you’re so inclined, we provide some Foundation Bingo Cards to enhance your viewing experience, lovingly crafted by our own Jon Blumenfeld. Value added: It’s what we do here at Stars End Podcast.

Enjoy! And please join us for our reactions on our next episode! Personally, I’m hoping to learn how to pronounce “interregnum.”

Stars End S2E01

Season 2 Episode 1 – “All Podcasts Lead to Trantor.”

The naysayers said it would never happen and that our plucky little podcast would never see a second season!  Yet here we are defying the laws of Psychohistory, renewed and ready for the advent of the Apple TV+ series in roughly 24 to 48 hours.

That will be our focus for season 2.  We’ve been waiting with bated breath and our patience (or lack thereof) is about to be rewarded!  We’ll be recording weekly for the duration, unless it turns out that we’re recording weakly… but we’re not going to let that happen!

So, as you count down the final few hours before Foundation hits your teevee, join us for our season premiere where we talk about our hopes and expectations for the show.  Then we can all strap into this metaphorical roller coaster and enjoy this ride together!

Episode 11

As the Manimal threshold fades into the rear-view mirror, we reach our next milestone, with number 11 we now have as many episodes as Cop Rock!  You know, it takes most shows years to get around to a musical episode, but those guys? Musical episode right out of the gate!  Never fear though; Stars End: The Musical is toward the end of our Thousand Year Plan.

Right now, please join us for Episode 11 – A Podcast Has No End.

And podcasts don’t, but books and trilogies do.  We’re at the end of Second Foundation, and we talk about the very last story, “Search by the Foundation,” known as “…And Now You Don’t” when it was published in Astounding.  We’ll meet Bayta Darell’s grandaughter, Arkady, and see a reveal of where the Second Foundation might be followed by the reveal that there is no Second Foundation, followed by another reveal that the Second Foundation might be somewhere else, and then… well, you get the idea.  Plus, we discuss the latest trailer and squeeze in one more round of Asimov Trivia before we start Season 2, coming soon to one of them WWWs near you!

Please join us!