Last time ChicagoScope spoke with cohort Bob Koehler, he managed to thoroughly diss one of the greatest "Star Trek" episodes of all time. In that October 2006 podcast, Bob makes a very good point in asking why pacifist Edith Keeler must be sacrificed on the altar of history to restore the timeline that ultimately leads to both the stars and to humanity's salvation.

In several recent columns distributed by Tribune Media Services and on his own website, Common Wonders, Bob's written about a movement to create a "Department of Peace" within U.S. government -- most recently in "A World That Works for Everybody."

That's why I was taken aback when Bob announced the other day that in his opinion 1995's "Get Shorty" qualifies as the best pacifist motion picture ever made. Again, Bob argues his case pretty well.

By the way, the audio in this podcast illustrates how different a room sounds when filled with dozens vs. occupied by just two. I had done a test recording in a conference room on our floor several months back and it sounded great. It never occurred to me that all of those bodies were absorbing reflected sound waves -- and that with just two people, there'd a be more than a little reverb. Ah, well.

ChicagoScope feedback line: 312-683-5272.


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