Story and Star Wars

Story and Star Wars

This fall, story expert Alastair Stephens will look at each of the six core Star Wars movies in release order, and analyse what works and why. We’re going to talk about heroic motivations, serial structure, the power of the five-man band, the interaction of intent and execution, mythic archetypes, the urge to explain, and stories which grow in the telling — and perhaps, we’ll understand a little better why Star Wars is the most important pop culture phenomenon of the modern era.

Episodes

June 9, 2018
In this session, some further thoughts and listener feedback on The Last Jedi!
Mark as Played
This week, we have a brief, spoiler-filled but surprisingly timely overview of Solo: A Star Wars Story!
Mark as Played
It's been a long time -- a long time -- but Story And Star Wars is back with a whole new season of discussion. This week, The Last Jedi!
Mark as Played
In anticipation of The Last Jedi, we rewatch The Force Awakens with this live Story and Star Wars commentary!
Mark as Played
In the return of Story And Star Wars, Alastair Stephens discusses the structure, plot and themes and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
Mark as Played
How do we parse the critical response to The Force Awakens? What's right with Finn, wrong with Kylo Ren, and paradoxical about Darth Jar Jar?
Mark as Played
It's been a long time coming, but it's finally here, and it's spoiler-filled: Star Wars: The Force Awakens!
Mark as Played
At last, we come to the end of the Story and Star Wars series, and discuss the prequel trilogy, the saga as a whole, and what we've learned along the way.
Mark as Played
This week, we close out the prequel trilogy and bring our story full-circle with Revenge Of The Sith, the last Star Wars movie -- for now!
Mark as Played
Anakin is all grown-up and it's time to begin the Clone War with Attack Of The Clones, a change of direction for the Star Wars series.
Mark as Played
We turn our attention to the prequel trilogy this week, with some thoughts on The Phantom Menace, and the ways in which it shifts our understanding of what Star Wars is.
Mark as Played
A little later than originally planned, it's time for our live discussion of the original trilogy of Star Wars!
Mark as Played
In our third Star Wars lecture, we close out the original trilogy with some thoughts on Ewoks, fairy tales and the zig-zagging story of Return Of The Jedi.
Mark as Played
In our second Star Wars lecture, we look at the dark middle chapter of the original trilogy, The Empire Strikes Back.
Mark as Played
In our first Star Wars lecture, we discuss what Star Wars is and isn't, and try to answer a deceptively difficult question: what is the story of A New Hope?
Mark as Played
This fall, we're journeying to a galaxy far, far away to study one of the most important pop culture phenomena in history -- Star Wars!
Mark as Played

Popular Podcasts

    If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

    My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark

    My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.

    The Joe Rogan Experience

    The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.

    The Breakfast Club

    The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!

    New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce

    Football’s funniest family duo — Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs — team up to provide next-level access to life in the league as it unfolds. The two brothers and Super Bowl champions drop weekly insights about the weekly slate of games and share their INSIDE perspectives on trending NFL news and sports headlines. They also endlessly rag on each other as brothers do, chat the latest in pop culture and welcome some very popular and well-known friends to chat with them. Check out new episodes every Wednesday. Follow New Heights on the Wondery App, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free, and get exclusive content on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And join our new membership for a unique fan experience by going to the New Heights YouTube channel now!

Advertise With Us
Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.