Force Material: A Star Wars Podcast

His art hangs in the home of George Lucas himself – and this week, artist Mark Raats joins us to talk about his decades-long career painting pieces for Lucasfilm and Disney.

Mark has created, among his other beautiful completely hand-drawn and painted pieces, a 2008 teaser poster for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, a 30th anniversary poster for Return of the Jedi and a 40th for A New Hope, the cinema poster for the 2012 IMAX release of Raiders of the Lost Ark and, recently, some very special pieces for the release of Solo: A Star Wars Story and The Rise of Skywalker. 

The Johannesburg-born artist joins us from his base in Perth, Australia to discuss his work, including: 

• His Sunday newspaper comic strip influences
• How he found out George Lucas was trying to hunt down and acquire his artwork
• Some Star Wars movie poster 'hand model' secrets
• A brush with death on Skywalker Ranch
• And much more!

Force Material is a podcast exploring the secrets and source material of Star Wars with hosts Rohan Williams and Baz McAlister. Listen and subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Stitcher, PlayerFM and Castro; stay in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; and support the show by browsing our range of shirts, hoodies, kids apparel, mugs and more at TeePublic.

What's the deal with The High Republic? Baz is here to Bazsplain everything you need to know about this new era in Star Wars storytelling.

This week, Baz dives into Charles Soule's Light of the Jedi, the first book in the High Republic publishing campaign. Does it live up to the hype, and will Rohan ever read it? Find out this episode!

Force Material is a podcast exploring the secrets and source material of Star Wars with hosts Rohan Williams and Baz McAlister. Listen and subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Stitcher, PlayerFM and Castro; stay in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; and support the show by browsing our range of shirts, hoodies, kids apparel, mugs and more at TeePublic.

Was that episode real, or did we just dream it? Filmmaker and broadcaster David Whiteley joins us to discuss and decompress from that spectacular Mandalorian season finale! 

David spent 23 years at the BBC, where he presented the popular BBC One current affairs programme Inside Out. He’s also a Star Wars super fan, and the creative force behind the documentaries The Galaxy Britain Built and Toy Empire. He’s just launched his own production company, Galaxy Productions.

This week, David joins us to geek out over Chapter 16 of The Mandalorian – ‘The Rescue’!

Follow David at @david_insideout on Twitter, and stay tuned for the announcement of his next Star Wars doc next week! 

Force Material is a podcast exploring the secrets and source material of Star Wars with hosts Rohan Williams and Baz McAlister. Listen and subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Stitcher, PlayerFM and Castro; stay in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; and support the show by browsing our range of shirts, hoodies, kids apparel, mugs and more at TeePublic.

Old beliefs are challenged and new friendships are formed in Chapter 15 of The Mandalorian, ‘The Believer’.

It’s hard to believe that there’s just one episode left this season – join us next week as we break down the finale!

Force Material is a podcast exploring the secrets and source material of Star Wars with hosts Rohan Williams and Baz McAlister. Listen and subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Stitcher, PlayerFM and Castro; stay in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; and support the show by browsing our range of shirts, hoodies, kids apparel, mugs and more at TeePublic.

So, that happened. Here’s our instant reaction to all the news from that massive Disney Investor Call, including Patty Jenkins’ Rogue Squadron movie, a live-action Ahsoka series and more! 

Force Material is a podcast exploring the secrets and source material of Star Wars with hosts Rohan Williams and Baz McAlister. Listen and subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Stitcher, PlayerFM and Castro; stay in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; and support the show by browsing our range of shirts, hoodies, kids apparel, mugs and more at TeePublic.

Oscar-winning Star Wars legend and Mandalorian fan Roger Christian joins us to break down all the insanity of Chapter 14! 

Roger might be the most overqualified guest ever to appear on a Mandalorian recap show. He won the Oscar for Best Art Direction for his work on the original Star Wars, and played an integral role in the creation of the galaxy far, far away. 

He built Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber and Han Solo’s blaster; he decorated the Cantina and the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon; and he turned Blue Milk blue. More than anyone outside of George Lucas himself, Roger is the man responsible for the grimy, lived-in, ‘used future’ aesthetic of Star Wars that The Mandalorian has gone to such great lengths to recapture. 

This week, Roger joins us to talk about his thoughts on the show and its faithfulness to the original trilogy’s aesthetic; his role in the history of Boba Fett’s killer gaffi stick; why Stormtroopers can’t use the weapons he gave them; the mythological underpinnings of The Mandalorian and much more! 

Force Material is a podcast exploring the secrets and source material of Star Wars with hosts Rohan Williams and Baz McAlister. Listen and subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Stitcher, PlayerFM and Castro; stay in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; and support the show by browsing our range of shirts, hoodies, kids apparel, mugs and more at TeePublic.

We react to all the reveals and revelations from Chapter 13 of The Mandalorian! 

Be warned — this episode is chock-full of spoilers for 'The Jedi', the 13th chapter of The Mandalorian, so if you haven’t had a chance to watch it, skip this episode for now. It'll still be here waiting for you when you're ready!

Force Material is a podcast exploring the secrets and source material of Star Wars with hosts Rohan Williams and Baz McAlister. Listen and subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Stitcher, PlayerFM and Castro; stay in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; and support the show by browsing our range of shirts, hoodies, kids apparel, mugs and more at TeePublic.

What’s in the tubes? Kristina Morss from The Closing Credits Podcast joins us to break down the latest episode of The Mandalorian! 

We share our theories for what Moff Gideon and Dr Pershing are up to with those tubes; how The Mandalorian can expand on the backstory of the sequel trilogy; and what the deal is with the Dark Troopers. 

Then we dive into the Lego Star Wars Holiday Special, what it tells us about the status quo of the galaxy after The Rise of Skywalker, and how it compares to the infamous 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special. 

You can follow Kristina on Twitter, and subscribe to The Closing Credits Podcast to learn about all the different jobs involved in making your favourite movies! 

Force Material is a podcast exploring the secrets and source material of Star Wars with hosts Rohan Williams and Baz McAlister. Listen and subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Stitcher, PlayerFM and Castro; stay in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; and support the show by browsing our range of shirts, hoodies, kids apparel, mugs and more at TeePublic.

Star Wars YouTubers Blue Bantha Milk join us to break down all the big reveals and moments from an instant-classic episode of The Mandalorian!

You can follow Blue Bantha Milk on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and subscribe to their YouTube channel. 

Force Material is a podcast exploring the secrets and source material of Star Wars with hosts Rohan Williams and Baz McAlister. Listen and subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Stitcher, PlayerFM and Castro; stay in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; and support the show by browsing our range of shirts, hoodies, kids apparel, mugs and more at TeePublic.

Author Mike Chen tells us how he got inside the Emperor’s head for his story in the new Star Wars anthology, From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back. 

The author of acclaimed science fiction novels Here and Now and Then and A Beginning at the End, as well as the upcoming We Could Be Heroes, Mike is one of 40 scribes featured in From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back. Celebrating the 40th anniversary of the film, it features stories told from the points of view of 40 different characters, from obscure cult favourites to major players in the saga. 

Mike’s story, Disturbance, is told from the point of view of Emperor Palpatine himself. It explains Palpatine’s thought process leading up to his first on-screen appearance, and answers one of the biggest lingering questions in the saga – how did the Emperor find out about Luke Skywalker? 

A longtime friend of the show, Mike tells us about writing this iconic Star Wars villain; introducing his daughter to Star Wars; having his prose voiced by Sam Witwer and much more! 

From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back is available now wherever you buy books, in print, ebook and audio. 

Follow @MikeChenWriter for more of his work.  

Force Material is a podcast exploring the secrets and source material of Star Wars with hosts Rohan Williams and Baz McAlister. Listen and subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Stitcher, PlayerFM and Castro; stay in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; and support the show by browsing our range of shirts, hoodies, kids apparel, mugs and more at TeePublic.