About Beyond the Final Frontier - A Star Trek Podcast
'Beyond the Final Frontier' brings together three storied Star Trek veterans for an ongoing mission to celebrate the vast Trek universe. Host Rich Matthews, former senior editor and 20+year contributor to the official Star Trek Magazine and current Trekademic, is joined by his bridge crew: the renowned Ian Spelling, entertainment journalist who has covered Star Trek extensively since the late 1980s for the New York Times, Starlog Magazine, and the official Star Trek Communicator, before editing StarTrek.com for a decade, and Toby Weidmann, former editor of the official Star Trek Magazine, BAFTA comms wizard and launch editor of the official Walking Dead Magazine. Each episode, our trio shocase and discuss favorite episodes, themes, characters – everything Trek! – in depth, sharing insights from their decades of experience covering the franchise. From beloved moments to Trek history and developments in the modern era, plus occasional special guests joining the voyage... Grab your tricorder and prepare to beam aboard as we boldly go Beyond the Final Frontier!
Continuing this sad(dest?) week for Trekkers around the globe, we celebrate the life of Sir Patrick Stewart, Jean-Luc Picard himself, with a conversation about this beloved man, his varied and inspiring work and our personal recollections of meeting him.
RIP and thanks for making it so, Sir Patrick. Please make a memorial donation to: Johns Hopkins Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Fund https://alzresearch.org/giving/ (https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Falzresearch.org%2Fgiving%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAcGRvZgVicmlkETFTQnZPY2FKT1hrNm5HdHVnc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABH_gjNDfS2IznRTl09wOHYbAe_HOyrqKc2a2xjh4oPuBhloz6YzyPp713V2vN_aem_e6RPU3XjE8jYIFGIfy6xqg&h=AUDSHhpKM42xVqBV1Ak6j_fVseTxDW0VPdTSHOUpo8yM-2zD0GREflNGuOWOzjqVZHaaOfiFw-s6lVQYE3JEkzGdz_5_6VgPBHXTSRIbBjzPH8qcUqsx7SBjp7PqWXx3cjEWgtCxS07w6KlGZLE&__tn__=-UK-R&c[0]=AUBmVNQDSCWK7F7Ht5xjWlxNOIs1HPhq-PV6zH1r2O1G352VIQ_SAqRMqfl7RXVnNI2dosgmIfNf_XX_p-3M9gt-6mo1AnOjO-pg6wGhCcfpR1ZnwNhXfeLQJNP0cLc0AslcqmHWoN8MYBlAkJic9Cu0dK9OMEoNezy7kCpgboo5aIZkVpVW2HGW43OgF88) and Alzheimer’s Foundation of America Caregiver Resources https://alzfdn.org/donate/ (https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Falzfdn.org%2Fdonate%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAcGRvZgVicmlkETFTQnZPY2FKT1hrNm5HdHVnc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABH0IeQf-tgwEXKOZHPAkJ9LGPEq3qeRWZ894CdKXlCqMWi2P667Qgare6JP5B_aem_EHE9A5zkDddsDy1-yWIY_g&h=AUCJ7otJvG4DSz3yz73GOo5_1sl_2Ehqd3XS7q7sxKZVLs0M7Ojgi7zRtMZMMO90rujsWTSbguR1wd8OzLm3Z9vDoN7uLKKSC0PTn6zfqeUnI-NjhVDoBYmfvcxH8QzRvYF1cl3FtP0sPWW_Q_0&__tn__=-UK-R&c[0]=AUBmVNQDSCWK7F7Ht5xjWlxNOIs1HPhq-PV6zH1r2O1G352VIQ_SAqRMqfl7RXVnNI2dosgmIfNf_XX_p-3M9gt-6mo1AnOjO-pg6wGhCcfpR1ZnwNhXfeLQJNP0cLc0AslcqmHWoN8MYBlAkJic9Cu0dK9OMEoNezy7kCpgboo5aIZkVpVW2HGW43OgF88)
Normal episodes resume on Tuesday with TrekCulture's Ellie Littlechild joining us to rank the top 5 Captain Janeway episodes.
26 Oct 2026
Tribute to Walter Koenig
On this sad day for Trekkers everywhere, we celebrate the life of Walter Koenig with a conversation about the man, his work and our personal recollections of knowing him.
RIP and thanks, Walter.
Normal episodes resume next week with TrekCulture's Ellie Littlechild joining us to rank the top 5 Captain Janeway episodes.
19 Oct 2026
BFF#49: Top 7 Holodeck Episodes on Star Trek!
In this episode of Beyond the Final Frontier, we step into the holodeck (and the holosuite) as we count down our Top 7 holodeck episodes from across the franchise. From TNG to Lower Decks, we take in Moriarty’s fight for sentience, Barclay’s escapist addiction, Captain Proton’s pulp heroics, Nog’s road back from war and a Bond-style romp or two - and with Toby’s predictions for Rich and Ian’s number ones sealed on a scrap of paper, will he prove himself the pod’s resident Sherlock?
Let us know which holodeck adventures you’d program in the comments, email us at beyondffpod@gmail.com (mailto:beyondffpod@gmail.com) or find us on Instagram and Facebook. And while you’re at it, please rate and review the pod to help us grow our Star Trek community.
As three entertainment journalists who have written about Star Trek for decades, Rich, Ian and Toby are bringing their extensive geek universe experience, longtime camaraderie and in-depth behind-the-scenes knowledge to the podcast world. Each BEYOND THE FINAL FRONTIER mission will see our trio explore a unique topic from across the Trek-verse, discussing everything from their personal favourite stories, characters and themes to the ongoing cultural impact of the science fiction phenom. Expect deep-dives into beloved moments in Star Trek history, extensive breakdowns of developments in the modern era and occasional special guests from the Star Trek cast and crew to provide even greater insight.
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