In the latest episode of our podcast, The Pop Culture Lens, Christopher and I are joined by good friend and Associate Professor at DePaul University, Paul Booth, to discuss the longevity of Star Trek. All three of us are huge Star Trek fans, and we had a rousing good conversation about why the series has had the impact on society and culture that it has — why it has lasted for almost 50 years, with so many hours of television, movies, novels, video games, and more.

Although none of us are fans of the J. J. Abrams reboots of the franchise, we all agree that the world now needs the type of optimistic sincerity that was so fundamental and inspirational of the original series. In fact, we would love more of this type of “neo-sincerity,” as Paul described it, in all of our science fiction and fantasy; the type of sincerity that just embraced the goofiness and unreality and welcomed the imagination and inspiration that comes with it.

I will always be a Trekkie (I grew up on The Next Generation and the movies more than The Original Series) — and if I can find that video my family made at Universal Studios in Orlando, which we discuss in the podcast, then I will make certain to share it here. Star Trek has been important to my ideas for what our future could/should be, and I hope we can get more people willing to boldly go where no one has gone before. Because we need that mentality, that spirit, that hope, now as much as, if not more than, we did in the 1960s.