Imaginary Worlds sounds like what would happen if NPR went to ComicCon and decided that’s all they ever wanted to cover. Host Eric Molinsky spent over a decade working as a public radio reporter and producer, and he uses those skills to create thoughtful, sound-rich episodes about science fiction, fantasy, and other genres of speculative fiction. In this award-winning podcast, Eric talks with filmmakers, screenwriters, novelists, comic book artists, game designers, and anyone who works in the field of make-believe about how they craft their worlds. He also talks with academics and fans about why we suspend our disbelief, and what happens if the spell is broken. Imaginary worlds may be set on distant planets or parallel dimensions, but they are crafted here on Earth, and they’re always about us and our lived experiences.
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Anime and manga are a global phenomenon, and their popularity continues to grow. Many of these stories are populated by supernatural beings called yōkai. Even though yōkai can be portrayed as ghosts, demons, or monsters, they're rarely purely good or evil. We trace the history of yōkai from ancient folklore to Studio Ghibli films and shows like Dan Da Dan. I talk with scholars Kaitlyn Ugoretz , Deborah Shamoon , and Michael Dylan Foster about why these supernatural beings have captured people's ...
Charles R. Saunders loved Tarzan as a kid, but he was also repulsed by the racism in those books since Charles was Black. So he created a counter narrative about a warrior named Imaro who lived in a fictionalized version of precolonial Africa. Charles had invented a new subgenre of sword and sorcery that he called sword and soul. His books were groundbreaking in the 1980s, but he was also way ahead of his time. I talk with Milton Davis , Sheree Renée Thomas and Troy Wiggins about a movement amon...
Pop culture has been full of Jekylls and Hydes: Bruce Banner and The Hulk, Norman Bates and Mother, Walter White and Heisenberg, The Nutty Professor and Buddy Love. They all echo the archetype that Robert Lous Stevenson established 140 years ago in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I explore at how these variations reflect different ideas about duality, depending on how “bad” the Hydes are and what the Jekylls choose to do about their alter egos. Lewis University professor Jamil Musta...
John Watson is a former army doctor who became a true crime podcaster when he met a consulting detective named Sherlock Holmes. You can hear about the cases they’ve solved in the podcast Sherlock & Co . Sound familiar? Holmes and Watson may have been enshrined in pop culture for over 130 years. But their adventures feel fresh and relevant in the audio drama Sherlock & Co – which masquerades as a true crime podcast. I talked with the creators of the show, Joel Emery and Adam Jarrell, who ...
Imaginary Worlds has reached another milestone – 300 episodes! We already celebrated the 200th episode and the 10th anniversary of the show, but in those episodes, we mostly kept the spotlight off ourselves. This time around, my assistant producer Stephanie Billman and I reflect on how the podcast has impacted us. I often joke that the show feels like a train that I’m riding, and I’m laying down tracks as I go. Sometimes those tracks stretch far in the distance, but other times I can see the end...
When I interviewed Andy Weir in 2021 about his novel Project Hail Mary, he told me that the movie adaptation was already being planned starring Ryan Gosling. The big question was how would they bring the alien character of Rocky to life. Would they use CGI or practical effects? Now that the film is in theaters, we have the answer. While there is some use of digital effects, Rocky is mostly performed by the puppeteer James Ortiz . James has a deep background in theater but he had never worked on ...
Gene Roddenberry’s name is synonymous with Star Trek, but he relied on a team to bring his vision to life. Most of his writers were men with one exception, the trailblazing Dorothy Fontana. Professionally, she went by D.C. Fontana to counter the belief that women couldn’t write genres like war, Westerns or sci-fi. Fontana became story editor and wrote some of the most beloved episodes of The Original Series, became the de facto showrunner on The Animated Series, and helped launch The Next Genera...
Imagine if Bruce Wayne had no money, if Superman grew up on Krypton and came to Earth with emotional scars, or if Wonder Woman had been raised in Hell. Welcome to the Absolute Universe – a dark parallel universe created by DC Comics in 2024. The idea of a parallel universe is not new to comic books, but what is surprising has been the success of the Absolute Universe. Some of the Absolute versions of superheroes have been outselling the comics that take place in DC’s mainline universe. I talk wi...
Imaginary Worlds discusses the film "Sinners," which authentically represents hoodoo and conjure traditions, often reduced to horror tropes. Professors Yvonne Chireau and Kinitra Brooks explain the historical and cultural significance of hoodoo, ancestral veneration, and the nuanced portrayal of the conjure woman Annie. The episode highlights the film's exploration of race, religion, and the complex themes of power, assimilation, and agency against the backdrop of 1930s Mississippi.
Scarlet Hollow is a successful indie video game – and that’s no small feat. It’s been a long journey, and the game is made almost entirely by two people: Abby Howard and Tony Howard-Arias of Black Tabby Games . Along the way, they even took a break to make another hit game called Slay the Princess . I talk with Abby and Tony about how animating Abby’s drawings allowed them to build a game where the players have seemingly endless choices and romance options in a Southern Gothic town under threat ...
Darby McDevitt is a narrative director and writer at Ubisoft . He’s worked on multiple games in the Assassin’s Creed franchise , which spans time periods from Ancient Greece to Victorian England. But what does it mean to be a writer on a massive video game where your character is mostly running, climbing, jumping and fighting? The key to his work lies in historical research, but he is sometimes torn between what would actually happen and what pop culture has trained us to expect from different e...
In this annual audio drama, host Eric Molinsky interviews various holiday folklore figures from around the world who feel overshadowed by Santa Claus. Guests like Finland's Joulupukki, Italy's Befana, and Catalonia's El Tio de Nadal share their surprising origins, transformations, and sometimes controversial pasts. The episode explores themes of cultural authenticity versus commercialization, culminating in unexpected twists and a powerful message about embracing rich, unusual traditions.
The episode explores cryptids from two distinct perspectives: their deep cultural significance in Native Alaskan traditions, as recounted by James Dommek Jr., and their commercial exploitation in the Lower 48, detailed by J.W. Ocker. Listeners learn how Indigenous stories view cryptids as sacred beings, while other communities leverage these creatures for economic revitalization, exemplified by the Mothman's success. The discussion also touches on cultural appropriation and the fascinating psychology behind human belief in the unexplained.
As longtime listeners know, I worked in the animation industry before switching careers and going into broadcasting. Today’s episode features a trio of conversations that trace the history of animation in my lifetime, and my life in animation. The interviews come from Between Imaginary Worlds , a chat show that’s available exclusively to listeners who pledge $5 a month or more on Patreon. Act I: I bond with comic book and children’s book author Judd Winick over the creepy world of 1970s children...
When director Guillermo del Toro asked Tamara Deverell to be the production designer on his film adaptation of Frankenstein, she had a good idea of what he wanted. Del Toro had been dreaming of making a Frankenstein movie for years, and she had worked with him on several projects before. She told me they’re so much sync, “I find with Guillermo, it’s not speaking in words, it’s speaking with images.” But that didn’t make the production design any less challenging. We discuss where Tamara looked f...
In honor of the spooky season, we present two monstrous origin stories --Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. We know when these books were written in the 19th century. But what inspired the imaginations of the rebellious teenager Mary Shelley, or the beleaguered theatrical promoter Bram Stoker? I talk with biographer Charlotte Gordon and Professors Gillen D'Arcy Wood and Ron Broglio about how “The Year Without a Summer” may have sparked storms in Mary Shelley’s mind. And I tal...
In the 1950s, the avant-garde music scene in New York and the movie studios of Los Angeles might have seemed like opposite ends of a cultural spectrum. But they came together (and blew apart) when MGM hired Louis and Bebe Barron to write the score for the sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet. It was the first all-electronic score for a Hollywood film, but not everyone was ready for the future of film music. I talk with Louis’ son David Barron, composer Dorothy Moskowitz , University of Chicago associ...
Movies that change cinema often come from outsiders – whether it’s Orson Welles making Citizen Kane or George Lucas making Star Wars a.k.a. Episode IV: A New Hope. The excellent graphic novel Lucas Wars by artist Renaud Roche and writer Laurent Hopman just came out in English (the original French title is Les Guerres de Lucas.) I talk with Renaud and Laurent about why the making of Star Wars was such a long shot, and how the production changed the lives of everyone involved. Plus, we discuss the...
This episode takes listeners behind the scenes with J&M Special Effects, a company that has created theatrical illusions for 40 years, from 'Hadestown' to 'Harry Potter and The Cursed Child'. Designers Jeremy Chernick and Bohdan Bushnell discuss how practical effects have evolved with new technology, detailing the blend of old-school craftsmanship and modern innovation required for elaborate stage productions like 'Frozen' and 'Beetlejuice'. They also explore the unique challenges of live theater, balancing audience expectations with the physics of the stage, and the meticulous planning and performer integration needed to make the impossible seem real, often relying on ingenuity over high-tech solutions.
Marking Jaws' 50th anniversary, this episode delves into the notoriously troubled production of Steven Spielberg's iconic film. Despite the mechanical shark ("Bruce") constantly malfunctioning and significant on-set conflicts, these challenges forced creative solutions. Unexpectedly, the delays and constraints led to the film's innovative suspense and improvisation, ultimately making Jaws the first summer blockbuster and a landmark in filmmaking history.
Coney Island still has the classic amusements you’d expect today like roller coasters, water slides, and carnival games. But over a century ago, it looked more like a proto–Disney World, with multiple theme parks, colossal buildings, and wildly imaginative rides. The most extravagant park along the boardwalk was Dreamland. At Dreamland, you could take a trip to Hell, experience the end of the world, ride through fake Venetian canals, or visit a city built to scale for little people. I talk with ...
This episode delves into the unique challenges and creative processes behind video game music. Featuring insights from composers at Hans Zimmer's Bleeding Fingers studio and Grammy-winner Winifred Phillips, it highlights how scores adapt to player choices, the impact of technological evolution from 8-bit to MIDI, and the strategic use of layering. The discussion also touches upon the surprising role of creative limitations and the intriguing potential of AI in shaping the future of interactive soundtracks.
This episode delves into the legacy of Jack Kirby, the visionary artist behind many of Marvel's most famous characters, including the Fantastic Four, Captain America, and Hulk. It explores how his tough upbringing in the Lower East Side profoundly shaped his creations and distinctive art style, and the long-standing disputes over proper credit and compensation for his groundbreaking work, often overshadowed by Stan Lee. The discussion also touches on Kirby's later projects like The New Gods and his enduring impact on pop culture.
When Arvind Ethan David was a student, he decided to adapt the Douglas Adams novel Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency into a play. Arvind didn’t imagine that Adams would show up to see the play (which he did), nor that Arvind would grow up to become a caretaker of Adams’ legacy. Arvind just released an audiobook called Douglas Adams: The Ends of The Earth, produced by Pushkin Industries. It features unheard archival audio of Douglas Adams and interviews with friends and colleagues of the la...
Host Eric Molinsky discusses the animated sci-fi series Pantheon with showrunner Craig Silverstein and author Ken Liu, whose stories inspired the show. They delve into the premise of mind uploading, the challenges of adapting the interconnected stories into a cohesive narrative, and how the show explores complex ethical, societal, and personal implications of living a digital existence, from the nature of consciousness to global politics and human relationships.
Eric Molinsky talks with author Martha Wells and showrunners Chris and Paul Weitz about adapting Wells' popular 'Murderbot Diaries' series into a new show for Apple TV+. They discuss the challenges of translating Murderbot's first-person narrative, building the sci-fi world, balancing action, comedy, and drama, and the complex discussions around casting and the character's identity. The episode also delves into themes of AI consciousness, neurodivergence, and the author's own writing process.
Discover the unexpected rise and fall of the gothic soap opera Dark Shadows. Initially failing, the show introduced supernatural elements, including the vampire Barnabas Collins, whose portrayal by Jonathan Frid shifted the archetype from pure monster to complex, sympathetic figure with a conscience. This transformation led to a cultural phenomenon, influencing subsequent vampire fiction and even other TV genres, despite facing production issues, a controversial movie, and failed revival attempts that left its dedicated fandom aging.
Eric Molinsky explores the disturbing subgenre of body horror, discussing its psychology and cultural commentary with authors David Huckvale and Xavier Aldana Reyes. The episode examines themes of mortality, social anxieties, and the objectification of bodies. It also features a conversation with listener Lillie Andrick, who shares how body horror resonates with transgender fans, particularly in relation to puberty and transition.
This bonus episode of Imaginary Worlds features a tour of the Syd Mead: Future Pastime exhibit in New York, guided by organizers Elon Solo and William Corman. They explore Mead's optimistic visions of the future through various artworks, discussing his influences, techniques, and unique perspectives on technology, culture, and society. The tour highlights Mead's concepts like steel couture, supersonic baroque, and his vision of a future that blends technology with humanism and sensuousness.
This episode explores the work of visual futurist Syd Mead, known for designing the worlds of Blade Runner and other sci-fi films. Despite his association with dystopia, Mead's personal vision was optimistic. The episode features interviews with Mead's husband, Roger Servick, and exhibit curators Elon Solo and William Corman, discussing Mead's predictions for technology, sexuality, and spirituality.
