The Greatest Generation - Serious Funny Business (Greatest Gen 10 Interview with Cyrus Farivar)

Episode Date: April 6, 2026

When Greatest Gen’s biggest fan returns for an anniversary interview, everyone can agree that a rewatch is just part of loving Star Trek. But after 10 years of growth and change, Star Trek is a place still stands and the overarching goal remains the same. How is this interregnum like a family Mexican restaurant birthday song? What is Cyrus sorry-not-sorry for? Which employee hasn’t lost their fastball? It’s the episode that gives you thoughtful Ben and Adam. Support the production of The Greatest Generation Get a thing at podshop.biz! Sign up for our mailing list! Follow The Game of Buttholes: The Will of the Riker - Quantum Leap The Greatest Generation is produced by Wynde Priddy Social media is managed by Rob Adler and Bill Tilley Music by Adam Ragusea & Dark Materia Friends of DeSoto for: Labor | Democracy | Justice Discuss the show using the hashtag #GreatestGen and find us on social media: YouTube | Instagram | Bluesky And check out these online communities run by FODs:  Reddit | USS Hood Discord | Facebook group | Wikia | FriendsOfDeSoto.social Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Here's to the finest crew in Starfleet. Engage. Welcome to the greatest generation. We're getting closer and closer to the next time around. It's a Star Trek podcast by a couple of guys who are just a little bit embarrassed to be in this interregnum on their Star Trek podcast. I'm Ben Harrison. I'm Adam Pranika.

It's the sort of embarrassment you get when the servers come around the corner at the family Mexican restaurant with, with your soap of pia's and a candle in it, you know, singing the birthday song. Some people really like that. Other people are pretty embarrassed by it. I think I might be somewhere in between. I think it is very fun to be called panchito.

Personally. So I'm there for it every single time. Also, if that's the only way I'm getting fried ice cream, then it's fucking worth it, man. Yeah. Give me all that. There's something about the strawberry sauce on the fried ice cream you get at a family Mexican restaurant that is like nothing else.

Yeah. You can't get it anywhere else. Unreplicable. Yeah, it's the best. This is going to be a special presentation episode. We've talked many times over the years about the massive amount of life-changing focus, the original Ars Technica article about our show placed on our show. And the author of that article, Sirousse Faravar,

recently sat down with us for a 10-year follow-up interview. And it was really cool. Like we didn't even reach out to him about it. He was just like, hey, like your 10-year anniversary is coming up pretty soon. We were like, whoa, it is. Well, I mean, I did hear a tapping on my window. and then when I opened up the side door, like Sirrus was there to tell me.

Yeah. And he had the idea of why don't we catch up 10 years later about the show. And so there was another Ars Technica article, which he interviewed us for. And what we went and did is recorded the audio from that interview. And we are going to share that here with you today, cleaned up a little bit and edited for time by, our producer, Wendy Pretty.

If you want to read either of these articles, either like the initial article or the 10-year anniversary article, those are going to be linked in the show notes. So make sure you check those out. Many thanks to our buddy, Sirouz, for letting us share this special presentation with you. And now for the interview.

Hello, gentlemen. How you doing? Doing okay. How are you, Sirius? I am well, my friends. It is truly a delight and an honor to talk to you again after 10 years of doing your delightful, delightful show that honestly, truly I pay for, I'm happy to pay for. It is still my favorite podcast. So thank you for continuing to make it.

I love it. Thanks for saying that. Thanks, man. So, yeah, can you guys even believe that you're now, like when we first, when I first spoke to you guys back in 2016, in the year of our Lord 2016. Adam was living in Seattle. Ben, I believe you were living in New York.

You guys were still working in film production. Yeah. And this, you know, as best as I could tell, was just a fun little side project. Who knows how long it would go on for. Yeah. I mean, I think that us talking to you has a lot to do with it taking over our lives.

Sorry, not sorry? I don't know. Yeah, we should say thank you up top. Seruse. I think your Ars article was one of the reasons we sort of catapulted into the sort of audience that we got afterward. It's an audience that has meant that we've been able to do the show professionally for 10 years. Yeah. All the time people will say, oh, I've been listening to you guys since the beginning. Like I was on at episode five because of that Ars Technica article. Well, yeah, it's, you know, I think you guys really have hit the sort of sweet spot of,

the Star Trek fandom that I like and that I'm grateful to be part of. I'm a proud friend of DeSoto. It's literally on my website as being a friend of Desoto. If you pull up my website right now, you'll see there's a little LLAP emoji and it says, friend of DeSoto, there's a link to the show.

Nice. So, yeah, I mean, every time I talk about the show to friends who maybe haven't heard of it, I always tell them that, you know, these guys are they're lovingly making fun of Star Trek. There's a lot of jokes. Not only do they have one Star Trek podcast, they have two, which is a whole other thing. I guess I would love to know from you guys,

do you feel like you are over it? Like a lot of creative projects like, you know, people, I know this happens to me with articles. I'm into a subject for a long time. And then at some point I'm just like, I'm kind of over this. It's been a decade now. Are you over it? Are the friends of going to, DeSoto going to have more, you know, dick and fart jokes in the years to come? Or do you feel like now that we, you know, as we record here in early January, 26, right? You guys on Greatest Gen are doing Enterprise, which is rapidly coming to a close. And I think you've sort of joked at, hinted at. I couldn't quite tell going back to the beginning and doing it all over again, which I'm not sure if that's real or not. You can tell me. But I guess what I'm asking is, like,

where do you see these projects going? I know that Paramount is doing a lot of new Star Trek, which I'm excited about. I'm sure you are too, that probably is going to exist over on greatest trek. Is greatest gen as we know it going to continue? I've had four big jobs in my life as careers. And I think a lot of those went between six and 10 years in those jobs before I changed into other jobs. So I definitely do feel that itch, Saruz, of like, I'm looking around at the other employees around here. And like I'm looking at the other employees around here. and like I'm looking at the condition of our badges. And it just feels like, I don't know, man.

Is this really, maybe I should look for something else? No, absolutely not. I think the thing that's changed is that, I mean, in the beginning, it felt like a fun hobby. But when you professionalize a thing and you hire employees and you are dependent on for the thing that you make in a way that you've never been before, It's serious business.

It's serious funny business, you know? And this is the best job I've ever had, but it's also the most seriously I've ever taken a job because it means so much to our well-being, but also the folks who appreciate what we do. Yeah, I mean, one thing that Adam has said many times is we're going to die in these chairs. And I think also, like, as we come toward the end, of Enterprise and have sort of run out of the well of Old Trek, as it were, I have been thinking about a lot is like, if I hadn't had this show, I would still be about ready to start my next TNG rewatch.

Like, loving Star Trek is a lot about watching it over again, you know? Like, in the same way that, like, I'll put on an old rerun of the Simpsons or Seinfeld or whatever, any given day. Like, and I love rewatching those shows. love re-watching Star Trek. And I think Adam and I have grown as, you know, both a comedy duo, but also as observers of Star Trek and like what it means on an ongoing basis. So like, I feel like it would be unfair for us not to go back and start painting the bridge from the beginning, you know? I think one of the things that we've learned from doing the show, especially live

in front of people, is that we are told by the people who enjoy this show that it's, it's, it's about Star Trek, sure, but like, that's not the thing that people love the most about the show. And I think that's what makes a return to the beginning of it makes so much sense in the way Ben's describing. Like, it's about the hang and your life as it relates to a Star Trek rerun that you're watching in that moment. And really, maybe it always has been. Yeah. Another podcast that I listen to, not as regularly as you guys, but there's a soccer podcast called Men in Blazers. And Roger, the host of that show often talks about how, you know, yes, it's about football, but it's about life, man, you know, and I sort of feel the same way about your show. That, yes, it's about

Star Trek, but it's about, you know, the goofball jokes and the, yeah, just all the ways that I think people can incorporate Star Trek and Star Trek-related humor and ideas and values into their regular lives, which is amazing. I'm looking back here at the old interview, Adam, you told me 10 years ago, you said, I haven't pitched my A-Team idea. yet. So if you guys run out of track, you can go for the A team. That would be very fun. We were just talking about A team.

Oh, really? Like, less than an hour ago. And I was the one that brought it up. Yeah. I think that's emblematic of just like what podcasting has turned into. I think 10 years ago it maybe wasn't so much like this. The whole like, the show is watching a show and talking about it episode by episode. Now, like, that is an entire giant genre in podcasting in the way I don't think it was 10 years ago. Right, right. No,

I agree with that. And I think you guys through the various flavors of the Uxbridge Shemota family of podcasts, right, I think the format, to me, as a fan of what you guys do, the format is the same. Like you have done, right, on Santa Monica Mountains, I have watched zero minutes of Baywatch in my life. I have watched zero minutes. I have listened to every single episode of the Santa Monica Mountains. And frankly, I don't know if I ever will watch Baywatch. Maybe I will. Who knows? But, like, I enjoy hearing

you guys talk about it. And I enjoy learning about the context of this show. And I enjoy the, like, Star Trek Sanam Baywatch crossover, you know, actors and so forth. Yeah. But I think that I think you've hit on a format that's like, let's talk about a thing in the way that we like

to talk about it and make jokes in the way that we like to make jokes about it, which for me really resonates more so than like the format of podcast that's like, let's get comedians to talk about a thing, and inherently that will be funny. Right. Which I feel like is sometimes work, sometimes doesn't, for me at least. Or any more, like, let's get celebrities in a room to talk about anything and have that be good enough. Right. Right. The format that our shows tend to follow is something that I think just kind of was an emergent property of the way Adam and I talked to each other,

much more so than it was us attempting to, like, create a show that was our version of anything else. Like, I don't really listen to other recap podcasts. Like, it's kind of a funny thing, but like, we weren't really inspired by any recap podcasts in particular. I guess, like, the flop house a little bit for me. But, you know, what they do is so different at such its own thing. Like, it's hard to feel like we are connected to the universe of recap podcasts.

Like, when we go to, like, add our show to a podcast service, like iTunes or Apple Podcasts or whatever, like, you have to, like, pick the category that you're going to be in. And we've always picked comedy. But I think, like, properly, I guess we probably would be in the television recap podcast section. and we just never really thought of ourselves as doing that, you know? Like, we were just doing what we wanted to do. I wonder if many of those are comedy shows. Yeah. Yeah.

It is such a genre, like, and especially such a genre of people that were on the shows now, going back and rewatching their old shows, that feels like it has happened off in a different part of the podcast. podcast ecosystem than we live in. You know, we're just, we're just making a show that makes us laugh. Like, making each other laugh has always been the primary goal of the show. So it's very funny to me that, like, we're in a category that we've never, like, we never really aspired to be in or compared ourselves to in any way.

Do you guys have favorite moments, favorite, I don't know, bits or favorite things at live shows or just favorite things that have happened to you over the last 10 years as a result of your show. Yeah, getting to do live shows at all has been a total shock to me. I mean, when we talked to you for that first article, we barely knew what we were doing as entertainers. And I've taken improv classes and stuff, but I never really had any personal aspirations to be someone who gets up on a stage and does something. And I found that I fucking love it. Like, I really

love doing the show in front of an audience. And we just have had so many like amazing adventures getting to go all over the country doing that. And all over the world, we've done the show in Canada and London now. And that was like a total

surprise to me. Like, if you grabbed me on the street 15 years ago and said, hey, you're going to have a show that like you get to travel around and do in front of audiences of 300 people someday, I'd have been like, get the hell out of here. That's not possible. That's not something I am working toward in any way. Yeah, I mean, there's an unexpected quality to the type of, I mean, barf, right? I'm going to say the word celebrity.

But David Letterman said that like when you achieve a certain amount of like notoriety, the world becomes a neighborhood to you. and a week ago I was at a bar with friends and a stranger came up and told me that they really like our show and they thanked me for making it. And that is something that happens in my life in a way that I never could have anticipated at all. It's like those little moments that you have with people, those like perfect interactions where it's just like, I like what you do and thanks for doing it. that makes my life seem meaningful in a way that like any previous job did not create the conditions for, you know?

Like you do the work and you think it matters and it's important and largely it is in its own way and its own ecosystem. But like to have a broad interest from folks in what you do and that it like matters to them and what they do in their lives, that's the very best part of this entire thing is like no. that the times that I can make Ben laugh are also the times that I can make 500 people laugh in a room or 25,000 people laugh on a Monday when the episode drops. You know, like that's really powerful stuff.

And it keeps me on my best behavior when I'm out in public in case NFOD is out there watching what I'm doing. Oh, yeah. You don't want to see all the the videos of Adam on World Star. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. So lock it up. Gotta keep it tight.

Yeah. That guy used to be in Waffle Houses every weekend before this show kind of took over our lives. Sure. Sure. I know that producing a week-in, week-out show is hard from a, you know, production standpoint. I used to make a weekly radio show for two years. And that's obviously a little bit different to what you guys are doing. I know that one of the things that I think I've heard you say previously is how you try really hard not only to make the show sound great, which it does. It is well engineered. It is well mixed. You guys put in a lot of care into the production of the show. But also, to my knowledge, you have never missed a show published date. Not once in 10 years. Yeah, we haven't. Even when you guys were doing two shows a week, I mean, I guess now you are doing at least two shows a week of different shows.

Not to mention all the bonus episodes and wholesome and all the others. But I'm curious as to how do you balance all of that with, you know, whatever else is going on in your lives. Ben, you have two young kids. I know Adam has martinis to drink and golf to play. But, you know, it's one thing when it's a fun little side project you're doing with your buddy. But as you said, Adam, it's now your job. It's now your responsibility. I'm curious as to how you sort of manage the time, but also like make it continuously to be,

fun. I think that the best thing that has happened to us as a duo over the years has been all of the people that have been here to help us along the way. We, for a while, we're

working with a producer named Rob Schulte, who was really great, and we're now very fortunate to have a full-time producer, Wendy Pretty, who is so good at anticipating things that are coming up and keeping our minds on, you know, what we need to be prepping for the future and also taking

all of the stuff off of our plate that involves like the day and day out of editing and producing the shows so that when it's all running as it should be, which is most of the time, like Adam and I get to focus on prepping, sitting down and recording and then like listening back to basically finished episodes. And at that point, we're just like pitching jokes. like, hey, we could add a little audio here to illustrate this point or whatever. But like, 90% of the time, like, we listen to an episode that's pretty much just ready to go and are just signing off on it for Wendy. Like, the logistics of making this are complex in some ways, but at its core, it's just

me and Adam have to watch a TV show and then talk to each other about it. And like that period of the day, that period of the week where I'm talking to my buddy about a thing we both really love is still the best part of my week. And we're very fortunate to have a team now that helps handle all of the scaffolding that has to be erected to get us to those moments. But those moments are still the best part. Yeah, if you're asking about like the relationship that a project like this, has with your life and your other responsibilities. I mean, we've been doing this for 10 years. Like, if you needed to take some time off, we know about it usually a month before and we prepare for it. Like, we know that we record two or three or four episodes a week every week. We know

that if one of us get sick, we will have to record more than that on a given week. And I think part of it is like if you know that's what your life is, it's not stressful or disappointing when that's your responsibility. Like, that's just what it takes to do. And I think we were both in alignment right away initially that you cannot miss a week in doing this, both because people depend on it for the rhythm of their own weeks, but also like be a fucking professional, you know, Like, are you telling me you don't have an afternoon in a given week to do the thing that you're doing professionally? Like, get out of here. Of course you do.

Like, find a way. And this is why, like, when people over the years have asked us, like, I really want to do a podcast. Like, what, how? Like, what's your advice? The first advice is the same time, the same day, every week, forever. And that's the only advice I give. Because if you can do that for a year and then you ask me what else you need to do, then we can have that conversation. But if you're not willing to be a pro like that, then like good luck.

Yeah. I doubt your ability to get traction with an audience because I think so much depends on that. It becomes like, I mean, and I have this with the shows that I listen to. Like the podcasts that I listen to throughout the week are something like I really look forward to those shows being there at. that time when I do the thing that I do and I listen to them. And so we've been very lucky to burrow under the skin of a lot of people in that way. Like we're not just the president of Hair Club. We're also the clients.

Like I think we know what's meaningful to a podcast listener because we are them ourselves. Yeah. In a way that I feel like newvo podcasting right now is often made up of hosts who are like doing it because it's lucrative in their niche, you know? Wait, this can be lucrative? Shit, what have we been doing? I mentioned some of the greatest genus, and you can't find it with Angelad and Tanaga.

Damocke. Angelade. Haddon Tanaga. I mentioned some of the other, you know, in the 10 years you guys have started, you know, you started with the greatest gen, greatest trek, formerly the greatest discovery is the vehicle for all of the new Star Trek. And I love telling friends who are like maybe Star Trek light fans or maybe Star Trek curious fans. I'm like, you don't understand. We're living in an era right now of peak Star Trek right now.

It's happening right now. And I'm very excited about it. So that is for all the new Star Trek, which is great. And then you have sometimes sporadic members only podcasts, factory seconds, which I love, and Santa Monica Mountains, and your special Patreon podcast with Adam Regusia, Holsom, which I really love. I told Ben on the phone the other day, it's like my, I feel like it's my like healing salve, you know, for me, because it's, it's exactly what I want in, I'm at a place in my life right now, and maybe you guys are too, where I find it very hard as a journalist. I find it very hard to just like emotionally engage with the news. I find myself turning off the news on, you know, on the radio, on my phone in ways that I didn't three years ago, five years ago. I used to be

hyper on all the news, all the things all the time. And now I'm just like, I just can't now. I just want to hear some guys talk about martinis. Like, that's what I want. And, you know, I really enjoy that format. And I guess the question I'm leading to is, you mentioned Ben earlier that this is, that this is a show about the hang and it's sort of loosely anchored around the thing that you love, Star Trek. Do you have that same feeling when it's chatting with Adam Pranica about you know, Baywatch or with both Adams about, you know,

whatever you're talking about in Holson that week. Does the subject for you, for you guys, both of you, matter at all? Or does Star Trek hold a particular kind of

emotional resonance in a way that, you know, lawns don't? I think that the trek of it all is still really important to the show. And, I mean,

I think that we are in an era where the news is like devastating and exhausting in equal measures and you know trek has a lot of politics in it and adam and i i think share a lot of politics but we also i think are pretty conscious of this being a place where the horrors of the world aren't the center of attention so we've been pretty like intentional about trying to

make a thing that is a refuge and not a giant bummer and I think that like in its own way that is like an act of defiance and you know like still being able to have the hang despite all of the horrific shit going on I think is a sort of powerful statement that it's like no no we're not going to be ground into bummer pulp yeah I'm I agree I mean I'm not interested in introducing that into our programs at all I think a person's politics is largely their behavior and I don't want to compare the things that I'm watching to the things that are happening in the real world generally. But I think I might take a different side than Ben about how Star Trek located the project needs to be for it to be, I don't know, fun or enriching. I think those other projects, whether they're about Baywatch or food or whatever, like I'm interested in interesting conversations that are challenging or comedically interesting to me. And it largely doesn't matter what the subject is.

Like, I want to be the sort of person that could make anything funny in conversation. And I think, you know, through our various other types of shows, that's, I hope, become the truth. That's very fair. I sort of think, like, it's... the on-ramp for a lot of people. Like, oh, yeah, I like Star Trek. I'll give that a try. And then it becomes about more than that.

It's like, you know, come for the burger, stay for the pie kind of a thing. But it is about the hang. Ultimately, like, I couldn't make a show with Adam Pranika and Adam Ragusia if I wasn't delighted by their perspective on things, you know, on an ongoing basis. Like, the thing that's amazing about this is we've made 600-something episodes of the greatest generation and 300-something episodes of Greatest Trek and dozens and dozens of episodes of Wholesome. And Adam says stuff every single time we sit down that surprises and delights me. And that's a complete magic trick, you know? You can't do this for 10 years if it's a bummer hate show

with a bunch of politics in it. Like that would have been exhausting nine years ago, you know? I don't Listen to any news or politics podcasts. Like, why would you? You know? Look for the light where you can find it. Yeah. Yeah, I hear that. One of the things I also wanted to bring up was going back to the original interview that I did with you,

you guys didn't have, I don't think, by episode five, correct me if I'm wrong, very much in the way of, like, established bits and jokes in the way that you do now. I'm looking at the Wikia and just like, TNJ, There is a long list of bits and phrases. 50-year-old Ensign, anybody Canyon, bangers, ball-kicking machine, blue beverage of subtext, big rod. I'm skipping a bunch. McQuest, McLaughlin Group, Miriam, Mount Armis, Natural Yeager,

Pekosby, O'Brien hates his family, Uber Missions, what my theory presupposes is, you got schismed, or sorry, shishmed. like do you guys have a favorite out of these I don't know couple hundred bits are they always funny to you do you feel like any bits are played out like you're just like I'm kind of over this or do like as I read through this I'm like oh yeah I totally forgot about fuck bo kai

that's pretty funny oh man fuck bockeye that may have been the high water market I mean, I think that one of the cool things about some of these is like they they sort of ebb and flow depending on what we're covering, you know, like there were things that were kind of jokes that stayed within the confines of Deep Space Nine or Voyager that, you know, sometimes you get an idea and you can pull one out of the cold storage. but often the group of like active working runners is very influenced by like what we are actively covering.

And I think it would be very interesting to see how that long list of old inside jokes interacts with the show when we start going back through the second time because I think I'm kind of tempted to like not reference any of that. I don't know. We'll have to see what happens when we start doing it. I feel the same way, Ben. Like, we don't do the bits because it's time to do the bit. I have felt for a long time that it's not funny if you're trying to be funny. Funny is like what happens spontaneously. So I think, like, what Ben is saying, if we turn it around and go back from the beginning,

like, these are going to be new experiences for the time that we record them. and I think they're going to feel brand new. I wouldn't expect a retread of much of anything. Because that doesn't sound funny to me. Well, also, we're 10 years older. Like, our lives are different. Our world is different. Like, we will see new things in the show.

And that's one of the things that's so cool about Star Trek is, like, I do feel like I experience it in new ways each time I watch it. So I think it's kind of inevitable that we'll get something that is, like, really different. novel and maybe some of those old runners will find their way back because they happen to be the funny thing at that moment. But I think generally speaking, I'm really excited for crumpling up the paper and throwing it away and writing something fresh, you know? For sure. Siru, you mentioned the wiki, and I just want to say, like, one of the best things that's happened to us over the 10 years of making the show has been, like, the community that formed around it.

to do things like making the wiki, like making the discord that have formed groups where they watch movies together and date each other and marry each other and whatever. Like, this is a thing that we didn't intend, though I think it was a dream at first to, like, wow, imagine doing a thing so important that a large audience would enjoy it. But like, this large audience has their own lives, and they're enjoying this thing that we do completely separate from us in their own way. in a way that's great. Neither Ben nor I have the time or the inclination to make a wiki about our show, for example.

And yet, like, the folks that put in the effort here make the experience of listening to the show better for everyone. And that's selfless and good and appreciated. In the dozens of examples there are that I haven't even named. Yeah. I agree with that. I think the community that has built around it, you know, I dip into the wikkiy. from time to time. I don't think I've dipped down to the Discord, but the people I have met who are fellow fans at live shows are just, yeah, the nicest, coolest people.

I want to say, I depend on the Wiki, too. I think this came up not that long ago. We were like, when was the last time we did a Baywatch episode? Have we done this Baywatch episode before? I used the Wiki to determine whether or not the Baywatch episode had been reviewed and watched already. Amazing. So it's useful for us, too. Amazing. I am the futures of all. There are all lights. I think that a lot of shows like ours have curated and cultivated. Here's a forum where you can go to talk about our show.

And we've never really taken a hand in that. And it's always been something that the Friends of Desoto have done almost in spite of us. And it's fun to dip in there, but it's also very clear usually that those are like, this is a space for this community that. has created itself in the hinterlands around our show. I feel very lucky to have them. But, yeah, like, we can't take any credit for all of the great things that they do. Or responsibility for the terrible things they do. Yeah, right. Given that there's such a large body of work that you guys have produced,

do you ever get people asking like, okay, you guys have done a thousand episodes almost or maybe more collectively? Where do I start? I'll give my answer first, which is I always tell people who are Star Trek fans, but who have maybe not listened to Greatest Jen, I always say, choose an episode that you love or that is memorable to you in some way and listen to the podcast episode about that episode. That's my answer too. Okay. Yeah, perfect answer. I like that too. I mean, I also get the question like, oh, you know a lot about Star Trek.

I want to get my kid into it. Where should we start? And I don't really think that there's a right answer to that kind of question. Going back to the beginning doesn't necessarily work for me, or doesn't necessarily work as an answer for everybody. So I like the suggestion to jump in somewhere where you feel like you've got some fluency. But I also think like it's totally cool to jump in just like midstream on the show now or start at the beginning of one of the series that you really like or jump around.

Like we hear from people that do it all different kinds of ways. Like we've heard from people that got into the greatest generation because of greatest trek. We've heard from people that started listening to the greatest generation. We're like, well, there's a lot of like references to old stuff in here. So I better go back and listen from the beginning. And then they like binge the entire thing in three months. And I'm like concerned that there may be some kind of like exposure toxicity. It's such an interesting quality to consider because a lot of the podcasts I listen to are about sports

and the sports that just happened over the weekend and how that kind of show, no one listens to that show a month after it comes out. Right. But our tale is so long and so consumed over 10 years that like folks are back there listening to all of it. Ten years of our conversations are still being listened to in a way that like, I feel like if you're podcasting about the football game, you could say whatever you want, and it won't be news anymore.

Right. Right. Right. You do one Cosby impression on the show, and like, no one ever let you forget it. But also, like, I think that as many things as like as we've done that live in the past of the show, they stay in the present for a lot of people because I think more than half of our downloads, in a given week are old episodes. So that is like a place where people hang out and like, you know,

like I think a lot of people that have jobs where they're like working with their hands, but they don't need to be like processing language, love podcasts. So like we hear from a lot of like graphic designers and truckers and stuff that like the show. And that huge back catalog is like such a boon to them because it's like by the time you're on your second listen through, you're not going to remember exactly how the bit went from episode 324. Right, right. So, like, the comedy works again for that person. Right.

I don't know if you guys, I presume you guys have received screeners for Starfleet Academy. How are you guys feeling about Starfleet Academy as a show, and how are you guys feeling about doing it for your own show? I've watched two episodes now, and I remain pretty optimistic about Starfleet Academy as a show. Starfleet Academy as a show. I think that, like, there is some melancholy to it being the only one that's, like, actively being made now. I think they've wrapped on Strange New World season five, but they haven't released

season four, and none of the others are, like, in production at this point. So, you know, like, I'm hoping that the comedy show that they have been talking about doing with Tani Newsom happens. I'm hoping that there are other things on the horizon. I'm sure that all of this corporate merger stuff is complicating all of that in ways big and small. So far, the show is pretty good, but it feels weird that it's like, oh man, is this like the last of a dying breed? Or is it the beginning of like a whole new chapter? And it's very hard to tell right now.

I'm also two episodes in, two very long episodes. I think that's one of the qualities to Starfleet Academy that's been surprising is like the hour-long nature of it. You know, many years ago, I believe I coined the phrase Star Trek as a place. And what that means definitionally is that it's not a ship or a particular captain or a planet or a federation. It's a place to tell stories. And in retrospect, I think that's kind of a bold. shit way to get me off the hook for like criticizing something harshly it frees me up to be more open to the possibilities of the things that happen in this place and I think that's just by way of

saying that like Starfleet Academy at this point two episodes into me feels like the expression of that idea like Starfleet Academy exists in a place that is Star Trek Star Trek is a place where you can tell stories like this. So I don't hate it because they put out a cheesy poster. I don't hate it at all. I am enjoying what I've seen so far. It's interesting and new. I think the feeling that I have about it is something that Ben touched on a little bit there,

which was like, is this, are we getting near the end of it? Are we going to go back into the desert of 10 years without Star Trek? I hope not because I think my preference is going to always be I would rather have Star Trek even if it's difficult or disliked by folks or whatever than to go without it at all because it provokes thought and even when it's not your Star Trek I think it's still fun to talk about that's something that I think we learned when we did the new Star Trek show Greatest Trek like this is a brand new experience for me and Ben. Is it going to be fun and funny? The answer is yes, because that's the point of the shows that we make. It's like we're going to watch the thing

and find the joy in it. And that part will remain. I will just be sad if it all goes away because it'll be less of that stuff for us to talk about. Yeah, absolutely. Well, the final question I have is you guys said, I think at the beginning of greatest discovery that one of your greatest wishes. Maybe your greatest wish of your lives is to be blown out of an airlock in a new episode of Star Trek. How close are we to seeing that on screen? Are we any closer at all? You guys have agents now. You know people in the pocket of Big Rod. It's happened in comic books. That's what I'm saying. That's been great, but not on a show. Right. So, like, are we any closer? Have you actually pitched this to somebody who could actually make this happen? There are people inside the walled

garden that are aware that there's a lot of people invested in this idea. And yeah, it's happened in comics. It's happened in fan productions several times now. We leap at every opportunity we have to get blown out of an airlock. And if and when the call comes from inside the Star Trek house, it will be the thrill of a lifetime. That remains the overarching goal of the show, I would say. And we've gone so far as to say, like, if the offer is made, we will fly ourselves to Toronto.

Sure. If you're, like, obligated by some kind of, like, agreement with the union to pay us, we will donate that money to a charity. Like, this is not about fame or fortune for us. It is about getting blown out of an airlock, which... It's about finally experiencing the sweet, sweet piece of death. Should Friends of DeSoto send their favorite bottles? of Sorian Brandy to Big Rod to try to make this happen? Oh, yeah, they'd love that. You know, one thing that I have here that a listener sent in, that is one of my prize possessions is a letter that was sent on behalf of Biff Yeager to Paramount,

like saying, I really like this Chief Argyle guy and you should give him a role in the show. And the story behind that is that he got a letter writing campaign going, but the letters arrived at HQ before his episode aired. So I think they didn't look kindly on that. And I think they are pretty careful about like letting fan boys like us onto the sets and stuff. But I still think there's a chance we can make this happen, you know? All right. Well, I will hold out hope.

Kurtzman, if you're listening. Let's do this. Well, seriously, I will just say I truly. I love the show. I listen to it religiously. I pay money for the show. I'm happy to support great art that you guys make, even if it's just dick and fart jokes about Star Trek. It brings me a lot of joy every week. It's a pleasure to speak to you again, 10 years after our first conversation. And I look forward to many more years of Uxbridge-Termota productions. Thanks for being such a big part of what made us go. Seruze, really appreciate you. so grateful for getting to talk to you and getting to be friends with you over these last 10 years. Thanks, gentlemen. Thank you. Later, pal.

I really liked hearing that, Ben. It was like a little bit different from performance, Ben and Adam. Like, I think what you heard was, like, thoughtful Ben and Adam. And I like shifting gears a little bit. And I like sharing that with the FODs. I also just really, love the way Seruse conducted that because I feel like we have had a couple of opportunities to answer questions about our shows. And he asked such, you know, surprising questions and questions that really made me think. And it felt like we actually got to some, some fresh insight with that one. Yeah, that was really fun. I'm glad we got to do it. I'm also glad that we have some priority one messages to read. Adam, do you want to head into the inbox? Oh, yeah.

Priority one message from Starfleet coming in on Secured Channel You need a supplemental income Supplemental enough? Supplement. Supplement. Yeah, it's extra. The interest alone could be enough to buy this ship. This first one is of a promotional nature.

It goes like this. Hey, sci-fi board game nerds. It's time. The Kickstarter for my board game, Salvagers, is live. It's a fast-paced. competitive shipbuilding game where you search through a scrapyard to build your ship while fending off other players and random events. With higher Kickstarter tiers including the first expansion, custom playmats, and even having your own captain drawn and sent to you to be a part of the game forever. Support a fellow friend of DeSoto.

And of course, the fellow friend of DeSoto in question is defested. and you can support DeFestid's Kickstarter by going to salvagersgame.com and supporting the Salvagers' Kickstarter. And, you know, I think that it bears mentioning that DeFested has probably been to the most live shows of any friend of DeSoto. DeFestred really for a long, long time, one of the great supporters of what we do on this show. And I think it's only right that you and I and the rest of the FODs get out. out there and support Defested in this game. Salvagers. This game looks so cool. If you're a board game player or if you're board game curious, why not, you know?

Yeah, I trust Defestad's judgment on just so many things, rightly or wrongly. But yeah, I'm guessing there's not going to be any squares you land on that force you to dump a bucket of ice water down the front of your swim shorts. But maybe there is. Like maybe that's just defested. That's just what they like to do. Call me crazy. Call me a pervert.

They rule. Support their Kickstarter. Yeah. Do it down. I know I will. I know I have. Ben, we've got a personal priority one message here. It is from your frog prints.

It is to all bartenders everywhere. Wow. Okay. Here's how that message goes. The pineapple negotiation. a tax treaty with Thursday while wearing a submarine for formal occasions. Seven bewildered teacups tap danced through the ceiling fan to apologize for inventing gravity sideways. Meanwhile, a whispering volcano mailed my shoelaces to the future where they became

mayor of a transparent sandwich. Randotrop? What do you think? I hate this. I love it. It is revolting. More? please. I'm really excited that your frog prince is penning some new verses for two turntables in a microphone. Some really solid business there, your frog prints. Sounds like the bartenders are really doing their jobs.

That wasn't code for some sort of mass activation of Manchurian candidates or whatever? Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. I hope not. I mean, I'm just, I'm playing this game of Solitaire just for fun right now. Right, right. I understand. Well, thanks, your Frog Prince. For something I'm going to say before every show I record to just sort of exercise the ambusure.

Yeah. Another FOD of legend, your Frog Prince. Yeah. Support their trip to the next bar they go to. We have another personal one here. from Josius, and it is too, Adam, Ben, Wendy, Rob, Bill, and all Uxbridge-Shimoda team members everywhere. Ten years ago, I'd never seen any trek.

A decade later, and I'm a recent 40-year-old, and my ultimate comfort watch is Trek. That's because of you guys. Thanks for the decade of humor, vulnerability, and community. Don't discount the impact Uxbridge Shemota has had over the lives of so many, myself included. you've connected and saved so many thank you wow that uh got pretty heavy toward the end I love that we have improved anyone's lives to any degree because of what we've done here

feels great to know that 10 years of that is out in the world reaching people where they are I've I've saved so little in the last 10 years but if the friends of DeSoto have I'm psyched to hear Yeah, listen to Ben. At great personal sacrifice, all you FODs out there have been saved. I hope you remember that. Hope you remember what that costs Benjamin R. Harrison. Hey, listen, priority one messages have a cost to them, but fortunately they go toward the production of our show.

You can get yours submitted into the record by going to greatest track.com. You're just a couple clicks away, a couple taps of the keyboard away. And you're going to get the word out on what you're working on or what you're trying to celebrate. Indeed. All right. Well, that was a very fun episode. Adam, next week we have an episode that will be very special in many ways. The beginning of a new era for the show and the close of an old era.

Amazing. Our last Code 47 segment maybe ever is going to be next week. Wow. We're just retiring a lot. of things as we move into this new era. It's also going to be a Q&A episode with questions from you, the Friends of DeSoto, but most importantly, major announcement on the show next week. Really? Really? Oh, yeah, I know what this is. Yeah, I mean, check your email. Like, big stuff happening. Oh, I'm current on the email pen. Yeah, this is future of the show stuff that we need to

announce. And we want to make sure that everyone hears it. Yeah, this is not one you're going to want to skip. We are really, really pumped to tell you all about what is going on. I love these little interstitial apps who've been dropping. I'm really looking forward to getting back to mainline Star Trek the next generation pretty soon here, just as I'm sure a lot of FODs are as well. But yeah, nice little couple of weeks to just sort of reset the mechanism here behind the scenes. And then get back out there again. I'm looking forward to it. Like you have never seen an edge of sketch as blank as one that has been shaken for two weeks straight.

Yeah. Yeah. I've just been sitting in a paint can mixer. Ready to start over again with no memory of what came before. All right. Well, we got to thank all the friends of DeSoto who support the show at greatesttrek.com. I've got to thank Wendy Pritty, our producer and editor, who makes the show happen on time and under budget every week. You got to thank Rob Adler, our social media director, who also edits the greatest newsletter, which you should definitely sign up to receive.

Go to greatesttrek.com and find a link there. And Bill Tilly, the card daddy, who helps Rob run the at Greatest Trek social media. accounts and makes hilarious trading cards that you gotta go check out on there. Yeah, some of his recent work has really fucking destroyed me, I gotta say. He did a card using a picture from an episode bisected with a picture of Frank Thomas from a Boner Pill commercial that is just... That's art, all right? The guy has not lost his fastball, all right?

I want to get that framed up in the studio. Love it. And for some reason, that wasn't the hollow card this season. I can't wait to see what that's going to be. Wild. When it's all said and done. We've got to thank Adam Ragusea, who made all the original music you hear on the show

and Dark Materia for the original Picard song. That we will be back at you next time with a Q&A episode and the final Code 47 episode ever? Thanks, Saruse. Thanks, Sarah Archer. Thanks anyone who have ever written anything nice about us on the Internet. Thanks a ton. Indeed.

Thank you so much. Bye-bye. Maximum Fun. A worker-owned network of artist-owned shows. Supported directly by you.