The STAR WARS CANON PODCAST Is Returning April 25th!
Greetings Canonites, and welcome to the new and improved starwarscanon.net! Brian here, and for those of you who don't know or are new to the site and pod, I'm the founder of the formerly titled "Star Wars Canon Library" YouTube channel and host to the Canon Podcast itself.
When I was in elementary school, I was bullied a lot. I didn't quiet fit in with anyone else in my class. I was the butt of many a joke, and constantly picked on. I was treated differently than the rest of my fellow students. And now, looking back, I realize why. As an adult, I recognize the attributes and quirks that can come with different flavors of Autism. I realize now that kids back then just didn't seem to grasp that a fellow student may be different at no fault of their own. Now a days, I feel bullies are fewer than they used to be, but they still exist out there. I look back at some of my late father's behaviors in the 90s and 2000s and realize that he, too, was "different."
But because of my differences with my classmates, I was looking for an escape from reality. I was constantly sick. I'd wake up and run to the bathroom, losing the contents of my stomach nearly weekly. The stress of going to school dragged me down, and it caused me to want to withdraw from the world around me.
Ever since I was six years old and my mother showed me the original trilogy for the first time on the Sci-Fi channel (channel 34, if memory serves correctly) I've been infatuated with Star Wars and the themes and characters that come with it. I remember my mother recording all three films on a single VHS tape for me with a hand-written label on the front of the cassette. I wore that tape out, needless to say. And when the Special Editions came out in '97, I got a whole new set of tapes with new digital effects and scenes. My mother even took me to see the SE films in the theaters during the re-release. The Star Wars world gave me the escape I had been looking for.
I collected every action figure I could get my hands on. At the time, it was the Power of the Force 2 line, and I remember wondering why they were all so buff and muscular. Even Threepio had pecks like no one I had seen before. I was surprised the line hadn't given Artoo a six-pack. But I loved them. I would display every single action figure on a shelf in my room. Dozens of them all standing in a row like they were in formation. And because my mother worked at Wal-Mart, I was able to get my hands on certain things no one else could get. Display units, cardboard banners, and sometimes first dibs on a new action figure. Eventually, I grew beyond just action figures, and discovered the novel "Shadows of the Empire."
That novel set me on a tailspin. MORE STAR WARS?! All I had at that time were the original three films, and now this awesome story that gave us characters like Prince Xizor and Dash Rendar had come along, not only to bridge the gap in between movies, but to fill the void of no new content. When I discovered there were other novels, as well, I began reading any of them I could get my hands on, which in reality wasn't many. I remember reading "Darksaber" and reading about how Crix Madine died. I remember reading the Thrawn trilogy and falling in love with this new villain that was just diabolical. I even remember powering my way through "The Courtship of Princess Leia" and thinking Oof, that was rough. But the world of the novels was beginning to open to me and show me the possibilities of the universe.
Then came May 1999.
For months leading up to the release of "The Phantom Menace" I saw an explosion of Star Wars merch. New action figures, ships, and MicroMachines. New lightsaber designs to burn into my memory. Young Obi-Wan?! AND ANAKIN SKYWALKER?! Threepio is like, REALLY naked in these promo images, but its still freaking Threepio! The summer of '99 will forever live in my brain as a wild time of speculation and excitement. But there was one book that came out that I just HAD to have.
The novelization for the film released the month before the film. You see, back in the 90s, no one really cared about spoilers in films the way they do now. Heck, even the soundtrack for the film released before May and had tracks titled "Qui-Gon's Noble End" and "High Council Meeting and Qui-Gon's Funeral." And my uncle gave me a copy of that novel, and later, a copy of the PC game for the film. I was in heaven. And once again, I found myself thinking MORE STAR WARS?!
As we made our way through the early 2000s and the prequel trilogy, and as all little boys do, I began to grow up. I got my drivers license. I got my first job. I even blew my entire first paycheck on the new action figures for "Revenge of the Sith." But I was growing up now, and the bullying was well in the past (mainly from having to change schools over it, but I digress). And even with that part of my life behind me, Star Wars was remaining an ever-faithful companion in my life.
Fast forward to 2012, when we all got the word that Disney had purchased Lucasfilm. I was twenty-four now, with a steady girlfriend whom I had just shown Star Wars for the first time two or three months before. She's the one who broke the news to me through a text while I was at work. And for three years we waited for this new film we were promised. In the meantime, however, new novels and comics were set to release. "Star Wars: Rebels" was announced and released. And that was my first moment of realizing that Star Wars was back, and back for good.
I had fallen off on reading the novels of the Expanded Universe. I remember reading some major contradictions between the films and those books and just slowly put down the reading habit. Especially considering how many novels had been released. It felt like DelRey went from publish a novel every month to releasing seventy books everyday before lunch (Yes, I know that's an exaggeration.) But now, Lucasfilm was saying everything moving forward would be canon. Every novel, comic, tv show, and game would fit in with the movies and be one cohesive universe. It was this moment I decided to get back into the novels and keep up with the universe I had grown up loving.
It was this moment I had an idea for something.
In 2015 I started the YouTube channel "The Star Wars Canon Library" where I would make content just talking about the new books and comics. I had zero equipment and zero knowledge on where to even begin. The first videos I produced were shot on an old HTC cellphone clipped to a music stand with a guitar capo. No intro, no graphics, nothing. Just raw video. As time went on, I slowly got better and better equipment and learned how to do more and more with website design and video editing. If you go back and watch those old videos they have a serious cringe factor. But it shows me how far I've come in my editing and design abilities.
And that brings us to the present, where the "Canon Library" has morphed into the "Star Wars Canon Podcast." During this journey I've had the opportunity to meet some amazing people. And not only authors and actors, but friends and co-hosts as well. The show has had some major gaps over the years, mainly due to how hectic life can be having kids. I've always told anyone that cohosts with me their life and family are priority over this show. If they can't make it, I understand. Family always comes first, no matter what you may want your life to look like. Sometimes we have to put our passions and desires on a backburner so that we don't miss what's really important in life.
But now my kids are getting older and my youngest is beginning to do his own things without his old man. And after thinking long and hard on it, I've decided to bring the show back for good. Creating this content has always been an amazing stress reliever for me. And it's my passion.
And so, on April 25th, 2026 tune in on our YouTube channel, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more to join us in bringing the pod back to the airwaves. I'm so excited to see what the future holds for the show and for this site. Thank you to everyone that has stuck with us through the years and who's made this show into more than what it was ever intended to be. I look forward to reading your mailbag questions and comments. We can disagree on a lot, but as long as we keep it civil, I think we can build up and amazing community here. So stay tuned, and we'll see you on the 25th!
May the Force be with you all.
-- Brian
