The pair then told the story of how Paul Giamatti was cast as the season 1 villain:

Alex Kurtzman: So this happened because he was doing press for The Holdovers, and when he was asked about the part that he would most want to play, he said, “I want to play a Klingon on Star Trek.”… So we called his agent and said, “Was that a thing he just said, was that a bit?”… And she called back and she said, “He’d love to sit down with you. We got on a Zoom with him and he cried. He was so excited at the prospect of playing in the world of Star Trek and he was talking about how meaningful it was him… It was just one of those moments where you’re like, “Oh, one of the greatest actors in the world, and he really wants to come join us.” So that was pretty amazing.

Noga Landau: He also chose which role he wanted to play. We came to him and we said, “You could be this guy or that guy, or that guy.” And he thought about it and he came back and told us that the part he plays is the one he wanted.

Alex Kurtzman: We thought it was going to be like one episode because his schedule is so busy, and he was like, “No, I want to play the villain.” We’re like, “That’s the whole season.” He was like, “Great, let’s do it!”

Love to see it.

I call this one "Gene's Vision".

“I am not able to say much, but I can say that it is Paramount’s intent to figure out the Star Trek side of movies and what’s going on there. There’s every intent of a new movie coming out in the very near future. There’s a lot of secrecy around what’s going to happen there. But there is a plan getting into place. And we’re very excited to see it return to the big screen.”

Honestly, this seems more like a "plan to make a plan" to me.

The political situation in the region is incredibly complicated - if Bajor is interested in prosecuting, they risk a renewed conflict with Cardassia, which neither they nor the Federation particularly want. On top of that, many Bajorans are skeptical of the Federation and its intentions, at least in the early days.

Plus...did Dukat ever "visit" DS9 (as in, physically board the station) without explicit authorization from the command staff?

We generally don't protect spoilers after about a week. In this case, it's been nearly a year.

"You will be remembered for a week or so."

I remind my colleague that replication is a vital component of the scientific method.

It's beginning to feel like Charlie Brown and the football at this point, but let's see if they can actually get this one off the ground.

It tickles me that brining Shannon Fill out of retirement for a handful of lines gave her her first screen credit since 1995.

Well, that seems like an odd thing for a CEO to advocate for...

If the reason for the disruption stems from one of Canada’s two main freight railways – whose tracks Via runs on – he says they would be the ones to pay up, further incentivizing smooth operations along the line.

Peloquin, who stepped into the top job at Via in June, is also calling for rules that would give the Crown corporation’s trains formal right of way over freight trains, a privilege Amtrak passenger cars enjoy in the U.S.

Ah.

Yeah, the WGA strike is done, with 99% of its members approving the new contract.

I really don't think the inclusion of Kirk should be considered a "gimmick". There was no stunt-casting, nor were the episodes in which he appeared particularly gimmicky (well, okay, "Subspace Rhapsody" was a gimmick episode, but in a way that wasn't structured around Kirk specifically).

Like it or hate it, it's clear to me that the producers are including Kirk because they think it's worth exploring the character at this point in his career. I wouldn't call that a gimmick.