Posted in: Audio Dramas, Star Trek, TV | Tagged: Gates McFadden, Gates McFadden InvestiGates

InvestiGates Host Gates McFadden on Finding Her Podcast Voice & More

Gates McFadden (Star Trek: The Next Generation) spoke with Bleeding Cool about her series podcast Gates McFadden InvestiGates and much more.

Rewatch and series podcasts surged in popularity, particularly during the Covid pandemic in the age of streaming when classic shows are being rediscovered by new audiences and revisited by dedicated fans. Star Trek: The Next Generation star Gates McFadden, who played Dr. Beverly Crusher on the syndicated series, decided to host a Star Trek podcast called Gates McFadden Investigates: Who do you think you are? in 2021 that dives into the lives of those behind the Paramount franchise with guests from every series from The Original Series, TNG, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Enterprise, Discovery, Picard, Lower Decks, and Strange New Worlds. On top of reprising her role for Picard and the animated series Prodigy, McFadden spoke to Bleeding Cool about how she's evolved as a podcast host, what she's still trying to figure out, the guest selection process, and the biggest surprise a guest revealed to her in the first two seasons.

Gates McFadden on Learning as She Goes in Her InvestiGates Podcast

Bleeding Cool: Three seasons on 'InvestiGates,' how do you feel about your evolution in podcasting?

I enjoyed it this year. It took learning how to do it, and I'm getting better every season. I relax more, and I feel good about this season. I liked every person I interviewed, and it was fun because I didn't know them well. I knew a couple of them like Todd [Stashwick] ('Picard') I'd worked with, and a few others. It's great getting to know people you don't know much about their lives and converse like you would if you were meeting on an airplane [laughs]. Some of those deep conversations one sometimes has on airplanes, or I do anyway.

When you started 'InvestiGates,' what was your biggest challenge, and hurdle to overcome entering this venture, and are there things you still are overcoming now?

I'm sure there are things I'm still overcoming. The hardest thing was to learn how to relax and not jump. If there was a moment of silence because I didn't understand…I hadn't edited it yet. Now that I've edited it, I understand if there's some inordinately long silence, you can shorten it. I was always worried about keeping it going. I discovered I like it much better when I relax more and allow it to unfold. There's always another question, so I like that. I also learned about editing. Learning that was huge and tough. I've now found ways to go much faster with my editing. The technical part is done by Nacellecast [Studios], but it makes a difference. I always have more material than I can put into a time. There are always things that must go out. I try to put out and take out as much of me as possible [laughs]. Do you feel that way? Have you ever had that feeling?

I go all-natural, and when I edit, it's mainly on the subject's side. Things don't come up so naturally with pacing, but it happens. That's the beauty of doing it online, right? What goes into the selection of the guests for the season? Do you or Nacelle reach out to the guests to get them booked, or do they come to you?

I've had a little of both. I decide who I want to interview, and not everyone's available for each time when I'm available to record. I reached out personally, and some people have said to me, "Hey, I want to be on your podcast." It's that kind of a mixture.

What can you say about the current crop for this season?

People are very open overall in the podcast, and it is like we're having a private conversation, which I like. I found these people have such different lives. I was surprised by people like Jess Bush, who have this other whole side to her life besides acting. Speaking with Michelle Hurd and Todd and going more into depth of what they like to do and their backgrounds. I love people's backgrounds, and it's always a surprise ('Discovery' stars) Sonequa [Martin-Green] and David Ajala. There wasn't one person who I wasn't genuinely interested in, given their backgrounds and how they felt about a myriad of things. "How do you make hard decisions?" That's what I'm interested in. "How do people do that?" Like, how do you make a hard decision? Right. That's interesting. I like it when it's a conversation. How do you make hard decisions? What's your method? Do you have a method?

It comes organically, and I like to build from what I get. I have notes, but if it's something that comes out from what's presented from the subject, I improvise what comes into my mind, then comes out. It builds on its own. What was the most surprising thing one of your guests revealed in all the shows you've done?

I don't like to reveal those things because it's not revealed.

If it's something that dives too much into spoilers for this season, perhaps something from the first two seasons?

Let me think back – when talking to Nana Visitor, that was a powerful episode. What was the shock was how even though I had heard her tell me the story before, it was something that happened hearing it the second time. I had a visceral reaction, so I asked her to come back and do another session. We talked about the reactions, and she was surprised I had that reaction. That was something where I thought, "I don't want to pretend I didn't have this. I should reveal that was something new you can know about something."

It's almost like post-traumatic stress of hearing it again and allowing it to affect you so maybe the first time I was a little blocked because people tend to block, awful. Descriptions of something, an awful situation. Sometimes, we want to pretend we're not hearing it because it's hard to deal with. I wanted to deal with that. That was probably the biggest surprise for me, but I was also surprised at the commonality one has with all these people from various backgrounds. There are so many things we have in common, even though we have vastly different backgrounds, and I love it when people have humor, especially from someone like Wil Wheaton ('TNG'). It was powerful when he said that he didn't think he was a forgiving person. That was a moment for me.

Past guests of Gates McFadden InvestiGates: Who do you think you are? also include TNG's Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton, Brent Spiner, John de Lancie, Marina Sirtis, Michael Dorn, Denise Crosby, Rosalind Chao, Voyager's Robert Picardo, Kate Mulgrew, TOS' William Shatner, Lower Decks' Tawny Newsome and Jack Quaid, Enterprise's John Billingsley, DS9'sAlexander Siddig, SNW'sAnson Mount, Picard showrunner Terry Matalas, and star Ed Speleers. Season three premieres on November 15th.

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