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Imaginary Worlds

Eric Molinsky | Daylight Media
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Imaginary Worlds sounds like what would happen if NPR went to ComicCon and decided that’s all they ever wanted to cover. Host Eric Molinsky spent over a decade working as a public radio reporter and producer, and he uses those skills to create thoughtful, sound-rich episodes about science fiction, fantasy, and other genres of speculative fiction. In this award-winning podcast, Eric talks with filmmakers, screenwriters, novelists, comic book artists, game designers, and anyone who works in the field of make-believe about how they craft their worlds. He also talks with academics and fans about why we suspend our disbelief, and what happens if the spell is broken. Imaginary 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.

  1. 14 JANV.

    Making History with Assassin's Creed

    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 what does it mean to be a writer on a massive video game where your character is mostly running, climbing, jumping and fighting? The key to his work lies in historical research, but he is sometimes torn between what would actually happen and what pop culture has trained us to expect from different eras of history. We also discuss his new novel, The Halter, which imagines a future where virtual reality is so realistic and addictive that people abandon their real lives and have to be tracked down. This is the first episode in a multi-part series on video games. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    37 min

  2. 17/12/2025

    Say No to Santa World Tour: An Audio Drama

    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 they’re on a tour to reintroduce themselves. While I went into this press junket with the best of intensions, some of my interviews went off the rails. It turns out when a supernatural being has been around for centuries, their personal history can get complicated. Featuring André Refig, Vili-Oskari Körkkö, Begonya Ferrer, Teresa Mastrobuono, and Bill Lobley. There will be no episode of Imaginary Worlds on December 31st. The show will return on January 14th. Happy Holidays, everyone! This episode is sponsored by MiracleMade and Uncommon Goods Get 15% off your order at uncommongoods.com/imaginary. Go to TryMiracle.com/IMAGINARY to save over 40%, and when you use promo code IMAGINARY, you’ll get an extra 20% off plus a free 3-piece towel set. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    42 min

  3. 03/12/2025

    Searching for Cryptids

    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 – creatures that people believe are real but haven’t been scientifically verified. Cryptids are having a cultural moment, and they’re a vital part of folklore. Native Alaskan storyteller James Dommek Jr. discusses his podcast Alaska Is The Center of The Universe and his audiobook Midnight Son. James has been collecting tribal stories about cryptids because he sees them as cultural treasures that need to be preserved. I also talk with J.W. Ocker, author of The United States of Cryptids: A Tour of American Myths and Monsters, about why so many small towns in the U.S. are embracing their local cryptids as a last ditch effort to revitalize their economies. This episode is sponsored by MiracleMade and Uncommon Goods  Get 15% off your order at uncommongoods.com/imaginary.  Go to TryMiracle.com/IMAGINARY to save over 40%, and when you use promo code IMAGINARY, you’ll get an extra 20% off plus a free 3-piece towel set. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    41 min

  4. 19/11/2025

    This Animated Life

    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 animation in my lifetime, and my life in animation. The interviews come from Between Imaginary Worlds, a chat show that’s available exclusively to listeners who pledge $5 a month or more on Patreon. Act I: I bond with comic book and children’s book author Judd Winick over the creepy world of 1970s children’s TV – which scared us as kids but makes us oddly nostalgic today. Act II: My friend Caleb Meurer and I reminisce about his experience working with the original crew of SpongeBob at Nickelodeon, and how the creator of SpongeBob indirectly told me I was in the wrong field.   Act III: Aidan Sugano and Denis-Jose Francois talk about the heartfelt effort it took for the animation studio DNEG to make the film Nimona after Disney dropped the project.  This week’s episode is sponsored by The Perfect Jean and Uncommon Goods. Get 15% off your order with the code IMAGINARY15 at theperfectjean.nyc  Get 15% off your order at uncommongoods.com/imaginary. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    40 min

  5. 05/11/2025

    Bringing Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein to Life

    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 making a Frankenstein movie for years, and she had worked with him on several projects before. She told me they’re so much sync, “I find with Guillermo, it’s not speaking in words, it’s speaking with images.” But that didn’t make the production design any less challenging. We discuss where Tamara looked for inspiration, why it’s important for her to build physical sets no matter the size, and how she reimagined the signature set piece of every Frankenstein adaptation -- the lab where The Creature comes to life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    35 min

  6. 22/10/2025

    Creature Double Feature

    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 promoter Bram Stoker? I talk with biographer Charlotte Gordon and Professors Gillen D'Arcy Wood and Ron Broglio about how “The Year Without a Summer” may have sparked storms in Mary Shelley’s mind. And I talk with UC Davis professor Louis Warren about why he believes an American entertainer was the unlikely model for Count Dracula. Featuring readings by Lily Dorment and John Keating. This episode is a combination of two previous episodes that were broken apart, reassembled and brought back to life. This episode is sponsored by The Perfect Jean and Uncommon Goods To get 15% off your next gift, go to uncommongoods.com/imaginary To get 15% off your first order use the code IMAGINARY15 when you check out at theperfectjean.nyc Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    42 min

  7. 08/10/2025

    Music of a Forbidden Planet

    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 hired Louis and Bebe Barron to write the score for the sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet. It was the first all-electronic score for a Hollywood film, but not everyone was ready for the future of film music. I talk with Louis’ son David Barron, composer Dorothy Moskowitz, University of Chicago associate professor Jennifer Iverson, and broadcaster and writer John Cavanagh about how the Barrons built a Rube Goldberg-style electronic music studio long before electronic music could be generated with the push of a button -- and why it took decades for their work to be fully appreciated. Thanks to Thomas Rhea (author of Electronic Perspectives: Vintage Electronic Musical Instruments) for permission to use audio from his 1998 interview with Bebe Barron. You can learn more about the Louis and Bebe Barron archive at Forgotten Futures. Philip Shorey’s orchestra is touring with his new score to the 1925 film The Phantom of The Opera. This episode is sponsored by Remi. Go to shopremi.com/IMAGINARY and use the code IMAGINARY to get up to 50% off your nightguard at checkout. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    35 min

  8. 24/09/2025

    The Battle to Make Star Wars

    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 Wars by artist Renaud Roche and writer Laurent Hopman just came out in English (the original French title is Les Guerres de Lucas.) I talk with Renaud and Laurent about why the making of Star Wars was such a long shot, and how the production changed the lives of everyone involved. Plus, we discuss the unsung heroes who helped make Star Wars happen -- like Lucas’s ex wife Marcia and studio mogul Alan Ladd Jr.   Imaginary Worlds was just nominated for a Signal Award for Best Arts & Culture podcast! That also means the show is eligible for a Listener's Choice Award. You can vote for the show at vote.signalawards.com. The deadline is October 9th. Thank you! This episode is sponsored by Hims and Remi. Go to shopremi.com/IMAGINARY and use the code IMAGINARY to get up to 50% off your nightguard at checkout. For simple, online access to personalized and affordable care for hair loss and more, visit Hims.com/IMAGINARY. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    38 min
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À propos

Imaginary Worlds sounds like what would happen if NPR went to ComicCon and decided that’s all they ever wanted to cover. Host Eric Molinsky spent over a decade working as a public radio reporter and producer, and he uses those skills to create thoughtful, sound-rich episodes about science fiction, fantasy, and other genres of speculative fiction. In this award-winning podcast, Eric talks with filmmakers, screenwriters, novelists, comic book artists, game designers, and anyone who works in the field of make-believe about how they craft their worlds. He also talks with academics and fans about why we suspend our disbelief, and what happens if the spell is broken. Imaginary 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.

Informations

  • Création
    Eric Molinsky | Daylight Media
  • Années d’activité
    2014 - 2026
  • Épisodes
    299
  • Classification
    Contenu explicite
  • Copyright
    © 2024
  • Site web de l’émission
    Imaginary Worlds
  • Fournisseur
    ERIC MOLINSKY

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