Episode 300: Celebrating 300 Imaginary Worlds — Imaginary Worlds Imaginary Worlds has reached another milestone – 300 episodes! We already celebrated the 200th episode and the 10th anniversary of the show, but in those episodes, we mostly kept the spotlight off our...

Pop the champagne! My colleague Stephanie and I celebrate the 300th episode by looking back on how this journey has shaped us -- complete with 1980s sitcom-style flashbacks.

Episode 299: Puppeteering Project Hail Mary — Imaginary Worlds When I interviewed Andy Weir in 2021 about his novel Project Hail Mary, he told me that the movie adaptation was already being planned starring Ryan Gosling. The big question was how would they brin...

This week, I talked with James Ortiz – the puppeteer of Rocky in Project Hail Mary. We discuss how he built his team of puppeteers or "Rocketeers," and why it was so challenging to control a five-legged puppet while doing improv with Ryan Gosling.

Episode 290: Bringing Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein to Life — Imaginary Worlds When director Guillermo del Toro asked Tamara Deverell to be the production designer on his film adaptation of Frankenstein, she had a good idea of what he wanted. Del Toro had been dreaming of maki...

Congrats to Tamara Deverell! I'm very proud to have had an Oscar winner on my podcast!!

Episode 298: How D.C. Fontana Helped Star Trek Live Long and Prosper — Imaginary Worlds Gene Roddenberry’s name is synonymous with Star Trek, but he relied on a team to bring his vision to life. Most of his writers were men with one exception, the trailblazing Dorothy Fontana. Profession...

In honor of the 60th Anniversary of Star Trek and Women’s History Month, we look at the voyages of D.C. Fontana – the trailblazing screenwriter who helped Star Trek go where television had never gone before.

Unless you have a low Wisdom modifier

Episode 297: Absolute Reimagining of DC Comics — Imaginary Worlds Imagine if Bruce Wayne had no money, if Superman grew up on Krypton and came to Earth with emotional scars, or if Wonder Woman had been raised in Hell. Welcome to the Absolute Universe – a dark parall...

DC superheroes have been reinvented in a dark parallel universe, and the fans can't get enough of it. I talked with editors Chris Conroy and Katie Kubert, and writer Kelly Thompson about why the Absolute Universe has resonated so strongly with fans and how it has thematic parallels with our world.

Episode 296: Sinners Gives Hoodoo Its Due — Imaginary Worlds Sinners got a historic 16 Academy Award nominations, which was remarkable for a film with vampires. But the film is also a rich exploration of race, religion, culture and music in 1930s Mississippi. P...

This week, we look at the character of Annie in the Oscar-nominated film Sinners. I talk with Professors Kinitra Brooks and Yvonne Chireau (who was a consultant on the film) about how Sinners turned the horror trope of the conjure woman into a heroine and love interest.

💯 😪

Episode 295: Scarlet Hollow Draws a Picture of Success — Imaginary Worlds Scarlet Hollow is a successful indie video game – and that’s no small feat. It’s been a long journey, and the game is made almost entirely by two people: Abby Howard and Tony Howard-Arias of Black T...

This week, I talk with Abby Howard and Tony Howard-Arias, the creators of one of my favorite indie games, Scarlet Hollow. We discuss how animating Abby’s drawings allowed them to design a game where the players have seemingly endless choices and romance options in a spooky Southern Gothic town.

@simsigga.bsky.social Hey Junie! We'd love to interview you for our podcast Imaginary Worlds. My asst. producer Stephanie sent you an email. Please let us know if you're interested!

Episode 294: Making History with Assassin’s Creed — Imaginary Worlds Darby McDevitt is a narrative director and writer at Ubisoft. He’s worked on multiple games in the Assassin’s Creed franchise, which spans time periods from Ancient Greece to Victorian England. But...

This week, we kick off a mini-series on video games. @darbymcdevitt.bsky.social is an expert on losing yourself in virtual worlds. We discuss his career as a narrative director and writer on the Assassin’s Creed games, and his new novel about VR called The Halter.

Finally! It does screw up the very specific Force Awakens timeline they've committed to -- which is admirable -- but they also were trying way too hard to make Kylo Ren happen.

Last night, Stranger Things purified itself in the waters of Lake Minnetonka 💜

Episode 293 - Say No to Santa World Tour: An Audio Drama — Imaginary Worlds In my annual audio drama, I interview several folklore figures who are synonymous with the holiday season outside America -- but they’ve been overshadowed by the cultural juggernaut of Santa Claus. So...

It’s time for my annual audio drama! This year, I interview supernatural folklore characters that are synonymous with the holiday season outside America, but they’ve been overshadowed by the cultural juggernaut of Santa Claus

Episode 292: Searching for Cryptids — Imaginary Worlds When I was growing up, Bigfoot appeared regularly on the covers of supermarket tabloids, so I assumed he was a joke. But I’ve discovered that he’s part of a larger and even stranger world of cryptids ...

Bigfoot sighting! Mothman seen! Cryptids are popping up everywhere – not just in the wilderness but at festivals across the country. I talk with Native Alaskan podcaster James Dommek Jr and author J.W. Ocker about why some people see cryptids as a vital part of their culture.

There was a glitch where the episode cut off the beginning but that's fixed. If your episode still starts abruptly, then delete the file and redownload the episode.

Episode 291: This Animated Life — Imaginary Worlds As longtime listeners know, I worked in the animation industry before switching careers and going into broadcasting. Today’s episode features a trio of conversations that trace the history of animatio...

This week, a trio of conversations that track the history of animation in my lifetime, and my life in animation. Act I: Acid Tab Cartoons. Act II: Looking Like SpongeBob. Act III: Saving Nimona. These stories come from Between Imaginary Worlds, which is available to listeners who pledge on Patreon.

Episode 290: Bringing Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein to Life — Imaginary Worlds When director Guillermo del Toro asked Tamara Deverell to be the production designer on his film adaptation of Frankenstein, she had a good idea of what he wanted. Del Toro had been dreaming of maki...

It takes a village to make a monster. This week, I talk with Tamara Deverell, the production designer on the new Frankenstein film directed by Guillermo del Toro. We discuss where she looked for inspiration, and how she reimagined the iconic lab where The Creature comes to life.

Episode 289: Creature Double Feature — Imaginary Worlds In honor of the spooky season, we present two monstrous origin stories -- Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. We know when these books were written in the 19th century. But what inspired the imaginations of the rebellious teenager Mary Shelley, or the beleaguered theatrical promot

This week, we look at the origins of two of the most famous horror novels -- Frankenstein and Dracula -- and talk with scholars about what might have inspired Mary Shelley and Bram Stoker.

Episode 288: Music of a Forbidden Planet — Imaginary Worlds In the 1950s, the avant-garde music scene in New York and the movie studios of Los Angeles might have seemed like opposite ends of a cultural spectrum. But they came together (and blew apart) when MGM...

This week, we explore the groundbreaking score that Louis and Bebe Barron created for the 1956 sci-fi film Forbidden Planet. It changed the sound of science fiction music, but not everyone was ready to accept the future of film scoring.

One of my favorite podcasts, Imaginary Worlds by @emolinsky.bsky.social, interviewed the creators of one of the best books I've read recently, Lucas Wars. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/i...

Episode 287: The Battle to Make Star Wars — Imaginary Worlds Movies that change cinema often come from outsiders – whether it’s Orson Welles making Citizen Kane or George Lucas making Star Wars a.k.a. Episode IV: A New Hope. The excellent graphic novel Lucas W...

Viola! The French graphic novel Les Guerres de Lucas is out now in English with a new title, Lucas Wars. I talked with artist Renaud Roche and writer Laurent Hopman about how they depicted the making of Star Wars, and why it was such an uphill battle for Lucas himself.

The Signal Listener's Choice Award needs YOU I just voted for this finalist to win a Signal Listener's Choice Award. You should too.

I'm thrilled that Imaginary Worlds is a finalist for a Signal Award for Best Arts & Culture podcast! I'm also eligible for a Listener's Choice Award. You can vote right here! Feel free to forward too!

not to make this all about my own interests, but we NEED more people to discover audio dramas

not only do they rule, but they're probably one of the few entertainment mediums left that aren't mostly controlled by massive companies vulnerable to corruption/pressure

the most successful ADs are indie

Episode 285: The Shark That Ate Hollywood — Imaginary Worlds I didn't want the summer to end without joining in on the 50th anniversary celebrations of Jaws. I spent summers on Cape Cod as a kid, where I often heard that Jaws was filmed nearby on Martha’s Viney...

This week, we hear an episode from the podcast Cautionary Tales about a young filmmaker, a difficult actor, and even more difficult mechanical shark that could’ve turned into a disaster. Instead, it produced a cinematic masterpiece.

This eloquently sums up why I've been so depressed about the state of podcasting now. For a long time it felt like there was this endless hunger for thoughtfully produced narrative shows. Now it feels like a capricious whiplash where everyone is like, "Okay, we're done. Bring on the celebs!"

Episode 284: Dreaming of Coney Island’s Dreamland — Imaginary Worlds Coney Island still has the classic amusements you’d expect today like roller coasters, water slides, and carnival games. But over a century ago, it looked more like a proto–Disney World, with multiple...

With summer winding down, we take a trip to Coney Island – over a century ago – and explore the bombastic and bizarre theme park Dreamland.

Episode 283 - 8-Bit to Orchestras: Video Game Music Scores — Imaginary Worlds Creating a musical score for interactive video games is like trying to hit a moving target. Luckily, Hans Zimmer’s studio Bleeding Fingers has developed some clever strategies. I talk with their CEO...

This week, I talk with video game composers at Hans Zimmer’s company Bleeding Fingers, and indie composer Winifred Phillips about the challenge of writing music for a visual medium that is constantly changing.

Episode 282: How Jack Kirby Made His Mark on Marvel — Imaginary Worlds The production design of the film Fantastic Four: First Steps is an homage to the early ‘60s comics created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. While Kirby is best known for his bold, fist-popping drawing sty...

In honor of the new Fantastic Four movie coming out and the way it’s paying homage to the original comics from the 1960s, this week I revised my 2018 episode about Jack Kirby and how much of himself he put into characters that eventually became pop culture icons.

Episode 281: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Douglas Adams — Imaginary Worlds When Arvind Ethan David was a student, he decided to adapt the Douglas Adams novel Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency into a play. Arvind didn’t imagine that Adams would show up to see the play...

Thanks to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, we already know the meaning of life. (Spoiler: it’s 42.) This week, we ponder the meaning of Douglas Adams.