50 Years of Star Trek, and the Influence of Science Fiction

Live long and prosper.

On this day in 1966, television boldly went where no one had gone before. In the half-century since its debut, Star Trek has had an indisputable effect on the popular imagination. There’s even a Vulcan salute emoji!

In celebration, let’s dig into the SciFri Archive. In this 1998 interview, Leonard Nimoy talks to Science Friday about the influence of science fiction, along with physics professor John Kramer and science fiction writer Robert Sawyer. Enjoy! ?

Meet the Writer

About Brandon Echter

Brandon Echter was Science Friday’s digital managing editor. He loves space, sloths, and cephalopods, and his aesthetic is “cultivated schlub.”

Explore More