Emo Anakin Skywalker | #52

Emo Anakin Skywalker – Episode 52

Recorded: August 9th, 2021

Episode Overview

Chewie is flying solo for another edition of The 406 Podcast, checking in after a bit of a break with some thoughts on Star Wars, COVID fatigue, parenting, and life in general.

After catching the final 20 minutes of Return of the Jedi, Chewie reflects on why he still considers its ending one of the greatest movie finales of all time – and revisits one George Lucas change that continues to drive him crazy: replacing Sebastian Shaw with Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker’s Force ghost.

From there, the conversation turns to the continuing frustration surrounding COVID, rising cases, masks, vaccines, mandates, and the exhausting arguments taking place online. More broadly, Chewie talks about the increasingly black-and-white nature of public discourse and why there’s often far more nuance to life than the opposing sides of an argument want to admit.

Finally, he gets into some of the everyday stresses of parenting – from making major decisions about where to send a child to high school to the never-ending world of travel baseball—and explains why recording the podcast has become such a therapeutic escape from adult life.

Topics Discussed

Getting back to podcasting
Upcoming episode with Pip
Return of the Jedi
Luke Skywalker vs. Darth Vader
Why the Return of the Jedi finale still works
Sebastian Shaw vs. Hayden Christensen
Anakin Skywalker’s Force ghost
George Lucas’ Star Wars changes
COVID fatigue
COVID variants and breakthrough cases
Masks, vaccines and mandates
Social media arguments
Tribalism and nuance
Parenting stress
Choosing a high school
Travel baseball
Using podcasting as an outlet
Listener feedback
Podbean and YouTube comments

Episode Chapters

0:00 – Intro
0:26 – Chewie Checks In
1:44 – Upcoming Episode With Pip
2:16 – Return of the Jedi
3:02 – One of the Greatest Movie Finales Ever?
3:51 – George Lucas’ Changes
5:00 – Anakin Skywalker’s Force Ghost
6:26 – COVID Fatigue
8:26 – Tribalism, Arguments & the Need for Nuance
9:24 – Why the Podcast Is an Escape
10:12 – Parenting & Choosing a High School
11:32 – Travel Baseball
11:58 – Why Podcasting Is Therapeutic
12:16 – Listener Feedback
13:11 – Closing