‘Star Trek: Picard’ Actor Jonathan Del Arco Launches ‘Hollywood Caucus’ Podcast With First Guest Jeri Ryan

By Daniel Holloway

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Jonathan Del Arco is boldly going into the intersection of entertainment and politics.

On Tuesday, the “Star Trek: Picard” actor debuted his new podcast “Hollywood Caucus,” with co-host Tara Karsian. Hailing from Dan Harmon’s Starburns Audio, the podcast will feature interviews with figures from both the entertainment industry and the political sphere. For the premiere episode, Del Arco’s “” co-star Jeri Ryan will appear as the first guest.

“Tara and I have been in the industry a collective 250 years.” Del Arco joked, “and we have made some great friends who will be joining us weekly to talk about their wildly inspiring careers and lives and, yes, their political views.”

Del Arco is best known for his role as Hugh Borg, which he originated on “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and reprises in “Star Trek: Picard,” which premieres Jan. 23 on CBS All Access. Karsian has appeared in “American Horror Story” and co-wrote, produced, and starred in the feature film “BFF’s,” which premiered at The Santa Barbara Film Festival.

In the premiere episode, Ryan — who previously starred on “Star Trek: Voyager” — and Del Arco talked about the politics of “Star Trek” and its creator, Gene Roddenberry. “Star Trek was created to be a political statement,” Ryan said in the interview. “Gene intentionally created it to be, you know the first interracial kiss, a black, a Russian in the middle of the Cold War, a Japanese on the Bridge after WW2… this was all intentional.” She added, “That’s what Star Trek has always been pointing out issues in our society in a nonthreatening way… it’s holding a mirror up… and so yes of course it’s political so I don’t know how you can watch that show and not take that message away.”