Note: This episode contains massive spoilers for the Studio Ghibli film Castle in the Sky and the short story “Sandkings” by George R.R. Martin.

This week we sat down with Henry Wolff, who has been channeling his passion for Tolkien-style worldbuilding into TTRPGs for much of the past decade. We talk about known world-builders George R. R. Martin, Hayao Miyazaki, and J.R.R. Tolkien, as well as the rise and fall of civilizations. How often do you think about the fall of the Roman Empire? Henry thinks they had it coming. Tune it to find out why!

EPISODE TIMESTAMPS

00:00:41 - What does it mean for a civilization to disintegrate?

00:02:03 - What elements make a society resistant to disintegration?

00:04:16 - "Sandkings" by George R. R. Martin

00:07:57 - Different GitHub versions of books

00:10:09 - George R. R. Martin and unlikable characters

00:14:26 - Epitaph and the Fermi Paradox

00:17:14 - Kevin's concept of "grand nostalgia"

00:23:24 - Why Kevin doesn't like Castle in the Sky

00:25:02 - Nausicaa, Mononoke, and Civilizational v. Natural Disintegration

00:25:52 - Disintegration of nature v. civilization

00:28:03 - Giving artificial intelligence to nature

00:29:07 - Miyazaki inspires us by giving nature a voice

00:30:13 - Miyazaki is a sad dude

00:31:06 - Santa, sewer mutants, and other delusions

00:33:03 - Childhood myths as conspiracy theories

00:34:34 - Are conspiracy theories an American phenomenon?

00:35:03 - Was Ancient Rome conspiratorial?

00:36:57 - Kevin's crazy conspiracy theory-filled haircut

00:42:14 - Tolkien and the value of an outside perspective

00:43:30 - Patronizing scholars to do their life's work

00:47:03 - The wealthy used to be more interested in science

00:48:24 - Henry's world of ArÞ / First Light

00:51:18 - Timeline of ArÞ / Future of ArÞ / End of ArÞ

00:53:10 - Conclusion and final recommendations

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