Leslye Headland's The Acolyte, streaming on Disney+, is unique in more ways than one. As one of the most diverse Star Wars series, in front of and behind the scenes, with writers like the SWANA and Turkish Kor Adana, it presents a bold story in the era of The High Republic, showcasing the mistakes made by those in power and the reverberations for our main characters. Namely, twins Osha and Mae (Amandla Stenberg), Jedi Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae), Qimir (Manny Jacinto), as well as many others. To dive into this series and what it's trying to say, we have back on Arezou and welcome Noor. As both are High Republic fans, they bring invaluable insight into the discussion, as the series sets the backdrop for The Acolyte. What stood out to us? Does the series do a good job of portraying the Jedi Order? What does it have to say about how we view this universe and good and evil? We dive into all of that, give our recommendations, and much more.

SPOILERS for The Acolyte throughout

Follow Arezou on social media @ArezouAmin and follow Noor @nimblenoor

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Decolonize Palestine

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Our music is composed by Ashley Hefnawy. You can find more of her music here.

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In her debut novel, The Jinn Daughter, Syrian-American author Rania Hanna weaves together a family tale based in stories of oral tradition across the Arab world. In telling stories with the Jinn, she seeks to tell a fundamentally human story. We discuss Rania's foray into the book world, how she aimed to tell stories on her own terms, and what she hopes to achieve with her novels. We also discuss the continuing tragic events in Palestine, and pinpoint where we can find hope.

Buy The Jinn Daughter from your local bookstore!

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Our music is composed by Ashley Hefnawy. You can find more of her music here.

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Joined by our friends Darya Bajestani, Roxana Hadadi, Ali Nasser, and Zaina Ujayli (while sadly missing Mae!), we're live at D.C.'s premier comic-con, Awesome Con! In this panel of SWANA writers, scholars, artists, and actors, we will discuss how we grew up feeling or not feeling represented, how Hollywood has constantly Orientalized our peoples, excluded us, and appropriated our cultures, where we see signs of improvement, our favorite examples of SWANA representation and SWANA creators in pop culture today, and what Hollywood needs to do to have our peoples represented more broadly and positively across pop culture.

Check out the panel on The Nerds of Color YouTube channel

Rocky's analysis of Dune 2 for Vulture

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Our music is composed by Ashley Hefnawy. You can find more of her music here.

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Roxana Hadadi joins us once again to review the Dune franchise, now with Dune: Part Two in theaters. In a franchise that appropriates so much from SWANA and Muslim cultures, does the second installment improve on that regard, or does it continue to appropriate and Orientalize? But even beyond that, does Denis Villeneuve effectively convey the meaning of Frank Herbert's original text, and its warning against hero worship? Or have audiences taken the wrong message with this latest installment? We discuss all of those aspects, talk about what you can do to help Palestine, give our recommendations, and much more.

Rocky's analysis of Dune 2 for Vulture.

Come join us at our panel at Awesome Con in Washington, DC, 'The State of SWANA Representation in Pop Culture,' March 9, 2:30-3:15 at the Walter E. Convention Center!

Decolonize Palestine

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Support the Palestinian American Medical Association (PAMA) and families in Gaza

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Islamic Relief USA: Support Families in Palestine

Follow Rocky on Twitter @roxana_hadadi

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Our music is composed by Ashley Hefnawy. You can find more of her music here.

We are a proud member of the Hard NOC podcast family.

We welcome back our friends Jasmin and Isa to discuss Assassin's Creed Mirage, a sprawling action-adventure game from Ubisoft set in 9th Century Abbasid Baghdad, that tells the story of Basim Ibn Ishaq (Lee Majdoub) and his mentor Roshan (Shohreh Aghdashloo). We go into detail on why this game is the the best Iraqi, Arab, Persian, Muslim, and SWANA representation we've ever seen in gaming, and why the story and setting resonated with us so much. Beware of spoilers later the conversation. We also discuss the tragic news of the unfolding Israeli genocide in Gaza, and what we can keep doing to support Palestinians and work towards a Free Palestine.

Full Spoilers for the ending of Assassin's Creed Mirage from 1:01:00-1:17:31

Come join us at our panel at Awesome Con in Washington, DC, 'The State of SWANA Representation in Pop Culture,' March 9th, 2:30-3:15 at the Walter E. Convention Center!

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Support the Palestinian American Medical Association (PAMA) and families in Gaza

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Masha Gessen's piece in The New Yorker: 'In the Shadow of the Holocaust'

Swara's piece on Assassin's Creed Mirage for But Why Tho?

Swara's interview with Shohreh Aghdashloo for But Why Tho?

Swara's interview with Lee Majdoub and Narrative Director Sarah Beaulieu for But Why Tho?

Our music is composed by Ashley Hefnawy. You can find more of her music here.

We are a proud member of the Hard NOC podcast family.

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On the eve of Yalda, the Iranian Winter-Solstice, we review writer-director Maryam Keshavarz's The Persian Version with our friends Arezou and Samira. How well does Keshavarz do at portraying a unique yet universal experience through Leila (Layla Mohammadi) and her mother Shireen (Niousha Noor)? How does intergenerational trauma shape our familial relationships, and what can we do for healing? We also discuss Yalda as a holiday and why we celebrate it, discuss the ongoing genocide in Gaza, give our recommendations, and much more.

Decolonize Palestine

Support the Palestinian American Medical Association (PAMA) and families in Gaza

Six ways you can support Palestinians in Gaza

Islamic Relief USA: Support Families in Palestine

Our music is composed by Ashley Hefnawy. You can find more of her music here.

We are a proud member of the Hard NOC podcast family.

Follow Arezou on Twitter @ArezouAmin

Follow Samira on Twitter @samira_says

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We welcome back Palestinian-American Harvey award winning comic and video games writer, Nadia Shammas, to discuss their critically acclaimed graphic novel Squire, which takes place in an a SWANA/MENA fantasy setting, through the lens of Palestine in the midst of the IDF's ongoing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. We discuss Nadia's upbringing in both Palestine and the US, how the current crisis has unpacked her and her family's generational and personal traumas, and how she incorporated those experiences into Squire. Nadia gives her take on the current crisis, and we also discuss being a Palestinian writer in the superhero comics space, and how certain corporations may be missing the mark on what BIPOC audiences want from them. We also give our recommendations, and much more.

Note that this discussion has some story spoilers for Squire.

Follow Nadia on Instagram @NadiaShammas and on Twitter @NadiaShammas_, and buy their graphic novels Squire, Where Black Stars Rise, and Confetti Realms, and buy the game Thirsty Suitors on whatever game system you own.

Decolonize Palestine

Support the Palestinian American Medical Association (PAMA) and families in Gaza

Six ways you can support Palestinians in Gaza

Islamic Relief USA: Support Families in Palestine

Our music is composed by Ashley Hefnawy. You can find more of her music here.

We are a proud member of the Hard NOC podcast family.

Follow us on Twitter: @TheMiddleGeeks

Follow us on Instagram @TheMiddleGeeks

Subscribe to The Middle Geeks on Hard NOC Media

Please support us on Patreon!