A Star to Steer Her By

10/07/2025

We're taking a trip down memory lane over on the blog. What do we look back on fondly and what was seared into our minds at a young age? Gallivant with us as we reminisce over our earliest sci-fi memories.

By Ames We’re all millennials here on A Star to Steer Her By, so our formative years in the 80s and 90s were really treasure troves of some cartoons that really broke ground in their industry, movies...

10/07/2025

Season 3 of "Discovery" starts off with a bang—rather literally, as Michael's first act in the future is to have a space-car accident. In "That Hope is You, Part 1", Burnham finds her plan to save all living things from Control might have succeeded, but in its place a new crisis arose: a dilithium-destroying cataclysm known simply as "The Burn". Now with her new...friend?...Book, she begins her search for not only her shipmates, but the Federation and Starfleet.
Also this week: bird clock, the Smuggler and his Queen, and Sci-Fi origins!
[Hope pt 1: 00:35; falling into science fiction: 49:00]
[where'd we come from, anyway?: https://sshbpodcast.tumblr.com/post/788617220254318592/babys-first-sci-fi-indoctrination ]
https://soundcloud.com/sshbpodcast/episode-401-kool-aid-manning

Season 3 of "Discovery" starts off with a bang—rather literally, as Michael's first act in the future is to have a space-car accident. In "That Hope is You, Part 1", Burnham finds her plan to save all

03/07/2025

Welcome all to the 400th mainline episode of "A Star to Steer Her By"! While it was always theoretical we'd make it this far, it's still a little mad that we actually have (and more, really, when you consider all the Ten Forwards and Shore Leaves that are counted separately). And we're celebrating by doing our own little twist on "Star Trek" Trivial Pursuit, with a little help from a piece of legendary merchandise!
Also this week: planning the next round of fanfics!
[The Game: 00:41; The Plan: 51:52]

Welcome all to the 400th mainline episode of "A Star to Steer Her By"! While it was always theoretical we'd make it this far, it's still a little mad that we actually have (and more, really, when you

02/07/2025

A mostly dialogue-free episode like "Children of Mars" gets to really explore storytelling with an entirely different toolset. The rest of should have taken something from this lesson.
https://soundcloud.com/sshbpodcast/episode-399-perhaps-once-was

01/07/2025

Justice for Michael Eddington! The more we see Starfleet pull s**t like they do in "Ask Not," the more we question if they've they've got their morals straight.
https://soundcloud.com/sshbpodcast/episode-399-perhaps-once-was

30/06/2025

While most of us found a lot of the comedy in "The Trouble with Edward" fell flat, one thing is for sure: It would have been a disaster without the perfect casting.
https://soundcloud.com/sshbpodcast/episode-399-perhaps-once-was

28/06/2025

Did we need origin stories for the tribbles or for why Spock absorbed Number One's personality in ? No. No, not really.
https://soundcloud.com/sshbpodcast/episode-399-perhaps-once-was

26/06/2025

We disagreed more than usual on which Short Treks belong on our Tops and Bottoms lists, so some episodes are on both! Check them out over on this week's blog!

By Ames We just wrapped season two of Discovery, which we pretty much agreed was a mixed bag, and we’re jumping headlong into also wrapping all of Short Treks. It’s a bittersweet conclusion because...

26/06/2025

Back when the New Era of "Trek" was...new...they did "Short Treks". We looked at the first batch back between Seasons 1 and 2 of Discovery and have lamented since more than once that it's something they should have done more of. But considering we were largely cooler on the second batch, maybe there was a reason...
Also this week: weird messages, back to cartoons, and ranking the lot!
[Timestamps: Q&A: 01:21; The Trouble With Edward: 15:28; Ask Not: 27:03; Ephraim and Dot: 35:57; The Girl Who Made the Stars: 43:16; Children of Mars: 49:27; top'n'bottoms: 59:56]
[But what did we think? Look here: https://sshbpodcast.tumblr.com/post/787354379387879424/short-andor-sweet-the-best-and-worst-short-treks ]
https://soundcloud.com/sshbpodcast/episode-399-perhaps-once-was

Back when the New Era of "Trek" was...new...they did "Short Treks". We looked at the first batch back between Seasons 1 and 2 of Discovery and have lamented since more than once that it's something th

24/06/2025

A prequel series holds the audience's hand when they might be apprehensive there might be something scary. Spock in is the cat in the bedroom of any party whom you can go pat when you're people'd out.
https://soundcloud.com/sshbpodcast/episode-398-go-see-a-star-war

23/06/2025

So... the Kelpiens wiped out the Ba'ul after their ganglia fell off, right? How else are they around for their entirely convenient appearance in the season 2 finale?
https://soundcloud.com/sshbpodcast/episode-398-go-see-a-star-war

22/06/2025

Saru continues to get more badass in , and we are here for a character breaking his people's mold.
https://soundcloud.com/sshbpodcast/episode-398-go-see-a-star-war