In the first episode of Inside Star Wars, a young George Lucas cared about just two things: television and fast cars.Struggling in school, he fought with his dad about the trajectory of his life. Until one fateful day when his tiny Fiat was smashed by a speeding car. The brush with death changed the course of his life, and set him on a path to creating the most legendary film series in cinematic history.If you want to hear the rest of Inside Star Wars you can binge all seven episodes exclusively on Wondery Plus.On Wondery Plus, you can listen to all your favorite podcasts early and ad-free. With a library featuring over 50 #1 Apple Podcast hits and 40,000 binge worthy episodes, there’s something for everyone.Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or an Apple Podcasts.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When a charismatic young doctor announces revolutionary treatments for cancer and HIV, patients from around the world turn to him for their last chance. As medical experts praise Serhat Gumrukcu’s genius, the company he co-founded rockets in value to over half a billion dollars. But when a team of researchers makes a startling discovery, they begin to suspect the brilliant doctor is hiding a secret. From Wondery, the new season of Dr. Death: Bad Magic is a story of miraculous cures, magic and murder. Hosted by Laura Beil.Listen to Dr. Death - Bad Magic: Wondery.fm/Dr.DeathSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For real life royals, the crown jewels can be more like shiny handcuffs. There are expectations and rules – and if you break them, the consequences are big, and very public. And no, we’re not just talking about Harry and Meghan. There are royal families and wild royal tales from around the world and throughout history that you have never heard before. From Wondery comes the latest from Even the Rich co-hosts Brooke Siffrinn and Aricia Skidmore-Williams. Even the Royals takes us inside the cloistered world of royal families, past and present, where wealth and status often come at the expense of your freedom – and maybe even your life. In these stories, very human emotions, like jealousy, love, disgust, have the power to reshape the world.  This is just a preview of Even the Royals. Listen to the full episode wherever you get your podcasts, or at wondery.fm/eventheroyals.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Cuddly as a cactus and charming as an eel, he’s your new favorite snarky talk show host. Join The Grinch (and his faithful dog Max) each week as he rants against Christmas cheer and roasts celebrity guests like chestnuts on an open fire. Starring Saturday Night Live’s James Austin Johnson as the notorious curmudgeon and broadcasting straight from Who-Ville, will The Grinch send these famous folks back down Mt. Crumpit, or will they soften his stance against Christmas and grow his heart three sizes? Grab your hot cocoa and cozy slippers and listen along to find out!Follow 'Tis The Grinch Holiday Talk Show on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to episodes of 'Tis The Grinch Holiday Talk Show early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus. Listen now: Wondery.fm/GrinchSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

“48 Hours” correspondent Erin Moriarty takes you inside true-crime investigations like no one else, in her podcast “My Life of Crime”. In the new season, Erin delves into the labyrinth of crime within families and the secrets that kept them together or tore them apart. Here’s a preview of the “My Life of Crime” season premiere, “Twisted Twins: Who Killed Heather DeWild?” Erin examines the case of 30-year-old Heather DeWild, who vanished after visiting her soon-to-be ex-husband Daniel DeWild's home. Investigators soon focused not only on Daniel, but also his identical twin brother, David. While Daniel was not forthcoming, investigators were convinced David had something to say, but could police break through their tight twin bond? What could cause a person, or persons, to destroy their family?You can hear the rest of the episode on “My Life of Crime”, from CBS News. Listen wherever you get your podcasts: Wondery.fm/MLOC See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Tristan Redman is a journalist who doesn’t believe in ghosts. But weird things happened in his teenage bedroom – weirder than normal. When, years later, he discovers subsequent occupants of his family home were haunted by the ghost of a faceless woman, he’s curious. Because by a strange coincidence, it just so happens that the house Tristan grew up in is right next door to a murder scene - where his wife’s great grandmother was killed by two gunshots to the face. Could there be a connection? Tristan decides to investigate and soon finds himself where no son-in-law should ever be: delving deep into his wife’s family history, asking questions no one wants answered. Wondery and Pineapple Street Studios present GhostStory — a seven-part podcast series about family secrets, overwhelming coincidences and the things that come back to haunt us.Follow Ghost Story on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes of Ghost Story ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus. Listen now: Wondery.fm/Ghost_StorySee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Did one man’s friendship with a dolphin go way – way – too far? It’s 1987 and the British seaside town of Amble has seen much better days. So when a wild bottlenose dolphin nicknamed Freddie appears in the harbour, it feels like a miracle. Everyone wants to swim with him. But Freddie chooses one person above all others: Alan Cooper, a dedicated animal rights activist committed to freeing captive dolphins. But when Alan’s friendship with Freddie is turned against him, he finds himself in the fight of his life.Search 'Hooked on Freddie' wherever you get your podcasts. https://wondery.com/links/hooked-on-freddie/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Every big moment starts with a big dream. But what happens when that big dream turns out to be an even bigger failure?Each week on Wondery’s new podcast The Big Flop, host Misha Brown is joined by different comedians to chronicle some of the biggest failures and blunders in pop culture history. Each episode will have you thinking to yourself, why in the world did this get made?!This is just a preview of The Big Flop. You can listen to the full episode wherever you get your podcasts, or at wondery.fm/thebigflop.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When Mike Williams vanishes on a hunting trip, the authorities suspect he was eaten by alligators but the true predators who took Mike may lurk much closer to home. The mystery of Mike’s disappearance might have faded from memory, if it wasn’t for one woman’s tireless crusade. From Wondery, comes a new season of Over My Dead Body; a story about an obsessive love affair, a scandalous secret and a mother’s battle for the truth.Listen to Over My Dead Body: Wondery.fm/_OMDB_See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this special BONUS episode, INSIDE STAR WARS creator and host Mark Ramsey interviews Brian Jay Jones, the author of the recent best-selling biography “George Lucas: A Life.” We talk about our shared love of the original film and how the franchise shaped our youths. We discuss what it’s like to chase down the details of a living legend who has contributed so much to modern pop culture. And Brian reveals the one question he would most like to ask Lucas today: “Are you happy?”It’s a fascinating conversation about the man at the center of Star Wars.Brian Jay Jones also wrote a wonderful biography of Muppet creator Jim Henson, and his current best-seller is this great book: “Becoming Dr. Seuss - Theodor Geisel and the Making of an American Imagination.”Support us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Alec Guinness tells a child to stop watching Star Wars and drives him to tears. Kenny Baker - the man inside R2D2 - dies, but not before meeting the son he never knew. After great emotional struggle, George Lucas sells Star Wars to Disney. After a lifetime of total control, now he has to say “goodbye.” Carrie Fisher boards a plane at Heathrow Airport in London in 2016 and stops breathing before reaching Los Angeles. The world says goodbye to Princess Leia. Lucas acknowledges the fact that Star Wars used to be his, and now it’s ours. He used to live only for movies - and then he had children. Finally, a wide-eyed return to a movie theater in 1977 and the first time anyone ever saw Star Wars.Support us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Shooting on Star Wars wraps, but the troubles are far from over. Lucas has to “crack the whip” at ILM, which is way behind on FX shots. Lucas discovers the perfect voice for Darth Vader. The John Williams score is finished and Lucas is moved to tears. He screens the film for his movie friends and the reception is ugly. The FOX sales team loves the movie, but the studio board is convinced they’re wrong - Star Wars will be an enormous bomb, they believe. So they move the release date early and dump it into a small number of theaters before it’s forgotten forever. And then, Star Wars premieres and is a phenomenon. Lines around the block everywhere. Lucas vacations with Spielberg and tosses out an idea for another movie, one led by a character named “Indiana Smith.” Lucas negotiates the sequels, then takes a long vacation from Star Wars until a new series of prequels. And that’s when the backlash begins. Support us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Carrie Fisher auditions hairstyles and the “Buns of Navarone” are born. Star Wars begins shooting. Carrie is smitten by her handsome co-star, Harrison Ford. Greedo nearly suffocates during the Cantina sequence. George Lucas breaks the news to Alec Guinness that his character will be killed off - without a satisfying death scene, and Guinness is furious. Luke and Leia swing across a dangerous chasm, but first someone has to tape down Carrie Fisher’s breasts. Peter Cushing as Grand Moff Tarkin is a horror legend - where does he go on his bicycle every day during the shooting of Star Wars? Shooting nears its end and George Lucas falls into depression and despair. Strife with the studio continues, and now Lucas is suffering chest pains. Star Wars is literally going to kill him.Support us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

To bring Star Wars to the screen, new technology had to be invented and utilized in ways never before imagined. On a new series of American Innovations, we go behind the scenes of the pioneering tools used to bring George Lucas’s vision to life. Listen now at wondery.fm/aiSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Casting begins for Star Wars. Carrie Fisher wins a role, runs into the rain, and shouts to the heavens: “I am Princess Leia!” George Lucas doesn’t want Harrison Ford in the cast, but it just so happens Harrison's building a door all week and is in the right place at the right time. Mark Hamill awakens on Robert Englund’s couch just in time to find out about “the perfect role” for him - with dialogue that is absolutely befuddling. The men inside R2D2 and C3PO come to terms with the extraordinary discomfort of their costumes - and their dislike for each other. Alec Guinness hates science fiction “fairy-tale rubbish” and considers Lucas to be “a touch boring.” Meanwhile Lucas is plowing his own money into Star Wars and still has no green light from Fox. That’s when he faces a choice: Either make the movie for half of what he needs or Star Wars will be shut down.Support us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Francis Coppola urges a struggling and dirt poor George Lucas to write something human and stop being “so weird.” The result is American Graffiti, the classic coming of age movie. United Artists agrees to pick up the project along with one other idea, something vague about wars in space. But the deal falls apart in part because “nobody knows what American Graffiti means.” Universal comes to the rescue but retains final cut. The screenings are great, but Universal is convinced it will be a disaster, so they cut the film - because they can. A resentful and hungry Lucas scribbles a two-page treatment for something called “The Star Wars.” Everyone in town rejects the project, except for Fox exec Alan Ladd Jr, who buys the idea for a paltry sum and offers a thin vote of confidence for George Lucas. Then, American Graffiti is released and becomes a hit. Lucas renegotiates not for more money but for sequel and merchandising rights, both worthless at the time. Now he spends every day for the next three years writing the script. Grueling days. Bleeding on the page. Pulling teeth would be easier and more pleasant. We meet Lucas’s dog, an Alaskan malamute named “Indiana” who inspires a certain Wookiee named “Chewbacca.” We discover the inspiration for “R2D2.” Meanwhile, it’s clear that Fox is dragging their feet - that many at the studio wish Star Wars would simply…go away. Support us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A young Carrie Fisher meets the paparazzi in the arms of her celebrity mother, Debbie Reynolds. It doesn’t take Carrie long to decide that acting’s not for her. So naturally, an actor is exactly what she becomes. Carrie models tops for Warren Beatty - with and without a bra. Meanwhile, George Lucas has decided to study film. Even though no film school graduate had ever gotten a job in the industry. He quickly becomes a star at USC, determined to make his movies his way, no matter what the rules are. He works day and night on a diet of coffee and chocolate bars. He graduates just as movie attendance is cratering and Hollywood is shutting down. He meets another young cinematic firebrand, Francis Coppola, and they join forces on his first movie, THX1138. Warner Brothers hates the movie and takes it back to cut it themselves. It limps into theaters where one young film buff is left awestruck. His name is Steven Spielberg. Meanwhile Lucas dreams of a movie with heroes and villains, ray guns and spaceships, thrills and adventure beyond the stars.Support us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A torturous first day of shooting Star Wars in the Tunisian desert. Including a one-time “carpenter to the stars,” an actor named Harrison Ford. Cut to: A young George Lucas captivated and thrilled by a new gadget called “television” and the thrilling, swashbuckling serials of Flash Gordon. Later, Lucas falls for fast cars. More speeding tickets than baseball cards. Fights at home with his father over work and school and career. “I’m gonna be a millionaire before I’m 30,” he shouts at his dad. But he’s failing classes and his best hopes are for a life as an auto mechanic. Then, one fateful day he’s in his tiny Fiat turning left across traffic. That’s when a car smashes into him - an accident that nearly kills him. And an experience that will change his life forever.Support us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It was made on a shoestring and dumped into a handful of movie theaters back in 1977. And then it changed the world. This is the story of George Lucas and his dream called “Star Wars.” It’s a story of the people who made the original classic and the people who did their very best to stop it dead. From the creators of Inside Psycho, Inside the Exorcist, and Inside JAWS, comes a new immersive audio biopic, Inside Star Wars. Premiering in all galaxies on Wednesday, May 29, 2019. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.