Hey, I'm Dylan Marin and I am the host of another podcast in the Ted Audio Collective.

My podcast is called The Redemption of Jar Jar Binks and it's a show where I dive into

the story of one of the most polarizing figures in cinematic history.

The podcast is a six-part audio documentary about how one person survived one of the internet's

very first hate campaigns. Throughout the show, I talk to Ahmed Best, the man who played Jar Jar,

about the character that changed his life in some truly profound ways. Here is an episode that we

thought you'd enjoy. You can listen to the entire season early and add free by becoming a Ted

Audio Collective Plus subscriber on Apple Podcasts. Or you can search The Redemption of Jar Jar Binks

wherever you love listening to podcasts. I do want to tell you, you know, I initially had

some cold feet about talking to you. You're cold feet are not only seen, acknowledged, but welcome

here. Okay, perfect. I'm talking to Kurt Volk. He's a graphic designer, he's a dad,

he's a husband, and Kurt is also a Star Wars fan who camped out on the streets of Hollywood

all so that he could be one of the very first people to see Star Wars Episode 1, The Phantom Menace.

It's a very silly, silly, silly thing. The whole thing is very silly.

If you can believe it, my producer found Kurt through archival photos, which means that this

is actually kind of like the opening of Titanic when they discover the portrait of young Rose,

and then we, the audience, meet older Rose, who narrates what it was like in her past on the

ship of dreams. Except Kurt's ship of dreams is a stretch of pavement in Los Angeles.

Okay, so this is April, May, 1999. On the sidewalk on Hollywood Boulevard.

In the photo we found, we see two people sitting under a tent. But this is not your standard

camping tent. Okay, this tent looks like a fully functioning office. It's stocked with boxes of

altites and bottles of water. It's daytime, and in the background, there's Kurt typing at a

...