Posts Tagged ‘podcast’

Enterprising Individuals – Star Trek III : The Search for Spock

I join host Ka1iban (aka Aaron Coker) on a new episode of his podcast series Enterprising Individuals, this time to discuss our thoughts about the feature film Star Trek III : The Search for Spock.

Ka1iban and I covered a lot of ground about the film (after a brief catching-up chat about the toll the pandemic years have taken on us and the world around us). In spite of its flaws, this is one of my favorite Star Trek movies, and one that I think is unfairly maligned and better than most fans remember.

Listen to our conversation here:
http://enterprisingindividuals.com/blog/2022/03/30/season-7-episode-3-star-trek-iii-the-search-for-spock-with-david-a-mack/

I Take Another Turn on Enterprising Individuals

It’s a new year, and that means it’s time for me to make my annual appearance on the Enterprising Individuals podcast, which invites a variety of guests to select and offer critical commentary about episodes of the various Star Trek television series.

For this installment, I opted to discuss The Schizoid Man,” a decidedly problematic season-two episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. As the show’s host Kaliban sums up so pithily:

“[The episode] starts with a dirty grandpa and ends with targ underwear wrestling. From casual sexism, to marginalization, to troubling implications for the Soong family, this early bit of TNG fluff has it all.”

Why did I want to dissect this episode? Because it’s a vital piece of canon that provides part of the foundation for the saga of Dr. Noonian Soong, his android creation/son Data, and the interconnected history of artificial intelligence in the Star Trek universe, as so eloquently stitched together by author Jeffrey Lang in his 2002 novel Immortal Coil.

Go and listen to our discussion of “The Schizoid Man” on Enterprising Individuals now!

Eating the Fantastic with Me & Scott Edelman

In mid-February 2018, while visiting Baltimore for the Farpoint Convention, I sat down with my old friend and former (pre-Syfy) SCI FI Channel coworker Scott Edelman to enjoy a delicious meal and record an episode of his podcast Eating the Fantastic.

For those of you not familiar with Scott, he is a veteran newsman and journalist specializing in the fields of science fiction, fantasy, and entertainment. He also is a prolific author of short fiction, ranging from short stories to novellas, and he has been nominated eight times for the horror genre’s vaunted Stoker Award.

This was a sit-down long overdue, for reasons best expressed in Scott’s own words:

David Mack and I have known each other for nearly two decades, ever since I started working with him at the Syfy Channel (though back then it was the SCI FI Channel). But since he worked in the Rockefeller Center office and I was a remote employee, we never got to have the lunches two coworkers would usually have had, so I’m glad we were able to have a long, leisurely meal together recently when he was in the Baltimore area attending the annual Farpoint convention.

David’s written more than 30 novels, including the Star Trek Destiny and Cold Equations trilogies. He was also responsible for several episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. His newest novel is The Midnight Front, a World War II-era epic fantasy which is the first book in the Dark Arts series of secret-history novels.

The venue for our dinner was Orchard Market and Cafe, a wonderful Persian restaurant recommended by recent guest of the show Norman Prentiss. Norman had told me that the Chicken Fesenjune was one of his favorite things in the whole world, and now that I’ve been there, I can can tell you—he had good reason to say that. Believe me, the food there was wonderful, and I’ll be going back whenever I can.

David and I discussed the weird ways his life entwined with the famed comic book artist who shares his name, how worrying about the details of Star Trek canon helped him when it came time to unravel the secret history of WWII, the way a near-death experience led to him working for the Syfy Channel, why it was so important for necromancers to pay a heavy price for the magic they choose to wield in his new novel The Midnight Front, how not making a pitch to a book editor resulted in him selling TV scripts to Star Trek, his unabashed love for the Beat author Richard Brautigan, the reason that after 27 Trek novels and a ton of other tie-in work he’s chosen to publish his non-franchise breakout book now, and much more.

Head on over to Scott’s website for information about how to subscribe to his Eating the Fantastic podcast (61 episodes and counting!), how to watch an embedded video feed of the podcast, and more. But this is one of the best, most-in-depth interviews of yours truly ever recorded, and I have to think its quality stems from Scott’s genuine love of, and interest in, the lives of others. Give it a listen.

Midnight Front Blog Tour Roundup

Now that The Midnight Front is out and loose in the world, I’ve begun a blog tour (with help from the wonderful Lauren Jackson at Tor/Forge Books).

Today marks my first few stops, with essays on the blogs of John Scalzi and Mary Robinette Kowal, and on fantasy website The Portalist. Also in the mix is an audio podcast interview conducted with Dungeon Crawlers Radio.

Check them all out, and then, if you haven’t already done so, order a copy of The Midnight Front!

The Portalist: Does realism matter in magick?

Dungeon Crawlers Radio: Q&A

The Big Idea: David Mack

My Favorite Bit: The Midnight Front

My Desperate Hours press roundup (#SFWApro)

Over the last few weeks I’ve granted a number of interviews concerning the writing process and inspirations behind my Star Trek: Discovery novel Desperate Hours. In case you’ve missed my myriad social media posts about each one, here’s a quick roundup of all of them to date (though more are soon forthcoming):

October 8, 2017: Literary Treks (Audio)
Topics: writing Star Trek: Discovery novel Desperate Hours

October 2, 2017: TrekLand (Video)
Topics: writing Star Trek: Discovery novel Desperate Hours

September 28, 2017: TrekCore
Topics: writing Star Trek: Discovery novel Desperate Hours

September 27, 2017: Once and Future Podcast Blog
Topics: why Desperate Hours isn’t like most tie-in novels

September 25, 2017: StarTrek.com
Topics: writing Star Trek: Discovery novel Desperate Hours

September 25, 2017: Unbound Worlds
Topics: writing Star Trek: Discovery novel Desperate Hours

September 1, 2017: Inverse.com
Topics: writing Star Trek: Discovery novel Desperate Hours

If you want to check out more of my blatherings in print and other media, check out my Interviews page for a listing that goes back many years.

#SFWApro

Section 31: Control reviewed on The Captain’s Table

My friends Michael Clark and Roslyn S. from podcast The Captain’s Table have returned from their year-long hiatus to review my latest Star Trek novel, SECTION 31: CONTROL.

I always enjoy hearing what Michael and Ros have to say about my books, and I think their reviews are honest, insightful, and well-considered.

Give it a listen, and check back soon for their interview with yours truly about this grim installment in the life of Julian Bashir.

If you enjoy Michael and Ros’s review and discussion, please make sure to leave them a good rating, or some feedback, or link to it on social media. Let them know you were there.