Morgan Gendel.

Despite the starships and aliens, wormholes and warp travel, Star Trek has—at its core—always been about exploring humanity. It’s this commentary on the inner workings of our world and society that have helped Gene Roddenberry’s creation endure for so many decades.

There are few episodes that better exemplify this exploration than The Next Generation’s, “The Inner Light.” This story in which Captain Picard lives out an entire life on the planet Kataan captured one of only four Hugo Awards ever won by Star Trek, and has come to be one of the most beloved episodes of all time.

In this episode of Matter Stream we’re joined by Morgan Gendel, the writer of “The Inner Light,” to talk about how the episode came to be, his inspirations, and “The Outer Light”—a continuation of the story that is being released as a graphic novel.