Category: Season 1

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 granddaughter, 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!

https://open.spotify.com/episode/3tQHOkowngydUG5gSfK92O?si=1I-NPGC-SiyFwkS501yIiQ&dl_branch=1

Episode 10

The start of the Apple TV+ series is now less than a month away and we’re approaching the end of our discussion of Asimov’s original trilogy!

Join us for episode ten “Finished Podcasts Are For Decadent Minds.” That’s 10! Our first-round number! And it’s not 10 base-two or 10 base-eight but 10 base-ten! That makes it the tenest ten!

We’ve finally jumped into Second Foundation! We’ll be talking about the first story, “Search by the Mule,” known as “Now You See It” when it appeared in Astounding Science Fiction. See the final fate of Han Pritcher! Learn the ultimate destiny of the Mule! Marvel at the awesome presence of the Second Foundation! Swoon at the other stuff! A podcast 80 years in the making!

Sadly, True Believers, no one claimed the No-Prize from Episode 9; the Hitchhiker’s Guide Reference comes from Chapter 25 when two philosophers, Vroomfondel and Majikthise are confronting Deep Thought about how the ultimate answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything. That could put philosophers out of business you know! Anyhow, at some point, Vroomfondel shouts “We demand rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty!” which I maintain is one of the finest sentences ever written in the language of Shakespeare. And of which I borrowed a bit in episode 9’s description. Always steal from the best and then provide a citation.

But never fear! That was an obscure one! In this Episode’s Asimov Trivia, you’ll have another chance at the glory of a prize that isn’t actually anything! We’ve added an extra question for you folks at home and to make things more interesting we’ll allow multiple winners! No-Prizes will be awarded not only to the correct answer but to any answer with an interesting explanation. Always show your work!

Please join us!

Episode 9

With the Threll of the Las Vegas 55-Year Mission winding down and the excitement of the Apple TV+ Foundation series winding up, now is a perfect time to check out our Stars End Podcast! Whether you’re looking for a new decades-old franchise to enjoy, you want to catch up on some of your favorite old SF before enjoying the new teevee series, or if you’re just looking for something entertaining to listen to at the airport, Stars End can fill that need! We’re not even off-brand yet!

Please join us for Episode 9 – “A Podcast is Best and Most Effective When It Does Not Evaporate In Empty Phrases” as we wrap up Foundation and Empire with the resolution to Episode 8’s cliffhanger and learn the sooper-secret identity of the Mule. Will the Foundation persevere? Will the Mule conquer the Galaxy? What’s up with Bayta? And where the heck is the Second Foundation anyway? All will be revealed as long as it falls outside our rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty. Thus we merely foreshadow Second Foundation which may or may not be about the location of Seldon’s Second Foundation.

Also “Asimov Trivia” and a new game: find the Douglas Adams reference in this very episode description! The first person to identify the reference and comments on it here or to @StarsEndPodcast on Twitter will receive what Stan Lee used to call a “No-Prize.” That’s not really anything, but we’ll mention your name here or something.

Join us! Please rate and review!

Episode 8

Hello, again folks! It’s 8/8 (or if you write dates the European way 8/8) and here we are with Episode 8, “It’s a Dead Hand Against a Living Podcast.” We’re quite proud, we now officially have just as many episodes as Manimal! Imagine! For those of you tracking our milestones, eight is a very round number: It’s “10” in base eight, “20” in base four, and “1000” in base two. Soon, once we’re past the Manimal barrier, we’ll quickly approach an actual, genuine round number. In base ten even. Tom Lehrer tells us that “Base eight is just like base ten really, if you’re missing two fingers” but maybe it will be even better!

As for what’s in store we start off with our “Apple TV+” minute where we see what we can learn from an interview with David Goyer, Foundation‘s show-runner. We have another round of “Asimov Trivia” and discuss the first half of the second half of Foundation and Empire, “The Mule.” One of the highlights of the series.

Coincidently, this part of “The Mule” ran in the November 1945 issue of Astounding Science Fiction which was the first issue to go to press after the Atomic Bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. We’ll take a moment to reflect on John W. Campbell’s editorial from that issue.

Please join us!

Episode 7

All the children danced in the street! “It’s here! It’s here!” they cried! “The seventh episode of Stars End is here!!”

It’s true! Our seventh episode, “Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing a podcast” is now available! Even though we had some technical difficulties (the sound quality isn’t up to our usual standards; our apologies) it’s a great episode!

Cora Buhlert

It’s great in part because it’s different! We’re honored to welcome Cora Buhlert as our first guest on the podcast! Instead of talking about Foundation, we’ll talk to someone else about Foundation. Also, science fiction in general, becoming an SF fan as a kid, Hugo Awards and, a bunch of other stuff.

Cora is an amazingly prolific and eclectic writer. So prolific that Jon joked about her owning “Asimov’s Typewriter” and we suddenly had a new imaginary episode of Warehouse 13 in our heads. So eclectic that no matter your tastes there’s a good chance that she’s written something that you’d enjoy. If you like stories about galactic empires like Foundation, she’s written two full series you might like, In Love and War and Shattered Empire.  She’s also a two-time Hugo Finalist for Best Fan Writer.

I could go on and we do in the Episode. She was an excellent first guest and you can learn more about her at corabuhlert.com.

The episode is also great because it’s the same! We have new installments of our two regular features, the “Apple TV+ Minute” and “Asimov Trivia.: In the Trivia segment, we explore Asimov and Comic Books while in the Apple TV minute we react to the new trailer which you can watch “with” us right here!

Join us and Enjoy! Please rate and review.

Episode 6

Episode 6: “A Podcast is a Good Weapon but It Can Point Both Ways” is now available! This week, Dan starts his tenure as quiz master, Joseph learns what wasn’t covered in his Shakespeare class (way back in 1988) and as always Jon tries to keep us all on track.

We also have breaking news! So breaking that we had to add an addendum in post-production! That means Monday.

And of course, we start discussing “The General,” the first section of Foundation and Empire. This one is almost like Asimov himself was replying to our discussions of the “Great Man” theory of history vs. the “Bottom Up Theory.” Join us!

Episode 5

In which we wrap up Foundation with a discussion of “The Merchant Princes.” and get ready to start Foundation and Empire. We’ll also have another Apple TV+ minute for you and another installment of Asimov Trivia! Is this true? It certainly sounds true!

Next Time on Stars End

We just recorded our fifth episode last night. Five isn’t a big, round number, it isn’t even a round number. But it is half of a round number. Also it is prime. Prime numbers are cool. Let’s call it a minor milestone.

Five episodes is almost as many as Manimal, which was quality programming. It was a philosophical examination of the human state and its relationship to the environment in the postindustrial age. Probably. I never watched it but I’m sure that’s what it was about. That or a werewolf detective or something but probably the first thing. Anyway, almost as many as Manimal and we did it without being notoriously terrible or infamously offensive! Mostly.

https://i0.wp.com/www.philsp.com/visco/Magazines/ASF/ASF_0165.jpg

Unlike “the Wedge” (aka The Traders), which was published with little to no fanfare, John W. Campbell was a lot more enthusiastic about “The Big and the Little” (aka The Merchant Princes). It takes up the lion’s share of July’s coming attractions (above) and, like “Bridle and Saddle” it was Astounding’s cover when it ran in August of 1944.

So, next time we discuss “The Merchant Princes” and foreshadow a bit of Foundation and Empire. We’ll also have another Apple TV+ minute for you, which will inspire a tangent into the DC Comics Extended Universe of all things.

A quick bit of Trivia: I just learned that “The Traders” and “The Merchant Princes” were both nominated for Retro Hugo’s in 2020, 75 years after they first would have been eligible had there been a World Science Fiction Convention in 1945. Neither won its category.

And speaking of trivia we’ll also have another installment of Asimov Trivia for you! Is there drama in the game this time? You’ll have to listen to see!

Coming soon to a platform near you. Join us!

Image Credits:

Episode 4

Our fourth episode, “A Podcast is the Last Refuge of the Incompetent” is now available for your edification. We’ve run out of Laws of Robotics and have moved on to famous Salvor Hardin aphorisms. That’s a bit more on-brand for a Foundation podcast.

We talk about “The Traders,” part four of Foundation. This story first appeared, with surprisingly little fanfare in the October 1944 issue of Astounding under the title “The Wedge.”

In addition we have our second Apple Plus Minute and another edition of Asimov Trivia with a new contestant and a new quiz master!

Please join us! We’re looking forward to it and Hari Seldon already knows how it’s going to end!

Image Credits:

  • Featured Image: Screen Cap from the trailer for Apple TV+’s Foundation. Fair Use. Accessed 7 June 2021
  • The Wedge: Astounding Science Fiction, October 1944, Archive.org. Accessed 7 June 2021

Episode 3

As foretold! Mayors! Bridles! Saddles! Oddly, no actual horses! And the ultimate answer to the ultimate cliffhanger! It’s “A Podcast must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Episode!”

Also show news, we react to the trailer (this one, here)…

…and more Asimov trivia! Join us! Please rate and review.