Beltway Banthas returns this Monday
With a new format, new producer, new sound and the SAME mission
ATTENTION BANTHAS! This is the newsletter you know (and surely love) formerly known solely as the ‘Beltway Banthas Newsletter’ which is now called POLITICIZE ME. This is going to be the same product, just on a different platform (Mailchimp was a bummer) and with roughly 20% added value for lovers of political pop culture outside of Star Wars. I’ll explain - and then I have some HUGE updates. So excited to share.
My thinking on this was simple. I want to send you something every week, and I don’t want to be bound on every email to Star Wars-only. Sometimes there’s not something happening in Star Wars-land. Usually, there is. But not always. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about X-Men and the politics of Magneto, for instance. And it would be cool to share thoughts on stuff like that from time to time. POLITICIZE ME is my humor toward people who “don’t like politics mixed with their TV, movies or sports.” It’s always seemed (frankly) absurd to me. Politics informs everything we do. It is part of the way we interpret the world around us. So my response to these escapist attitudes? Please, politicize me.
Heads up! BELTWAY BANTHAS: STAR WARS, POLITICS & MORE returns to your podcast feed this Monday, September 1st @ 6AM EST. The podcast has been on hiatus this summer for a makeover, a jolt of new energy…for a makeover. If you took Banthas out of your podcast feed for the summer, put us back in the game!!
The new episode focuses on democratic decline in the United States, why we’re losing ground on delivering democracy in our politics & elections…and where Star Wars gets this kind of crisis right and wrong. Episode III can make it seem very clear cut and obvious, when you’ve lost your liberty and choice, but our reality may be harder to see. The episode is roughly 30 minutes and features expert insights and discussion of Star Wars — then, we’ll follow up with a 60 minute round table chat with special guests about the episode. That way you get the expert, newsy new style of Banthas + the old discussion-based format of the podcast.
——-> ICYMI…this is the new intro to the show
The mission is the same: to use Star Wars to understand the world we live in, process what we’re seeing, and think differently about how to engage with it. Also, to forge relationships in the Force where they might not have previously felt possible. Politics and tribal identity can make friendship so hard in these times, but Star Wars can make it easier. We believe in that on this podcast, strongly.
Riley Blanton (The Star Wars Report, Mouse & Castle) joined the show as a full time producer. He has made something really special here. Between new music, a totally new format and a fresh intro to the show…Beltway Banthas is gonna feel a little different. But I promise the heart of the show is the same. And more committed to this mission than ever.

Riley and I met for the first time roughly 1.5 years ago in Las Vegas when we both happened to be in the area. It’s possible that meeting set the podcast in this direction. I’m thrilled to be collaborating on this. (Photo below)
I’ve also been telling all of you that I’ve been working on a book based off the lessons of Beltway Banthas and the conversations that have been had on this podcast. I’m gonna be a big tease and say, something BIG is about to be announced here. Just need a few more days for some details to come together. This is where the fun begins…

LAST THING. If you’re active in Star Wars Twitter world, you may have seen that Mandalorian actress Gina Carano has been….well…stepping into some poodoo. This is a tricky issue somewhere at the intersection of decency, free expression, individualism and honoring the dignity of others. I wrote about it for the Washington Examiner, “Is Gina Carano A Happy Warrior?” And I tried to expand my thoughts on the subject in a Tweet thread you might want to go over as well. Carano has done wrong in her relations to fans of Star Wars, but the conflict says something larger (I think) about what fans should expect, and also why Carano has messed up in this way. Let me know what you think.
That’s it! This is Stephen Kent of Beltway Banthas, signing off of POLITICIZE ME. Catch the new episode of Beltway Banthas this Monday, all about how democracies die…and it’s not always with thunderous applause.
