HeyJaredThe Force and Freedom
A podcast about the meaning of Star Wars, beginning with the original trilogy.RSSVERIFY
- Indexed episodes, last 90 days
- 2
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- Sep 23, 2026
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- Sep 10, 2026
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Anger, Fear, and Buddhism (opens the original)
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Two key psychological levers in Empire Strikes Back are fear and anger. Fear tends to be about things in the future. Anger tends to be about things in the past. Both can be used to manipulate us, as Vader manipulates Luke, and thereby deprive us of freedom. George Lucas and others involved in the filming of Empire Strikes Back incorporated Buddhist elements into the film. According to Buddhism, the source of the problem of fear and anger is attachment. Luke is vulnerable to anger and fear becaus
What Makes The Empire Strikes Back Fascinating? (opens the original)
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I begin with a roundup of the fascinating features of The Empire Strikes Back that I'll be discussing this season: striking parallels between the beginning and end of the film, repeating themes that don't get resolved in the typical way, Luke upside-down four different times, Han and then Luke living the passion narrative. I close by pointing out a puzzling fact about Luke in this film: He hasn't learned the main lesson Obi-wan taught in the last film. He hasn't learned Jedi freedom.
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