Rebel Force Radio

About

Rebel Force Radio is a weekly Star Wars podcast hosted by Jason Swank and Jimmy "Mac" McInerney.

History

On January 13th, 2013, a preview of "Rebel Force Radio," the successor to Jason Swank and Jimmy McInerney's "ForceCast" podcast, was posted online. The following week, the first episode of "Rebel Force Radio" premiered.^[1][4]

Reception

The show has been successful within the Star Wars fan community, appearing in Star Wars Insider magazine, at fan events and celebrations. The show is also the #1 ranked Star Wars genre-based show on iTunes.

In 2017, the show was named one of the "Top 10 Geek Podcasts You Should Check Out Now" by HuffPost.^[8]

Criticism

Rebel Force Radio has been criticized for their opinions of diversity within the Star Wars franchise, particularly in regards to the increased popularity and use of female-led films, comics and books.

On July 7th, Twitter^[9] user @bobbyrobertspdx posted a Facebook comment from Jimmy McInerney in which the "Rebel Force Radio" host alleges the harassment toward Kelly Marie Tran, the Star Wars: The Last Jedi actor who left social media following a number of racist and hateful posts directed toward her, was a "plant." @bobbyrobertspdx wrote, "This tweet's been up an hour, and the most liked/read response to it by their followers is the one that suggests Kelly Marie Tran harassment is some sort of 'virtue signaling SJW plot' Which is, btw, a theory Jimmy himself once pushed on Sam Witwer's facebook page."

On July 9th, 2018, Twitter^[6] user @domlegaspi posted a series of tweets in which the official Rebel Force Radio Twitter account posted a picture of Star Wars Show host Andi Gutierrez drinking from a mug that reads "Fanboy Tears" (shown below, left),^[7] followed by a series of tweets of people tweeting at her for an explanation. They captioned the post (shown below, right), "Cause and effect. This sucks."

That day, Gutierrez responded to the backlash.^[10] She said, "Every time that I’ve said that SW has the best fans, I meant it. Thanks to everyone who rein(Force)d that today. I love you & feel loved. Tomorrow, let’s discuss something more important: how much of that asteroid field in TESB was actually space slug poo? I’ve always wondered." The post (shown below, right) received more than 340 retweets and 4,000 likes in two days.

That day, Twitter^[11] @swankmotron posted two clips from Rebel Force Radio in which the hosts criticize the Star Wars franchise for putting too much emphasis on diversity. @swankmotron wrote, "And here they are revealing their true feelings about why "diversity is a trend" and that social justice is "horseshit." It's hard to listen to. And disheartening. There's no place for this in fandom and it's exactly who they are."

And here they are revealing their true feelings about why "diversity is a trend" and that social justice is "horseshit." It's hard to listen to. And disheartening. There's no place for this in fandom and it's exactly who they are. pic.twitter.com/XLCDuEqZdT

— Bryan Young (@swankmotron) July 10, 2018

Following the controvery, the creators of the "Fanboy Tears" mug announced that they would be donating half the proceeds to the American Civil Liberties Union.^[13]

The controversy regarding the podcast was covered by The Daily Dot ^[12] and The Mary Sue.^[13]

As of July 11th, the Rebel Force Radio Twitter account has been deactivated.

Fandom

On January 5th, 2013, the Rebel Force Radio Twitter ^[2] account launched. Before shutting down in July 2018, the podcast had garnered more than 21,000 followers.

The following year, on April 15th, 2014, the podcast launched a Facebook ^[3] page, which has since received more than 24,000 likes and 24,000 followers.

The podcast also has a Patreon, which has more than 580 patrons.^[5]

Search Interest

External References