Captains' Logs and Lightsabers

STAR WARS IS BACK ON THE BIG SCREEN — and Captains’ Logs & Lightsabers is HERE FOR IT. This might be the most current episode we’ve ever recorded. No waiting for the discourse to settle, no catching up after the fact — Chris and Jonathan both saw The Mandalorian & Grogu twice before sitting down to record, and they had thoughts. Before diving into the movie, Chris swings by with a Toypaloo...

Chris and Jonathan are back at the mic with a jam-packed episode spanning collectibles, fast food galaxies far, far away, and convention floor adventures. The guys dig into the 2026 Hallmark Keepsake Ornament lineup, debate the merits of Burger King’s latest Star Wars tie-in, and Chris and Jonathan recap Chris’ time at Steel City Con in Monroeville(Pittsburgh-area), PA. Jonathan takes a brief deto...

Chris and Jonathan are back after a four-month hiatus—and they’re jumping right in. Chris shares a candid health update, the hosts catch up, and Jonathan fills us in on the Feast of Fandoms content he’s been cranking out during CLL’s break. Then it’s off to hyperspace with reactions to the Darth Maul: Shadow Lord trailer and the Mandalorian & Grogu Super Bowl spot. The main event? A deep-dive...

Episode 44 of Captain’s Logs and Lightsabers is here! Chris and Jonathan discuss several news items from the recent New York Comic-Con like the Starfleet Academy official trailer, the extended preview of a Season 4 episode of Strange New Worlds, Trek’s 60th Anniversary Rose Parade float, Chris’ promotion to captain of the USS Stella Pirata, Jonathan’s recent trip to the Grid in Tron: Ares, and oth...

Welcome to episode 43 of Captain’s Logs and Lightsabers ! San Diego Comic-Con 2025 is in the rearview, and Chris and Jonathan are back to unpack all the Star Wars and Star Trek goodness that followed. After catching up on the past month during Fandom, Frontier they kick things off with Andor racking up some shiny Emmy nominations. Then it’s full speed ahead into the Reign of Evil trilogy, a deep-d...

In episode 42 of Captains’ Logs and Lightsabers, Chris and Jonathan reunite to compare and contrast the different types of technology in Star Trek and Star Wars. They wonder if phasers and blasters have similar technologies behind them. Is the Holo-Net like the Holodeck? Is a tricorder more useful than a droid? And finally, they tackle the age-old question of who would win in a fight between a Sta...

In this episode, Jonathan and Chris share their exciting plans and experiences. Jonathan and Chris recently attended the 20th-anniversary screening of “Revenge of the Sith.” Jonathan is currently engrossed in games like “South of Midnight” and “Clair Obscur Expedition 33” on Gamepass. He and his wife are eagerly anticipating a summer filled with concerts and theatrical performances. On the other h...

Chris and Jonathan go back to the roots of Captains’ Logs and Lightsabers when the episode topics were more of a compare and contrast format between Star Wars and Star Trek. What makes a leader? Chris put together a fantastic dissection of the various leadership styles we see in Star Trek and Star Wars. Using several Star Trek captains as examples Chris breaks down each one’s unique style of leade...

Chris and Jonathan are back for January’s episode of CLL Podcast!  Topics discussed on this episode include a retro toys and clothing convention, Jonathan’s quest to complete the Laurel Highlands Pour Tour, a milestone anniversary for Star Trek Voyager, and the latest casting and rumors for Ahsoka Season 2, and more!  Listen after the news rundown for Jonathan’s  and Chris’ thoughts...

Jonathan and Chris got together to discuss the 30th Anniversary of Star Trek Generations. This is a film that Jonathan hadn’t seen in almost 20 years and at the time he wasn’t a fan. Did a rewatch of the film change his opinion? Listen and find out. But before that reveal, Chris recounts his trip to a Star Trek Convention in Seacaucus, New Jersey, they visit the Fandom Frontier, and their thoughts...

CLL Podcast is back again, this time as part of a new network called Feast of Fandoms! On this episode, Chris and Jonathan reintroduce How Did You Geek This Week’s rebrand as Fandom Frontier, the first and only season of The Acolyte, and other topics! https://zencastr.com/?via=jonathan-hile #MadeOnZencastr EVERY ORDER 20% Off Mad Rabbit Tattoo Care!! https://sldr.page.link/GdXZ Contact the Show: T...

CLL #36 - Eclipses, Cons, & Disco Chris and Jonathan got together in late April to discuss everything from the latest Steel City Con to Hallmark ornaments, Star Wars trailers to eclipses. Oh, and they’re really liking the final season of Star Trek Discovery! Catch a discussion of the first four episodes of the 10-episode fifth season.  Create your podcast today   https://zencastr.com...

On episode 35 of CLL, Jonathan is joined by John Ambrose from the Geek News Now writing team. Ambrose has been a staff writer for GNN for just about one year and he recently published his 100th article for the site. Ambrose has a lot of available spaces on his geeky bingo card and is launching a new project called “An Old Geek Watches” where he tries to catch up on the geeky things in media that h...

You know what they say about the road to Hell…the promise of more content has eluded the CLL crew since early January.  But Jonathan and Chris are back to discuss their thoughts on the first half of Season 3 of Star Wars: The Bad Batch. In this Biizarro World episode of the podcast, the segments are out of their typical order, but we still cover them! 0:00  Introduction 1:00  HDYGTW...

Chris and Jonathan return with the first CLL of 2024 to catch up on a bunch of news stories that have broken throughout January from both Star Trek and Star Wars. The episode wraps up with a lively discussion about the Bad Batch Season 3 trailer and expectations. Contrary to Jonathan’s counting snafu, this is actually Episode 33… 0:00  Introduction 1:35  HDYGTW 8:35 Star Trek Film News 2...

CLL #32 - Past/Future Tense Captains’ Logs and Lightsabers Podcast is back for its final episode of 2023 and we take a look in the rear view mirror at our favorite Star Trek and Star Wars projects throughout the year. Jonathan waxes poetic about a video game, Chris and Jonathan rehash their adoration for Picard Season 3, and more! The hosts also mention some of the things they’re looking forward t...

Geek News Now is “FUELED BY THE FANS” and Captains’ Logs and Lightsabers Podcast is too! On Star Trek Day, September 8, Geek News Now posted a photo asking YOU to react to your favorite Starfleet captain. The post was notably missing one Captain Benjamin Sisko and y’all let us know it! There were hundreds of comments asking about Sisko, so seeing as how Star Trek is kinda our thing, the hosts of C...

CLL 30 - Strange New Worlds Season 2 On this supersized episode of Captains’ Logs and Lightsabers podcast, Chris and Jonathan are joined by fellow GNN A/V Club stars John Mark Tolly and Shah. Mark is the host of both War of the Stars: A Star Wars Podcast and Star Wars Through The Eyes of a Child. Shah is a regular co-host of The Geek Gauntlet Podcast and YouTube show live every Saturday night at 1...

Episode 29 of CLL joins an already in-progress discussion of Season 3 of Star Trek Picard.  Jonathan, Chris, and Mikey of the Deucecast Movie Show talk Episodes 6-10 of Picard’s final season.  It should go without saying, but there are full spoilers for the plot of the season throughout the discussion.  Jonathan kicks off the show with an announcement about an upcoming guest intervi...

Chris and Jonathan are joined by Mikey from the Deuceast Movie Show Podcast to break down the incredible third season of Star Trek Picard!  The discussion was so lively and in depth that it ran for nearly THREE HOURS!  So we’re releasing it in two parts the month of July, as Episodes 28 and 29.   Episode 28 of CLL has the usual stuff like How Did You Geek This Week and a couple news...

Travel back into the CLL Catalog with an interview from 2021 with Dr. Erin MacDonald, one of the current science advisors for Star Trek. With credits on Picard, Lower Decks, Prodigy, and Strange New Worlds, this interview with Dr. Erin is not one to be missed! Jonathan and Chris had an incredible opportunity to interview Dr. Erin MacDonald,  a PhD in Astophysics from the University of Glasgow in S...

Thanks for checking out Captains’ Logs and Lightsabers Podcast!  On episode #27, Jonathan and Chris get together for a full breakdown of Mandalorian Season 3 in the featured discussion!  Before breaking down each individual episode of Season 3, the boys discuss news items like the closure of Galactic Starcruiser at Walt Disney World, the Writers Guild of America Strike, and Indiana Jones...

Thanks for checking out CLL Podcast! Episode 26 is here, listen as Chris and Jonathan discuss a range of topics. After the segment called How Did You Geek This Week, we get Chris’ most anticipated announcements from Celebration, discuss Mando and Picard season 3 with spoilers, and wrap up with a recap of their experiences with Steel City Con! Stay for a bit after the episode wraps for a brief inte...

Thanks for checking out Captains’s Logs and Lightsabers Podcast.  On Episode 25, we’re talking all about the biggest news to come out of Star Wars Celebration Europe the weekend of April 7-10!  Chris and Jonathan were unable to get together this time because of scheduling conflicts, but Jonathan called in reinforcements from the GNN team.  None other than the host of the Cantina Happy Hour on GNN’...

CLL #24 - Landon Ginn Interview Captains’ Logs and Lightsabers returns from it’s short hiatus with a very special guest interview episode. If you’ve been listening to CLL for a while, you know that Jonathan and Chris are massive fans of Star Trek Prodigy. Our guest today served as a technical director for the series, spending nearly 2 years on the project! What does a technical director do for 3D...