The High Republic Dominates June's Season-Ending Schedule
A look ahead at Now This Is Lit's June schedule, and a preview of the Season 3 finale.
Whether you’re new to Now This Is Lit or you’re just diving in, the one major difference between this month’s show schedule and Phase 3 of The High Republic is that you can start with this month’s episodes completely out of context. It’s all spoiler-free, and will hopefully — if you haven’t started THR yet — finally convince you to give it a go.
Here’s what you might have missed in your podcast feeds over the last few weeks, and what’s ahead for the rest of June — and for what remains of Season 3 of the show.
James Kahn Compares Star Wars 1977 to The Eras Tour
James Kahn is packing up his home for a big move. When we hop on Zoom, I’m met with his smiling face in front of a blank wall — a major change of scenery from the last time we talked nearly a year ago. He’s been carrying boxes up and down flights of stairs all day. And yet he chose to spend a good 45 minutes talking about Star Wars with me. It’s worth it, for both of us.
We’re here to discuss his memoir, and my first question for him is about seeing Star Wars when it released in May 1977. I wasn’t fortunate enough to be alive for such an experience, and plenty of my listeners are in the same boat, so I ask him to describe for me — as he does in My Jedi Memoir: A Double Life — the cultural phenomenon that it was.
He immediately compared its magnitude, culturally, to The Ears Tour. A reference I greatly appreciate, being an unapologetic Swiftie. I attended one of the shows in Pittsburgh. There’s no time to tell him about my wall filled with Taylor Swift vinyl records, though. Maybe next year.
Writing the Return of the Jedi novelization was a formative experience for Kahn — a monumental step along his Hero’s Journey, if you will. I’m always honored to give Star Wars writers space to discuss their work and what it has meant to them over the years, and this man is no exception.
Give the interview a listen, and our previous interview as well. And if you haven’t ordered a copy of Kahn’s memoir yet, I highly recommend — and per his request, when you do, leave a good old-fashioned Amazon review for good measure!
A Personal Reflection on The High Republic Series
Earlier this week, I released a good old-fashioned solo episode detailing how The High Republic has played a role in my personal growth and acceptance since its release in 2021. A lot has happened between all these stories, from marriage to loss to finally embracing my queer identity. For light and the bi life, I guess?
This reflection doesn’t spoil anything from The High Republic, the ending or otherwise. It’s mostly about me. I don’t particularly enjoy writing about myself, but there’s certainly a time and a place for making it a priority. Now seemed like an important moment to add a personal touch to my thoughts on the series as a whole, but a more general, overarching reflection is also on the way in a few weeks. Speaking of which …
Trials of the Jedi, Charles Soule, and the End of an Era
If you love The High Republic, I have good news for you: It’s the only thing we’re talking about on the show this month. My spoiler-free Trials of the Jedi review will go up on Tuesday, followed by my (still spoiler-free) interview with author Charles Soule on release day.
There will be one more episode after that, on the 24th, during which I’ll look at The High Republic from a more journalistic lens. What does its ending mean? What has it managed to accomplish as a multimedia initiative? What have we learned from it — and where do we go from here?
This will be the final episode of Season 3 of Now This Is Lit, but thankfully, not the end of the show by any stretch. It’ll be back later this summer. I’ve worked very hard on the show this season, harder than I ever have, and I still love doing it and don’t plan on stopping. I’m just very tired and need a minute to breathe. The High Republic is ending. It seemed like a good time to end the season around the same time, and celebrate with a much-deserved podcasting vacation.
But as I like to say, endings are really just beginnings. Every ending, in one way or another, births something new. Perhaps something even better.
Now This Is Lit is a podcast (and newsletter!) about Star Wars books, the people who make them, and the readers who just can’t get enough of them. You can find the show wherever you get your podcasts, and subscribe to the Substack for more deep dives, guides, interview transcripts, and book love.