Trek Talks details announced

A little while ago CBS announced many of their 50th anniversary events, including what sounds like one of the highlights of the year to me, the Trek Talks program. Now StarTrek.com have announced more details.

With a nod to TED Talks, Trek Talks will delivery a wide range of lectures, presented by academics, experts, or influentials, discussing a myriad of subjects Star Trek has commented on and inspired, to bring together the fictional universe with real world science, culture, technology and social commentary. The talks will run for a year, starting from this July.

Much as I love pretty starships and the like, what makes Star Trek matter is its philosophies and inspiration commentary on just about every aspect of our society. So I'm really glad CBS want to dig deep into the wealth of ideas as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations.

The talks will be supported by CBS in terms of providing imagery and footage, but for the most part will be arranged by which ever organisations wish to host them, with CBS angling for educational, entertainment, science, and other venues to take part. CBS have pre-approved a wide range of themes, but are also open to venues coming up with their own take on a Trek Talk. Those suggested are:

• Trek Tech - Examining Star Trek’s impact on the information age
• Our Single World - Envisioning a future multicultural universe
• The Prime Directive - Exploring the universe, ethically
• Literary Trek - Literature’s unique role in the Star Trek universe
• A Star Trek Society - Addressing our world’s issues for 50 years
• The Final Frontier - Star Trek’s influence on the space industry
• Thinking Boldly - Today’s philosophical issues in Trek’s tomorrow
• Designing the Future - Star Trek’s influence on products & systems
• Changing Hollywood - Exploring five decades of production
• A Trek Economy - Evaluating Star Trek's economy to address world issues
• Science of Star Trek - Recognizing Star Trek's influence on scientific exploration

Application to host are open, with full details available on StarTrek.com's Trek Talks page. Several talks are already in the works for other 50th anniversary events, including the official conventions, Star Trek Las Vegas, Star Trek: Mission New York, and Destination Star Trek Europe. You can also expect to find talks at the San Diego Comic Con, Toronto International Film Festival, Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, and EMP Museum, plus talks hosted by NASA and the Canadian Space Agency!

With talks potentially occurring all around the world, hopefully CBS will be kind enough to host recordings of them all in one easy to find place, so we can all enjoy them!

While we wait for that, here's one of the best videos on Youtube, which touches on many aspects of Star Trek's brilliant vision for, and commentary on, humanity: