Culture

Plumbers on the Death Star and 4 Other Must-Hear Podcasts

Stockholm Syndrome, institutionalized Grinchiness, and the THX crescendo.
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Rogue One: A Star Wars Story..The Death Star..Ph: Film Frame ILM/Lucasfilm.© 2016 Lucasfilm Ltd. All Rights Reserved.null

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Pontificating stormtroopers, confused hostages, Grinchy council members, and one reference to Clerks: Plug in those earbuds and listen up, it’s a Christmas miracle! OK, not really. It's actually a list of five excellent podcast episodes, perfect for drowning out the sound of approaching wassailers or keeping your family occupied as you fill stockings. We’ve got deep dives into Death Star workplace culture, a quest to end distractingly crunchy popcorn, a thoughtful conversation between Ezra Klein and Ta-Nehisi Coates, and one city’s War on Christmas, with asides and twists so captivating that even Santa might stick around for the ending.

  • As an independent contractor, would you accept work on a site named the *Death* Star? To answer burning questions about the roofers and plumbers of the galaxy, Eric Molinsky takes inspiration from that essential part of the Star Wars canon: [*Clerks*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQdDRrcAOjA). Hear from a lawyer, a judge, and a guy who dresses up as a stormtrooper about whether the Death Star was a safe working environment, the outsized military budget of the Empire, and whether the new generation of stormtroopers has finally learned some necessary maintenance skills.
  • Panoply

    The Sound Show, "The Audience is Listening"

    Other than a lion’s roar, few sounds indicate the movies like the THX crescendo. But where does that sound come from? On *The Sound Show*, Andy Moore reveals the source behind “Deep Note." It's a journey involving *Return of the Jedi*, Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, and a recording lost forever. (Plus, a quest for less distractingly loud popcorn kernels.) [Listen here.](https://theoutline.com/post/597/the-audience-is-listening)
  • Kirstin Enmark was a bank stenographer in Stockholm, until she became famous as the first person diagnosed with Stockholm Syndrome. She goes back to the scene of the crime, and explains what happened inside the bank—and how she began to sympathize with her captors over the four days of her ordeal, even though one of them wouldn’t stop singing "Killing Me Softly."
  • Vox

    The Ezra Klein Show, "Ta-Nehisi Coates"

    After hundreds of hours of conversation with President Obama, Ta-Nehisi Coates talks to Ezra Klein about how the Democrats became the party of non-whites, how Obama finessed the presidency, and why we must maintain a sense of tragedy in American politics. But the most insightful turns come from a more personal space: Coates unpacks his discomfort after resonating with white audiences, and why young writers should have a disciplined, ordinary personal life in order to have an extraordinary creative life. [Listen here.](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ta-nehisi-coates-theres-not/id1081584611?i=1000378960137&mt=2)
  • Feeling Grinchy this holiday season? You’re not alone. *The Allusionist* goes back into the history of the War on Christmas through the ages. Meet Mike Chubb, the man behind a miscalculated holiday economizing by the Birmingham city council, when they renamed December 25 “Winterval.” Happy Festivus to you and yours!
Charley Locke is a writer for WIRED covering culture and photography. ... Read more
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