Join the conversation as we discuss Foundation and Earth chapters 10, 11, and 12 which is to say, the entirety of Part IV: Solaria. I began our description of S3E18, with "You know what? Solaria is weird." And here we are again on Solaria. It's been twelve millennia and in the meantime, they've really leaned into the weirdness. The Solarians have been busy genetically engineering themselves into the quintessential Spacers. They've gone so far as to grow their own Tesla coils inside their own brains so that they can wirelessly power their robots. And that isn't all! But don't take my word for it! Read "Robots," "Underground," and "To the Surface" and see for yourself! Then join us here for the episode! On another note, our first episode dropped on 26 April 2021. Thus, this episode marks the third anniversary of our podcast! Thanks to everybody who has joined us for the ride!

In this episode, we talk about Chapters 7, 8, and 9 of Foundation and Earth, "Leaving Comporellon," "Forbidden World," and "Facing the Pack." I've largely stopped bothering with the spoiler warnings, but I'm going to spoiler enough in this episode description to warrant one. If you want to discover things as you read and you haven't read these chapters yet, you know what to do. Tau Ceti is the nearest "sun-like star" to Earth that isn't in a multiple-star system and so it's been a frequent locale in Science Fiction over the years. It was a natural choice for Asimov to place Aurora, the first of the Spacer Worlds, in the Tau Ceti system. Since Asimov made that decision, we've discovered and cataloged thousands of exoplanets, that is, planets orbiting stars other than our sun. Several of them are in the Tau Ceti system and two, Tau Ceti d and e, are super-Earths that appear to be at the outer edges of Tau Ceti's habitable zone. That seems to fit what we learn about Aurora in this book; it was a terraformed world that, without humans to maintain it, was slipping back into uninhabitability. There is another, proposed, exoplanet orbiting Tau Ceti, called PxP-4. That one could be smack in the middle of the habitable zone. In any event, it's time to return to the Tau Ceti system and take a good look around. Also, there are dogs! So Let's go!

We talk about chapters 4 to 6 of Foundation and Earth. There's almost a framing sequence for this part of Foundation and Earth, "On Comporellon," "Struggle for the Ship," and "The Nature of Earth." At the outset, Trevize had bulldozed his way onto Comporellon by implying that Bliss and Pelorat are involved in illicit activities that can't be allowed to get back to the wife Pelorat does not have. By the end, it's Trevize who's plied a woman for information and favors with his masculine wiles. In the interim, we see what has become of Baleyworld, the first drop of the second wave of galactic colonization. Frigid, puritanical, authoritarian, and gray it's an uninviting place until we're allowed entry into the private world of Mitza Lizalor and we learn what we need to continue the search for Earth. Join us as we take it all apart and then put it back together again! Let's go!

We're diving into Foundation and Earth with Chapters 1 through 3. The story so far: When last we checked in, Golan Trevize had deduced that the ultimate answer to the ultimate question of Life, The Interregnum, and Everything was "Galaxia" and not "The Seldon Plan" or "42" as we had previously been led to believe. But still, he has his doubts. Like a proper mathematics student, he's uncomfortable unless he can show his work. And so, he and his two ape-descended companions, Pelorat and Bliss, have begun a quest to find out what the actual question was. Thus, they search for Earth, the biggest, most powerful computer ever built, even bigger than the Milliard Gargantubrain at Maximegalon. They will find it, learn the actual question, and all will be right with the galaxy. Unless the telephone sanitizers have anything to say about it. Or something like that. Join us for Chapters 1 through 3 of Foundation and Earth, "The Search Begins," Toward Comporellon" and "At The Entry Station." We'll be sure to get it sorted.

It's our final podcast on Foundation's Edge as we discuss chapters 17 to 20! My Mom, an unabashed fan of Joseph Campbell, frequently counseled me to "find my bliss." I think I've done pretty well. Collectively, though, we may have found our Bliss as we reach the closing chapters of our novel, "Gaia," "Collision," "Decision," and "Conclusion." Our heroes have arrived at Gaia, and all our principal characters are on the scene. Stuff is finally happening! This is as action-packed as an Asimov story can be! And we finally, through Golan Trevize, learn the ultimate answer to the ultimate question of Life, The Interregnum, and Everything! Spoiler alert: it isn't "42." Let's GO!

We talk about chapters 13 through 16 of Foundation's Edge. We're finally up to the episode where we reveal that Apple TV's Foundation has been renewed for season 3! Not exactly ripped from the headlines. Also, the Great and Glorious Az wants us to know that, like spaceships, other planets have their own distinctive odors. ⁠It's true!⁠ Captain Kirk could have faced the Gorn on the Moon as astronauts tell us that moondust smells like gunpowder. The atmospheres of Venus and Mars contain hydrogen sulfide, which smells of rotten eggs. Ew. Lucky for you if you took off your helmet on either planet you'd be too busy suffocating or bursting into flames to notice the stench. You get the idea. Still, I'm just happy that this olfactory dissertation doesn't overlap with the exhaustive explorations of restrooms. So we talk about "University," "Forward," "Gaia-S," and "Convergence" from Foundations Edge. There's a nice bit about The Five Sisters, a pentagonal constellation as seen from Sayshell, that plays an important part in the plot. It reminded Joseph of "Constant as the Northern Star" one of Asimov's science essays from the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction which was collected in Of Matters Great and Small. And we go on a bit of a lengthy, but fun. digression. Join us!

Dateline – Terminus: It's sweet that you guys noticed that we hadn't commented on the news about Apple TV's Foundation being renewed for Season 3! But that isn't exactly what happened; we did, in fact, talk about it on S5E04. Unfortunately, we've all been super busy and the post-production train has a metaphorical Bishop's Claw on the tracks. Believe me, you don't want to mess with one of those. That episode will be out in a couple of days. But when the news about David Goyer and his status as showrunner dropped, we decided to do something different. Here's our first special bulletin! Me, I'm hoping for huge budget cuts! Let's strip it down until it looks like a production of Our Town and put The Great and Glorious Az‘s vision on full conversational display. And let's lean into it! How about a long monologue by Jared Harris, shot on location in a Shoney’s men’s room about how little plumbing has changed in 12000 years? I'd watch that! Thanks for your dedication to Stars End and never fear! We'll be getting caught up as quickly as we can.

In which we discuss chapters 9 through 12 of Foundation's Edge. Thanks to Avengers: Endgame lots of people know what the end of a chess game is called. This section of Foundation's Edge which includes the chapters "Hyperspace," "Table," "Sayshell," and "Agent" is much more like the beginning of a chess game, which is called the "opening." That's not nearly as evocative a title. It's mainly about shifting the pieces around in hopes that something will happen. And that's what's going on here the players are still being shuffled about the board. Even the most eventful chapter, "Table" results in Gendibal and Novi moving toward the center of the board. But just because exciting things aren't happening doesn't mean these chapters are boring! There's stuff to be figured out, decisions to be made, and things to discuss! This is where the Great and Glorious Az is at his best! Don't miss this one! Plus we think about what the Milky Way Galaxy would look like from Terminus. Let's go!!

In S5E02 we talk about chapters 5 through 8 of Foundation's Edge. We're about 40% of the way into the book now and we're still introducing characters! This section introduces us to the Second Foundation including Stor Gendibal, Delora Delarmi, and First Speaker Quindor Shandass, and shows us that the Speakers' Table is a raucous affair. We also meet Sura Novi, a Trantorian farm woman who becomes important to Gendibal. We're also treated to an Asenion chain of reasoning describing how Janov figured out the characteristics of Earth. And we answer some hard-hitting questions like "Are any of the characters actually likable?" You wouldn't want to miss that, would you? Join us while we discuss "Speaker," "Earth," "Farmer," and "Farmwoman!"  When you must — listen!  Let's go!

Welcome to our season 5 premiere in which we talk about the first four chapters of Foundation's Edge! Hello, True Believer! We're back! Again. And we're ready to dive into season five! You might recall the beginning of Season 3 when we made a pronouncement like this one. "On the Stars End Podcast, Foundation canon is represented by two separate, yet equally important kinds of seasons" the odd-numbered seasons, which discuss Asimov’s writings, and the even-numbered seasons that talk about the Apple TV+ series." That's been working for us so far, and we have no plans to stop now! And here we are in an odd-numbered season so, we're starting with the first sequel, Foundation's Edge, specifically the first four chapters, "Councilman," "Mayor," "Historian," and "Space." That's the starting point. We'll continue in four-chapter chunks through the entire novel. You can probably guess where we'll go from there, but we promise there will be some treats and surprises along the way. So join us as we enter the second interregnum between seasons 2 and 3 of the Apple TV+ series. We'll make sure that this one won't seem like 30,000 years either!

After recording weekly throughout Foundation on Apple TV+'s second season, we needed our own interregnum as we rebuilt the galaxy. We can't wait to show you our spiffy new water clock! But we're back! In our next episode, we launch season 5 of Stars End discussing the first four chapters of Foundation's Edge! But that's not the main event right now! You voted! We listened! Join us as we bring you the Second Semi Semi Septennial Hari Awards to cap off an excellent season, not just for Foundation, but for us as well! You helped us decide the winners, You'll want to join us in the accolades! Let's GO! But just between you and me, I hope that the next gap is again exactly 21 months. Otherwise, we'll need a new temporal adjective. Oh. And there isn't really a water clock.

Join us! It's our overview of Apple TV's Foundation Season 2 in the penultimate episode of Stars End's Fourth Season! There's still so much we don't know! Will Demerzel hunt down and kill Dawn, Sereth, and the baby? Who gave Hari a living body and why? Will Tellum emerge from the Aether to become the Mule? Did anybody remember to erase all the incest in C-17's brain when they woke up his pickle? Is the Prime Radiant becoming sentient? Just how many Hari's are there in a conspiracy, anyway? And where the hell is Dors, damnit!?! There's more and we talk about it all! Well, most of it. Uh... some! Some! No! A bit. A bit. We did do the nose! We also open the Stars End Mail Bag and answer some of your questions! You'll want to stick around for the end of this one so you can learn how to help us choose the winners of the Second Semi-Semi Septennial Hari Awards! Let's go!

What a wild ride that was! This time we're talking about the season finale of AppleTV+'s Foundation, "Creation Myths!" Haven't seen it? Go! Watch it! Now! We'll be here when you're done! Then you can join us for the excitement! Not everybody gets out of this one alive! There are beginnings and endings, twists and turns, conclusions and preludes! Everything a great finale needs! And don't go away after this episode! Foundation season 2 might have concluded but we still have two more episodes to go in our season 4! In one week we'll have an overview of what might be called the best season of Foundation so far! And we'll open up the Stars End Mail Bag as Dave Letterman might have said. Then, two weeks after that it's the Second Not Actually Annual Hari Awards for Foundational Excellence! Be on the lookout for the polls, these are your awards as well as ours. Hmmm... "not actually annual" needs a bit of work. "Sesquiennial" is once every year and a half. Too frequent. "Biennial" means once every two years. Not frequent enough. What's once every twenty-one months? 21 months x 4 = 84 months which is Seven Years, So, how about Semi-Semi-Septennial? That will have to do. But never mind that right now! You want to hear about the Season Finale! I know you do! Let's go!

Hoo, boy do we go on about Foundation, S2E09, "Long Ago, Not Far Away" In this one! We're joined by Special Guest, Morgan, aka @AsimovPosting on the Dead Bird App. The Stars End Podcast! This time, 42% longer and with 10% real fruit juice! Jon had the right idea, the only way to summarize this one is to watch the entire thing! So go watch it! Now! Otherwise, you know, spoiler alert and all that! But, let's at least whet your appetite! We get a big chunk of back story for Danee... er... Demerzel that's only a small percentage of the whole picture! You'll never guess who gets the upper hand in the epic battle between Gaal and Tellem! And Brother Day (no this one over here) tries to become "The Cleon Who Chose Peace." How do you suppose that went? Plus the sickest burn in over eight decades of Foundation stories! You DO NOT want to miss this one... or the next! This is just the prelude to the season finale! Let's GO!

“If the Podcast Can’t Put its Thumb on the Scale, What’s the Point of Having a Thumb?” I don’t know, but l do know that we talk about Foundation, S2E08, "The Last Empress" in this episode! Just who is "The Last Empress?" In the real world, Roxanne Dawson deserves the gig! She directed the best two episodes of season one and with this outing, she’s outdone herself! Could it be Enjoinder Rue? That would require a complicated plan involving Brother Dusk, a time machine, and a bottle of Focus Factor… but maybe. How about Sereth? She seems to be on a path to becoming the next Empress, and she has more irons in the fire than anybody else, if you’ll excuse the expression. And we know the Empire may not last much longer. Next and last could overlap! Maybe it’s Gaal. She seems to be High-Muckety-Muck–Elect of the Mentalics! Nothing could go wrong there… right? And don’t write off Salvor! She’s learning how to explode rocks! Don’t mess with the warden! Did I miss someone? We’re pretty sure it isn’t the lady with the comically large statue from episode 206. Do you want to know? Listen to the episode! We’ll make an educated guess! Let's GO!

We're joined by friend of the show, Travis Johnson, as we talk about Foundation, S2E07, "A Necessary Death." That title sure sounds dreary so it's hard to believe that it's attached to an episode that's just so compulsively watchable! This episode is so compulsively watchable that no fewer than three characters IN the show are themselves watching the show. And that's last week's episode! It's so compulsively watchable that next week's episode is rumored to consist of nothing but characters watching this week's episode! It's so compulsively watchable that one of our hosts has watched the episode so many times that he's lost count of just how many! Want to know who watched so many times? You'll have to listen to our episode (and then make an educated guess) to find out! And meanwhile the pile of bodies at Tellum Bonds's feet just... keeps... getting... larger... You want to hear about this episode! Travis and we want to tell you about this episode! You don't want to miss that and neither do we! Let's GO!

We discuss Foundation, S2E06 "Why The Gods Made Wine.” We hope that we haven’t spoiled you with all the great guests lately, but this week it’s back to just the three of us muddling along. And speaking of spoiling, as always, we’re working on the assumption that if you’re listening you’ve watched the episode. It’s up to you, but if you don’t want the latest episode of Foundation to be as spoiled as a swig of sour milk you know what to do! If you were hoping for a Hari-centric episode you should be careful what you wish for. It isn’t all Hari all the time though. Two moments with Hober flash by. Queen Sereth expediently and efficiently drops an audacious power play in front of a stunned and scowling Brother Day. Constant and Poly have barely started trying to see Trantor on 30 Altarian dollars a day when the Secret Police all crowd into their room. The big chunks of the episode are dealing with the Mentalics on Ignus and a flashback to Hari and Dor… uh… Yanna’s brief time together. But there’s not much humor in this one. It’s dark. Want a theme for the episode? Let’s get the full quote from the title drop. “The gods, made wine to compensate those who can’t afford revenge.” And I’m pretty sure we’re all out of wine. Join us!

"The Whole Point of the Podcast is that the Future Isn't Set in Stone" in which we discuss Foundation, S2E05 "The Sighted and the Seen" This week media analyst, Fordham professor, and Renaissance human Paul Levinson joins the conversation! That Beatles reference below, Paul? That's for you. Here's the usual spoiler warning. If you haven't, go watch the episode. We'll be here. Foundation, Season 2 seems to be leaning even harder on comic relief and sexy time than it had been. Still, the plot wanders forward. After a fairly dark opening, we get the comic relief from Gaal, Salvor, and Hari. The beggar crashes into a forest on Ignus reminiscent of Star Trek: Generations. Where's Jordi LaForge when you need him? Salvor yells "I'm flying dead stick!" Hari replies, "Is that bad?" That's pretty funny but it's not the best line. They encounter an old friend and then a crowd of mysterious mentalics. Could they be the nucleus of the Second Foundation? Meanwhile, Sereth and Rue drive their arc forward with the sexy time while the theme of memory is writ large. We learn who was behind the murder of Sareth's Family while Day is becoming more unstable and Demerzel just keeps getting creepier. Rue manages to send Dawn and Dusk on a journey to see the Wizard, which is to say the vending machine version of Cleon the First. Imagine two Junior High School Elvis impersonators meeting the One True Elvis and you have the general idea. Later they're impressed by the size of C-1's... uh... data. It's a lot to digest and we talk about it. You should join us! We can't promise it will help, but a splendid time is guaranteed for all!

In which we talk about Foundation, S2E04 "Where the Stars are Scattered Thinly." We're joined this week by Joel McKinnon, host of Seldon Crisis, another excellent Foundation Podcast! As the season slows down a bit to focus on some of the significant plotlines we get the closest thing to a special Valentine's Day episode that this show could possibly do. Meanwhile, Gaal, as the narrator, tells us repeatedly that "Psychohistory does not give a damn about how you monkeys hook up." I'm paraphrasing. The narration notwithstanding the situation on Terminus is framed by Hober and Constant's sexual tension. Will they or won't they? Watch the episode! We learn a lot about the situation with Queen Sereth. Sereth flirts with Brother Dawn! Rue flirts with Brother Dusk! It's all about what Brother Day may or may not have done. Will anybody flirt with Markley? Only time will tell! And we see Bel Riose's story unfolding through the lens of his relationship with Glawin. "By the time you recognize an atrocity," says Glawin "you may have already been complicit in one!" What does that mean? I don't know, but it seems ominous! At least we don't see Day and Demerzel in this context; I don't need to hear my skin crawl this week. It all seems important! I'm pretty sure Gaal is an unreliable narrator here. Also, enough is going on about wine to make for a reasonable freshman comp essay or at least a session or two with a good therapist. We've got a lot to talk about! Join us!

In which we discuss Foundation, S2E03 "King and Commoner." It's an episode for old friends! Remember Bel Riose from Foundation and Empire? We finally get to meet him in the AppleTV+ universe and he's refreshingly like his counterpart from the source material, steadfast and impressive. We also meet Hober Mallow who maybe has a sprinkling of his namesake from the book but appears to be a mashup of several other characters including a big dollop of the Outrageous Okona from Star Trek: The Next Generation. The good news is that he's hilarious! Also, Gaal is mystified by what's going on with Hari's "old friend" Kalle. As our special guest, we welcome back Rick Tetrault of ⁠That Star Trek Podcast⁠ and the ⁠Infinite Potato Network! Rick has been a friend of Stars End since before our very first episode! And speaking of old friends, what the hell just happened to Hari? You don't want to miss this one! Let's go!