Have you ever thought about Star Wars in military or historical terms? Or thought about the culture of fairies? Then you have a new favorite podcast.
Combining the powers of podcast veterans Holly Frey (Stuff You Missed in History Class) and Bryan Young (Full of Sith), the episodes run a little under a half hour and present a tongue-in-cheek and yet academically serious look at major events, characters, and cultures that fans already love. Best of all, Young and Frey provide their prodigious wit and storycraft to tackle subjects casual fans might not have ever spent much time studying.
Despite promising the podcast will be “light and easy and goofy,” the show give a sense of mock seriousness to some of geek fandoms’ favorite sacred cows. The inaugural episode discusses the fictional Battle of Hoth depicted in the opening act of The Empire Strikes Back, but approaches it, as Young explains it, as if you were listening to a history of The Battle of Hastings. I imagine this is what NPR is like if you were to listen to it in the Star Trek/ Star Wars/ Doctor Who, etc universes.
With three episodes (and a shorter, teaser intro) under their belts so far, the duo plan to release new episodes every two weeks, including a special episode recorded in front of a live audience at Salt Lake Comic Con on Thursday, September 1. During this episode, they’ll cover the Star Trek Eugenics Wars and the rise of uber-villain Khan Noonien Singh.
This will add to current episodes detailing (as previously mentioned) Star Wars’ The Battle of Hoth, the culture of Tinker Fairies in the works of JM Barrie and the Peter Pan universe, the aftermath of the destruction of Alderaan in Star Wars, and an upcoming episode on Robotech.
Young’s expertise as a Star Wars fan, professional nerd, and historian in his own right is on full display here. His experience producing short films on the history of Salt Lake City and his book A Children’s Illustrated History of Presidential Assassination make this seem like the next logical step for him. But it’s Frey’s touch, vast experience and knowledge with over 800 episodes of Stuff You Missed under their belt ― and the chemistry between the two hosts ― that makes this truly unmissable.
If I have one quibble, it’s that I’d like even more context. The Battle of Hoth is an interesting military engagement in and of itself, but comparing it other battles where an overwhelming military force is able to defeat a smaller army but still fail to accomplish its major military objectives (such as the Battle of Bunker Hill, Thermopolae, or Tora Bora). Or compare the Tinker fairies to other world cultures, or the aftermath of Alderaan with attempts to preserve the history of other cultures that faced near genocide. For audiences who might be familiar with the fictional universes more than actual history, this would be a great way to get them to eat their intellectual vegetables and create deeper meaning and context.
Regardless, considering the vast number of fictional universes they have to draw from, they likely already have more than enough already planned. I await further episodes with great anticipation.