It's a competition of second chapters with Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan VERSUS Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back! Kenny and Aspen are joined by noted Ron Howard lookalike (and good friend) Ryan Hill to discuss his personal experiences watching these two films in the theater when they premiered. We also explore questions like: Do Jedis really embrace Buddhist philosophy? How can stories help us deal with the uncertainty of the world? And why the heck does Ryan like Rise of Skywalker? _________________ Get early, extended episodes on our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/trekwarspod Theme by https://linktr.ee/tosinplays Social Media: https://www.instagram.com/trekwarspod https://bsky.app/profile/trekwarspod.bsky.social Want to ask us questions? Email us at https://gmail.com . And leave us a review! https://bit.ly/leave-a-review-trek-wars

Friday's Child (Star Trek: TOS) vs. Hard Sell/A Warrior and a Lurdo (Star Wars: Ewoks) Three mid episodes. Aspen talks about cultural relativism versus cultural absolutism. Kenny talks about a writerly POV becoming diminished. And we both struggle to talk about this week's episode of Ewoks. __________________________ Get early, extended episodes on our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/trekwarspod Theme by https://linktr.ee/tosinplays Social Media: https://www.instagram.com/trekwarspod https://bsky.app/profile/trekwarspod.bsky.social Want to ask us questions? Email us at https://gmail.com . And leave us a review! https://bit.ly/leave-a-review-trek-wars

Journey to Babel (Star Trek: TOS) vs. Gone With The Mimphs / The First Apprentice (Star Wars: Ewoks) The word "iconic" gets thrown liberally. We talk about Linda Woolverton and D.C. Fontana. Kenny talks about Spock as a reflection of post-WWII masculinity. Aspen talks about how amazing the Mimphs are. And we get silly. __________________________ Get early, extended episodes on our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/trekwarspod Theme by https://linktr.ee/tosinplays Social Media: https://www.instagram.com/trekwarspod https://bsky.app/profile/trekwarspod.bsky.social Want to ask us questions? Email us at https://gmail.com . And leave us a review! https://bit.ly/leave-a-review-trek-wars

Metamorphosis (Star Trek: TOS) vs. Night of the Stranger (Star Wars: Ewoks) Surprise! Aspen likes scary things. Which is one of the big reasons she loves Night of the Spirit. She correctly identifies Ewoks as the Goonies of Star Wars. Meanwhile, Kenny leads the charge on the muddled themes of Star Trek this week. __________________________ Get early, extended episodes on our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/trekwarspod Theme by https://linktr.ee/tosinplays Social Media: https://www.instagram.com/trekwarspod https://bsky.app/profile/trekwarspod.bsky.social Want to ask us questions? Email us at https://gmail.com . And leave us a review! https://bit.ly/leave-a-review-trek-wars

I, Mudd (Star Trek: TOS) vs. The Totem Master/A Gift for Shodu (Star Wars: Ewoks) We are delighted by both episodes. But Aspen has an existential breakdown that causes us to spiral and talk about Mando-verse and NüTrek. __________________________ Get early, extended episodes on our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/trekwarspod Theme by https://linktr.ee/tosinplays Social Media: https://www.instagram.com/trekwarspod https://bsky.app/profile/trekwarspod.bsky.social Want to ask us questions? Email us at https://gmail.com . And leave us a review! https://bit.ly/leave-a-review-trek-wars

Catspaw (Star Trek: TOS) vs. The Raich (Star Wars: Ewoks) Two Halloween episodes. Don't know how it happened, but both episodes are Halloween episodes. And we recorded this in October. __________________________ Get early, extended episodes on our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/trekwarspod Theme by https://linktr.ee/tosinplays Social Media: https://www.instagram.com/trekwarspod https://bsky.app/profile/trekwarspod.bsky.social Want to ask us questions? Email us at https://gmail.com . And leave us a review! https://bit.ly/leave-a-review-trek-wars

The Doomsday Machine (Star Trek: TOS) vs. Home is Where the Shrieks Are/Princess Latara (Star Wars: Ewoks) Three episodes about being consumed by ego! Aspen goes on the record about child brides. We talk about muddled themes in Doomsday Machine. Kenny talks about the Shatner/Nimoy relationship. Also, we talk about Larry. __________________________ Get early, extended episodes on our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/trekwarspod Theme by https://linktr.ee/tosinplays Social Media: https://www.instagram.com/trekwarspod https://bsky.app/profile/trekwarspod.bsky.social Want to ask us questions? Email us at https://gmail.com . And leave us a review! https://bit.ly/leave-a-review-trek-wars

The Apple (Star Trek: TOS) vs. The Crystal Cloak/The Wish Plant (Star Wars: Droids) Ewoks re-pilots itself for S2! And Star Trek reheats a whole bunch of old episodes into a casserole of an episode. Aspen gets grossed out at this episode's preoccupation with The Apple wanting all the followers of Vaal to have sex. Kenny contextualizes how NBC could let a Soviet onboard the Enterprise. And we talk about 1960s sex appeal and the female vs. male gaze. __________________________ Get early, extended episodes on our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/trekwarspod Theme by https://linktr.ee/tosinplays Social Media: https://www.instagram.com/trekwarspod https://bsky.app/profile/trekwarspod.bsky.social Want to ask us questions? Email us at https://gmail.com . And leave us a review! https://bit.ly/leave-a-review-trek-wars

Mirror, Mirror (Star Trek: TOS) vs. The Great Heep (Star Wars: Droids) We've finished Droids! Aspen thinks The Great Heep (the episode and the character) is deeply terrifying. We dive deep into the unusually gendered KT-10 astromech droid. We also dive deep into the gender politics of Mirror, Mirror and the contradiction that is Star Trek. Kenny also talks about the I.S.S. Enterprise and how cool it is. Show Notes: Kirk Drift by Erin Horáková http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/columns/freshly-rememberd-kirk-drift/ __________________________ Get early, extended episodes on our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/trekwarspod Theme by https://linktr.ee/tosinplays Social Media: https://www.instagram.com/trekwarspod Want to ask us questions? Email us at https://gmail.com . And leave us a review! https://bit.ly/leave-a-review-trek-wars

The Changeling (Star Trek: TOS) vs. Asha (Star Wars: Ewoks) Aspen loves The Changeling more than 2001. Also, Aspen and Kenny think that Asha is a GREAT episode of TV. Kenny marvels at the design of Nomad. Aspen points out ThAt OnE sHoT in The Changeling that creates all of the tension. And we talk about how both episodes happen to be about lost outsiders returning home.PATREON BONUS: Aspen LOVES the movie Bottoms. Kenny hasn't seen it, but he has started reading Splinter of the Mind's Eye. We also talk improv beef. __________________________ Get early, extended episodes on our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/trekwarspod Theme by https://linktr.ee/tosinplays Social Media: https://www.instagram.com/trekwarspod Want to ask us questions? Email us at https://gmail.com . And leave us a review! https://bit.ly/leave-a-review-trek-wars