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Imaginary Worlds — Arts
Imaginary Worlds

Imaginary Worlds sounds like what would happen if NPR went to Comic-Con and decided that’s all they ever wanted to cover. The host Eric Molinsky spent over a decade working in public radio, and he uses those skills to create sound-rich storytelling, pop culture analysis and cultural commentary about speculative fiction and immersive worldbuilding. Eric interviews sci-fi fantasy writers, creature makeup designers, comic book artists, video game and tabletop game designers and anyone who works in the field of make-believe about their creative process. He also delves into fandoms, asking why we suspend our disbelief, and what happens if the spell is broken. Fantasy 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.

Imaginary Worlds is a Gold Winner for Best Arts & Culture podcast in the Signal Awards, and received an Ambie Award nomination for Best Indie Podcast. Episodes of Imaginary Worlds have been featured on the podcasts 99% Invisible, Twenty Thousand Hertz, Decoder Ring, Cautionary Tales, Science Friday, and The Allusionist.

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Latest Episodes:

2001: A Filmmaking Odyssey Feb 06, 2020

Show notes

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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The Forgotten Artist Behind the Most Famous Tarot Cards Jan 23, 2020

Show notes

When it comes to tarot cards, there is an artistry to designing a world of emperors, fools, priestesses, hermits and other iconic figures. But few people know about Pamela Colman Smith, the woman who illustrated the best selling deck of all time. Professor Elizabeth Foley O’Connor and author Susan Wands explain why Pamela Colman Smith was uniquely suited to design tarot cards that stimulate our intuition and our imagination – and how figures on the Rider-Waite (a.k.a. Smith-Waite) deck are based on a real troupe of famous actors, including Bram Stoker.

Here's the link to Susan Wands' novel about Pamela Colman Smith:

https://www.amazon.com/Magician-Fool-Susan-Wands/dp/1999764676

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Why The Borg Keeps Assimilating Star Trek Shows Jan 09, 2020

Show notes

Patrick Stewart is reprising his role as Jean-Luc Picard in the new TV series “Picard,” where the writers have promised a very different storyline on his arch nemesis The Borg. In our final installment on villains, we discuss why The Borg are a unique existential threat to the Star Trek ethos with the help of three academics who combine science fiction with philosophy in their courses. Featuring Kevin Decker and Christina Valeo of Eastern Washington University and Shawn Taylor of San Francisco State University.

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In Defense of The Star Wars Holiday Special Dec 25, 2019

Show notes

As far as Star Wars fans are concerned, there is no greater hive of scum and villainy than the 1978 made-for-TV Star Wars Holiday Special. The musical variety program, which centered on Chewbacca’s family, is considered a hokey, misguided embarrassment. But entertainment writer Bonnie Burton and comedian Alex Schmidt think there’s something to love about The Holiday Special -- and it may be in canon after all.

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Can Villains Be Good? Dec 12, 2019

Show notes

What does it take for a villain to be redeemed? That’s not a theoretical question when that villain is Kylo Ren who may or may not be redeemed in Star Wars Episode IX. I talk with Charles Pulliam-Moore, JR Forasteros, Scott Tipton and Andrea Letamendi about some of the most and least convincing villain turnarounds, and whether we can have empathy for the devil. Part 2 of 2.

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My So Called Evil Plan Nov 27, 2019

Show notes

Villains are having a moment. They’re getting their own movies, they’re inspiring hashtags that say they’re right. And they don’t want to take over the world. They want to save it -- at a very high cost. I talk with writers and podcasters Charles Pulliam-Moore, JR Forasteros and Bruce Leslie about woke villains, and what their popularity says about our frustrations in the real world. Part 1 of 2.

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For All Mankind Blasts Off Nov 14, 2019

Show notes

Ronald D. Moore is probably best known for rebooting Battlestar Galactica as a gritty political commentary in the early 2000s. His latest show For All Mankind on AppleTV Plus imagines what if the Soviet Union had beaten the U.S. in the space race and planted the hammer and sickle flag on the moon. But Moore spins that nightmare scenario into a positive alternative history where a newly invigorated space race not only gives NASA the budget it wanted in the 1970s, but it forces the agency to be far more inclusive than it actually was in real history.

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The Origin of Alien Abduction Narratives Oct 30, 2019

Show notes

Think of an alien abduction: humanoid creatures, medical experiments, lost memories brought back by hypnosis. But that narrative was largely unknown until Betty and Barney Hill went public about their alien abduction in the 1960s. Betty Hill’s niece, Kathleen Marden, tells the story of how her aunt and uncle became unwitting celebrities, and professors Susan Lepselter, Chris Bader, Joseph O. Baker and Stephanie Kelley-Romano explain how the story of the Hills changed UFO subculture and science fiction forever.

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The Art of Talking to the Dead Oct 16, 2019

Show notes

Jason Suran wants you to know he can’t talk to the dead. Then he will convince you that he can. In Suran’s show, The Other Side, he recreates a theatrical type of séance that departed American culture almost a century ago. And he believes that experiencing the way people tried to contact the departed can reveal a lot about our deepest desires and fears. Plus David Jaher, author of The Witch of Lime Street, discusses how séances became all the rage in America until Harry Houdini made it his life’s mission to debunk them.

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Monster or Anti-Hero? Godzilla’s Creators Disagreed Oct 02, 2019

Show notes

We all know Godzilla’s iconic roar, but the musician who scored Godzilla's rampages is not as well known. The composer Akira Ifukube’s collaboration with the director Ishiro Honda is fascinating because the two men had different ideas of what Godzilla represented. Honda filmed Godzilla as a monster, but Ifukube saw Godzilla as an anti-hero. Erik Homenick, John DeSentis, and Reiko Yamada explain how this artistic conversation between the music and the visuals added layers of depth that helped turn a monster into an icon.

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