‘Trekspert’ Mark A. Altman on Star Trek’s problems (c. 1995)

My (autographed) copy.
(Click to hear the interview.)

Back when Star Trek was nearing its 30th anniversary, a guy the Los Angeles Times declared “the world’s foremost Trekspert,” Mark A. Altman, was promoting his then-new “unauthorized” book about the series’ history, Captains’ Logs.

He’s gone on to work in TV himself, as a co-executive producer of The Librarians and a writer/producer of series such as Castle. He’s also written and produced a movie starring Star Trek’s original Capt. Kirk, William Shatner.

Now, as Trek nears its 50th anniversary and the launch of a new TV series, Altman and his co-author, Edwin Gross, have published a two-volume follow-up to Captains’ Logs, The Fifty-Year Mission: The Complete Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek, the second volume of which will be published later this month.

But right now, let’s flashback almost 21 years to 1995, when Altman pondered “creative entropy” and the corporate cheapening of Star Trek.



If you enjoyed this, check out my two interviews with Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and my 2013 answer to the question “What’s Star Trek all about?”

And then: a 1987 interview with Apollo 8 and 13 astronaut Jim Lovell, a 1995 interview with science fiction writer Greg Bear and a 1982 interview with X-Men artist John Byrne.

Hear more of my conversations with thought-leaders through the years on this website, in Apple Music, on Spotify, or through Amazon Music or your favorite podcast player and at Chicago Public Square.

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