Geeky Stoics

On this week's episode, we welcome Jon Lovett, one of the co-hosts of Pod Save America and host of Lovett or Leave It . Lovett explains to us how he got into Star Wars with the Special Editions, why he loves Rogue One and what motivates his political activism. Jon also offers his thoughts on a potential Star Wars political drama, that Hagerman dude who went off the grid to avoid Trump and Saw Gerr...

In a super light and not-at-all serious discussion this week (JK!), we dig into the First Order and extremism! How did George Lucas, JJ Abrams, and others envision the main bad guys of the Original Trilogy and Sequel Trilogy? Have they grown beyond the label of "Space Nazis" at all? Where do communism, fascism, terrorism, and other extremist ideologies come into play? Join the discussion on Beltwa...

Dan Wallace is the author of beloved Star Wars books "The Jedi Path" "Book of the Sith" and "Imperial Handbook". Now he has penned another behind the scenes manuel for the Rebellion and joins the show to talk about it. John Liang interviewed Wallace last week and got the scoop on what the book reveals about the rebellion, galactic politics and more.  Stephen and Swara also convene in the start of...

Rey and Kylo are seemingly total opposites...until the events of The Last Jedi. Through the Force and circumstance, these two foes connect in a way they never expected. Turns out - they have a lot in common. This week we are joined by Caitlin and Charlotte of the Skytalkers Podcasts to discuss "Reylo" and how it might relate to our own worlds broken politics.  Get in touch with everyone on the sho...

Let's get political! This week on Beltway Banthas we are rejoined by Republican pollster Kristen Soltis Anderson of The Pollsters Podcast . Kristen is a huge Star Wars fan and came on to talk with Stephen about Rotten Tomatoes scores and how trolls factor into public perception of a movie. In addition to looking at The Last Jedi's scores, we discuss what an ideal method of gauging reaction to a mo...

Swara and guest host Heath Williams of Rogue Podron discuss parallels between US presidents throughout American history and the various chief executives of Star Wars. From Chancellors Vallorum to Villecham, we trace the trends of executive leadership and how they compare to various occupants of the White House.  We also give a reaction to the new Solo trailer and much more.   This is a public epis...

Hello Banthas! This week we are joined by radio producer and head writer for Glenn Beck, Mr. Stu Burguiere.  Stu is a big time Star Wars fan and all around enjoyable radio personality. We thought you'd enjoy this behind the curtain conversation with a notable conservative radio personality and fan. Stephen and Stu discuss his career trajectory, working with Beck, Star Wars role in his life and how...

In our latest episode delving into the politics of The Last Jedi, we are joined by Entertainment Weekly's Anthony Breznican to discuss populism in the film! Do we use this term correctly? Are we actually seeing what is traditionally known as "populism" in the film? What does it really mean for common people to rise to power? We tackle all these questions and more! From the children on Canto Bight...

Hello Banthas! This week we are excited to be joined by renowned science-fiction and fantasy author Ken Liu.  His short stories have appeared in F&SF, Asimov's, Analog, Lightspeed, Clarkesworld and   he recently debuted in Star Wars canon helming The Legends of Luke Skywalker.  Ken joined our producer John Liang for a call where they discuss his background, Asian themes in Star Wars and the experi...

It's the first of our in-depth discussion on The Last Jedi. This week we discuss the politics of Canto Bight! Joining us to discuss is political scientist Seth Masket! We discuss war profiteering, socioeconomic inequality, whether we think the sequence carries apt allegories, partisan interpretations of the sequence, and much more! Get in touch with everyone on the show! Leave us a review on iTune...

Hello Banthas and welcome to our first interview of 2018! This week we had the distinct honor of meeting the real humans behind the curtain of @RealTrumpatine , Twitters most prolific Star Wars and politics account. Every day the Emperor Trumpatine account pumps out amazing comedic content echoing whatever President Trump is Tweeting that day. It has kept us laughing from 2015 to today. This has b...

We’re back from our holiday hiatus! Stephen and Swara FINALLY offer their first spoiler-filled thoughts on The Last Jedi . This is the first of many episodes we’ll be having on this deeply layered film. In this episode, we touch all our favorite parts and hangups. We also overview its many political themes and list out what we’ll be talking about in the coming weeks. In this episodes Bantha Fodder...

Beltway Banthas is all about bringing people together - so this week we did just that. Past guests of the show, GOP pollster Kristen Soltis Anderson ( host of The Pollsters Podcast ), Ben Domenech ( The Federalist) , Tamara Keith & Scott Detrow ( NPR Politics ) gathered at the Arlington library in Virginia to share their love of Star Wars. This was a live show in front of an audience. We recorded...

What did the Empire do in the days and weeks following Return of the Jedi ? It's not a simple happy ending. The Emperor left orders for Operation Cinder, a brutal campaign that would leave countless dead and the groundwork laid for the First Order. This week we discuss Operation Cinder and real world parallels.  Also! We are joined for a special segment by David Mark of the Morning Consult. They r...

The galaxy is total upheaval! The events of Episode VII left the political order of Star Wars in a fascinating state of disarray. This week on Beltway Banthas the crew looks at The Last Jedi and it's political questions. This is an episode of speculation, intrigue and analysis about a movie we are all dying to see.  Swara, Stephen and John Liang also banter about Thanksgiving, Star Wars Battlefron...

Happy Thanksgiving! Beltway Banthas is taking this week off to connect with family & friends, but we did want to speak to you on this holiday. First, we want to thank you! This audience is amazing. We also share things we are thankful for in Star Wars and politics, as well as read your Tweets. Finally...some important announcements about the future of the show. Stick around for those in this holid...

Clayton Sandell is a digital news reporter and correspondent for ABC News. You may know his work during the launch of Rogue One: A Story Wars Story when ABC went behind the scenes to see how Tarkin was brought back to life. Clayton is a deep fan of Star Wars and someone who has been working in news for decades. It was really awesome to speak with him about his career, Star Wars fandom and how he m...

It's treason then! This week we discuss how the Jedi botched the removal of Chancellor Palpatine. Had they done it more carefully, maybe the Empire would have never risen. Stephen is joined by guests Josh Gilliland of The Legal Geeks and Kate Sanchez of the But Why Tho Podcast.  Also on this episode, Stephen and guests discuss the indictments made by Bob Mueller in the investigation into Russian c...

In this episode, Tricia Barr ( @fangirlcantina ) of the Fangirls Going Rogue podcast and founder of Fangirlblog, along with contributor John Liang ( @juanjohnjedi ), joins Beltway Banthas for a spoiler-filled discussion of one of the most recently released novels: Claudia Gray’s Leia: Princess of Alderaan, and what we learn about the politics of the Rebellion. The topics we discuss include Alderaa...

Dr. Annalise Ophelian, the driving force behind  Looking for Leia,  joins us for a discussion on women in fandom, sexism, social movements, how to ensure fandom is inclusive. Looking for Leia  is an upcoming documentary film that "features interviews with an intergenerational and culturally diverse group of female fans" who discuss entering Star Wars fandom, what Star Wars has meant to them, and t...

In this jam packed episode, we seek wise counsel from The Legal Geeks podcast. Jessica Mederson and Josh Gilliland run The Legal Geeks blog and podcast, where they break down the burning questions of law in sci-fi. They joined Beltway Banthas to address droids rights, liability for the Death Star, Han's right to stand his ground and much more.  The Last Jedi trailer dropped this week! Our team als...

Chuck Wendig is author of The Aftermath Trilogy , a series of stories that take place in the tumultuous time after Return of the Jedi . For our 40th episode, we chatted with Wendig about the politics of the era and how a Star Wars author learns about the galaxy in which they are writing.  Also on this episode, Swara and Stephen give their quick thoughts on JJ returning to Star Wars as a director,...

Holy Star Wars Batman! Stephen was interviewed by Jason Flatt about defining redemption through the lens of Christianity. Together they apply this conversation to Star Wars and also our worlds nastiest politics - the politics of hate.  This interview originally appeared on the Holy Star Wars podcast . We felt it was an awesome enough conversation on relevant topics to Beltway Banthas to share with...

This week on Beltway Banthas we discuss Inferno Squad, the new Star Wars book by Christie Golden. The story takes us inside a faction of Saw Gerrera's Partisans with Iden Versio, an undercover Imperial with the elite - Inferno Squad. We talk about political violence, legitimate forms of resistance and how it's not always if you fight that matters - but how you fight. This was a timely book to say...

Eleven-ThirtyEight is a living journal of news and opinion dedicated to producing analytical pieces on all things Star Wars. In this week's interview episode, we talk to the creator and Editor-in-Chief of the site, Mike Cooper! We talk about the political message of the prequels, the creative process for Star Wars, his vision behind the website and much more! Eleven-ThirtyEight avoids reactionary...