Category: Issac Asimov

Stars End S3E06

“The Podcast Was Alone in the Galaxy for Thousands of Years – Millions of Years”

Did you know that sleep podcasts are a thing? Podcasts that people listen to go to sleep.

You can imagine it, can’t you?  Someone like Sam Waterston, Tony Shalhoub, or Jane Lynch probably reading poetry in a quiet, soothing voice.  Like, what?  I don’t know.  Something in the public domain probably.  Wordsworth?

Calm is all nature as a resting wheel.  
The kine are couched upon the dewy grass;  
The horse alone, seen dimly as I pass,  
Is cropping audibly his later meal…

I’m sleepy already.  Most poets will do, but not Emily Dickinson.  Everyone who’s anyone knows that all of her poems can be sung to the tune of the Yellow Rose of Texas.  Try it, it’s fun!

Because I could not stop for Death-  
He kindly stopped for me-   
The Carriage held but just Ourselves-   
And Immortality.

We’re not one of those. If you’re reading along with us, this time we’re talking about “Heatsink” and “Billibotton” from Prelude to Foundation.

We’ve left the depilated pates of Mycogen behind, but the strangeness remains.  Hari and Dors arrive in Dahl, where all the men luxuriate in their impressive black mustaches and sweaty people provide half of Trantor’s power while in various states of undress.  Also, Dors buys TWO knives (“I’ve got two hands,” she explains) and she and Hari fight off a bunch of street toughs.  Plus we meet Hari’s future adoptive son Raych and hear the first arcane and enigmatic legends of a planet called “Earth.”

Plus, a bonus: Foundation shines at the Visual Effects Society Awards!

Join us! No one could fall asleep to this one!

Stars End S3E05

“We Have Something Far Better than Religion We Have a Podcast”

Introducing this episode puts me in mind of Tom Lehrer’s Alma, which was inspired by, as he puts it, “the juiciest, spiciest, raciest obituary it has ever been my pleasure to read.”  The amount of prime humor that one mathematician can fit into a three-and-a-half-minute sound clip is impressive.

Hari Seldon, our protagonal mathematician, isn’t nearly so funny.  In fact, he seems to take himself quite seriously.  But he does get to participate in the juiciest, spiciest, raciest scene in the entire Asimov canon.  And that includes the non-fiction.

That scene is also startlingly strange.  We’ll talk about it.  Then we’ll move on to other grandiose notions like the nature of religion, governmental ethics, and Pascal’s Wager.  Also, there is a robot!

Join us as we follow Hari and Dors through the remainder of their sojourn in Mycogen.  You’ll be glad you did!

Stars End S3E04

“The Podcast as a Whole in its Full Complexity Cannot Be Represented By any Simulation Smaller Than Itself”

After our break, we’re back to reading Prelude to Foundation and things are starting to get weird. Dors and Hari finally journey to Mycogen as we embark on a Voyage to the Space Amish, with apologies to A. E. Van Vogt.

This one has it all! Dors and Chetter deconstructing Hari’s trip to Upperside ad nauseam! Bad bald caps (Boy, does Issac like the word “pate!”)! Rigidly defined gender roles! Lots of complaining! Dors and Hari don’t understand their room! More complaining! And Hari drags some poor guy out of bed in the middle of the night to make him a sandwich. Let’s just say he’s not the ideal guest. Also with some more apologies, this time to Rod Serling, there’s an iPad… and IT’S A COOKBOOK!

Also a new Apple TV+ Minute! Buckle up! This one will be fun!

Stars End S3E03

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I think I need to listen to “Flowers in the Dirt” again.  That’s the 1989 Paul McCartney album where Sir Paul collaborated with Elvis Costello.  I was hoping that Elvis might bring some of the sharper edges that John Lennon brought to the Lennon-McCartney songwriting duo.  No such luck as I recall but maybe 32 years farther on I’ll hear something new.

What brought that up?  Well with Hari on the mend from his excursion to Upperside we’ve decided to take a quick break from Prelude to Foundation before we begin our excursion to Mycogen.

We’re joined this time by Paul Levinson; Fordham University Professor, author, singer-songwriter, podcaster, and all-around renaissance human.  Lots of that springs from his philosophy, “If I enjoy something, I try to do it,” he says.  We chat about robots, the Foundation, robots, Asimov, robots, artificial intelligence, robots, and lots of other things.  Also robots.

Want to know more about Paul?  Check out his blog, Paul Levinson’s Infinite Regress, his podcast Light On Light Through, or his Twitter feed, @PaulLev. You can take it from there.

Oh, and that “Flowers in the Dirt” thing? That was mentioned in Paul’s new short story, “It’s Real Life,” an alternate history story involving the Beatles. You can read that for free here.

But first, our latest Episode: “Your Podcast is Obscure but I Think I Understand.” Let’s go!

Stars End S3E02

“The History of Podcasts is Full of Simple Questions That Had Only the Most Complicated of Answers or None At All”

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Our second conversation about Prelude to Foundation, in which we discuss “Library,” “Upperside,” and “Rescue.”

It was 1-degree Fahrenheit when we recorded this episode. That’s -17 Celcius to the rest of the world. I personally prepared for this episode by running around outside dressed as though I still lived in Florida or on Helicon, maybe. Then I rearranged all my bookshelves and wondered if I could create a model that would predict the future of the Marvel Universe.

In these chapters, Hari gets settled in at Streeling University and begins working on Psychohistory in earnest.  We also meet Dors Venabili who knows her way around a history library and is a quick study at Tennis. And Hari goes for a stroll to get some fresh air; that’s easier said than done on Trantor.

Also Trees! And our first M*A*S*H reference!  Don’t miss it!

Stars End S3E01

“The More Complex a Podcast the More Likely It is to Become Chaotic”

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In the criminal justice system, the podcast is represented by two separate, but equally important kinds of seasons.  The odd-numbered seasons, which directly discuss Asimov’s Foundation and the even-numbered seasons that talk about the Apple TV+ series.

So now we start the interregnum between seasons 1 and 2 of Apple TV’s Foundation.  That’s our cue to start Stars End season 3.  That’s as many seasons as Gilligan’s Island or the original Star Trek but far fewer than Law & Order.  We’re shooting for the latter.

We have a plan and if you follow our plan and listen to our podcast it will seem like far less than 30,000 years until we start to get new episodes of the teevee show.

In this episode, we start discussing Prelude to Foundation in which we meet Eto Demerzel and begin Hari Seldon’s long journey to create Psychohistory.  If you’re reading along this time we talk about the first three sections, “Mathematician,” “Flight,” and “University.” But whether you’re reading along or not, let’s go!  This will be fun!

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!

New Trailer

Not much to say yet, we’re still digesting, we just got this a few minutes ago. Looks spectacular!