Stars End: A Foundation Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

We start Asimov's third (or second) Galactic Empire Novel, The Currents of Space, by discussing chapters 1 through 6. This nearly corresponds to the first installment published in the October 1952 issue of Astounding Science Fiction which covered 1 through 7.

A friend tells me that our episodes are better when we’re enjoying the stuff that we’re reading.

We certainly enjoy reading The Stars End Mail Bag! This time when we opened it up, it inspired a short conversation about My Living Doll starring Julie Newmar and Bob Something-Or-Other.

And we’re liking The Currents of Space so far! It hits the ground running with a threat of planetary destruction and a hero in the mists of amnesia! This is the Good Doctor’s take on race relations in the American South making it a nice companion to The Caves of Steel which tackled the issue in our northern cities. This gave us a lot to think about!

Like, what year was this written? It looks like the answer is actually 1952 and not 1951 like I, Joseph, thought.

We see parallels to three (count ‘em! 3!) Star Trek episodes! But which ones? Not "The Omega Glory," I'll tell you that much.

Is Ol’ Isaac reading comic books on the side?

And how does this compare to the other Galactic Empire Novels?

Plus, another round of “Where’s Daneel?“ Have we figured that out yet?

And more! You’ll have to listen to find out!

We conclude our coverage of The Stars Like Dust ―, with chapters 15 through 22. That corresponds to part 3 of Tyrann as published in The March 1951 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction.

"We the People… Do Ordain and Establish this Podcast."

As we rejoin our heroes The USS Enterprise, trailer firmly attached by tractor beam, is approaching planet Omega 4. There they find the derelict USS Exeter in orbit. Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Galloway beam over to the Exeter where the entire crew has mysteriously been turned into common rock salt, just like you can buy from any neighborhood hardware store.

No, wait. I'm confused. That's the "Omega Glory," S2E23 of Star Trek. I swear, sometimes these Star Trek references just write themselves.

Anyway, the beginning of the episode is actually pretty good, but the ending is very, very dumb. So dumb that it lands it in the "So bad you have to see it to believe it" category. Unfortunately for the episode, people only seem to remember that ending.

To Asimov's credit, we know that he did not like that ending, Strangely he didn't like it even some 15 years or so before the episode aired. How does that work? I guess you'll have to listen to our episode.

Meanwhile, being of a certain age myself, I can't seem to get this little earworm out of my head.

Let's all sing along! "Ee Plannista, enor durtofo amo orper fectyoo nion..." Everybody!!

We're back and we're diving back into Foundation and Earth! This time we're discussing chapters 13, 14, and 15 or, if you prefer, Part V: Melpomenia. This is all of Part V and nothing but Part V.

In this section, we bid a not-so-fond farewell to Solaria as our little trio becomes a quartet with the addition of Fallom. We travel to the third and final Spacer world for which we have coordinates. What do we learn on Melpomenia? Does that help us in our quest to find Earth? And what's bothering Trevize this time? Listen and find out!

Also Star Trek, non-Euclidean geometry and marsupials. You can't miss that, right? Let's go!!

Join the conversation as we discuss Foundation and Earth chapters 10, 11, and 12 which is to say, the entirety of Part IV: Solaria.

I began our description of S3E18, with "You know what? Solaria is weird."

And here we are again on Solaria. It's been twelve millennia and in the meantime, they've really leaned into the weirdness. The Solarians have been busy genetically engineering themselves into the quintessential Spacers. They've gone so far as to grow their own Tesla coils inside their own brains so that they can wirelessly power their robots. And that isn't all! But don't take my word for it! Read "Robots," "Underground," and "To the Surface" and see for yourself! Then join us here for the episode!

On another note, our first episode dropped on 26 April 2021. Thus, this episode marks the third anniversary of our podcast! Thanks to everybody who has joined us for the ride!

In this episode, we talk about Chapters 7, 8, and 9 of Foundation and Earth, "Leaving Comporellon," "Forbidden World," and "Facing the Pack."

I've largely stopped bothering with the spoiler warnings, but I'm going to spoiler enough in this episode description to warrant one. If you want to discover things as you read and you haven't read these chapters yet, you know what to do.

Tau Ceti is the nearest "sun-like star" to Earth that isn't in a multiple-star system and so it's been a frequent locale in Science Fiction over the years. It was a natural choice for Asimov to place Aurora, the first of the Spacer Worlds, in the Tau Ceti system.

Since Asimov made that decision, we've discovered and cataloged thousands of exoplanets, that is, planets orbiting stars other than our sun. Several of them are in the Tau Ceti system and two, Tau Ceti d and e, are super-Earths that appear to be at the outer edges of Tau Ceti's habitable zone. That seems to fit what we learn about Aurora in this book; it was a terraformed world that, without humans to maintain it, was slipping back into uninhabitability.

There is another, proposed, exoplanet orbiting Tau Ceti, called PxP-4. That one could be smack in the middle of the habitable zone.

In any event, it's time to return to the Tau Ceti system and take a good look around. Also, there are dogs! So Let's go!

We talk about chapters 4 to 6 of Foundation and Earth.

There's almost a framing sequence for this part of Foundation and Earth, "On Comporellon," "Struggle for the Ship," and "The Nature of Earth." At the outset, Trevize had bulldozed his way onto Comporellon by implying that Bliss and Pelorat are involved in illicit activities that can't be allowed to get back to the wife Pelorat does not have. By the end, it's Trevize who's plied a woman for information and favors with his masculine wiles.

In the interim, we see what has become of Baleyworld, the first drop of the second wave of galactic colonization. Frigid, puritanical, authoritarian, and gray it's an uninviting place until we're allowed entry into the private world of Mitza Lizalor and we learn what we need to continue the search for Earth.

Join us as we take it all apart and then put it back together again! Let's go!

We're diving into Foundation and Earth with Chapters 1 through 3.

The story so far:

When last we checked in, Golan Trevize had deduced that the ultimate answer to the ultimate question of Life, The Interregnum, and Everything was "Galaxia" and not "The Seldon Plan" or "42" as we had previously been led to believe.

But still, he has his doubts. Like a proper mathematics student, he's uncomfortable unless he can show his work. And so, he and his two ape-descended companions, Pelorat and Bliss, have begun a quest to find out what the actual question was.

Thus, they search for Earth, the biggest, most powerful computer ever built, even bigger than the Milliard Gargantubrain at Maximegalon. They will find it, learn the actual question, and all will be right with the galaxy. Unless the telephone sanitizers have anything to say about it.

Or something like that. Join us for Chapters 1 through 3 of Foundation and Earth, "The Search Begins," Toward Comporellon" and "At The Entry Station." We'll be sure to get it sorted.

It's our final podcast on Foundation's Edge as we discuss chapters 17 to 20!

My Mom, an unabashed fan of Joseph Campbell, frequently counseled me to "find my bliss." I think I've done pretty well.

Collectively, though, we may have found our Bliss as we reach the closing chapters of our novel, "Gaia," "Collision," "Decision," and "Conclusion." Our heroes have arrived at Gaia, and all our principal characters are on the scene. Stuff is finally happening! This is as action-packed as an Asimov story can be!

And we finally, through Golan Trevize, learn the ultimate answer to the ultimate question of Life, The Interregnum, and Everything! Spoiler alert: it isn't "42." Let's GO!

We talk about chapters 13 through 16 of Foundation's Edge.

We're finally up to the episode where we reveal that Apple TV's Foundation has been renewed for season 3! Not exactly ripped from the headlines.

Also, the Great and Glorious Az wants us to know that, like spaceships, other planets have their own distinctive odors.

⁠It's true!⁠ Captain Kirk could have faced the Gorn on the Moon as astronauts tell us that moondust smells like gunpowder. The atmospheres of Venus and Mars contain hydrogen sulfide, which smells of rotten eggs. Ew. Lucky for you if you took off your helmet on either planet you'd be too busy suffocating or bursting into flames to notice the stench. You get the idea.

Still, I'm just happy that this olfactory dissertation doesn't overlap with the exhaustive explorations of restrooms.

So we talk about "University," "Forward," "Gaia-S," and "Convergence" from Foundations Edge. There's a nice bit about The Five Sisters, a pentagonal constellation as seen from Sayshell, that plays an important part in the plot. It reminded Joseph of "Constant as the Northern Star" one of Asimov's science essays from the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction which was collected in Of Matters Great and Small. And we go on a bit of a lengthy, but fun. digression.

Join us!

Dateline – Terminus:

It's sweet that you guys noticed that we hadn't commented on the news about Apple TV's Foundation being renewed for Season 3!

But that isn't exactly what happened; we did, in fact, talk about it on S5E04. Unfortunately, we've all been super busy and the post-production train has a metaphorical Bishop's Claw on the tracks. Believe me, you don't want to mess with one of those. That episode will be out in a couple of days.

But when the news about David Goyer and his status as showrunner dropped, we decided to do something different. Here's our first special bulletin!

Me, I'm hoping for huge budget cuts! Let's strip it down until it looks like a production of Our Town and put The Great and Glorious Az‘s vision on full conversational display.

And let's lean into it! How about a long monologue by Jared Harris, shot on location in a Shoney’s men’s room about how little plumbing has changed in 12000 years? I'd watch that!

Thanks for your dedication to Stars End and never fear! We'll be getting caught up as quickly as we can.