Wow, what a fun time I had with hosts James Floyd and Melissa Miller on their fascinating podcast, Star Warsologies. Their show invites an expert on some non-Star Wars topic to explore what the film (and other spin-off tales) has to say on that matter… from music to psychology to zoology, just to name a few. I had a great time re-watching the nine episodes in preparation to talk about empathy and compassion as these occur in the movies. You can hear all about this in their 49th episode, “Empathy and Compassion in Star Wars.” Melissa and James, you were fun and gracious hosts and I thank you immensely for your hospitality and good spirits!

Even the fun of the specific lens we took aside, it was a delight to take something from popular culture and think about it from a particular perspective and consider the lessons–be they good, bad, oversimplified, or something else–it offers. A good practice, especially for us in academic-land!