In January last year, on the NSR Discord, Keyan asked, “Maybe an odd question, but have any of you gone from not exercising much/exercising only reluctantly to having a reliable fitness routine that you enjoy doing? And if so… what’s your secret?”
Seedling said, “Riding a bike outside for me. I know you said inside, but I am so bored unless I’m outside and seeing the scenery change.”
P0rthos of Space Aces fame wrote, in part, “Find a podcast you love. You are only allowed to listen to it while you work out. That’ll make you almost look forward to a workout.”
For me, this was life-changing. I’d biked a bit the fall prior but stopped. Seedling and P0rthos got me back on the bike, motivated by—of course—listening to Star Trek podcasts.
Here are ten Star Trek podcasts I enjoy:
- All Access – News of the week from TrekMovie.com plus interviews and reviews of new episodes. Weirdly, the feed only has the last 100 issues, so if you’re doing a rewatch you’ll need to find an archive (e.g., Podchaser).
- Antimatter Pod – “A Star Trek podcast discussing fashion, feminism, subtext and subspace.” Often does session reviews, as well as thematic discussions. Check out the episodes “The Trekkie’s Mantra” and “Insecurity Chiefs.”
- The Delta Flyers – Garrett Wang and Robert Duncan McNeill recap Voyager and DS9 episodes.
- Greatest Generation / Greatest Trek – Detailed episode recaps punctuating observations of filming and story techniques with impressions, “drops” (comedic sound montages), and adolescent innuendo that will make you embarrassed to be listening to this with someone else. Fullest coverage of the franchise, with podcasts about every single series and covering the full runs of all but two series: TOS (in progress) and TAS. (Why, yes, the FOD menu on my website is for other Friends of DeSoto.)
- Open Pike Night – A call-in format where listeners discuss Strange New Worlds episodes with the hosts, who also conduct excellent interviews with writers, producers, and cast.
- Star Trek Academy – Episode recaps from the viewpoint of a media professor and a philosophy professor. It’s very academic (hence the name, which is not related to the new show, which it predates). The first podcast I started listening to, after I stumbled across it on Mastodon.
- Syfy Sistas – Looks at science-fiction in general, afrofuturism in particular, including Dr. Who and Trek. Check out the episodes profiling Nichelle Nicholls and interviewing Tawny Newsome. Won the 2025 Best Podcast award from TrekMovie.com.
- Trek Files – An official podcast of Roddenberry Entertainment, focusing on franchise history. Episodes are often 15 to 25 minutes, so shorter than most of the other podcasts on this list, which tend towards episodes of an hour or longer.
- Treks and the City – Feminist comedy as Alice Wetterlund (D’arcy Bloom on Resident Alien) and friends rewatch TNG and DS9.
- Women at Warp – Now ended after 10 years and 259 episodes. Check out “Love in the Time of Streaming” among many other great episodes.
In addition to these, and unrelated to Star Trek, I am binging A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs.
Photo by Stefan Cosma on Unsplash.
