Mo: I hope you can set that bit aside and enjoy the interview overall. FWIW, I think there has been very little injection of personal politics in the Babcast. As far as Mr. Koenig’s statements, I don’t know that he “expected” the audience to think as he does. It was simply an expression of his opinion.

And to that point: the comments expressed by any and all guests on the Babylon Podcast are their own and do not necessarily represent the position or opinions of the Babylon Podcast, hosts, producers, editors, listeners, children, cats or action figures arrayed around the desk.

Unfortunately, it was sad to hear his comment about the current (well, now former Bush) administration being corrupt or whatever. There’s no evidence for anything of the sort, and it sure was out of place. It’s sad that even in something fun like a sci fi program people cannot leave politics out of it. Instead, they expect their entire audience to think as they do.

Stephen – I’ve got a list of must-ask questions in my head. Sometimes they get asked: my question to Bruce Boxleitner on how it was to step into the Sheridan role, my question to John Iacovelli regarding the production improvements in Year 5. Sometimes they don’t get asked – John Iacovelli answered the rest on his own without knowing it; Pat Tallman engaged us so readily that it became a discussion and not a Q and A session.

As for writing them down- I keep losing the paper.

I had a thought about the “surprise guest” dilemma. I like the idea of a surprise guest– it keeps the interview and reactions spontaneous. It’s sometimes hard for an interviewer to avoid overpreparing and reciting a dry list of questions.

On the other hand, it’s hard to think, on the spot, of those questions that you’d really, really like to ask somebody; you’re always going to think of something afterward that would have been great to ask.

How about making a list of people that are likely to show up as (major) surprise guests, and writing down questions that you’d like to ask them? That way the element of surprise gets preserved, but you’ve done your preparation.

Anyway, just a thought. I’m listening eagerly.

Oh, and if I can plug, briefly: Stephen Furst will be appearing at BayCon in San Jose, CA, May 26-29. (Full disclosure: I’m on BayCon staff.)

It is even more disappointing in hindsight because we know it has no pay off later in the series.

I always assumed that this lack of payoff was due to Andrea Thompson leaving the show. Had she remained then she would have taken a more active role in the Shadow War in the third and fourth season and this B story would have been explained.

When Pat Tallman returned as Lyta she went to Vorlon Space where she was adjusted directly by the Vorlons and there was no need for another meeting between Kosh, Abbut and Lyta.

Thanks so much for the show — they are not only great fun, but informative as well.

Sandy

Anyway, what I liked about Bester is that he illustrates that bad guys don’t usually think of themselves as bad. Bester really thinks that he stands for something good & moral. This is why he is shocked when telepaths work against him. Bester is another multilayered character in the B5 universe. He is not a stock, cardboard character.

Walter from LA