Imaginary Worlds

For the last 30 years, the real world has been catching up to Neal Stephenson’s vision of the future in his 1992 novel Snow Crash, which influenced the creators of Google Earth, Second Life, Oculus Rift and more. Now the centerpiece of the novel, a virtual world called The Metaverse, may become a daily part of our lives thanks to Facebook (renamed Meta) and other big tech companies. I talk with Meta’s director of A.I. policy Kevin Bankston, Silicon Valley engineer Stephen Pimentel, Australian National University School of Cybernetics director Genevieve Bell, Yale professor Lisa Messeri, and Grace Ng of the DAO Crash Punks about whether it’s a good idea to use a satirical cyberpunk novel as a blueprint for the future. Plus, actor Varick Boyd reads from Snow Crash.

The section on Grace Ng has been updated to reflect the crypto market crash that happened after the episode originally aired in May 2022.

This episode is sponsored by Backblaze, VAST Horizon, and Squarespace. Our ad partner is Multitude. If you’re interested in advertising on Imaginary Worlds, you can contact them here.

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There’s an old saying that everyone wants to live long, but no one wants to get old. The same can be applied to our favorite sci-fi fantasy franchises. As familiar faces return to Star Wars, Star Trek, and other movies and shows, some franchises have embraced stories about aging and mortality, while others have used digital technology to erase those issues with mixed results. In a roundtable discussion, I talk with Christina Valeo of Eastern Washington University, Shawn Taylor of San Francisco State University and podcaster and pastor JR Forasteros about who is aging well, or de-aging poorly. Spoiler alert, we discuss the Picard series and older Star Trek movies, The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Black Mirror, and Upload.

This episode is sponsored by Mint Mobile, Podboard and Squarespace. Our ad partner is Multitude. If you’re interested in advertising on Imaginary Worlds, you can contact them here.

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One of the most common requests I've gotten over the years has been to do an episode about why so many autistic people are drawn towards science fiction, and these suggestions have come from listeners who are autistic or have autistic children. Fiction writer Ada Hoffmann, writer and professor Dora Raymaker, YouTube presenter Quinn Dexter, and author and professor Nick Walker, who co-runs the publishing company Autonomous Press, have each given this subject a lot of thought. Their experiences and perspectives as autistic sci-fi fans and creators overlapped in many ways, from the joy of complex worldbuilding, to identifying with fictional characters like Data or Spock, to wanting to imagine a future where aliens, humans and A.I. can coexist without a hierarchy of neurotypical perspectives. Featuring actress Shannon Tyo reading passages from Ada and Dora’s novels.

Dora Raymaker’s new novel Resonance has just been published through Autonomous Press. Dora and Ada have also contributed short stories to Autonomous’ anthology series Spoon Knife. Quinn Dexter’s YouTube channel is Autistamtic.

This episode is sponsored by Backblaze, Echoes of History: Ragnarök and Squarespace. Our ad partner is Multitude. If you’re interested in advertising on Imaginary Worlds, you can contact them here.

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100 years ago this month, the vampire film Nosferatu was released in Germany. Not long after, it was hit with a lawsuit – which the filmmakers lost – and every copy of the film was to be destroyed. At least one copy managed to survive, and decades later, Nosferatu became a worldwide classic. Part of what’s kept the film alive has been live orchestras who infuse this old vampire film with fresh blood and original scores. I talk with Philip Shorey of The Curse of the Vampire orchestra and Josh Robins of Invincible Czars about their different approaches to writing music for Nosferatu and how audiences have reacted to them. I also talk with Carnegie-Mellon professor Stephen Brockmann about which aspects of vampire lore originally came from Nosferatu as the filmmakers tried to change the Dracula story enough so they could avoid blood-sucking lawsuits.  

This episode is sponsored by Inked Gaming. Our ad partner is Multitude. If you’re interested in advertising on Imaginary Worlds, you can contact them here.

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The Russian invasion of Ukraine shocked the world, but this conflict was foreshadowed in Ukrainian and Russian speculative fiction. I talk with several fantasy writers in Ukraine about how they’ve used speculative fiction to break away from Russia’s sphere of influence, and why magic and folklore can be valuable tools to explore and defend their sense of national identity. I also talk with Ukrainian ex-pats in the U.S. about how Russian fantasy and sci-fi has grown increasingly imperialistic in recent years with fantasies of restoring a lost empire. Featuring Maria Galina, Borys Sydiuk, Volodymir Arenev, Svitlana Taratorina, Alex Shvartsman, and Anatoly Belilovsky.

You can help donate to organizations resettling refugees like Direct Relief, Mercy Corps, International Medical Corps and Save the Children.

This episode is sponsored by Brooklinen. Our ad partner is Multitude. If you’re interested in advertising on Imaginary Worlds, you can contact them here.

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It’s a future we’re all very familiar with. The rainy streets are full of neon dragons, noodle shops, and other Asian iconography mixed up and decontextualized amid sci-fi flourishes, but something is often missing: Asian people. In her video presentation “Asian futures, without Asians,” the artist and writer Astria Suparak breaks down dozens of films and TV shows, showing that there’s a shadow genre across different sci-fi franchises which presents a future that taps into old anti-Asian stereotypes at subtle levels of designing sets, costumes and even props. I also talk with University of Utah Professor David S. Roh about his book Techno-Orientalism, which looks at the psychology behind these kinds of futures, and what they have to say about current day anxieties in America. And Jason Concepcion, host of the podcast X-Ray Vision, discusses how he tries to engage with these types of worlds as a fan and as an Asian American.

This episode is sponsored by Inked Gaming. Our ad partner is Multitude. If you’re interested in advertising on Imaginary Worlds, you can contact them here.

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In the sci-fi drama Beforeigners from HBO Nordic, Oslo is overrun with immigrants and refugees. But they haven’t come from other countries. They’re from the past. In fact, they’re from three specific eras: the Stone Age, the Viking age, and the Victorian age. No one knows why or how they came, but police detectives Lars Haaland and his partner Alfhildr Enginsdottir – who is a former Viking herself – are uncovering mysteries and conspiracies that might lead to the truth. The show was created by Eilif Skodvin and Anne Bjørnstad, and I was very happy that I got to talk with Anne about how they created the show, and why time travel turns out to be a great metaphor to explore issues of immigration and national identity.

This episode is sponsored by Brooklinen and Realm. Our ad partner is Multitude. If you’re interested in advertising on Imaginary Worlds, you can contact them here.

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Have you ever watched a movie or show, gotten sucked into a mystery and come up with your own idea of what is going to be revealed – only to find out that you’re wrong? Do you accept what’s now established as canon, or do you get attached to your own “headcanon?” We are living in the golden age of headcanon, especially in sci-fi fantasy, where many storytellers are following the template of J.J. Abrams and his Mystery Box approach. So, we did a call out to our listeners, to find out what headcanons they came up with or heard about, and why they think those headcanons work better than what ended up on screen, or on the page. Featuring Larry Brenner, Mark White, Josh Sawyer, Doug Tricarico, Chris Landon, and Judd Winick, who had the opportunity to turn his headcanon into canon.

There aren’t major spoilers in this episode, but we discuss plot points in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, The Mandalorian, the first Matrix, Iron Man 2, Hawkeye, Star Trek: Into Darkness, Inspector Gadget, Citizen Kane, and Batman comics.

This episode is sponsored by Inked Gaming and Realm. Our ad partner is Multitude. If you’re interested in advertising on Imaginary Worlds, you can contact them here.

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Once upon a time, the funnies or the comics pages dominated newspapers – back when newspapers were the main source of information for most Americans. In those days, Walt Kelly and Al Capp were titans of the funnies. Their strips Pogo and Li’l Abner were cultural sensations. Both artists were groundbreaking in the way they incorporated satire into their fantastical worlds, back when the comics page was supposed to be an apolitical neutral zone. Even though their strips are not front and center in pop culture today, we are still feeling the ripple effects of what they accomplished. In part two, I talk with BYU professor Kerry Soper and comic book publisher and author Denis Kitchen about how Al Capp became a hero to the left and the right, while questioning who should be the subject of satire.    

Link to Denis Kitchen's book, "Al Capp: A Life to the Contrary"

Link to Kerry Soper's book, "We Go Pogo"

This episode is sponsored by Brooklinen. Our ad partner is Multitude. If you’re interested in advertising on Imaginary Worlds, you can contact them here.

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Once upon a time, the funnies or the comics pages dominated newspapers – back when newspapers were the main source of information for most Americans. In those days, Walt Kelly and Al Capp were titans of the funnies. Their strips Pogo and Li’l Abner were cultural sensations. Both artists were groundbreaking in the way they incorporated satire into their fantastical worlds, back when the comics page was supposed to be an apolitical neutral zone. Even though their strips are not front and center in pop culture today, we are still feeling the ripple effects of what they accomplished. In part one, I talk with Mercer University professor Jay Black, BYU professor Kerry Soper and Harper College professor Brian Cremins about how Pogo met the enemy, and why he is us.  

Link to Jay Black's book, "Walt Kelly and Pogo: The Art of the Political Swamp"

Link to Kerry Soper's book, "We Go Pogo"

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