Episode 8 “The War Prayer” (Season 1, Episode 7)
Synopsis: In which an “Earth First” terrorist movement spills over to the station, tensions rise between humans and aliens, and we learn that Ivanova has terrible taste in men.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0517716/?ref_=tt_ep_nx
Stormfront was founded in 1995, after season 1 of B5, but organized “us first, screw you people who are different” groups are as old as humanity itself, sadly. https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/stormfront
The racial issues underpinning Brexit are well documented. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/29/frenzy-hatred-brexit-racism-abuse-referendum-celebratory-lasting-damage
They took our jobs! http://southpark.cc.com/clips/104259/they-took-our-jobs
Irish immigration to the United States in the 1840s-1850s, and the following anti-Irish sentiment. http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/famine/america.htm Can you imagine the kinds of invectives directed at various immigrant and refugee groups being aimed at the Irish today? It seems absurd. How will history judge us 150 years down the road?
The rise of the Know-Nothing party has definite echoes in our current political climate. This passage from Abraham Lincoln is interesting:
“Our progress in degeneracy appears to me to be pretty rapid,” Lincoln continued. (I have retained his spelling and capitalization.) “As a nation, we begin by declaring that ‘all men are created equal.’ We now practically read it ‘all men are created equal, except negroes.’ When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read ‘all men are created equal, except negroes, and foreigners, and catholics.’ When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretence of loving liberty -- to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy.”
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2015/02/18/immigration_and_the_rise__fall_of_the_know-nothing_party_125649.html
The dinner scene from Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. The dialogue is quite forced to generate the conflict, but note that it is Walter Koenig’s Chekov who really puts his foot in it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2TDf9XU09k
The constantly referenced Lurker’s Guide to Babylon 5: http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/countries/us/guide/007.html
A Journey to Babel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journey_to_Babel For a B5 podcast, we sure do talk a lot about Star Trek...
Removal of the prohibition against main characters being in conflict with one another in Star Trek: Discovery (there we go again…) http://ew.com/tv/2017/06/23/star-trek-discovery-rules/
The Ruby Ridge standoff was in August 1992.
The World Trade Center bombing happened on February 26, 1993.
The siege of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco happened in February-April 1993.
The bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City was on April 19, 1995.
“The War Prayer” first aired on March 9, 1994, so definitely all of these events except the Murrah Building bombing were in the zeitgeist at the time of its writing and production. (Chris mistakenly said the Ruby Ridge standoff contributed to the Branch Davidian situation - he meant that it was a motivating factor behind the Oklahoma City bombing. The perils of googling while podcasting, one’s tongue is often faster than one’s brain).
Tristan Rogers, who plays the unfortunately named “Malcolm Biggs,” veteran of a thousand soap operas, also played a character named “Manly Biggs” on an early 1990s show called “Super Force.” It ran for 48 episodes. Maybe that’s where Jon knows him from? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098917/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_29
When Jon mentions an actor who has shown up in The Dark Knight, Gotham, Arrow, and Supergirl he may be referring to David Dastmalchian, who was not in Gotham or Arrow but was on The Flash (who can keep track these days?) and was also in Ant-Man and Twin Peaks: The Return. A modern genre film/tv “That Guy” for sure! http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2810287/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t47
