Show Notes
Lou and Lenny discuss the second installment of the Ascendancy Trilogy, Greater Good (2021) by Timothy Zahn. Chiss military culture prompts a discussion of girlbosses in the military, and the chafing of military and political interests through the lens of Chiss family drama. Lenny talks about the early study of religion in relation to how (what we know as) the Force appears in this book. Lou expounds on the merits of being a guy who knows guys. Hosts: Lenny Apesos and Lou Laverty Art: Lenny Apesos Music: Thomas Seibel Have questions, comments, or concerns? Email us at [email protected] Find us elsewhere on the internet! Substack: interviewwithabothan.substack.com Bluesky: interviewwabothan.bsky.social Further reading: The Sacred and the Profane by Mircea Eliade (1957) Patterns in Comparative Religion by Mircea Eliade (1949) Das Heilige (The Idea of the Holy) by Rudolf Otto (1917) Star Wars Gamer 5 (2000) The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire by Chris Kempshall (2024) The Warriors (1979) Letterkenny (2016-2023) “I’m really proud to be from Ohio” - Joe Burrows Just Like the Holodramas by Marroniere_m (2025) Lenin’s Testament The Book of Job
More from Interview with a Bothan: A Star Wars Podcast
On this episode we attempt to get into Chris Kempshall's Star Pilots before life unfortunately decides to get in the way and prevent us from fully finishing the episode! We will be finishing Star Pilots next time, but if you would like to listen to us say outlandish things about the year 2007 or AI we have the hot takes ready for you!
All of the narrative threads come together in the final twelve chapters of Timothy Zahn’s Vision of the Future (1998). The fact that Lenny has started watching Star Trek: Deep Space 9 prompts Lou to offer an impromptu review of a recent Strange New Worlds episode, Once La’an a Time (yes, they are both aware this is, in fact, a Star Wars podcast). Following Lou’s philosophy on the canonicity of fanfic, the two take some time to speculate on the sex lives of a myriad of romantic duos in Star Wars. Then Lenny gets deep in the weeds of Jorj Car’das’ personal history, and concludes with some thoughts about the relationship between history and heritage.
Lou and Lenny continue their reading of Timothy Zahn’s 1998 Vision of the Future! This time, Lenny has read a trope-y romance novel in preparation for further discussion of Luke and Mara’s dynamic, which takes the shape of Lou asking them to rephrase bits of dialogue in the style of Julia Quinn (author of the Bridgerton series). The two also consider the ramifications of Luke Skywalker’s presumably lacklustre sex-education on Tatooine. Finally, Lou explains to Lenny what a death cult is and why The Empire of the Hand is one.
In a devastating turn of events for one of our hosts, Lou and Lenny’s discussion of the first 15 chapters of Timothy Zahn’s Vision of the Future (1998) reveals Lenny’s complete and utter obliviousness to romantic subtext. You see, while focusing on Luke and Mara’s discussion of their relationship with the force, Lenny completely missed that this conversation was taking place in the context of their lingering feelings for each other. This episode also features more references to the Schism of 1054 than one might expect, but we’ve never claimed to stay on task. Are the Habs Star Wars? Is the Bishop of Rome Star Wars? You'd think so given how much we talk about them.
On this episode of Interview With A Bothan, Lou and Lenny ponder the viability of doing a “Weekend at Bernie’s” with fictional and historical characters! We’re covering the second half of Specter of the Past (1997) this week and bringing you all things Thrawn, Tito, and semi-regular ramblings about Star Trek. We know this is a Star Wars podcast, but Lou recently finished DS9 and found similarities between Garek, Bashir, Thrawn, and Eli Vanto. Mostly which one of us would be which character, given our dynamic. Don’t ask.