50: Environmental Apocalypse

04/22/24 • 41 min

Star Warsologies: A Podcast About Science and Star Wars

In this episode of Star Warsologies, we hear from an ornithologist about birds in Star Wars, along with invasive species and extinction events!

Justin Hite joins us for this episode to chat about his career studying birds and the environmental chaos they put up with. We get into whether Rey was exposed to harmful chemicals during her years salvaging parts from downed Star Destroyers and of course all the devastation the Death Star wreaks. We also cover more cheerful topics like birds being tiny dinosaurs and . Being a group of 80s kids, we also talk about how great the show Ewoks is!

Show Links:

Check out the Birds Not Mosquitoes website and Instagram to learn more about the project Justin works on.

You can read the fictional account of a wildlife ranger in the Outer Rim that Melissa wrote while watching The Mandalorian. And the opinion piece she wrote for Nerdist about the killings in that show.

And to learn more about how porgs are like puffins, check Melissa's my Insider article where I interviewed a puffin scientist and the concept artist that created porgs.

Check out ebird.org for bird species to see wherever you live or are traveling.

Check out Justin's Instagram feed, scroll back for more birds!

Subscribe to never miss an episode of Star Warsologies on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Did you miss an earlier episode? Catch up here!

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.

In this episode of Star Warsologies, we hear from an ornithologist about birds in Star Wars, along with invasive species and extinction events!

Show Links:

Check out the Birds Not Mosquitoes website and Instagram to learn more about the project Justin works on.

And to learn more about how porgs are like puffins, check Melissa's my Insider article where I interviewed a puffin scientist and the concept artist that created porgs.

Check out ebird.org for bird species to see wherever you live or are traveling.

Check out Justin's Instagram feed, scroll back for more birds!

Subscribe to never miss an episode of Star Warsologies on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Did you miss an earlier episode? Catch up here!

Previous Episode

49: Empathy and Compassion

In this episode of Star Warsologies, we learn the difference between empathy, compassion, and sympathy and how each is represented in Star Wars!

Professor Maureen Day shares her insights with James and Melissa about virtue ethics and vices, and their roles in our galaxy and in Star Wars. Can we forgive the atrocities of Vader and Kylo Ren knowing their backstory of complicated young me? What makes the Sith a good example of empathy? What's the best redemption arc in Star Wars? There's more questions than answers in this episode, but we hope you enjoy pondering these topics for yourself!

Show Links:

A reading list from our expert, Maureen Day!

Check out Maureen's website for more about her research, books, and appearances!

Subscribe to never miss an episode of Star Warsologies on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Did you miss an earlier episode? Catch up here!

Next Episode

51: Car Culture in Star Wars

In this episode of Star Warsologies, we're joined by the curator of the San Diego Automotive Museum and chat about ships, speeders, and other vehicles in Star Wars!

What does the state of the Millennium Falcon say about Han Solo, especially since we know it was much nicer when Lando owned it? Why is it important that the Imperial and Rebel are so distinct from each other? Maria Romano de León answers these questions and shares insights about vehicles and culture throughout Star Wars, including a way to think about those shiny speeder bikes in Book of Boba Fett that annoyed so many fans. What's your favorite ship or speeder - and what does that say about you?

Show Links:

Listen to Maria's episode of The Facts & The Furious podcast!

Check out the San Diego Automotive Museum's website and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

Here's videos of the Naboo starfighter repair scene and speeder bike chase scene we mention in the episode, for those who haven't seen Book of Boba Fett!

Subscribe to never miss an episode of Star Warsologies on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Did you miss an earlier episode? Catch up here!