StarQuest Podcasts

Everyone on Atlantis wakes up with no memory and a deadly clock ticking. In Stargate Atlantis S4E6, "Tabula Rasa," Victor Lams, Jeff Haecker, and Lisa Jones unpack the amnesia mystery, Major Lorne's villain turn, and one very effective Polaroid.

He spent his career debunking fake mesmerists and mediums — then dreamed his brother's funeral weeks before it happened. Jimmy Akin and Dom Bettinelli trace Mark Twain's strange turn toward telepathy and ask what the Catholic has to say about it.

The lawn has gone high-tech. Dom Bettinelli and Thomas Sanjurjo weigh battery mowers against gas, robot mowers against your Saturday, and smart irrigation against a soggy guess — plus the gardening gear that actually earns its keep.

A widowed empress must choose between killing a monster or trusting its warning. Filmmaker Gene Kim talks with Angela Sealana and Jeff Haecker about One Last Monster — his Korean-history sci-fi short on the comfort zone, grief, and faith.

Two Lee Shaws meet across the decades through a rift — and Monarch finally lets its humans outshine its monsters. Dom Bettinelli, Jeff Haecker, and Patrick Mason unpack the time-travel paradoxes of S2E7, "String Theory."

A dog bites a wizard's trousers, gets turned into a toy for his trouble, and that's the least strange thing that happens. Thomas Salerno, Rob Leonardi, Rob Story, Fr. Bryan Shackett, and Patrick Mason unpack Tolkien's Roverandom.

From Star Wars toy to valuable collectible: One rocket-firing prototype sold for $1.34 million. Jeff Haecker, Jon Koral, Kathryn Laffrey, and Thomas Salerno dig through Kenner history, Expanded Universe figures, and their own childhood toy shelves to explain why Star Wars toys captured our imaginations.

A powerful alien telepath locks Voyager's crew in private hallucinations and then vanishes without explanation. Dom Bettinelli and Jimmy Akin on whether "Persistence of Vision" earns its mystery.

A Scottish priest spends six decades in China and never once bullies anyone into belief. Kathryn Laffrey and Alix Murray dig into The Keys of the Kingdom (1944) — Gregory Peck's first Oscar-nominated role — and the power of Golden Age faith on film.

A nomadic human fleet, an Aurora-class battleship, and a character study gone wrong. Victor Lams, Lisa Jones, and Jeff Haecker weigh the best idea in SGA S4E5 "Travelers" against writing that can't make Larrin (Jill Wagner) land.

The U.S. government holds real patents for putting voices in people's heads — and thousands say it's happening to them. Jimmy Akin and Dom Bettinelli separate the real physics from psychiatry, internet lore, and outright fraud.

Your monitor is the last computer upgrade that's still genuinely affordable, and the tech has quietly gotten great. Dom Bettinelli, Pat Scott, and Fr. Andrew Kinstetter decode the specs that matter, then hit two Sony stories about owning what you buy.

A funeral becomes the turning point of an entire season, forcing grief, guilt, and a Cold War-style reckoning over Titans onto every character. Dom Bettinelli, Jeff Haecker, and Patrick Mason break down Monarch S2E6, "Requiem."

When Klingons destroy the conference she was headed to, Kira ends up teaching guerrilla tactics to a demoted Dukat. Dom Bettinelli and Jimmy Akin unpack DS9 S4E14's moral complexity, Damar's debut, and whether Dukat is tragic or just evil.

Never accept a label in place of a story. Lindsay Sant brings notes from Melbourne's Proclaim 26 evangelization conference, Caroline Knight reports on 59,000-year-old Neanderthal dentistry, and Lino Saubolle weighs in.

A crystal entity turns Sheppard into every crew member's nightmare in SGA S4E4 "Doppelganger." Lisa Jones, Jeff Haecker, and Victor Lams tackle fear-feeding aliens, Heightmeyer's death, and what Robert C. Cooper called his "Nightmare on Atlantis Street."

A Liverpool merchant spent 30 years tunneling beneath his own neighborhood and never said why. Jimmy Akin and Dom Bettinelli weigh seven theories about Joseph Williamson and his mysterious underground labyrinth.

Laptop prices are up and RAM is scarce — so how much computer does a college freshman really need? Dom Bettinelli, Fr. Joseph Sund, and Tom Grelinger map Mac, Windows, Linux, and Chromebook picks to every major.

The presidential speech was written in five minutes as a placeholder. Nobody replaced it. Yet people are still quoting it three decades later. Dom Bettinelli, Jeff Haecker, and Rob Leonardi trace its roots — Shakespeare, Dylan Thomas — on Independence Day at 30.

No character is safe in *Monarch* S2E5 "Furusato." A character's death reshapes the Randa family. Dom Bettinelli and Jeff Haecker discuss identity, a Japanese lullaby, and what Apex's overconfidence cost.

Is Rings of Power Peter Jackson fanfiction or genuine Tolkien? Patrick Mason asks Rob Leonardi, Robert Story, and honorary "Rob" Fr. Bryan Shackett to give their takes on Seasons 1 and 2 — and cautious hope for Season 3.

A separatist leader kidnaps Beverly Crusher and makes arguments the Enterprise crew can't quite answer. Dom Bettinelli, Jimmy Akin, and Fr. Jason Tyler on TNG's toughest terrorism episode: "The High Ground" (S3E12).

Built without a single nail, carved with dragons, and still standing 800 years later. Kathryn Laffrey and Alix Murray trace the history, theology, and Catholic heritage of Norway's medieval stave churches — and their surprising American descendants.

Sixty thousand years before modern dentistry, a Neanderthal endured a 35-minute stone-tool drilling procedure — no anesthesia — and survived. Caroline Knight explains what a 59,000-year-old infected molar reveals about prehistoric medicine.

A bottomless pit in central Washington, 80,000 feet deep and impossible to fill. In 1997, one phone call to Art Bell turned a piece of local folklore into a national mystery. Jimmy Akin and Dom Bettinelli investigate Mel's Hole.

Ronon's Satedan comrades are back — and they've been turned by the Wraith. Jeff Haecker, Lisa Jones, and Victor Lams break down SGA S4E3 "Reunion," Carter's first episode in command of Atlantis.

Cramped keyboard, tiny screen, no ports—those are the three pain points of working away from your desk. Dom Bettinelli and Leo Devick gear up with portable keyboards, monitors, stands, mice, and USB hubs to fix all three.

A Kansas City weather anchor starts speaking a language no human knows — and Steven Spielberg's *Disclosure Day* turns alien contact into a question about God. Dom Bettinelli, Jeff Haecker, and Tom Grelinger dig into the faith at its core.

Apex plays the long con, sending Monarch chasing a whale while the real heist is in Pensacola. Dom Bettinelli, Jeff Haecker, and Patrick Mason on Monarch S2E4 "Trespass": Titan control, Cate's guilt, and what's in Keiko's letter.

A silent Vader. A painterly battlefield. A Sith playing the long game. In the *Maul: Shadow Lord* Season 1 finale (S1E10, "The Dark Lord"), Mike Creavey, Jeff Haecker, and Kathryn Laffrey weigh Maul's betrayal and Devon's dark turn.

An alien observer who detaches his own body parts puts Kirk and Spock through their paces in TAS S2E2. Dom Bettinelli, Jimmy Akin, and Fr. Jason Tyler weigh whether "Bem" earns its strange premise — and how this episode named James Tiberius Kirk.

Young Australians are returning to faith at rates nobody predicted. Archbishop Peter A. Comensoli tells Lindsay Sant, Caroline Knight, and Lino Saubolle what's behind it, and what St Patrick's Cathedral has to do with it.

The new Stargate series is dead — Amazon pulled the plug right before they hit record. Victor Lams, Lisa Jones, and Jeff Haecker hold a wake, then celebrate all ten seasons of SG-1. 214 episodes. No regrets.

The most famous lost object in history — the Ark of the Covenant — vanished from Scripture before 586 BC and was never seen again. Jimmy Akin and Dom Bettinelli examine what it was, trace its history, and weigh nine theories for where it went.

Every sci-fi fan has thought "I want that." Dom Bettinelli and Thomas Sanjurjo sort the genre's gadget wishlist — communicators, tricorders, warp drives, transporters — into what's real, what's coming, and what stays pure fantasy.

No Christmas special. No showrunner. No production partner. The BBC has put Doctor Who out to competitive tender, and Dom Bettinelli and Jimmy Akin weigh what the shake-up means for Billie Piper, the Timeless Child, and the show's next era.

Adultery, hidden families, and buried guilt drive Monarch: Legacy of Monsters S2E3 "Secrets" — a slow, monster-light hour. Dom Bettinelli, Jeff Haecker, and Patrick Mason debate Cate's trauma and whether generational pain is the real legacy.

A deal with Crimson Dawn, a toxic-river gauntlet, and a fog that hides the most feared breath in the galaxy. Jeff Haecker, Kathryn Laffrey, and Jon Koral break down Chapter 9 of Maul: Shadow Lord and the cliffhanger that sets up the finale.

A giant green hand grabs the Enterprise — and the Greek god Apollo demands worship. Dom Bettinelli, Jimmy Akin, and Fr. Jason Tyler weigh TOS S2E2's ancient-aliens premise, Kirk's defiance, and the ending that was filmed but never aired.

Dragons haunt sacred art from Genesis to Revelation, carrying meanings that shift with every century. Kathryn Laffrey and Alix Murray trace them from the Aberdeen Bestiary through saints, scripture, and the serpent that wore a woman's face.

A calm voice spoke inside a healthy woman's head, insisting she had a brain tumour — then a scan proved it right. Caroline Knight, Lindsay Sant, and Lino Saubolle unpack a baffling real medical case and the hidden power of the human brain.

Dr. Weir stays behind on the Asuran homeworld so Sheppard's team can get away with the ZPM in SGA S4E2. Lisa Jones, Jeff Haecker, and Victor Lams break down the heist, the farewell, and Samantha Carter's quiet arrival.

Does a growing human population dilute demonic influence per person? Plus: the Magi's star, Mary after Pentecost, leavened Eucharist history, God's timelessness, and the serpent of Genesis 3. Jimmy Akin and Dom Bettinelli answer patron questions.

Apple's WWDC 2026 promised a new Siri, redesigned parental controls, and a platform cleanup. Dom Bettinelli, Joanne Mercier, and Pat Scott debate whether Apple Intelligence has finally arrived.

Sixty-four years ago a Scottish bodybuilder lit a cigarette and changed movies. Dom Bettinelli, Fr. Chip Hines, and Jeff Haecker break down Dr. No — the film that built the Bond template — and ask what a Catholic should make of 007.

A stowaway creature turns Outpost 18 into a horror movie while, decades earlier, a remote village's festival venerates the very Titan it should fear. Dom Bettinelli, Jeff Haecker, and Patrick Mason break down Monarch S2E2, "Resonance."

At his lowest point, Maul crawls through the dark reliving the childhood that made him. Jeff Haecker and Kathryn Laffrey trace the cycle of abuse, the painted animation, and the Crimson Dawn tease.

A lost communicator on a war-torn pre-warp world forces Archer and Reed to risk their lives over an ethic the Prime Directive hasn't invented yet. Dom Bettinelli, Jimmy Akin, and Fr. Jason Tyler take on Enterprise S2E8, "The Communicator."

Can a book teach an eight-year-old who God is — or carry a couple through a lifetime of marriage? Publisher Michael Murphy talks YOUCAT with Lindsay Sant, then Caroline Knight tells the true story of voices that diagnosed a brain tumour.

A powerless Atlantis drifts toward an asteroid field with a dying leader aboard. Lisa Jones, Jeff Haecker, and Victor Lams unpack a major cast shake-up and Emmy-nominated visual effects.