Listen now (63 min) | Trekkies have a high concentration of autistics and the show’s development over the last 50 years tells us a lot about how autistic culture has evolved.
First, I adored listening to Matt talk about Star Trek. His knowledge and passion was contagious. Second, my partner is a bit of a Trekkie, and I have gotten dragged in to that and many other sci-fi shows over the years. I've self-diagnosed in the past couple years, and listening to this episode made me realize something I'd never thought of...without fail, in every minimal encounter I had with various seasons of Star Trek, my FAVORITE characters were the ones you named as autistic - Data, T'Pol, etc. They were by far the most memorable and relatable characters to me. I really appreciated this episode that I thought I wasn't going to love as much as the rest. Loving this podcast!
I shared this episode with the "Friends of Liad" group. I started an argument about all the Autistic coding in the Liaden Universe series. So much social justice, data hunger, Anthropology, AI Rights, etc. One of my favourite character's story arcs involved her home culture trying to cure her dyspraxia with a pill that causes cognitive impairment. Liaden culture is highly hierarchical and your body language cannot express emotions in polite society. Many societies believe men are overly emotional and irrational beings and lack basic rights. Also lots of LGBTQ+ representation going back to the 1980s. There is a short story about a culture essentially having social standing tied to your social media following. Science fiction is a great way to explore cultural norms.
I've been listening to the podcast for 4 hours now and not stopping yet. I'm not a Trekkie but I've watched Star Trek a bit, I'm currently watching Lower Decks which is awesome and I recommend. I've dabbled in many fandoms in the past Stargate, The Pretender, Criminal Minds, Community, Parks and Rec, Always Sunny. In fact Always Sunny in Philadelphia lead me down a research hole where I watched all the creators other shows and movies especially Charlie Days work mostly because he plays a lot of what could be considered autistic coded characters eg. Charlie Kelly, Benny the Spaceman, Newt Gleisler which is suspicious.
But the reason I wanted to comment on this episode was the mention of animals and Autistics as this involves one of my special interests Dog Behaviour and Training. There are so many Autistics in the dog world and we find each other really easily. My dog club where I volunteer has a thankyou dinner every year and there is now an entire table of Autistics, obviously we chose the back corner table as ours and we stim and talk exclusively about our special interests dogs and other animals and SciFi being the main topics. None of us knew the others were Autistic the first year we sat together we were just avoiding the other tables. Dog shows and dog sports also have large numbers of Autistics and we just gravitate to each other it is brilliant. I love dog shows because I can info dump about my breed of dog to everyone and they are interested at least a little bit. Watch the mockumentary Best in Show it's a great insight into the weird wonderful world of Dog Showing.
Part 2: Dr. Bashir, Tilly, Tam Elbraum (Deanna's patient in that one episode, but how'd stereotypical female presentation of hyper empathy come up and it went to Bones instead of Daughter of the Daughter of the 5th House, Holder of the Sacred Chalice of Rixx?! lol) I'd also love to hear thoughts on Lower Decks characters ^_^ <3
First, I adored listening to Matt talk about Star Trek. His knowledge and passion was contagious. Second, my partner is a bit of a Trekkie, and I have gotten dragged in to that and many other sci-fi shows over the years. I've self-diagnosed in the past couple years, and listening to this episode made me realize something I'd never thought of...without fail, in every minimal encounter I had with various seasons of Star Trek, my FAVORITE characters were the ones you named as autistic - Data, T'Pol, etc. They were by far the most memorable and relatable characters to me. I really appreciated this episode that I thought I wasn't going to love as much as the rest. Loving this podcast!
I shared this episode with the "Friends of Liad" group. I started an argument about all the Autistic coding in the Liaden Universe series. So much social justice, data hunger, Anthropology, AI Rights, etc. One of my favourite character's story arcs involved her home culture trying to cure her dyspraxia with a pill that causes cognitive impairment. Liaden culture is highly hierarchical and your body language cannot express emotions in polite society. Many societies believe men are overly emotional and irrational beings and lack basic rights. Also lots of LGBTQ+ representation going back to the 1980s. There is a short story about a culture essentially having social standing tied to your social media following. Science fiction is a great way to explore cultural norms.
Interview with the authours of the Liaden Universe.
https://www.writersdrinkingcoffee.com/posts/podcast/episode-173-interview-with-sharon-lee-and-steve-miller/
I've been listening to the podcast for 4 hours now and not stopping yet. I'm not a Trekkie but I've watched Star Trek a bit, I'm currently watching Lower Decks which is awesome and I recommend. I've dabbled in many fandoms in the past Stargate, The Pretender, Criminal Minds, Community, Parks and Rec, Always Sunny. In fact Always Sunny in Philadelphia lead me down a research hole where I watched all the creators other shows and movies especially Charlie Days work mostly because he plays a lot of what could be considered autistic coded characters eg. Charlie Kelly, Benny the Spaceman, Newt Gleisler which is suspicious.
But the reason I wanted to comment on this episode was the mention of animals and Autistics as this involves one of my special interests Dog Behaviour and Training. There are so many Autistics in the dog world and we find each other really easily. My dog club where I volunteer has a thankyou dinner every year and there is now an entire table of Autistics, obviously we chose the back corner table as ours and we stim and talk exclusively about our special interests dogs and other animals and SciFi being the main topics. None of us knew the others were Autistic the first year we sat together we were just avoiding the other tables. Dog shows and dog sports also have large numbers of Autistics and we just gravitate to each other it is brilliant. I love dog shows because I can info dump about my breed of dog to everyone and they are interested at least a little bit. Watch the mockumentary Best in Show it's a great insight into the weird wonderful world of Dog Showing.
Loved this!
Part 2: Dr. Bashir, Tilly, Tam Elbraum (Deanna's patient in that one episode, but how'd stereotypical female presentation of hyper empathy come up and it went to Bones instead of Daughter of the Daughter of the 5th House, Holder of the Sacred Chalice of Rixx?! lol) I'd also love to hear thoughts on Lower Decks characters ^_^ <3