Tales under the cat tree: Imagination and Adventure

Duleepa Wijayawardhana
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From the interactive masterpieces of video games to the turning points of history and the thrills of real-world exploration, our individual realities are defined by the stories we tell. Every two weeks, Tales under the cat tree explores of the power of imagination and the art of storytelling, whether that's video games or propaganda! Dups (Duleepa Wijayawardhana) is a CTO and really a lifelong geek, and we dive into the mechanics of world-building. Whether that building happens in the code of software, on the tabletop of a roleplaying game, in the pages of literary fiction, or in real life history, every guest brings a new perspective. Join us for conversations with creators, adventurers, and thinkers as we dissect the narratives that shape our culture and our future. Because ultimately, words create the worlds we live in. Read more and find full transcripts at https://tales.dups.ca

  1. 5d ago

    Ep72: Not lost in translation with Anna-Maija Ihander

    How do sex scenes written in English translate into Finnish? Let’s talk to Anna-Maija Ihander about translating fiction to Finnish. A few years ago, I read one of Finland's most celebrated post-war novels: The Unknown Soldier or Unknown Soldiers by Väinö Linna. The copy I read was a modern translation into English by Dr. Liesl Yamaguchi. As a foreigner living in Finland, I have been told that Finns have regional dialects but it's not something I can make out, certainly I don't know the cultural signficance of each of the dialects and how Finns themselves perceive them. The translator's note at the end specifically talked about how she had translated the conversations and for a native western English speaker, the book rang true. As a foreigner working in Finland and as a native english speaker working with many nationalities, I question how my tone, choice of words, and choice of expressions map and translate into my colleagues' mental models. At work though, the language I am concerned about is what I would call functional English. What about the much more complicated world of fiction translated into Finnish? In Unknown Soldiers, I had read Finnish fiction translated into English. However, the world of English media vastly outnumbers that of Finnish and in most book stores there is a large variety of English to Finnish translations. With that in mind, I invited Anna-Maija Ihander, a translator of fiction and entertainment, to talk about her experiences. If words create the worlds we live in, how do these words create worlds in different languages? Let's find out. Show notes: https://tales.dups.ca/p/ep72-not-lost-in-translation

    Ep72: Not lost in translation with Anna-Maija Ihander

  2. Sep 14

    Ep71: Are we back to the 1920s? A conversation on German politics in 2026

    Recently in Germany, the right-wing party Alternative für Deutschland (AFD) won more votes than any other party in the province of Saxony-Anhalt. In many parts of the world headlines rang that Germany was returning to the days of the 1930s. That's not really the case, but at the same time, it is the case that right-wing and other extreme ideologies are on the rise in western democracies from USA, to France, to Sweden, to Finland. I sat down for a conversation with my friend, former professor, and collaborator, Dr. Erwin Warkentin, who is living in Berlin as Berlin goes for an election that might swing to the complete opposite of the AFD if polling is to be believed. His point was that we weren't quite back to the 1930s, but much more perhaps to the 1920s. How did we get here and where are we going if we use history as a teacher? More show notes: https://tales.dups.ca/p/ep71-1920s-and-german-politics-today

    Ep71: Are we back to the 1920s? A conversation on German politics in 2026

  3. Sep 8

    Ep70: Reliving student journalism in the 1990s

    What happens when you put hundreds of student journalists in a hotel in the middle of winter somewhere in Canada? We explore the Canadian University Press and student journalism in the 90s with Alayne Armstrong. Back in the early 1990s we didn't have Google. Most of our news came via mainstream media, whether that was television channels, radio, or newsprint. Cable news was starting to take off. However, that didn't mean that you couldn't have alternative voices. Most campuses in North America had a free student press, funded by newspaper advertising and usually run by the student union. Canada had something unique. Canada has the oldest student organization in North America and longest running student news service in the world with the Canadian University Press or CUP. The organization was setup in 1938 and continues to today. When I wrote and edited at Memorial's newspaper The Muse, we were members of CUP and the Atlantic region version, ARCUP. Student and alternative voices were and I believe, still are critical in society. We were not afraid to question the status quo, whatever that might be. We forced conversations whether you liked them or not, and we were a safe space for otherwise silent voices and ideas. But being part of CUP meant also learning from so many students across Canada. So it's my pleasure to welcome Alayne Armstrong, one of the presidents of CUP. She was president during my 1993-94 year otherwise known as CUP 56.

  4. Aug 31

    Ep69: (Reprise) BioWare Stories Parts 1 & 2

    This is a combined episode combining Episodes 27 and 28 Today’s episode was originally broadcast in two parts but this time I have combined both into one omnibus episode. Please see original show notes, including pictures here: https://tales.dups.ca/p/ep69-reprise-bioware-stories Direct Links and episodes below Ep. 27: BioWare Stories Part 1 - Releasing the BioWare Community and Neverwinter NightsDuleepa Wijayawardhana Ep. 28: BioWare Stories Part 2 - The flood and shipping Jade EmpireDuleepa Wijayawardhana And here are related BioWare episodes Ep. 29: BioWare Stories Part 3 - Dragons, Mako, Mounts and moreDuleepa Wijayawardhana Ep47: BioWare Stories Part 4 - Sound design with Dave ChanDuleepa Wijayawardhana Ep48: Forging swords and knives with video game CEO Trent OsterDuleepa Wijayawardhana Ep56: Creating game worlds with designer Brent KnowlesDuleepa Wijayawardhana

    Ep69: (Reprise) BioWare Stories Parts 1 & 2

  5. Aug 24

    Ep68: Magical Realism with Shannon Patrick Sullivan

    Mathematician by day, writer by night, come meet Shannon Patrick Sullivan as he contends with finishing his second novel. --- Have you ever sat down with the idea of writing fifty thousand words? Every year there is the “NaNoWriMo”, the National Novel Writing Month. This is an event that happens every November where people attempt to churn out a draft of 50,000 words in a single month. If you have ever tried, you will know how difficult that task actually is. Believe me, I have tried and continue to try! I’ve known Shannon Patrick Sullivan for any number of decades. We met during university and as you will hear in the interview, he wrote his first published novel, The Dying Days, in a scant 5 weeks. As of publishing this interview, he has completed the first draft of his second novel which comes in at a nice and hefty 250,000 words written in a single summer. Some links related to the interviewYou can find Shannon @ www.shannonsullivan.com. The Patreon page for the podcast that Shannon co-writes with Toby Hadoke, “Doctor Who: Too Much Information”, is https://www.patreon.com/tobyhadoke. More details here: https://tales.dups.ca/p/ep68-magical-realism-with-shannon-sullivan

  6. Aug 17

    Ep67: Into The Great with Elliot Blake

    Elliot Blake is the author of a new Science Fiction novel called Into The Great that comes out September 1, 2026. The synopsis reads as following: Sparks fly when Lilah, a thief from a struggling freespacer colony outside the borders of the Federated Solar Republic, meets Bax, an FSR security officer stationed at an official colony within those borders, during a time of heightened tensions for humanity as the silent, staring, seemingly invulnerable aliens dubbed The Aureum begin to meddle in human affairs. A story about choosing the life you want to live in a time of unprecedented, rapid change beyond your control.The author Elliot Blake, courtesy of Elliot Blake. Elliot has worked in the creative industry pretty much all of his adult life. He has been the executive producer of the Apple TV animated kids’ series The Sisters Grimm and director of flagship Audible Original series Moriarty. We will talk about some of his past work including the Emmy-winning animated web series Tomb Raider: ReVisioned. So it’s my great pleasure to have Elliot on the show for a fascinating conversation about the book, its origin story, Elliot’s origin story, and more. We even delve into topics surrounding AI. Get the purchase links and more at: https://tales.dups.ca/p/ep67-into-the-great-with-elliot-blake

    Ep67: Into The Great with Elliot Blake

  7. Aug 10

    Ep66: How propaganda helped create modern Germany - Part 2

    Part 2 of our dive into so-called "black propaganda" during World War II. Dr. Erwin Warkentin and I dive into how the propaganda used during and after the war has has helped define modern Germany. Show notes and more detail at: https://tales.dups.ca/p/ep66-how-propaganda-helped-create-germany

    Ep66: How propaganda helped create modern Germany - Part 2

  8. Aug 3

    Ep65: How porn and fake news helped defeat the Nazis - Part 1

    Today, Dr. Erwin Warkentin goes into how the Allies in World War Two used porn and so-called "black propaganda" tactics to bring about the end of the Nazi regime. --- When you consider the effect of the stories we tell and the power of the human imagination, we rarely, if ever, talk about the power stories can have at times of war. We don't often talk about how stories can be an important asset in bringing about victory and then holding on to the peace. These days when we talk about "fake news", it is just one form of propaganda. On this episode I have my long-time collaborator, friend and former professor, Dr. Erwin Warkentin to talk about how the Allies employed different propaganda tactics against the Nazi regime of Germany during World War Two. Dr. Warkentin has done extensive research on the subject and has written three books on the subject. While we talk, you might want to visit my show notes. There are some of the original pictures of his research including documents from the time. This episode is part one of two. See images and more at https://tales.dups.ca/p/ep65-part-1-porn-fake-news-helped-defeat-nazis

    Ep65: How porn and fake news helped defeat the Nazis - Part 1
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About

From the interactive masterpieces of video games to the turning points of history and the thrills of real-world exploration, our individual realities are defined by the stories we tell. Every two weeks, Tales under the cat tree explores of the power of imagination and the art of storytelling, whether that's video games or propaganda! Dups (Duleepa Wijayawardhana) is a CTO and really a lifelong geek, and we dive into the mechanics of world-building. Whether that building happens in the code of software, on the tabletop of a roleplaying game, in the pages of literary fiction, or in real life history, every guest brings a new perspective. Join us for conversations with creators, adventurers, and thinkers as we dissect the narratives that shape our culture and our future. Because ultimately, words create the worlds we live in. Read more and find full transcripts at https://tales.dups.ca

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