14-17 How Star Trek TNG’s Tech Stayed (Almost) Scientifically Accurate
The Trek Files: A Roddenberry Star Trek Podcast
Release Date: 12/30/2025
14-17 How Star Trek TNG’s Tech Stayed (Almost) Scientifically Accurate
The Trek Files: A Roddenberry Star Trek Podcast
What happens when your sci-fi franchise is also a part-time science think tank? This week, Rick Sternbach returns to The Trek Files to discuss a set of internal memos he and Michael Okuda sent to the TNG production team, an essential peek behind the curtain at how plausible science and week-to-week TV production collided during the Berman era. These “tech notes” weren’t just background noise. They helped shape the direction of key episodes, lent credibility to futuristic concepts like nanotechnology and AI, and quietly preserved Trek’s internal logic. From computer core comparisons to...
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14-16 The Breen, From TNG to Discovery: Trek Writer Carlos Cisco Explains
The Trek Files: A Roddenberry Star Trek Podcast
Before Star Trek: Discovery unmasked the Breen in season 5, they were little more than an enigma in the Trek canon, name-dropped but rarely seen. This week on The Trek Files, Discovery writer and producer Carlos Cisco joins us to talk about tracing those first cryptic mentions of the Breen, buried in The Next Generation scripts for “The Loss” and “Hero Worship,” and how they helped inspire the character of L’ak and a new chapter in Star Trek storytelling. Carlos reflects on working with the Discovery team to shape the Breen arc and what it means to tell stories that are...
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14-15 What really happened to Jonathan Archer after Enterprise?
The Trek Files: A Roddenberry Star Trek Podcast
This week, we open the Starfleet personnel file for Admiral Jonathan Archer, a detailed biographical memo written by Star Trek: Enterprise writer/producer Michael Sussman for the fan-favorite episode “In a Mirror, Darkly.” It was only meant to be a quick background graphic, so how did it evolve into a fan-favorite bit of canon? And why did Mike sneak “President of the UFP” into the character’s résumé without telling the showrunners? Larry welcomes Mike to The Trek Files to revisit the creation of this in-universe bio, share behind-the-scenes memories from the final days of...
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14-14 Designing Voyager with Rick Sternbach
The Trek Files: A Roddenberry Star Trek Podcast
Before it was a spoon-shaped ship lost in the Delta Quadrant, the U.S.S. Voyager was a series of sketches, foam-core models, and engineering daydreams from the mind of artist and tech consultant Rick Sternbach. As we continue marking the 30th anniversary of Star Trek: Voyager, Rick returns to The Trek Files to walk us through the behind-the-scenes process of designing one of Trek’s most distinctive starships. From the early design directives—“smaller, leaner, faster”—to the collaborative process with producers like Rick Berman and Jeri Taylor, we explore how Voyager took shape on...
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14-13 Roddenberry Family Album – Stories from the Inside
The Trek Files: A Roddenberry Star Trek Podcast
This week, The Trek Files returns to one of our most personal corners of Trek history. Reinelda Estupinian,known lovingly as Reina, joins us again to share rare family photos and her firsthand memories of life inside the Roddenberry household. Hired in 1974 as a nanny for six-month-old Rod Roddenberry, Reina became a trusted part of the family for over three decades, eventually working closely with Majel Barrett Roddenberry at Lincoln Enterprises. Reina shares candid and touching stories of those years: traveling with the family, managing Majel’s whirlwind convention life, and offering...
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14-12 Fan Letters and Fandom Flashpoints – November 1986
The Trek Files: A Roddenberry Star Trek Podcast
What happens when fans learn their beloved Star Trek is returning, but not the way they expect? This week on The Trek Files, we take a mid-season dive into the pre-internet letter-writing era of fandom with a look at Interstat #109, a Star Trek “LOC-zine” published just after the announcement of The Next Generation in late 1986. With Mission Log host and producer John Champion joining Larry, we revisit that first wave of passionate, skeptical, and sometimes prophetic reactions from fans adjusting to the idea of Star Trek without Kirk, Spock, or the original cast. From fears about recasting...
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14-11 Interface, Probes, and Saying Goodbye
The Trek Files: A Roddenberry Star Trek Podcast
In the 1993 Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Interface,” Geordi La Forge uses experimental technology to remotely explore a stranded starship and is confronted by a deeply personal mystery. Was the image of his mother real, or something else entirely? This week, returning guest Dr. David Williams joins Larry to explore the real-world science behind this episode. Using a vintage press summary as our entry point, they discuss how TNG anticipated advances in virtual interfaces and robotics: technologies that now drive space exploration through probes, planetary rovers, and immersive...
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14-10 Your Move, Doug – First Contact with TNG
The Trek Files: A Roddenberry Star Trek Podcast
Imagine being invited to visit the Star Trek: The Next Generation set before it even aired by none other than Bob Justman. This week, The Trek Files welcomes back Doug Drexler to share the story of his very first visit to the TNG set in 1987, spurred by a letter from legendary Trek producer Robert H. Justman. That visit changed everything. Doug quickly transitioned from fan to crew member, taking any job that would get him in the door as he built the career that would shape the look of Star Trek for decades to come. With his signature energy and humility, Doug talks about what it meant to...
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14-9 From Saving Trek to Shaping It – Doug Drexler’s Journey
The Trek Files: A Roddenberry Star Trek Podcast
Before he was an Oscar-winning makeup artist and Star Trek’s go-to designer, Doug Drexler was just a teenage fan fighting to save the show he loved. This week, Doug joins The Trek Files to reflect on a remarkable journey—from the 1968 Newsday article that quoted him as a 14-year-old letter-writing activist, to working for the legendary Federation Trading Post in New York, and eventually becoming one of the franchise’s most beloved creative minds. Doug shares memories of fandom in the ‘60s and ‘70s like filming Star Trek episodes off his TV with an 8mm home movie camera, then...
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14-8 Majel, Lincoln Enterprises, and Life Behind the Table
The Trek Files: A Roddenberry Star Trek Podcast
Before “merch” was a mainstream business, Star Trek fandom had Lincoln Enterprises—and behind the scenes was a small, tight-knit team led by Majel Barrett Roddenberry. This week, The Trek Files welcomes Reinelda Estupinian, who started as Rod Roddenberry’s nanny in 1974 and later worked directly with Majel beginning in 1980. Reina shares stories from the early convention circuit: selling scripts, collectibles, and Vulcan jewelry to devoted fans while keeping pace with the growing Trek phenomenon. She also reflects on Majel as both a businesswoman and a “force of nature,” balancing...
info_outlineWhat happens when your sci-fi franchise is also a part-time science think tank? This week, Rick Sternbach returns to The Trek Files to discuss a set of internal memos he and Michael Okuda sent to the TNG production team, an essential peek behind the curtain at how plausible science and week-to-week TV production collided during the Berman era.
These “tech notes” weren’t just background noise. They helped shape the direction of key episodes, lent credibility to futuristic concepts like nanotechnology and AI, and quietly preserved Trek’s internal logic. From computer core comparisons to white dwarf fragments, Rick walks us through how the art department helped make the 24th century feel real and even got a line read by Scotty.
Whether you’re a longtime fan of the TNG Technical Manual or just someone who geeks out over starship systems, this one’s for you.
Documents and Additional References:
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Technical Memo: “Evolution” – notes on nanotechnology, AI behavior, and micro-replication systems in TNG S3E1
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Technical Memo: “Hollow Pursuits” – science commentary and plausible extrapolations for the episode’s holodeck failure storyline
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Technical Memo: “The Most Toys” – suggestions on transporter physics and energy beam effects
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Naren Shankar (science advisor and writer, TNG Seasons 3–7)
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Joan Pearce (continuity consultant, Roddenberry-era Star Trek)
The Trek Files Season 14 on Memory Alpha
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