Star Warsologies: A Podcast About Science and Star Wars

75: Earthquake Geology in Star Wars

This episode of Star Warsologies we talk to earthquake geologist Wendy Bohon about planets, lava and lots and lots of explosions! Dr. Wendy Bohon joins us this month to discuss how life might begin and be sustained on planets in a galaxy far, far away. The answer is earthquakes! Or are they called Tatooine-quakes and Hoth-quakes? We dive into Naboo's watery core and discuss whether Mustafar was the right place to build an evil lair. And of course we get in to the Death Star's ability to destroy planets. Alderaan is in pieces but what happened during the tests on Jedha and Scarif? Show Notes: Follow Wendy on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCattuUO9_ytbURJslOJahlg], Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/drwendyrocks/], BlueSky [https://bsky.app/profile/drwendyrocks.bsky.social], and other social media sites. And check out her website [https://wendybohon.com/]! Learn more about the Cave of the Crystals [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_of_the_Crystals] Wendy mentions, that reminds her of Crait and the crystal foxes! If you can't get enough geology talk, give our debut episode [https://skywalkingthroughneverland.com/new-podcast-star-warsologies-debuts/] (from 2021!) a listen. We also talked more about Mustafar in our Revenge of the Sith panel [https://skywalkingthroughneverland.com/star-warsologies-63-swcj-rots/] at Star Wars Celebration 2025. You can order James's crossword puzzle book [https://www.chroniclebooks.com/products/star-wars-crossword-puzzles] now! For a free puzzle, download the activity kit from Star Wars Reads [https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-reads]! Subscribe to Star Warsologies on Apple [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/star-warsologies-a-podcast-about-science-and-star-wars/id1567158758], Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/66fIiGZU3poOlTETQZf7qO], or wherever you listen to podcasts. Did you miss an earlier episode? Catch up here [https://skywalkingthroughneverland.com/category/podcasts/starwarsologies/]! Follow us on BlueSky [https://bsky.app/profile/starwarsologies.bsky.social] and Ins [https://www.instagram.com/starwarsologies/]t [https://www.instagram.com/starwarsologies/]agram [https://www.instagram.com/starwarsologies/] or join our Facebook fan group [https://www.facebook.com/groups/525984202561077]! Star Warsologies is a podcast about science and other fields in a galaxy far, far away. Hosts James Floyd and Melissa Miller combine their love of storytelling in the franchise with their keen interest in all things academic.

74: Classical Studies in Star Wars

This episode of Star Warsologies we delve into classical studies - languages, archeology, and epigraphy, which is study of ancient inscriptions! Giraffe joins us to talk about her early introduction to languages with Stargate and The Mummy. She explains the difference between scripts and languages. She also answers important questions like: Does Yoda talk that way just to be different? and Why does anyone hang out with C-3PO? We also get into the inevitable discussion of AI's role in translating and understanding ancient languages and scripts, as well as how the Empire removing people from their individual cultures comes straight from the colonizer's playbook. Show Notes: Check out Giraffe on the Star Trek podcast Strange New pod [https://www.strangenewpod.com/], which is live every Thursday at 6:30pm Pacific time! And find her on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/lyrical_girafe/] and BlueSky [https://bsky.app/profile/spottedgiraffe.bsky.social]! We mentioned some relevant past episodes during this discussion: check out our languages episode [https://skywalkingthroughneverland.com/new-podcast-star-warsologies-36-linguistics/] with David Peterson, who created languages for Game of Thrones, Marvel movies, and more, and our anti-fascism episode [https://skywalkingthroughneverland.com/star-warsologies-66-anti-facism/] with historian and author Chris Kempshall. You can order James's crossword puzzle book [https://www.chroniclebooks.com/products/star-wars-crossword-puzzles] now! For a free puzzle, download the activity kit from Star Wars Reads [https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-reads]! Subscribe to Star Warsologies on Apple [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/star-warsologies-a-podcast-about-science-and-star-wars/id1567158758], Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/66fIiGZU3poOlTETQZf7qO], or wherever you listen to podcasts. Did you miss an earlier episode? Catch up here [https://skywalkingthroughneverland.com/category/podcasts/starwarsologies/]! Follow us on BlueSky [https://bsky.app/profile/starwarsologies.bsky.social] and Ins [https://www.instagram.com/starwarsologies/]t [https://www.instagram.com/starwarsologies/]agram [https://www.instagram.com/starwarsologies/] or join our Facebook fan group [https://www.facebook.com/groups/525984202561077]! Star Warsologies is a podcast about science and other fields in a galaxy far, far away. Hosts James Floyd and Melissa Miller combine their love of storytelling in the franchise with their keen interest in all things academic.

Bonus: Celebrating the Puppetry Arts panel at San Diego Comic-Con

As a holiday bonus, please enjoy this recording of a panel from San Diego Comic-Con 2025 - Celebrating the Puppetry Arts! Panel Description: Puppets have entertained and educated the masses for centuries but the artistry also changes and advances with new technology. Professional puppet builders and performers share insights from their careers working on franchises like Star Wars and the Muppet movies, as well as their experiences with non-traditional puppetry like animatronics, motion capture, and claymation. Panelists include Cheralyn Lambeth (puppet builder, Dinosaurs!, Avenue Q), Kirk Thatcher (writer and director, The Muppets Haunted Mansion), and Fon Davis (model maker, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline). Moderated by Melissa T. Miller (Star Warsologies podcast). Links from the panel discussion: Check out Adam Kreutinger's @PuppetNerd YouTube Channel [https://www.youtube.com/@PuppetNerd] and the Stan Winston School [https://www.stanwinstonschool.com/] for puppetry building tips. Watch the Tested video [https://youtu.be/y4V7OGILaJM?si=gK3VlDcYuKWpRb9q] Fon mentioned where he shows Adam Savage around Fonco Studio [https://foncostudios.com/]'s effects lab. Here's the TikTok video Kirk [https://www.tiktok.com/@didyoucatchthis/video/7582753735957433613] mentioned where the baby in Dinosaurs talks back to the director. If you want to hear more about Coraline and The Nightmare Before Christmas, check out the LA Comic Con panel [https://youtu.be/GM6fBDjGGFs] about those movies that Melissa and Fon did together in 2024.

73: Cartography in Star Wars

This episode of Star Warsologies is all about maps! We talk with Jason Fry, who helped map the galaxy far, far away in The Essential Atlas. How do you map a galaxy? Storytellers get to add their own details in movies, books, comics, TV shows, and even board games, so it's a huge job and nearly impossible to keep it all straight. Jason shares what went into creating the lore for Star Wars: The Essential Atlas and how the book is literally a childhood dream come true. It turns out a lot of the mapping framework came from a video game mechanic! Show Notes: Follow Jason on BlueSky @jasoncfry [https://bsky.app/profile/jasoncfry.bsky.social] and send any cartographic errors you find to essential.atlas@gmail.com Check out the official Galaxy Map on starwars.com [https://www.starwars.com/star-wars-galaxy-map]! Buy your copy of Jason's Star Wars: The Essential Atlas, or peruse some of the maps on Wookieepedia [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/The_Essential_Atlas]. Check out all of Jason Fry's other Star Wars books [https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/42134.Jason_Fry], including The Last Jedi (adult novelization) and Rebels: Servants of the Empire series. Other books mentioned in this episode include Atlas of Middle Earth [https://bookshop.org/p/books/atlas-of-middle-earth-karen-wynn-fonstad/aac48a4346b7c260], Atlas of Medieval History [https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-new-penguin-atlas-of-medieval-history-revised-edition-colin-mcevedy/a1e6a3babcd4053d], The Mask of Fear [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/735101/star-wars-the-mask-of-fear-reign-of-the-empire-by-alexander-freed/] from the Reign of the Empire series. You can order James's crossword puzzle book [https://www.chroniclebooks.com/products/star-wars-crossword-puzzles] now! For a free puzzle, download the activity kit from Star Wars Reads [https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-reads]! Subscribe to Star Warsologies on Apple [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/star-warsologies-a-podcast-about-science-and-star-wars/id1567158758], Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/66fIiGZU3poOlTETQZf7qO], or wherever you listen to podcasts. Did you miss an earlier episode? Catch up here [https://skywalkingthroughneverland.com/category/podcasts/starwarsologies/]! Follow us on BlueSky [https://bsky.app/profile/starwarsologies.bsky.social] and Ins [https://www.instagram.com/starwarsologies/]t [https://www.instagram.com/starwarsologies/]agram [https://www.instagram.com/starwarsologies/] or join our Facebook fan group [https://www.facebook.com/groups/525984202561077]! Star Warsologies is a podcast about science and other fields in a galaxy far, far away. Hosts James Floyd and Melissa Miller combine their love of storytelling in the franchise with their keen interest in all things academic.

72: Feminism in Star Wars

This episode of Star Warsologies covers feminism and gender representation in Star Wars with author and historian Becca Harrison. Becca Harrison tallied up all the screen time for female characters in Star Wars movies over the decades and even made cuts of the film with only dialogue from female characters. They get a lot more screen time these days and we talk about why that's important. We discuss feminism, gender identity, and the importance of representation when it comes to Star Wars, including within the fandom itself. Becca is a freelance academic who has studied Star Wars from multiple academic angles including historical, data technology, gender identity, and even environmental. Show Notes: Check out Becca's website [https://www.beccaeharrison.com/] for more of her work on Star Wars as well as resources for for film analysis and research. Get your copy of Becca's book "The Empire Strikes Back (BFI Film Classics)" [https://www.amazon.com/Empire-Strikes-Back-Film-Classics/dp/191123997X] Listen to our episode [https://skywalkingthroughneverland.com/new-podcast-star-warsologies-35-celebration-andor-the-empire-and-a-history-of-resistance/] recreating the panel from 2023's Celebration in London about Andor that included Becca and other experts. Find out more about the Galaxy Tour science field trip [https://galaxytours.com/product/star-wars-tour-tunisia-science-of-the-galaxy-far-away-group-tour-2025-davin-anderson-lee-bullock/]. And if you do sign up to go, make sure to put "Star Warsologies" in the Order Notes when you check out! You can order James's crossword puzzle book [https://www.chroniclebooks.com/products/star-wars-crossword-puzzles] now! For a free puzzle, download the activity kit from Star Wars Reads [https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-reads]! Subscribe to Star Warsologies on Apple [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/star-warsologies-a-podcast-about-science-and-star-wars/id1567158758], Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/66fIiGZU3poOlTETQZf7qO], or wherever you listen to podcasts. Did you miss an earlier episode? Catch up here [https://skywalkingthroughneverland.com/category/podcasts/starwarsologies/]! Follow us on BlueSky [https://bsky.app/profile/starwarsologies.bsky.social] and Ins [https://www.instagram.com/starwarsologies/]t [https://www.instagram.com/starwarsologies/]agram [https://www.instagram.com/starwarsologies/] or join our Facebook fan group [https://www.facebook.com/groups/525984202561077]! Star Warsologies is a podcast about science and other fields in a galaxy far, far away. Hosts James Floyd and Melissa Miller combine their love of storytelling in the franchise with their keen interest in all things academic.