The Internet's First Main Character? | The Redemption of Jar Jar Binks

TED Health

TED

Health & Fitness, Fitness, Shoshana Ungerleider, Medicine, How To Be Healthier, Ted Shoshana, Ted Talks Health

4.2 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 1 August 2023

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What if the most exciting achievement in your career also created a cultural phenomenon that pushed your mental health to the brim? In this new podcast from the TED Audio Collective, host Dylan Marron explores the story behind one of the world's most controversial characters and the man who brought him to life.

It's 1999, and sixteen years after its original release, a new Star Wars is finally coming. Fans have been camping out in front of theaters across the country just to be the first to see it. The beloved intergalactic saga is set to debut a slew of brand new characters, one of whom is a revolutionary CGI creation named Jar Jar Binks. Whispers begin to spread about big changes coming to the galaxy far, far away — and not everyone’s happy about it.

This is the first episode of The Redemption of Jar Jar Binks. If you like what you hear, find The Redemption of Jar Jar Binks wherever you get your podcasts.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, I am Dylan Marin, and I'm the host of another podcast in the Ted Audio Collective.
0:09.8	My podcast is called The Redemption of Jar Jar Banks, and in it I dive in and explore
0:16.6	how a comedic sidekick from a 1999 Star Wars movie became one of the most polarizing
0:24.2	characters in cinema history.
0:27.2	The Redemption of Jar Jar Banks is a six-part audio documentary, and it's all about why
0:32.2	the character was so hated, then how that hate exploded on the early internet, and how
0:38.7	the actor who played the character found a way to survive one of the internet's very first
0:44.7	hate campaigns.
0:46.8	What you're about to hear is the show's very first episode, so good news for you, there
0:51.5	is no context needed, you don't even need to have ever seen a Star Wars movie.
0:56.7	If you have, that's an added bonus.
0:59.6	If you like what you hear, you can go ahead and search The Redemption of Jar Jar Banks
1:04.1	wherever you get your podcasts, and you can even listen to the entire season early and
1:09.5	ad-free by becoming a Ted Audio Collective Plus subscriber on Apple Podcasts.
1:15.4	Alright, here it is, the very first episode of The Redemption of Jar Jar Banks.
1:26.7	I do want to tell you, I initially had some cold feet about talking to you.
1:32.1	Your cold feet are not only seen, acknowledged, but welcome here.
1:37.3	Okay, perfect.
1:38.6	I'm talking to Kurt Volk, he's a graphic designer, he's a dad, he's a husband, and Kurt
1:45.3	is also a Star Wars fan, who camped out on the streets of Hollywood, all so that he
1:50.8	could be one of the very first people to see Star Wars Episode 1, The Phantom Menace.
1:58.0	It's a very silly, silly, silly thing, the whole thing is very silly.
	...

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