61: Lasers (and more) in Star Wars
Star Warsologies: A Podcast About Science and Star Wars
Release Date: 03/12/2025
72: Feminism in Star Wars
Star Warsologies: A Podcast About Science and 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...
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71: Star Wars Critters at LA Comic Con
Star Warsologies: A Podcast About Science and Star Wars
This episode of Star Warsologies is our LA Comic Con panel about critters in a galaxy far, far away! Hear our panel of experts talk about their favorite animals in Star Wars! Melissa and James are joined by herpetologist Earyn McGee, conservation biologist Sam Wynns, and geochemist Randy Flores. Also as it includes our slides and other visuals! From womp rats to wampas, Star Wars creatures great and small are a beloved part of the galaxy far, far away. Moderator S.T. Bende (author of Star Wars Bestiary, Vol. 1: Creatures of the Galaxy) will quiz this panel of animal experts and fans on how...
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70: Mass Media in Star Wars
Star Warsologies: A Podcast About Science and Star Wars
This episode of Star Warsologies covers mass media, propaganda, and media literacy in a galaxy far, far away! Author Samuel Spitale joins us to talk about the difference between journalism, news, propaganda, advertising, and other media terms. He posits that the lack of media in the original series was a deliberate (and wise) choice for storytelling. While it plays a role in the recent series Andor, there are also some hints in the holiday special, so of course we talk about that! Join us to help fight misinformation with the truth! An illustration from "How to Win the War on Truth: An...
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69: Space Exploration in Star Wars
Star Warsologies: A Podcast About Science and Star Wars
This episode of Star Warsologies covers space exploration topics with an operator of the Mars rover! Katherine Winchell is an astrogeologist whose love of Star Wars has a lot to do with her career in the space program. She is also the head organizer of the upcoming convention, which takes place in Burbank on September 13-14, 2025. We talk about the con (and Star Warsologies will be there!), but we also dive deep into the similarities between Mars and Tatooine and how early travelers explored the galaxy far, far away. Since Katherine is so well-versed in the Extended Universe books, we also...
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68: Andor: From Resistance to Rebellion (San Diego Comic-Con 2025 panel)
Star Warsologies: A Podcast About Science and Star Wars
This episode of Star Warsologies is our San Diego Comic-Con 2025 panel entitled "Star Wars Andor - From Resistance to Rebellion" and features Dr. Drea Letamendi, Desmond Hassing, Jendia Gammon, Robert Dagnall, and Dr. Catherine Hicks as panelists, moderated by podcast co-host James Floyd. Panel description: Fighting the tyranny of the Galactic Empire is dangerous work, whether in the halls of power on Coruscant or in the dark recesses of the Outer Rim. Panelists will dive deep into the popular show Star Wars: Andor, especially season 2, and examine themes of resisting authoritarianism...
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67: Star Wars in Bulgaria
Star Warsologies: A Podcast About Science and Star Wars
In this episode of Star Warsologies, we talk to Nenko Genov, a huge Star Wars fan who grew up in Bulgaria. We met Nenko through Star Wars Celebration and it was so interesting to learn about his experience growing up in Bulgaria in the 70s and 80s. He shared how hard it was to find Star Wars content and connect with other fans. Nenko is now the Bulgarian translator for Star Wars and other comics, so we also chat about how that came about. Show Links: Follow Nenko on and . Nenko is also an author. All his books are in Bulgarian (no English translations yet!), but check him out on or...
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66: Anti-Fascism in Star Wars
Star Warsologies: A Podcast About Science and Star Wars
In this episode of Star Warsologies, we talk to historian and author Chris Kempshall about how Star Wars is rooted in politics and anti-fascism, and has been since the beginning. Chris Kempshall joins us to talk about the definition of fascism and how to rebel against it. Star Wars may be fiction but there's plenty of timely lessons, especially in the recently completed show Andor. How can that help us understand what's happening in American politics? Can we practice resistance in an immersive environment like Galaxy's Edge and use it to talk about the ongoing ICE raids? Is there reason to...
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Bonus: Science of Disneyland, recorded at WonderCon 2025
Star Warsologies: A Podcast About Science and Star Wars
In this episode of Star Warsologies, we share the recording of Melissa's WonderCon 2025 panel "Science of Disneyland!" Panel description: Disneyland is just down the road, so let’s take a virtual field trip to explore the parks from a different point of view. There’s something to discover in every land - life on other planets in Galaxy’s Edge, dinosaurs roaming the railroad, and majestic rock formations in Cars Land - just to name a few. There’s also robotics everywhere, from the original audio-animatronics to the advanced Spider-Man that swings across Avengers Campus. Our panel of...
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65: Fon Davis and the Secret Miniatures of the Star Wars Prequels, recorded at Star Wars Celebration Japan
Star Warsologies: A Podcast About Science and Star Wars
In this episode of Star Warsologies, we share the recording of our our Star Wars Celebration Japan panel "The Secret Miniatures of the Star Wars Prequels" with Fon Davis! Watch for all the amazing behind the scenes visuals shared during the panel! You should also watch we refer to in (and showed during) the panel, which includes many of the miniatures in the Star Wars prequels. Panel description: Episodes I, II, and III revolutionized the use of computer graphics in film but did you know that the ILM model shop was still in full swing during production? There are more miniatures in...
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64: Droids, AI, and Sentience, recorded at Star Wars Celebration Japan
Star Warsologies: A Podcast About Science and Star Wars
In this episode of Star Warsologies, we share the recording of our our Star Wars Celebration Japan panel "Droids, Artificial Intelligence, and Sentience" Panel description: R2-D2 and C-3PO. BB-8. Battle droids. Star Wars isn't Star Wars without its lovable droids. We'll examine the science of robots, the programming of personality and the ethics of sentient mechanicals in society, plus go behind the scenes on designing droids for the movies. Why do droids in Star Wars look the way they do? Why do we all love R2-D2? How close are we to having droid intelligence and personality in our own...
info_outlineIn this episode of Star Warsologies, we talk to Karen Yu about lasers! PEW PEW!
This episode, we dive into lasers in Star Wars but it turns out that many of the examples are likely actually something else entirely - plasma! Though lightsabers are sometimes called laser swords, Karen breaks down the reasons that light / lasers simply wouldn't work this way. Same goes for the Death Star's mighty weapon. Somehow we also end up talking about repulsor vehicles, invisible tires, and a lot of other physics and engineering quandaries. Enjoy!
Show Links:
Want to know more about transparent chicken? Of course you do! Here's the paper Karen mentioned.
Listen to our Celebration London panel that Karen was part of, The Science of Return of the Jedi, which we referenced a few times during our discussion!
Learn more about metamaterials and rail guns that Karen mentioned in this episode.
You can order James's crossword puzzle book now! For a free puzzle, download the activity kit from Star Wars Reads!
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Star Warsologies is a podcast about science 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.