Today, we're talking high-quality, hand-drawn, 2D animation with Remi Chaye. Chaye recently released his feature debut as director, Long Way North. The film is breathtakingly beautiful and has some of the finest animation I've seen in recent memory. On this episode, we chat with Remi (and storyboard artist Liane-Cho Han) about the film, his inspiration for the story, the lessons he learned both from working with Tomm Moore on The Secret of Kells and from directing his own feature, the difficulties he had in simply getting the film made, working with a limited budget, and the challenges he faced with marketing and distribution.

Today, we're sweepin' the clouds away and chatting with the amazing and lovely (and amazingly lovely) Sonia Manzano. You probably know her best as Maria from Sesame Street, where she was one of the most recognizable faces on the show for more than 40 years. What you might not know, though, is that she's also an accomplished writer. In addition to playing Maria, she was also a writer on Sesame Street and won an astonishing 15 Emmys for your work. On this episode, we chat about how she got her start in acting, her early career on stage and moving to Sesame Street, her audition for the show (hint: which one of these things is not like the others?), making the jump to writing, how writing and acting each satisfy her creative impulses, and the future of childhood literacy.

We continue SPACE WEEK with a good old-fashioned Star Trek geekout. Because today on the show, we're talking to Nicholas Meyer. Meyer directed The Wrath of Khan, which is indisputably the best Trek film ever made. He also wrote the screenplay for The Voyage Home and directed (and wrote the screenplay for) The Undiscovered Country. But Nick's career is much more than just boldly going where none has gone before. On this episode, we chat about our memories related to The Day After, Sherlock Holmes, Nick's acceptance to the Baker Street Irregulars, Star Trek, creative freedom, and time travel.

Today on the show, we're geeking out about Star Wars. I know, what else is new, right? We're joined by Pablo Hidalgo, who is one of the most public faces of the Lucasfilm Story Group - the group responsible for maintaining order and keeping all of the creative ducks in a row within the Star Wars universe. We talk to Pablo about his personal history with Star Wars (hint: it involved many hours of RPGs), how he came to Lucasfilm, and what he does on a day-to-day basis - besides fielding fans' questions and debunking crazy theories online. We also get the inside scoop on whether we might ever see Star Wars Detours or George Lucas's original plans for a sequel trilogy. All of that plus his earliest Star Wars memory, his favorite fan theories, and the many amazing books he's written. And the one thing he'd like to tell every Star Wars fan if given the chance.

Today on the show, we're talking to Shea Fontana, the dominant creative voice behind DC Super Hero Girls. If you're not familiar, the show recasts the female superheroes of the DC universe as high school friends. They're all the same age (i.e., Wonder Woman and Batgirl are classmates), and they face many of the same challenges that real-life teens do: homework, friendships, teachers, peer pressure, bullying, and so on. On this episode, we talk about "reimagining" the characters for the show, the qualities of great kids entertainment, writing for television vs graphic novels, and - if given the chance to further explore the characters - whether she'd like to age them up or down. We also touch on her work with Disney on Ice and her involvement in roller derby.

Today on the show, we travel to that strangest of small desert towns, Night Vale. Cecil Baldwin is the narrator and voice of the community radio station, keeping us all up to date on the Sheriff's Secret Police, the latest sightings of the glow cloud, the mysterious hooded figures, and the ever-changing roster of station interns. And of course the dog park. On this episode, we have an amazing conversation with Cecil about building Night Vale from the ground up, getting addicted to a live audience, creating the character of Cecil, normalizing LGBTQ relationships, and coming out as HIV-positive. We really cover some ground here, so buckle up and enjoy!

Today on the show, we chat with Aubrey and Angela Webber, the brilliant duo who make up The Doubleclicks. If you're not familiar with their music, go to their website or YouTube pronto and check it out. You won't be sorry. On this episode, we chat with Aubrey and Angela about ignoring genres and what qualifies as "mainstream," connecting with fans, starting a new label and the state of the music industry, and doing things that they're scared to do. Also the cat keyboard. We find out what the heck is up with that.

100 episodes. I kind of can't believe it. I mean...I can. I know how much work it took to get to this point, but it's still pretty remarkable. So it was an absolute thrill when we realized how fortuitous this episode would be. Episode 100. Election Day. Brad Meltzer. It's all kinds of perfect. On this episode, we talk about working through failure (he garnered 24 rejection letters for his first novel), perspective and self-doubt, the I Am... books and why "ordinary people" have such extraordinary stories, Jim Henson and Mister Rogers, what he's most proud of in a career that almost defies belief, whether he could have imagined the events that actually took place during this presidential election, and where we go - as a country and people - now that this historic election is behind us.

On the show today, we chat with Catwoman herself, Julie Newmar. Julie has had a long and storied career, but she is perhaps most well known as the woman who originated the role of Catwoman for the small screen on the first two seasons of Batman. And boy did she ever set a precedent. We talk about Batman and Return of the Caped Crusaders, obviously, but we also chat about her classical training and early career, her love of gardening, her role on My Living Doll, her influence on popular culture, and who better portrayed the ideal of 1960s masculinity: Adam West or William Shatner.

Today, we're chatting with Joe Hill. If you're a fan of the funny books, you know him from the phenomenal Locke and Key series from IDW (along with Gabriel Rodriguez's amazing art). If you're a fan of the prose books, you know him from a long line of keep-you-awake-at-night novels, such as The Fireman, Heart-Shaped Box, Horns, and NOS4A2. On this episode, in addition to all of that, we talk about his road to creativity and how much of a choice he really had growing up in the family that he did, perspective and self-doubt, his mountains of unpublished words and ideas, family rivalry, how his experience growing up in a literary family and being the kid of a legend has translated over to his own kids, and playing Scrabble with Stephen King.