The first incarnation of an official podcast for TheForce.Net was produced by Erik Blythe, but he had to step down from the show due to external conflicts. TheForce.net Content Manager Dustin Roberts held a contest for Blythe's successor, and Jason Swank and Pete Nadel were selected to continue the show. As Jason explains it, "TheForce.Net was looking for a host to re-launch the podcast, so I quickly shot [Dustin] an e-mail." Jason, who at the time had been on the air at a radio station as its promotions manager, received a reply from Dustin. He and Pete made the audition tape, which Jason calls "really bad". After hearing the tape, Dustin gave the two Star Wars fans the go-ahead, and the ForceCast was born.