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Today

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I am interviewing Dr. Erin MacDonald. That's right. Right here on. You're watching a movie with Silas Lindenstein, I, Silas Lindenstein, your host, and interviewing the the astrophysicist, the

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great science speaker, Dr.

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Erin MacDonald, who is also

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a voice actor on star Trek prodigy season two. That's that's how I got. Got her on here.

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going around on an on a press talk, talking about

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about Prodigy being on Netflix now.

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So check that out.

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I just can't even. I'm having trouble with my emotions right now, expressing how excited I was to have that,

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to have somebody from the world of Star Trek. She is. She is the science consultant for Star Trek, which

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some of you out there. Like what science While there is science. And actually, she explains why Star Trek is science fiction and not fantasy,

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which is something different than I had heard before.

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And that was exciting to hear.

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She answers the seven questions that I ask everybody but more.

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But she also answers some listener questions that they popped in when they knew that I was going to interview her. So I want you to check that out.

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Listen, listen for your question. If you were the one who dropped some questions, I wasn't able to do all of them, but I got some of them in.

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And it was it was a short

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20 ish minute interview. And

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there's so much. There's so much. Let me tell you about her. If you're if you're not familiar with her, if you haven't heard her up. I mean, I would suggest YouTube and and learn more about her. But Erin McDonald is a writer, speaker, producer and science advisor, Best known for her current work as the official science advisor for the Star Trek franchise.

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She is voiced her fictional counterpart in the Star Trek universe. Lieutenant Commander Dr. Erin McDonald in Star Trek, Prodigy and the Communicator, and has appeared on NPR's Science Friday. And shortwave podcast, provided commentary for numerous docu series and wrote and hosted award winning science of Star Trek promotional videos for Paramount Plus. She wrote the Baby board book, Star Trek My First Book of Space, and wrote and narrated an Audible original The Science of Sci fi in collaboration with the Great

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the Great Courses. I don't know what that means, but that's on her bio.

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Prior to all this work, she received her Ph.D. at 25 at the University of Glasgow in Scotland and conducted research with the Laser

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Interferometer. Gravitational-wave Observatory Scientific collaboration,

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but left shortly before their 2017 Nobel Prize winning discovery of gravitational waves.

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she's amazing.

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She's amazing. She's a hero. She's a hero to my wife, and she's a hero to me. She's a hero to a lot of people, especially women who are interested in science, don't have a lot of role models to look up to. And Erin MacDonald is one of the few. She's brilliant and and wildly fascinating. So

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I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I as as much as I enjoyed having her on.

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And and and I hope that comes through with it. So whether you are listening to this on the podcast or watching the video right now, I hope you are. I hope you subscribe and help me get. The more people I have subscribed, the more I will get guests like her on.

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the bigger names.

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there you go.

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So please, if you haven't yet, please subscribe to my YouTube channels. Please subscribe to the podcast. Comment We leave a review that that would help. You know, you could give it a try, but let's see if that helps.

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Anyway,

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I want you to sit back and relax, Open your hearts and open your ear holes and listen to my seven Questions Interview episode with Dr. Erin MacDonald.

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Dr. MacDonald, I'm just trying not to fanboy too much right here. Let me tell you, as a lifelong Star Trek fan and a fan of great nerds.

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It's it's just such a there's this one I posted yesterday when it kind of hit me like who I was interviewing. And I was like, I asked a bunch of people. Okay. Aside from you explaining why the Earth isn't flat, what else should I ask you that they're covering up? No, but what I. I did hear a bunch of very smart questions for you, right?

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However, this is still my show, so I. I have I do have seven questions that I do ask everybody before I before I get to those very intelligent questions. So, you know, I ama ama well, I'm a standup comedian who also reviews movies and does stuff. And I'm actually very I run a comedy show called The Real Nerds of Comedy and Broad City Comic-Con.

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Are you at Comic-Con right now? Are you? That's in a couple of weeks. Okay. So I'm. Oh, gosh, Yeah. So I'm up here and I do a comedy shows. I'm well known as a nerd, so people knew my and my fan base is very nerdy and they they're very excited about the I guarantee this will be my Lowe's most listened to episode of the year.

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I will tell you about. So normally I my interviews are normally longer so this is so I have to usually I warm people up before the end of these questions but now we got to wear number. Question number one, what are you most nerdy about? And and it does have to be Star Trek like it can be or it does have to be your job, right?

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It can be. Yeah. Yeah. Really? What about that? Because I was introduced to that a number of years ago after the third one had come out. But then I started. So I started. What is it about it that pulled you in?

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Okay. Yeah, I guess. Like, okay. Yeah, it's. Oh, is it because when I told someone about the game and I was so blown away that your choices affected you through it, Someone who wasn't really a video gamer though, but I guess dealt with a lot of they're very nerdy. They're like, Oh, it's not that big of a deal.

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They didn't think it was that big of a deal. It was a big deal, right? I mean, okay. I thought so, Yes. Yeah. Oh, because you have to start over. Like, you can't just change it right?

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No, but I'm but I mean, like, you can't like they're. What if they die? It's done for that. Unless you restart the game, you're going to you deal with those consequences. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, okay. Oh, that's wonderful. Okay. Number two, what is something that you love to eat? Yeah. Okay. Is that is. Is that like. Like Chinese food here is not like Chinese food.

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Okay, so British. Okay. Okay. I the one time I went to England, I did not try the curry and I do I do regret it that I was I was so trying to get in in the mode of eating pasties and and fish and warm beer it was Yeah. Okay. Speaking of number three, what's something that you love to drink?

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Farrell at and warm. Hm. Yeah. I woke. Is that is there a scientific explanation on the warm beard? Like, is it just that we are wimps? And in the U.S. that we've over refrigerated everything? Is it is it that it tastes different, right? When it's warm. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Right. Yeah. Okay. Well, I recently discovered if you didn't know your fridge was not working, that you can actually experience, it's warm milk and not even quite realize it until you discover the difference.

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Yeah. All right, Number four, What kind of music do you love? I love what's a what's a band now? Scared of me. They. So they speak. What language? All Are you fluent in those or do you just like you just like the really? Okay. Okay. What? You know, I've always I've wondered about sci fi my my friends into sci fi.

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Typically I'd say there's a demographic that that that's really into rock way more than like a hip hop like I felt like the only person who was nerdy and listen to hip hop for many years until I moved to an urban area. I'm in, I'm in. I'm in Seattle now. So now, now I've met nerds with similar tastes, but.

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Okay. Um, number five. What what do you love to create? Oh. Mm hmm. So I like, um, if you were so drawn to storytelling, what pulled you into the science realm? Was it. Did you see a story there? Yeah. Really? Like, okay. Hmm. Well, we're. We're glad you did that. Okay. Number six. What's a game you love to play?

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It's I Yeah, it's all open. That's an open, open question. But it is based on a series. Okay, So. Okay. Is it a long game? Like, is it like a oh, that's amazing. Okay, I'm going to look that. I don't know. Yeah. Let's see if I can find that around here. Um, yeah. Yeah. Okay. Drag me. All right.

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And the last of the seven questions in 100 years, when someone read your biography, what do you want to be remembered for? Okay, Remember? Okay. I love that verb. Some of my listener questions that I when you're consulting on this, how on Star Trek, how much is like what percentage would you say in Star Trek is actual science versus just made up?

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Yes, I would say really, if I go fast enough, will I become a salamander? Is that what? Yeah. Okay. Although, yes. Yeah. Okay. Well, okay. Okay. I'll buy that as an answer. I won't get into spore drives either, but. Okay. What what is your favorite made up science thing from Star Trek that you wish was true? Okay, The first is, is warp speed more likely to happen than a transporter?

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One? Would it would it counteract the Einstein's theory? Like, I mean, what it would it mean that everybody does age, though? Like when they came back. Oh that's what we're doing. Okay. 99 right. So. Okay. Ah, okay. And last question that every scientist probably knows the answer to. Does pineapple belong on pizza? Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. That's.

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You've solved many debates right there. My wife Gretchen would also like me to tell you that you are her

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hero. My show to your video last night. And she loves you. And my name is Science. Understand? From Seattle. If you ever make it to see again, I hope. I hope I can reach up there and show you the comedy show there.

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But I appreciate you. Thank you, Dr. MacDonald. Keep doing what you do, live long and prosper. All right, Prodigy, season two, We'll check you out. Okay? Thank you. Bye now.

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And that's

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that was the interview I didn't have. Usually I close out with my seven questions, but I had to start the seven questions early to make sure that I got them all in. So that's why. And now I'm here to say bye to you, because I didn't I didn't want it to to stand. So, hey,

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you enjoy the interview.

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think. Thanks again. Remember, like, subscribe all that and share this podcast and and video cast

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I thank you for that. But mostly I thank you for watching a movie with Silas Lindenstein and keeping things Black and a Half.

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