Beltway Banthas

What's going on with Beltway Banthas?! Why is Stephen Kent speaking so softly and what is this lovely background music?! Beltway Banthas is in a new season of it's life called 'This Is The Way,' a run of episodes focused on taking Star Wars wisdom and turning it out onto real life. Today Stephen answers a listener feedback email and has a call to action for everyone tuning in. 

This is also the first episode of Beltway Banthas with a sponsored message for Anchor, a podcasting platform by Spotify. You'll hear that midway through. We use Anchor the production of this podcast and can't recommend it enough. 

www.anchor.fm --- go there TODAY and sign up to start podcasting with all the tools you need housed in one app. It's so easy. 

And if you're with us in the new leg of the journey at Beltway Banthas, go to thisistheway.substack.com and subscribe to the newsletter. Join the community. Let's make the world a better place with Star Wars as our guide. 

This is the Way

Have you ever spoken in anger or put your foot in your mouth? It's sort of the way of the world these days, in case you haven't noticed or been online much. Today's podcast is an honest reflection on an experience I had with my own anger, understanding its source and a lesson on empathy. The Greek stoic Zeno once said, “Better to trip with the feet than the tongue.” This is true in so many ways. 

If you read How The Force Can Fix The World, you'll recall Chapter 2 on Empathy and the importance of being present when engaging with others. One should then in theory, be extra present when engaging with the world...which is what Twitter is. The words we choose matter more than the viewpoint they're meant to communicate. 

Tweets mentioned in the podcast

https://twitter.com/Stephen_Kent89/status/1472745173532790790

https://twitter.com/TriadOfTheForce/status/1472767880584384512

Email me at BeltwayBanthas@gmail.com

Subscribe to newsletter at www.politicizeme.substack.com

We live in a frightening time. Star Wars is steadfast in reminds us that Fear is the start of a road toward darkness. Fear leads to Anger, Anger leads to Hate, and Hate leads to Suffering. So says Yoda to a young Anakin Skywalker who admitted he missed his Mother. Understandably so, he was 9 years old and away from her and home for the first time in his life when he stood in the Jedi Council chamber on Coruscant. Surrounded by beady eyes and suspicion. What are you really afraid of? This is a meditation on FEAR, and you need to know your fear. name your fear and spend time reflecting on what it is that lies beneath the thing keeping you up at night. 

This is excerpted from the new book by Stephen Kent, How The Force Can Fix The World. Out on TUESDAY November 9th. 

Buy it here! https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08Y8LNNG8?tag=hacboogrosit-20

Why were the Jedi so obsessed with the prophecy of balance being brought to the Force? And why did they clearly fail so badly? It's because balance is easier said than done, and their moral commitments were out of step with the principle of what balance really is. This episode is an explainer on how Rey and Kylo Ren eventually brought balance to the Force, and why the Jedi and Sith both fail when it comes to having a healthy relationship with the emotion of LOVE. 

This reflection is a new line of episodes leading up to the release of How The Force Can Fix The World, the new book from host Stephen Kent.

Get the Hard Cover book or Audible edition here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08Y8LNNG8?tag=hacboogrosit-20

Meditation #2: Balance

Produced by Riley Blanton

Narrated by Stephen Kent

Do we have free will and the power to choose our own destiny? Star Wars is clear eyed about both the power and reality of choice, but also the gravity of choices that were made FOR us. How have you had choices in your life limited by circumstance for the actions of others? We've all been there. But you can do something about it. In this Beltway Banthas miniseries, Stephen Kent offers a reflection on how to find and preserve your free will to shape the life you want to have. This reflection is a new line of episodes leading up to the release of How The Force Can Fix The World, the new book from host Stephen Kent. 

Get the Hard Cover book or Audible edition here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08Y8LNNG8?tag=hacboogrosit-20

Meditation #1: Choice

Produced by Riley Blanton

Narrated by Stephen Kent

Star Wars, like any worthwhile piece of art, will always reflect the tensions of trials of the time in which it was created. This was the case for the original trilogy in a post-Vietnam America, and it was for the prequels during the Bush years and the War on Terror. Star Wars clicked with the mood of the times, because the mood impacted the films while they were made. The Disney Star Wars sequels are no different. Tom Luongo joins Beltway Banthas to talk about the ways in which the culture wars of American politics today can be found playing out in the new Star Wars films, and what that says about both our entertainment establishment and the political climate. We cover Kylo and Rey's tense dynamic in the films, masculinity, femininity and where chaos and order collide in the JJ and Rian Johnson iterations of Star Wars. 

"Empathy does not make you a good person. Being able to employ it does not rid you of your own basement of horrors. It is a tool to enhance our thinking, for if we know how other people feel, we have a better chance of understanding their thoughts. Hence why it is best used in service of those you disagree with" - Ayishat A Akanbi. 

Today's show is about empathy, and what Star Wars helps to teach us about this valuable principle. Star Wars tells numerous stories about the power of empathy to change lives, improve people and open up new possibilities for heroes and villains alike. 

Danielle Adams and Nick DiCo rejoin the show to break it all down with Stephen Kent in this opening salvo of a two-part discussion on empathy in a galaxy far, far away. 

Get your copy of "HOW THE FORCE CAN FIX THE WORLD": https://www.centerstreet.com/titles/stephen-kent/how-the-force-can-fix-the-world/9781546000488/

Hope is like the sun. So says General Leia. This week on Beltway Banthas, some thoughts on why the struggle for hope in hopeless times is the good fight. Logan Albright joins the show to talk about his recent op-ed on the problem of hopelessness & rising deaths of despair, and what it means for our politics and relationships. Of course, this all revolves around the wisdom of the galaxy far far away like any good Beltway Banthas episode would do. 

Pre-Order the book! HOW THE FORCE CAN FIX THE WORLD by going here: https://linktr.ee/skentbm

Stay in touch with Stephen Kent & the show by emailing BeltwayBanthas@gmail.com or sub to the newsletter @ politicizeme.substack.com

Follow on Twitter @BeltwayBanthas and @Stephen_kent89