AUDIO: Blerd Trek: Star Trek 2024 - A Retrospective and Future Glimpse into 2025 and Beyond

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>> Will: Greetings, Trekkies, Trekkers, nerds and Blerds.

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This is Will Polk, host of Scene N Nerd Presents Blerd

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Trek. Thank you for joining me on this latest

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episode. Star Trek fans. 2024

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has been a year of endings, transitions and

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tantalizing beginnings. With the conclusion

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of Star Trek Discovery and Star Trek

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Lower Decks, the franchise has closed two

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incredible chapters that push boundaries and brought Trek

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to a new generation. But as we head into

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2025, questions linger. Where does the

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franchise go from here? Today we'll reflect on

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2024 and explore the exciting and

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uncertain future of the Star Trek universe.

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First, let's talk about the end of Star trek discovery.

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Spanning five seasons, this groundbreaking

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show took us to the 32nd century,

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expanding the Star Trek universe like never

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before. Love it or hate it, Discovery

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was a bold experiment. It brought emotional

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depth, modern storytelling and some of the most

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visually stunning Trek moments we've

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ever seen. But as, the final season wrapped

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this year, many fans felt a

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mix of closure and curiosity. What

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happens to these characters and where does the

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storyline go? Moving ahead,

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those are things that we will have for

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our imaginations and other future

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Trek series where we'll see where these characters

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may reappear. But let's turn

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quickly to Lower Decks, the animated series that

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celebrated everything we love about Star Trek with a side

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of humor. For five seasons, it was a love

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letter to fans. Blended comedy, heart

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and deep cut references that only

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the most hardcore Trekkies would

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catch. Its finale left us laughing,

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crying and wishing for more.

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Meanwhile, Star Trek Prodigy

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faced a roller coaster after being

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cancelled by Paramount, plus

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yet saved by Netflix. Its future feels

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like it's caught in a temporal anomaly.

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Will it find a long term on Netflix?

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Or more importantly, will it, continue

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to inspire younger audiences and spark

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a new wave of Star Trek fans?

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For now, its long term home is a

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question mark in the franchise's

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trajectory. Now as

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we look to 2025, there's

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plenty to be excited about. The production of

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Starfleet Academy marks a new era,

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for Star Trek. Set to focus on a

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younger generation of cadets, it promises to

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blend the classic ideas of Starfleet with the, challenges

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of a modern interconnected universe. Will it

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resonate with fans? Only time will tell. But it's a

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bold step into uncharted territory. It

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features Holly Hunter as the lead, Paul

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Giamonte, who's going to be a recurring villain

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in this new series. Robert Picardo

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is reprising his role as the doctor from

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Voyager, Tatiana Masani, who

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was in the show Orphan Black, and also she

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Hulk is joining the Star Trek franchise. Plus

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cast members from Discovery included Tig

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Notaro, Mary Wiseman, Odette Ferrer

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and others are will

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be reprising their roles and will

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also be joined with a new cast of characters

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that will be introduced in the

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series. So we haven't got an exact

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release date as of this recording, but it is expected

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sometime late in 202025 or

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early 2026. But it has already been

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renewed for a second season.

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And then there's section 31, the

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long awaited streaming movie starring Michelle

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Yeoh after her Oscar win.

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This project feels like it could elevate Trek's

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prestige, a darker, more

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espionage driven standalone

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take on Starfleet. It's something that fans have

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been craving ever since we first were

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introduced to the clandestine Section 31

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and Star Trek D Space 9. The trailers look like an

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action packed adventure and appears to cover those years

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in between the original series and the Next Generation.

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But will it pave the way for more Trek movies

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or is it a standalone experiment? It will

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premiere on January 24,

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2025. So can't wait to hear your

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thoughts about that show and let me know what you think

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about it as we wait for it to come in less

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than a month as as of this recording.

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And let's not forget Star Strange New

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Worlds, which remains a fan favorite

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series. With its episodic format and nods to

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classic Trek, it's been a consistent bright spot

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for the franchise. Season three is expected

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to push the boundaries even further and fans can't wait to

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see more of Captain Pike, Spock and crew.

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We have not yet gotten the exact release date as of

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this recording, but it is expected sometime in

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2025. also season four will also

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go into production in February and March of 2025

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according to actors Paul Wesley who plays Captain

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Kirk, and Jess Bush who plays Christine

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Chappell. So we could probably expect to see season

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four probably sometime in 2026

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or at the worst, 2027.

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Now here's an intriguing one that's coming up

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for us. Twaney Newsom, who played Beckett Mariner on

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Lower Decks and also

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as a writer on Starfleet Academy, is

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creating a workplace comedy set in the Star

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Trek universe. While the details are scarce, it's

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said to be a comedic take on life behind the scenes of

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Starfleet operations and inspired by a one off comedy

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episode from Deep Space Nine. Newsom shared recently

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in a Variety art interview by saying that

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quote, having so much support with Secret Hideout and

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the studio just being like we love Trek, let's take it in

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this New direction has been a good

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as the development can go, but

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finding a way to do Trek and a workplace comedy type

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tone is new. Lower Decks proved

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that we can do it in half an hour. We can do it very

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big and fun and funny and make it feel like Trek.

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But animation just gives you some tonal permissions

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that we're figuring out for live action. Justin and

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I are die hard Trekkies are not trying to mess

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with the Trek of it all, but we're also

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hardcore comedy people. The sanctity of the

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workplace comedy is really important to me, so

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making sure both of those things can really live

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together is my primary concern. That means

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that the premise that everyone heard at ah, Comic

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Con may be shifting a little bit. End

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quote. Justin is Justin Simeon who's

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also the co showrunner on this

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new workplace comedy. I will say it's

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a bold move, but will Trek blend

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of comedy and philosophy resonate in this new form

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format? If Lower Deck taught us anything is that

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humor has a place in this universe. But as we all

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know, the execution will be key.

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So what does the future hold for Star Trek

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Beyond 2025? The franchise

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is at a crossroads. With major

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players like Discovery and Lower Decks off the board.

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There's an opportunity and a challenge to

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rein Trek means in this streaming

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age. Of course we will still have at least two more

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seasons of strange new worlds. But the question

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is, will Starfleet Academy, a Section

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31 television movie,

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Usher in a new golden era? Or will

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Truck Trek struggle to find its footing in an ever

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crowded entertainment landscape?

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Finally, will we ever get that long

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awaited fourth movie in the Kelvin universe?

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We also do know that the X Men

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franchise producer and he also produced the

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Martian and the Deadpool movies,

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Simon Kinberg has been signed on to

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produce a prequel movie for Star Trek

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that is said to be an origin story that takes place

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decades before the events of the

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2009 Star Trek film, which

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kicked off of course the Kelvin Universe. So there is that.

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But one thing is certain, the ideas of

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Starfleet exploration, diversity and

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hope are as relevant as ever. And as long as there

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are fans stream into the final frontier, Star

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Trek will fully go where no franchise has gone

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before. Now it's your turn Trekkies.

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What are your hopes for Star Trek in

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2025 and beyond? Let's talk about it in the

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comments below or if you are listening

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to us on an audio feed, make sure you make a comment

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on our website that's at

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www.scenennerdpodcast.com

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and as always, don't forget to, like, subscribe and

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hit that bell if you're here on YouTube so that

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you never miss a transmission from the

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final frontier, be sure to catch our, audio podcast as

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well. Until next time, live long and

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prospect

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it.