Imaginary Worlds

Live theater has been shut down across the country, but live action role play (“larp” for short) is finding new ways to thrive in digital spaces. I talk with Betsy Isaacson and Ryan Hart of Sinking Ship Creations about how the phone can be turned into a medium for audio drama. Carly Dwyer and Jasmine Kimieye Graham explain how anyone can feel empowered when working in I.T., especially when it’s a Magical Help Desk. Tiffany Keane Schaefer discovers that Zoom is the perfect medium to tell stories about space travel, and game designer Jessica Creane discovers that her interactive show Chaos Theory can be tailor-made for the current moment.

https://www.imaginaryworldspodcast.org/how-i-won-the-larp.html

Sinking Ship Creations:

https://www.sinkingshipcreations.com/all-events

Intramersive Media:

https://www.intramersive.com/magical-help-desk

Otherworld Theatre:

https://www.otherworldtheatre.org/larp

Chaos Theory: 

https://www.jessicacreane.com/chaos-theory.html

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Time travel is one of my favorite genres, and it’s also my go-to daydream. But I’ve begun to wonder whether time travel fantasies are a psychologically unhealthy way of avoiding problems in the present, or a helpful way of putting the present moment into sharper focus. I talk with authors Charles Yu, Vandana Singh, and editor Ann VanderMeer about the themes of loss and love in time travel narratives. And professors Antonio Cordoba and Concepcion Carmen Cascajosa Virino explain how the Spanish sci-fi show Ministry of Time (a.k.a. El Ministerio del Tiempo) became a therapeutic outlet for a nation still processing a long history of trauma and disappointments. Featuring readings by actor Woody Fu.

The Time Traveler’s Almanac: A Time Travel Anthology

https://www.amazon.com/Time-Travelers-Almanac-Travel-Anthology/dp/0765374242

How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe

https://www.amazon.com/Live-Safely-Science-Fictional-Universe/dp/0307739457

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When things go wrong, it’s tempting to say something’s cursed as a joke. But when things go dreadfully wrong on horror movie sets, some fans have speculated that the films were literally cursed. Jay Cheel talks about his new documentary series “Cursed Films,” which explores why people believe the cast and crew of The Exorcist, The Omen, and other horror films were targeted by demonic forces. Special effects artist Craig Reardon and director Gary Sherman separate fact from fiction with the alleged Poltergeist curse. And I talk with professor Brandon Grafius, author of “Reading the Bible with Horror,” about why religion can prompt us to believe in curses. 

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Many of us have imaginary friends when we’re young in the guise of a doll, stuffed animal or toy that give us a sense of comfort. Then we grow out of those characters – or at least we’re supposed to. We asked our listeners to tell us about their favorite childhood toys that are still around and providing them with a sense of comfort and security during the global health crisis. Featuring Nancy Farnsworth, Steve Romenesko, Jen Cresswell, Jean Klare and the artist Jennifer Maher Coleman who paints portraits of childhood toys.  

Jennifer’s site Your Toy Portrait:

https://yourtoyportrait.com/category/toyportraits/

Jennifer and her husband’s band Architrave:

https://architrave.bandcamp.com/

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Cyberpunk was cool. Steampunk was hip. Get ready for Solarpunk. This new emerging genre of art and fiction imagines a future where DIY environmental sustainability dictates the design of everything from skyscraper farms to homemade fashion. The writer Adam Flynn, magazine editors Scot and Jane Noel, writer Sarena Ulibarri, and game designer Keisha Howard discuss how we can create the future we want by inspiring people with science fiction, and why being anti-dystopia doesn’t mean they believe in utopias. Featuring readings by Vanessa Bellow.

DreamForge magazine:

https://dreamforge.mywebportal.app/

Glass and Gardens Summers and Winters:

http://www.sarenaulibarri.com/editing.html

Notes Towards a Solarpunk Manifesto:

https://hieroglyph.asu.edu/2014/09/solarpunk-notes-toward-a-manifesto/

Sugar Gamers:

https://sugargamers.com/

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In 2005, the multiplayer online game World of Warcraft was taken over by a virus called Corrupted Blood, and the virtual pandemic in this fantasy world played out remarkably like COVID-19. I talk with epidemiologist and gamer Eric Lofgren, NYU game design instructor Alexander King and longtime player Virginia Wilkerson about the parallels between the pandemic in World of Warcraft the one we’re facing in the real world, and what lessons we can learn by studying how players reacted to a virtual virus.

Also if you want to submit a story for our upcoming toys episode, email us at [email protected]

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We're craving an escape into our favorite fantasy worlds, but fans are complaining that all the "retconning" is ruining their suspension of disbelief. Why is retroactive continuity so controversial? Olivia Dolphin and Hayley Milliman discuss how JK Rowling’s decrees have unraveled The Potterverse. Nick Randall and Mac Rogers grapple with recent revelations in Doctor Who. Laurie Ulster defends Star Trek’s familial reshuffling, I try to make sense of the Star Wars canon, and author Andrew J. Friedenthal explains why rewriting the history of fantasy worlds is similar to revising history in real life.

Here’s a link to Andrew’s book on retconning:

https://www.amazon.com/Retcon-Game-Retroactive-Continuity-Hyperlinking/dp/1496811321

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The Good Place just ended after four critically acclaimed seasons, and it was one of several recent TV shows to imagine the afterlife as being far from paradise. Pastor and podcaster JR Forasteros and author Greg Garrett explore why pop culture heavens are being depicted as bureaucracies where the angels are overwhelmed or lost sight of their mission. And Todd May describes what it was like being a philosophy consultant on The Good Place.

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Tracing the history of the superhero genre can reveal a lot about how we understand our own history, and how history gets whitewashed. Shawn Taylor, John Jennings and Art Burton look at how black superheroes evolved from a black Wild West lawman to HBO's Watchmen. And I talk with John Valadez about Mexican American masked vigilantes who may have inspired Zorro, and other masked heroes.

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2001: A Space Odyssey is considered a masterpiece, and a game changer for sci-fi on film. But the movie had a tumultuous origin story, and it was initially scorned by critics. Barbara Miller of The Museum of The Moving Image walks me through their new exhibit on the making of 2001. And I talk with author Michael Benson, actor Keir Dullea and Stanley Kubrick’s daughter Katharina about how Kubrick and his collaborator Arthur C. Clarke reached for the stars, but felt lost in space as they struggled to finish this incredibly ambitious project.

Here’s the link to Michael Benson’s book:

https://www.amazon.com/Space-Odyssey-Stanley-Kubrick-Masterpiece/dp/1501163930

Here’s a link the Museum of the Moving Image’s 2001 exhibit:

http://www.movingimage.us/exhibitions/2020/01/18/detail/envisioning-2001-stanley-kubricks-space-odyssey/

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