Enterprising Individuals

Prepare your best double facepalm because we're meeting "The Offspring"!Anika Dane and Liz Barr of Antimatter Pod are back on the show this week to discuss an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation that represents not only a poignant exploration of what is "human" but also an important turning point in TNG storytelling. After attending a conference on cybernetics, Data is inspired to create a "daughter" named Lal. But when Starfleet learns of the existence of another Soong-type android, Data and Picard are forced to defend Lal's essential humanity as well as Data's right to parent herStar Trek began with "Star Trek Is...", creator Gene Roddenberry's somewhat ambiguous pitch document, but over the course of a half-century, hundreds of writers and creators have worked to deepen Trek's universe and to reinforce the core values of egalitarianism and positivity that he originally proposed. Through their efforts and imagination, Trek went from a quirky TV show with dramatic potential to an exemplar of allegorica