Beltway Banthas

"For over a thousand generations the Jedi were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic." Were the Jedi effective were they as galactic peacekeepers? Should they have been so beholden to Republic law? This week with guests Steele Saunders of the Steele Wars podcast and Mark Eldridge of the Jedi Archives podcast and ElevenThirtyEight, we discuss this topic and much more!

In our latest interview episode, John Liang speaks with Vince Houghton, historian and curator at the International Spy Museum. He's a massive Star Wars fan. They talk about how he he fell in love with Star Wars, why he thinks Princess Leia is the most famous fictional rebel spy in history, and all the great lies and deceptions in Star Wars spy craft!

The First Order are an ideological and vicious military organization dedicated to one thing: making the galaxy great again. But for whom? This week with guest Ross Brown of FanGirlBlog.com we look at how the First Order rose to be such a threat to the galaxy.

Seth Masket, political scientist and professor at the University of Denver, sees something ominous in the background of the Star Wars Holiday Special. He wrote about the politics of the campy Star Wars program in Mischiefs of Faction, a blog for Vox. The piece is called Amusing Ourselves Into Tyranny, sound familiar?

Today on Beltway Banthas, Swara and Stephen reconcile a dispute. Representation and diversity on screen is the hot topic of the day and it's more charged than ever. We discuss a disagreement had off the show in total transparency and seek to better understand some feelings about identity politics in pop-culture.

Al Downs and David Barnes dissect the Republic's deregulation of the banks and whether or not that is an accurate reflection of how government handles crisis, and they also share their favorite moments in the saga.

Today on Beltway Banthas we shine our politician spotlight on the greatest politician the Star Wars universe has ever known, the beloved Princess, Senator and General...Leia Organa. Our very special guests are Charlotte Errity and Caitlin Plesher of the Skytalkers Podcast and show producer John Liang. Together we discuss the history, politics and power of Star Wars most iconic politician/princess. 

Obviously with the loss of our beloved Carrie Fisher this was a difficult episode to record. Throughout our conversation we discuss how Leia and Carrie have inspired each of us. We look at  how Leia & Carrie inspired the world at large through cinema and real life. We also discuss The Last Jedi sizzle reel from D23, what Carrie's role might be like in the film. Enjoy!

Follow Charotte on Twitter @crerrity!

Follow Caitlin on Twitter @caitlinplesher!

Follow John on Twitter @JuanJohnJedi!

The latest in our interview series! Swara interviews staff writer at the New Republic magazine, Graham Vyse! We cover everything from his fandom, to Virginia politics, national politics, Star Wars parallels and more!

The New Republic is one of the oldest progressive publications in the U.S., and Graham is one of their best new writers. We had a great discussion about the origin of his fandom, how Star Wars informed his politics, and cover state and national politics. Later we go into what Star Wars and George Lucas were trying to teach us about our own government and how to counter illiberalism.

Follow Graham on Twitter @GrahamVyse!

To welcome July 4th, Stephen, Swara, and Brittany Elisa discuss the concept of freedom in the Star Wars universe. We discuss what it might mean to different characters such as Luke, Rey, Jyn Erso, and even Emperor Palpatine!

In the spirit of our Independence Day celebrating freedom, this is a free-flowing discussion touching upon all things from freedom of opportunity, economic freedom, the ability to pursue your dreams and much more. We also answer your emails asking about all things politics and Star Wars!

Andrew Heaton is a comedian in NYC who is a growing staple of libertarian media. He worked with John Stossel at Fox Business and now at Reason Magazine working on The Mostly Weekly Show. Andrew is an incredibly funny guy and uniquely deep Star Wars fan that go on and on with anyone about the politics, philosophy and humor at length.

He has a voice for radio and TV that could have only been made by Zeus himself and it was really great to get his take on Star Wars humor and more. Andrew shares his fondness of Ewoks, why he thinks Jar Jar fell flat and Obi Wan’s comedic sensibility.

We also talk about where politics and science fiction collide, and if stories thrive when politics are put first rather than second.