Just throw any old thing on this week as we get ready to pay "The Price"!

Writer, artist, and podcaster Bonnie Liston joins the show to discuss an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation that sees Counselor Troi torn between a new love and her responsibilities to the crew. A seemingly stable wormhole to the Delta Quadrant is up for sale and the Enterprise in on hand to oversee the negotiations. But, when a Troi falls for a rival negotiator, she'll be forced to examine the ethics of her empathic gifts and decide if passion is worth the price of her career in Starfleet!

The Next Generation is often cited as the show where Gene Roddenberry's dream of a future of equality for the sexes was made manifest, but the show's treatment of its female characters in its early seasons often puts that legacy in doubt. During our discussion, we talk about the painful (and ongoing) birth of feminism in sci-fi, whether TNG is as feminist as fans remember, the struggle of telling stories about human fallibility in an evolved society, writing stories "without conflict", inventing DS9 and Voyager in one script, the unfair treatment of female characters and actors in early Trek, and what fans really think of Deanna Troi.

We also discuss the four-boobed, hermaphrodite, spiritual guru Troi we almost got, having an "empathy off", writing an "real human woman female", how cleavage is inversely proportional to intelligence, therapizing an oil slick, the Bill Campbell twinkle, why 24th century lululemon sucks, arguing with the computer over calories, Chris's Aliens, Barzan vapelife, googling "Troi bad?", Devinoni Ral: Trash Man, holodeck lock-ins, Aaron actually gets to talk to an Australian about Farscape, and Bonnie just wants to hear some Aussie accents!

And yes, THAT yoga scene.

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Read Bonnie's article about Troi on The Mary Sue!
https://www.themarysue.com/defense-star-trek-next-generation-deanna-troi/

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