Imaginary Worlds

Discover a list of unsung gems of sci-fi and fantasy, including The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, Odyssey 5, Spaced, Erik the Viking, John Carter, Centaurworld, and Wendell & Wild. Dive into the beauty and cancellation of Dark Crystal, the cult following of Spaced, the appreciation of film adaptations, the themes in Centaur World, and the frustrations working on Wendell & Wild.

The podcast explores the disappointment felt by fans when their favorite TV shows are cancelled, highlighting specific examples like Firefly and Carnival. It also discusses the impact of cancellation on the audience and the challenges faced by creators. The chapter explores different shows, including The Owl House and Penny Dreadful, and reflects on the frustration of disappointing endings. It also touches on the joy of watching favorites and the phenomenon of unsung gems.

Who wouldn’t want a fairy godmother to solve our problems with the flick of a magic wand? We know that’s not a healthy fantasy and yet, fairy godmothers aren’t going away. In fact, they’ve been proliferating in contemporary fantasy novels and reinterpretations of Cinderella. But they don’t look or act like you might expect. I talk with Butler University lecturer Jeana Jorgensen and PhD student Abigail Fine about the origin of fairy godmothers and why they’re ripe for reimagining. And I talk with author Gail Caron Levine about her groundbreaking novel Ella Enchanted, which broke the mold on fairy tales. Featuring readings from Aliza Pearl.Jeana Jorgensen's latest book is Fairy Tales 101: An Accessible Introduction to Fairy Tales.In this episode we discussed Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine, Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron and Kissing the Witch by Emma Donahue. Other contemporary novels with fairy godmother-type characters include Geekerella by Ashley Poston, Shadows on The Moon by Zoe Marriott, Ash by Malinda Lo, Ash & Bramble by Sarah Prineas, and Disenchanted: The Trials of Cinderella by Megan Morrison. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

These ships feel like old friends – The Enterprise, the Millennium Falcon, Battlestar Galactica, Serenity, The Rosinante. But would any of them actually work in space? I talk with NASA astrophysicist Jessie Christiansen, JPL planetary scientist Kevin Hand and Boeing engineer Eric Primm talk about how we would get to the stars, what those ships would actually look like, why the Millennium Falcon probably couldn’t have made the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs, and whether the X-Wing fighter should be a drone.This week's episode is sponsored by Express VPN. We’re proud to be featured on Podurama this month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Science fiction has primed us for this moment when artificial intelligence starts to take on a life of its own. ChatGPT has baffled and surprised even computer scientists in terms of how it works. Now a lot of us are asking, “Which movie are we in?” Is ChatGPT going to be a benign intelligence like Samantha from Her, dangerously neurotic and emotionally unstable like HAL from 2001, or a malevolent force like Skynet from The Terminator series? I talk with Erik Sofge, senior editor at MIT Horizon, about whether any of these scenarios are accurate, or if sci-fi is distracting us from seeing the problems that A.I. could create in our daily lives. We also revisit my 2016 episode The Robot Uprising, where I looked at how our feelings about A.I. and robots are influenced not just by sci-fi but also unresolved historical guilt. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As the Warhammer franchise reaches its 40th anniversary, the company Games Workshop’s stated goal of “total global domination” is going swimmingly. But there’s one person who hasn’t gotten swept up in the war of miniature game pieces: me. I go to a Warhammer 40K tournament at The Brooklyn Strategist to learn why this tabletop role-playing game is so beloved and addictive. And I talk with game designer and author James Wallis about how a small company in Nottingham captured the zeitgeist of Thatcher-era Britain and infused their game with satire – even if some players missed the joke.James’ latest book is “Everybody Wins: Four Decades of the Greatest Board Games Ever Made.”Curious what painted Warhammer miniatures look like? Check out the Instagram accounts for Tabletop Minions, David Nordquist, Vincent Venurella and Louise Sugden. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Our culture is going through a Gothic Revival -- partly thanks to the influence of Tim Burton. Gothic literature may have thrived in the 19th century (and my high school English class) but a lot of contemporary writers are returning to the tradition, creating stories that reimagine the past or look at the present through a Gothic lens. I talk with Xavier Aldana Reyes of the Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies about how The Gothic is like a mode or a sensibility that can take over any genre. Kit Mayquist, author of Tripping Arcadia: A Gothic Novel, discusses why The Gothic feels like the right fit for a generation that was gaslit while coming of age during war and a recession. And Leila Taylor, author of Darkly: Black History and America's Gothic Soul, explains that America will always be haunted by its Gothic past until we confront it. Featuring readings by voice actor Tanya Rich. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A play by Charles Dickens. The Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland. A hologram of a famous dead pop singer. They’re all connected by a simple magic trick called Pepper’s Ghost. What’s most remarkable about this illusion is that it hasn’t changed much in over 160 years. I talk with Jim Steinmeyer and Ben Schrader, both designers of theatrical special effects, about why a Victorian magic trick is more popular than ever at modern theme parks and other live entertainment venues. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When Jim Henson hired Bonnie Erickson to design Muppets in the early 1970s, Bonnie had no idea this experimental project they were working on – a prime time TV show with puppets – would evolve into the cultural phenomenon of The Muppet Show. I talked with Bonnie about how the crew tried several one-off specials where they figured out who the main characters would be, what they’d look like, and what they’d sound like. Bonnie explains how she came up with the designs for Miss Piggy, Statler and Waldorf, Zoot and others. And we talk about one of the biggest challenges in making The Muppets seem believable – where to place the pupils in their eyes.This episode is sponsored by ExpressVPN. Our ad partner is Multitude. If you’re interested in advertising on Imaginary Worlds, you can contact them here or email us at sponsors@multitude.productions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This summer, Hayao Miyazaki will be releasing his final animated film before retiring. Environmental stewardship has been a consistent theme throughout his work, from My Neighbor Totoro to Spirited Away to Princess Mononoke. But what exactly has he been saying all this time about our relationship to the natural world? I gather a panel of experts to discuss the worlds that Miyazaki creates, and how his stories tap into current debates around the climate crisis. Featuring Yuan Pan, lecturer on Environmental Management at the University of Reading, and environmental journalists and authors Isaac Yuen and Emma Marris.  This episode is sponsored by ExpressVPN and Factor. Our ad partner is Multitude. If you’re interested in advertising on Imaginary Worlds, you can contact them here or email us at sponsors@multitude.productions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices