G33K Out: Roundtable — Star Wars Fandom

Episode 35: Roundtable — Star Wars Fandom

This episode is something new for the podcast: a roundtable discussion. If this goes well, I may include the concept in future issues, and every once in a while pick a topic and have a few people hash it out with me. For this time, we’re talking Star Wars and fandom.

There’s been a lot of talk in the last few months about the toxicity in the Star Wars fandom, specifically in the backlash against The Last Jedi. How it connects to women and people of color in fandom is not an accident. So, I got together with some women to discuss the female perspective on the issue.

Basic show notes:

• Running time is 1 hour, 31 minutes, and 50 seconds.
• The roundtable was recorded on August 5, 2018.
• Joining me in this roundtable were (in alphabetical order):
  • Klaudia Amenábar: you can follow her on Twitter, Tumblr, and on Instagram;
  • Marqueeda LaStar: you can follow her on Twitter and Instagram;
  • Jessie Salsbury: you can follow her on Twitter or find her (and her plays) on the New Play Exchange; and
  • Kate Sánchez: you can follow her on Twitter as well as her own podcast and website, But Why Tho?
• General notes about the discussion/further reading:
  • I referenced the Fansplaining podcast that was on toxic fandom.
  • If you haven’t read it before, I talk a bit about the ‘fake geek girl’ myth in my “Why I Hesitate to Call Myself a Fangirl”.
  • I mention the (somewhat stereotypical) idea that there is a gender split in the way we celebrate fandoms. Here’s a (not the best formatted) Tumblr post that delves into that.
  • While it’s gone a bit quiet, here’s the Twitter hashtag #SWRepMatters.
  • Some examples of the toxicity of the fandom include: this article about Kelly Marie Tran, this article in Observer about Star Wars fandom, and this article in The Mary Sue about an instance with a Lucasfilm employee.
  • You should check out Podcasts in Color, a directory of podcasts for and by people of color.
• The mid-show plug is from author Kevin J. Anderson, who I interviewed in episode 28.
• In this episode, “Angie Geeks Out” about The Jim Henson Exhibition: Imagination Unlimited that was at the Skirball Center in Los Angeles earlier this year. I said I would link to the photos from when I went.
• Theme music is “Schoolyard Haze”, by JariPitkanen, available via the Free Music Archive.
• This podcast is released under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike License.
• Interested in hearing other episodes of G33K Out? Check them out here.

And now, it’s time to geek out.