I love the trope of alternate universes. It’s a very comforting concept: another universe, another version of reality, another me living another life. Somewhere I majored in Marine Biology. Somewhere Hillary Clinton is President. Somewhere everything is different, but I’m…
[Trigger warning: emetophobia] A few weeks ago I watched “Hollow Pursuits” for the first time. It was uplifting to me that Barclay and Geordi were able to discuss Barclay’s anxiety openly. Only recently did I become accustomed to talking about…
On a recent rewatch of Enterprise, I found myself conducting a thought experiment. Why not try replacing just one crew member, one white male, with someone just a little outside the box? I decided to flip out Malcolm, not because…
In the words of Lieutenant Tasha Yar, Data “see[s] things with the wonder of a child. And that makes [him] more human than any of us.” Perhaps that is why the writers of Star Trek: The Next Generation chose an…
“In the 24th century there will be no hunger, there will be no greed, and all the children will know how to read.” – Gene Roddenberry I didn’t expect checking my work email to trigger an existential crisis last week,…
I was so angry when my mom died. Not for my own loss, as difficult as that was to process, but because I felt like she’d been ripped off. I’d watched her health deteriorate over the course of what seemed…
Whenever there’s news that a new Star Trek character will be queer, female, or a person of color (POC), the internet erupts with cries of “Star Trek was better when it was subtle, when it didn’t rub its message in…
There’s a girl sitting three quarters of the way back in the classroom who knows the answer. She feels the knowledge bubbling up to her lips, and wants to raise her voice. She feels the tingle of pleasure in knowing…