Beltway Banthas

Bethany Lacina is an associate professor of political science at the University of Rochester and she took a dive into "Star Wars Twitter" to get a better understanding of fandom and why it's so toxic. 

She looked at the vitriol surround Kelly Marie Tran and wrote "How common is such harassment? In my research, I have investigated this phenomenon on Twitter, where offensive language and hate speech have a modest but clear presence — not because of automated accounts (“bots”) but because of humans.

Hello Banthas! Swara and Stephen are back for Episode 60 to with some exclusive audio from Dragon Con 2018, a great panel on Crime & Politics in Star Wars. We also riff on the bombshell anonymous op-ed in the New York Times by a member of the Trump administration about the work being done on the inside to restrain his worst impulses from the inside. Is there a Star Wars tie-in? You bet there is!

BONUS EPISODE! Beltway Banthas Contributor John Liang chats with author Max Brooks about Star Wars and the lessons that can be applied to today's modern military. Brooks wrote "Strategy Strikes Back: How Star Wars Explains Modern Military Conflict"

The Empire is coming for your moisture farm! Today on the show we discuss politically charged deleted scenes that never made it into the final cut of Star Wars films. Our main focus is a discussion between Biggs and Luke Skywalker about the "imperialization" of industry. Abby Gleason fills in for Swara and we are joined by Brittany Hunter to talk socialism in space, bourgeois Biggs and more.

We're back! Stephen and Swara are back to discuss whether President Trump treats the media like Palpatine treated the Jedi Order during the Clone Wars. Both institutions are meant to be a positive check on power and injustice, but has Trump succeeded in changing the public narrative against the media as Palpatine did with the Jedi? T

We have a jam-packed episode for y'all before our hiatus! First Stephen and Swara give their review of Solo. We then present Swara's conversation with Matt Rogers (@Politodope) to talk about the politics of the Resistance on the Left and parallels we find with Star Wars, all from the prequels to the sequels. Finally the hosts give their final Bantha Fodders for the season before our two month hiatus!

Mark Hamill is a Hollywood legend for his depiction of Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars movies. He is also a staunch believer in speaking on about politics. In this weeks episode we look at Mark Hamill's public stand on gun control, President Trump and how he balances Star Wars with politics alongside the fans. This is part of a larger conversation on pop culture and whether or not our hyper politicized society has made it harder to enjoy art

The Star Wars franchise has been becoming more visibly diverse on the screen, but will LucasFilm go further on issues of representation? Swara, the hosts of Book Wars Pod and Rebel Grrrl, are joined by Star Wars: Last Shot author Daniel Jose Older and others to discuss this topic. The online campaign that emerged as a result of this effort is called #SWRepMatters.

Abby and Swara discuss and analyze the life of one of their favorite fictional politicians of all time, the wonderful and estimable Bail Organa of Alderaan. What drove him to sacrifice so much for the good of the galaxy? How can we learn from his amazing example? Why does he give us so many feels?!? Listen to find out!

Beltway Banthas turned two this month! The experiment of blending Star Wars and politics has turned into an adventure the likes of which we could never has anticipated. THANK YOU for sticking with us all this time and making it so much fun. 

We are excited on this May 4th, Star Wars Day, to announce the addition of new hosts to the show: Brittany Hunter and Abby Gleason. On this episode we get to know Abby and Brittany and talk about the past and future of Beltway Banthas. 

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