The Worldbuilding Workshop: Companion Podcast

Trent Hergenrader & Stephen Slota

The official companion podcast for The Worldbuilding Workshop: Teaching Critical Thinking and Empathy Through World Modeling, Simulation, and Play, hosted by co-authors Trent Hergenrader and Stephen Slota. The duo conducts a chapter-by-chapter breakdown of the book; outlines their thinking about each chapter's contents; describes ideas that were left on the cutting room floor; and explores how the worldbuilding framework can fit all kinds of teaching and learning environments.

  1. 1d ago

    Episode 39: Materiality Matters

    Episode References: Melville, H. (1851). Moby Dick. Harper & Brothers. (Original work published as The Whale via Richard Bentley, 1851) Miyamoto, S. (1985). Super Mario Bros. [Video game]. Nintendo. McLuhan, M. (1964). Understanding media: The extensions of man. McGraw-Hill. Landymore, F. (2026, July 25). AI companies are buying antique books, ingesting their contents to train models, and then destroying them at incredible scale, even if almost no copies remain. Futurism. https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-companies-destroying-rare-books Maiberg, E. (2026, July 21). AI companies are buying tons of old books because they're free of AI slop. 404 Media. https://www.404media.co/ai-companies-are-buying-tons-of-old-books-because-theyre-free-of-ai-slop/ Edwards, B. (2025, June 25). Anthropic destroyed millions of print books to build its AI models. Ars Technica. https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/06/anthropic-destroyed-millions-of-print-books-to-build-its-ai-models/ Bartz v. Anthropic PBC, No. 3 : 24-cv-05417-AMO (N.D. Cal. Aug. 19, 2024). https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25982181/authors-v-anthropic-ruling.pdf Maiberg, E. (2026, August 17). We tracked a shipment of rare books. It ended at an Amazon AI training facility. 404 Media. https://www.404media.co/we-tracked-a-shipment-of-rare-books-it-ended-at-an-amazon-ai-training-facility Oliver, J. (Host). (2022, October 2). Museums (Season 9, Episode 24) [TV series episode]. In J. Oliver, T. Carvell, & H. Perez (Executive Producers), Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. HBO. Greenhouse Studios. (2020). Courtroom 600: A virtual reality encounter with evidence of the Holocaust [Virtual reality game]. University of Connecticut. Moulthrop, S. (1991). Victory garden [Hypertext fiction]. Eastgate Systems. Torgovnick May, K. (2013, January 14). Remembering internet activist Aaron Swartz. TED Blog. https://blog.ted.com/remembering-internet-activist-aaron-swartz/ Dylan, B. (1975). Tangled up in blue [Song]. Blood on the tracks [Album]. Columbia Records. Shiban, J. & Schnauz, T. (Writers), & MacLaren, M. (Director). (2010, May 30). ABQ (Season 3, Episode 11) [TV series episode]. In V. Gilligan (Executive Producer), Breaking Bad. High Bridge Productions; Sony Pictures Television. Doctorow, C. (2026). The reverse centaur’s guide to life after AI: How to think about artificial intelligence before it’s too late. MCD. Phillips, T. (1973). A humument: A treated Victorian novel. Tetrad Press. Postman, N. (1985). Amusing ourselves to death: Public discourse in the age of show business. Viking.

    Episode 39: Materiality Matters

  2. Aug 11

    Episode 38: Unbuilding A Reality

    Episode References: Cassino, D. & Woolley, P. (2011, November 21). Some news leaves people knowing less [Research report]. Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind. Licari, P. R. (2020). Sharp as a Fox: Are foxnews.com visitors less politically knowledgeable? ⁠American Politics Research, 48(6), 792–806. Huxley, A. (2010). Brave new world (11th ed.). Vintage. Postman, N. (1985). Amusing ourselves to death: Public discourse in the age of show business. Viking. Gallup. (2013, November 20). What's in a name? Affordable care act vs. Obamacare. Gallup [Opinion/Polling Matters]. ⁠Gallup. Dropp, K., & Nyhan, B. (2017, February 7). One-third don’t know Obamacare and Affordable Care Act are the same. ⁠The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/07/upshot/one-third-dont-know-obamacare-and-affordable-care-act-are-the-same.html Herman, E. S. & Chomsky, N. (2002). Manufacturing consent: The political economy of the mass media. Pantheon Books. Ralli, T. (2005, September 5). Who’s a looter? In storm’s aftermath, pictures kick up a different kind of tempest. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/business/whos-a-looter-in-storms-aftermath-pictures-kick-up-a-different.html Barad, K. (2007). Meeting the universe halfway: Quantum physics and the entanglement of matter and meaning. ⁠Duke University Press. Miranda, L.-M. & McCarter, J. (2016). Hamilton: the revolution. Grand Central Publishing. Evans, R. (Host). (2018–present). Behind the bastards [Audio podcast]. Cool Zone Media; iHeartPodcasts. Brett, J. (2023). “I put myself back in the narrative”: Hamilton as founders fanfiction. European Journal of American Studies, 18(1-1). https://doi.org/10.4000/ejas.19231 Wallis, B. (2023, September 8). Oklahoma is promoting a history curriculum using videos by conservative group PragerU. ⁠NPR. Petchauer, E. (2025, November 4). Oklahoma tried out a test to ‘woke‑proof’ the classroom. It was short‑lived, but could still leave a mark. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/oklahoma-tried-out-a-test-to-woke-proof-the-classroom-it-was-short-lived-but-could-still-leave-a-mark-266546 Surowiecki, J. (2004). The wisdom of crowds: Why the many are smarter than the few and how collective wisdom shapes business, economies, societies, and nations. ⁠Doubleday. Hayes, C. (2025). The sirens’ call: How attention became the world’s most endangered resource. Penguin Press. Donahue, P. (Executive Producer). (1967–1996). The Phil Donahue Show [TV series]. Multimedia Entertainment. Povich, M. (Executive Producer). (1991–2022). Maury [TV series]. Paramount Domestic Television; Studio USA; NBCUniversal Syndication Studios. Dubrow, B. (Creator/Executive Producer). (1991–2018). The Jerry Springer Show [TV series]. Multimedia Entertainment; Studios USA Television Distribution; NBCUniversal Television Distribution. Desan, S. M. (2013). Living the French Revolution and the Age of Napoleon [Audio/video lecture series]. The Great Courses. Google. (2017). Be internet awesome. Retrieved from https://beinternetawesome.withgoogle.com/ ⁠Zillich, J. (Director). (2004, October 15). Episode dated 15 October 2004 (Season 2004, Episode 291) [TV series episode]. In C. Cohen (Executive Producer), Crossfire. Cable News Network (CNN). Woodard, C. (2012). American nations: A history of the eleven rival regional cultures of North America. Penguin Books. Roberts, D. (Host). (2026, January 30). All about “reactionary centrism”: A conversation with Michael Hobbes [Audio podcast episode]. In Volts. https://www.volts.wtf/p/all-about-reactionary-centrism

    Episode 38: Unbuilding A Reality

  3. Aug 4

    Episode 37: Worldbuilding for STEM

    Episode References: Settlage, J., Smetana, L. K., Southerland, S. A., & Lottero-Perdue, P. S. (2017). Teaching science to every child: Using culture as a starting point (3rd ed.). Routledge. Campbell, T., Gray, R., Bai, Y., Chase, S. (2025). The Iterative Design of a Model-Based Inquiry Planning Tool for Preservice Science Teachers. Journal of Science Teacher Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/1046560X.2024.2449289 Hall, J., Campbell, T., & Lundgren., L. (2021). Designing Infrastructure as a Strategy for Crafting Coherence Across a Network Improvement Community Focused on the Implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards. Journal of Research in Science Teaching. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21688 Hardy, I. & Campbell, T. (2020). Developing and supporting the Next Generation Science Standards: The role of policy entrepreneurs. Science Education. 104(3), 479-499. NGSS Lead States. (2013). Next generation science standards: For states, by states. The National Academies Press. https://www.nextgenscience.org/ Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and education. Macmillan. Bruner, J. S. (1961). The act of discovery. Harvard Educational Review. 31(1): 21–32. Bruner, J. S. (1986). Actual minds, possible worlds. Harvard University Press. Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt. (1992). The Jasper series as an example of anchored instruction: Theory, program description, and assessment data. Educational Psychologist, 27(3), 291–315. Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt. (1997). The Jasper project: Lessons in curriculum, instruction, assessment, and professional development. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Gibbon, S. Y., Jr. (Executive Producer). (1984). The Voyage of the Mimi [TV series]. Bank Street College of Education. Papert, S. (1980). Mindstorms: Children, computers, and powerful ideas. Basic Books. The British Academy. (2020). Qualified for the future: Quantifying demand for arts, humanities and social science skills. ⁠The British Academy. ⁠American Academy of Arts and Sciences. (2021). State of the humanities 2021: Workforce & beyond. ⁠American Academy of Arts and Sciences Schwartz, D. L. & Bransford, J. D. (1998). A time for telling. Cognition and Instruction, 16(4), 475–522. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532690xci1604_4 Gick, M. L. & Holyoak, K. J. (1980). Analogical problem solving. ⁠Cognitive Psychology, 12(3), 306–355. https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0285(80)90013-4 Brown, J. S., Collins, A., & Duguid, P. (1989). Situated cognition and the culture of learning. Educational Researcher, 18(1), 32–42. Wagner, T. N., Bassett, L., Pascal, J., Burkey, D. D., & Streiner, S. (2023, June). The Power of Playful Learning - Ethical Decision-Making in a Narrative-Driven, Fictional, Choose-Your-Own Adventure. Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore, MD. 10.18260/1-2--44478 Wagner, T. N., Burkey, D. D., Cimino, R. T., Streiner, S., Dahm, K. D., & Pascal, J. (2024, June). Collective vs. Individual Decision-Making in an Engineering Ethics Narrative Game. Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, OR. 10.18260/1-2--48470 Moreau, C. (2026, August 3). European privacy regulators eye Meta’s smart glasses. Euractiv. Pero, J. (2026, August 3). Anti-creep features on Meta’s smart glasses may still be easy to sidestep. Gizmodo. https://gizmodo.com/metas-smart-glasses-are-still-creepy-despite-anti-creep-update-2000793943 Gilligan, V. (Writer & Director). (2008, January 20). Pilot (Season 1, Episode 1) [TV series episode]. In V. Gilligan & M. Johnson (Executive Producers), Breaking Bad. High Bridge Productions; Sony Pictures Television.

    Episode 37: Worldbuilding for STEM

  4. Jul 28

    Episode 36: Recommended Reading

    Episode References: Tolkien, J. R. R. (1954–1955). The lord of the rings. George Allen & Unwin. Tolkien, J. R. R. (1977). The Silmarillion (C. Tolkien, Ed.). Houghton Mifflin. Gee, J. P. (2003). What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy. Palgrave Macmillan. Harrigan, P. & Wardrip-Fruin, N. (Eds.). (2007). Second person: Role-playing and story in games and playable media. MIT Press. Grubb, J. & Winter, S. (1984). Marvel super heroes role-playing game [Box set]. TSR, Inc. Bethesda Game Studios. (2011). The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim [Video game]. Bethesda Softworks. Behe, M. J. (1996). Darwin’s black box: The biochemical challenge to evolution. Free Press. Sagan, C. (1995). The demon-haunted world: Science as a candle in the dark. Random House. Popper, K. R. (1959). The logic of scientific discovery. Hutchinson. Chalmers, A. F. (1976). What is this thing called science? University of Queensland Press; Open University Press. Bernays, A. & Painter, P. (1991). What if? Writing exercises for fiction writers. HarperPerennial. Roberts, A. (2019). For the queen [Board game]. Evil Hat Productions. Miéville, C. (2000). Perdido street station. Macmillan. King, S. (1982–2004). The dark tower (Vols. 1–7). Donald M. Grant; Viking; Scribner. Crichton, M. (1990). Jurassic park. Alfred A. Knopf. Crichton, M. (1995). The lost world. Alfred A. Knopf. Orwell, G. (1945). Animal farm. Secker & Warburg. Orwell, G. (1949). 1984. Secker & Warburg. Steinbeck, J. (1937). Of mice and men. Covici Friede. Hawking, S. W. (1988). A brief history of time: From the big bang to black holes. Bantam Books. Adams, T. & Adams, Z. (2006–present). Dwarf fortress (Classic/ASCII version) [Video game]. Bay 12 Games. Aquinas, T. (1981). Summa theologiae (Fathers of the English Dominican Province, Trans.). Christian Classics. (Original work published 1265–1274) Jonassen, D. H. (2010). Learning to solve problems: A handbook for designing problem-solving learning environments. ⁠Routledge. Hutchins, E. (1995). Cognition in the wild. ⁠The MIT Press. Lave, J. & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. ⁠Cambridge University Press. Bruner, J. S. (1986). Actual minds, possible worlds. Harvard University Press. Gibson, J. J. (1979). The ecological approach to visual perception. Houghton Mifflin. Gibson, E. J. (1969). Principles of perceptual learning and development. Appleton-Century-Crofts. Young, M. F. & Barab, S. (1999). Perception of the raison d’être in anchored instruction: An ecological psychology perspective. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 20(2), 113–135. Barab, S. A., Gresalfi, M., & Ingram-Goble, A. (2010). Transformational play: Using games to position person, content, and context. Educational Researcher, 39(7), 525–536. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X10386593 Squire, K. D. (2004). Replaying history: Learning world history through playing “Civilization III” [Doctoral dissertation, Indiana University]. Lucas, G. (Director). (1977). Star Wars Episode IV: A new hope [Film]. Lucasfilm; 20th Century Fox. Spielberg, S. (Director). (1981). Raiders of the lost ark [Film]. Lucasfilm; Paramount Pictures. Boorman, J. (Director). (1981). Excalibur [Film]. Orion Pictures. Scott, R. (Director). (1982). Blade runner [Film]. The Ladd Company; Shaw Brothers. Miller, G. (Director). (1981). The road warrior [Film]. Kennedy Miller Entertainment. Cameron, J. (Director). (1984). The terminator [Film]. Hemdale Film Corporation; Orion Pictures. Chaucer, G. (2003). The Canterbury tales (N. Coghill, Trans.). Penguin Classics. (Original work published ca. 1387–1400) Milton, J. (2003). Paradise lost (J. Leonard, Ed.). Penguin Books. (Original work published 1667) Tolkien, J. R. R. (1977). The Silmarillion (C. Tolkien, Ed.). Houghton Mifflin. Shelley, M. (1818). Frankenstein; or, the modern Prometheus. Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones. Marlowe, C. (2005). The tragical history of Doctor Faustus. IndyPublish. (Original work published 1604) Campbell, J. (1949). The hero with a thousand faces. Pantheon Books. Watterson, B. (2005). The complete Calvin and Hobbes. ⁠Andrews McMeel Publishing. ⁠Amend, B. (1989). FoxTrot. Andrews McMeel Publishing. Camus, A. (1946). The stranger (S. Gilbert, Trans.). Alfred A. Knopf. (Original work published 1942) Norman, D. A. (2013). The design of everyday things: Revised and expanded edition. Basic Books. Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt. (1992). The Jasper series as an example of anchored instruction: Theory, program description, and assessment data. Educational Psychologist, 27(3), 291–315. Papert, S. (1980). Mindstorms: Children, computers, and powerful ideas. Basic Books. Clark, R. E. (1983). Reconsidering research on learning from media. ⁠Review of Educational Research, 53(4), 445–459. Kozma, R. B. (1991). Learning with media. Review of Educational Research, 61(2), 179–211. Young, M. F., Slota, S. T., Cutter, A., Jalette, G., Mullin, G., Lai, B., Simeoni, Z., Tran, M., & Yukhymenko, M. (2012). Our princess is in another castle: A review of trends in serious gaming for education. Review of Educational Research, 82(1), 61-89. doi: 10.3102/0034654312436980 The New London Group. (1996). A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures. Harvard Educational Review, 66(1), 60–92. Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and education. Macmillan. Bogost, I. (2007). Persuasive games: The expressive power of videogames. The MIT Press. Bogost, I. (2008). “The Rhetoric of Video Games.” The Ecology of Games: Connecting Youth, Games, and Learning. Katie Salen (Ed.). The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning. The MIT Press. 117–40. Wardrip-Fruin, N. & Harrigan, P. (Eds.). (2004). First person: New media as story, performance, and game. The ⁠MIT Press. Harrigan, P. & Wardrip-Fruin, N. (Eds.). (2009). Third person: Authoring and exploring vast narratives. The MIT Press. Graeber, D. & Wengrow, D. (2021). The dawn of everything: A new history of humanity. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Schwartz, D. L. & Bransford, J. D. (1998). A time for telling. Cognition and Instruction, 16(4), 475–522. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532690xci1604_4 Gick, M. L. & Holyoak, K. J. (1980). Analogical problem solving. ⁠Cognitive Psychology, 12(3), 306–355. https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0285(80)90013-4 Woodard, C. (2011). American nations: A history of the eleven rival regional cultures of North America. Viking. Brown, J. S., Collins, A., & Duguid, P. (1989). Situated cognition and the culture of learning. Educational Researcher, 18(1), 32–42. Mukherjee, S. (2016). The Gene: An intimate history. Scribner.

    Episode 36: Recommended Reading

  5. Jul 21

    Episode 35: Environmental and Emergent Storytelling

    Episode References: Coen, J. & Coen, E. (Directors/Writers). (2018). The Ballad of Buster Scruggs [Film]. Annapurna Pictures; Netflix. Jenkins, H. (2004). Game design as narrative architecture. In N. Wardrip-Fruin & P. Harrigan (Eds.), First person: New media as story, performance, and game (pp. 118–130). The MIT Press. Carson, D. (2000, February 29). Environmental storytelling: Creating immersive 3D worlds using lessons learned from the theme park industry. Game Developer. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/environmental-storytelling-creating-immersive-3d-worlds-using-lessons-learned-from-the-theme-park-industry Jackson, M. (Director). (1991). L. A. Story [Film]. Carolco Pictures; Tri-Star Pictures. Smith, C. (2021). How the word is passed: A reckoning with the history of slavery across America. Little, Brown and Company. Bethesda Game Studios. (2008). Fallout 3 [Video game]. Bethesda Softworks. Bethesda Game Studios. (2011). The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim [Video game]. Bethesda Softworks. Team Ico. (2005). Shadow of the Colossus [Video game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. FromSoftware. (2009). Demon’s Souls [Video game]. Sony Computer Entertainment; Atlus. FromSoftware. (2011). Dark Souls [Video game]. Bandai Namco Games. FromSoftware. (2022). Elden Ring [Video game]. Bandai Namco Entertainment. Monolith Productions. (2014). Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor [Video game]. Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. Mojang Studios. (2011). Minecraft (Version 1.20) [Video game]. Mojang Studios. Iron Gate AB. (2021). Valheim (Version 0.202.14) [Video game]. Coffee Stain Publishing. Traveller's Tales. (2017). LEGO Worlds [Video game]. Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. Barone, E. (2016). Stardew Valley [Video game]. ConcernedApe. Naughty Dog. (2013). The Last of Us (Version 1.0) [Video game]. Sony Computer Entertainment. Irrational Games. (2007). BioShock [Video game]. 2K Games. Nintendo. (2017). The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Version 1.6.0) [Video game]. Nintendo. Brown, M. (2023, May 9). How Nintendo solved Zelda's open world problem. Game Maker's Toolkit. https://gmtk.substack.com/p/how-nintendo-solved-zeldas-open-world Martin, G. R. R. (1996–2011). A Song of Ice and Fire (Vols. 1–5). HarperVoyager. Crumb, R. (1979). A short history of America [Comic]. CoEvolution Quarterly, (21). Game Science. (2024). Black Myth: Wukong [Video game]. Game Science. CD Projekt Red. (2015). The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt [Video game]. CD Projekt. CD Projekt Red. (2020). Cyberpunk 2077 (Version 2.0) [Video game]. CD Projekt. Jaki, R. (Creator). (2022). Cyberpunk: Edgerunners [TV series]. Netflix. Borges, J. L. (1942). Funes the Memorious [Short story]. La Nación. Perec, G. (1997). Attempt at an inventory of the liquid and solid foodstuffs ingurgitated by me in the course of the year nineteen hundred and seventy-four (J. Sturrock, Trans.). In G. Perec, Species of spaces and other pieces (pp. 125–151). Penguin Books. (Original work published 1976) Konieczka, C. (2011). Mansions of madness [Board game]. Fantasy Flight Games. DeLuca, D. W. (Ed.). (2008). The old leather man: Historical accounts of a Connecticut and New York legend. Wesleyan University Press. Dippold, K., Murai, H., Karaszewski, C., Shin, C., & Rhys, M. (Executive Producers). (2026). Widow’s Bay [TV series]. Chum Films; Spooky Tree Productions; Apple Studios. Greenhouse Studios. (2020). Courtroom 600: A virtual reality encounter with evidence of the Holocaust [Virtual reality game]. University of Connecticut. Benjamin, W. (1968). The work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction (H. Zohn, Trans.). In H. Arendt (Ed.), Illuminations (pp. 217–251). Schocken Books. (Original work published 1935) Van Sant, G. (Director). (1997). Good Will Hunting [Film]. Miramax. Hergenrader, T. (2019). Collaborative worldbuilding for writers and gamers. Bloomsbury Academic.

    Episode 35: Environmental and Emergent Storytelling

  6. Jul 14

    Episode 34: Rome Wasn't Built in a Day with Kevin Ballestrini

    Episode References: Ballestrini, K., Travis, R. & Slota, S. T. (2011). Operation LAPIS. The Pericles Group. Standing Stone Games. (2007). The Lord of the Rings online [Video game]. Daybreak Game Company. Gee, J. P. (2003). What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy. Palgrave Macmillan. Cambridge School Classics Project. (2022). Cambridge Latin Course: Book 1 (5th ed.). Cambridge University Press. Moran, J. (Writer) & Teague, C. (Director). (2008, April 12). The Fires of Pompeii (Season 4, Episode 2) [TV series episode]. In R. T. Davies, P. Collinson, & S. Gardner (Executive Producers), Doctor Who. BBC. Barbor-Might, T. (Director & Showrunner). (2026). Pompeii: Out of Time with Tom Hiddleston [TV docuseries]. Plimsoll Productions; ⁠National Geographic. Ovid. (1993). Metamorphoses (A. Mandelbaum, Trans.). Harcourt Brace & Company. (Original work published 8 CE) Ubisoft. (2017). Assassin’s Creed Origins [Video game]. Ubisoft. Roddenberry, G., Fontana, D. C. (Writers), & Allen, C. (Director). (1987, September 28). Encounter at Farpoint (Season 1, Episodes 1 & 2) [TV series episode]. In G. Roddenberry (Executive Producer), Star Trek: The Next Generation. Paramount Television. Wachowski, L. & Wachowski, L. (Directors). (1999). The Matrix [Film]. Village Roadshow Pictures; Silver Pictures; Groucho II Film Partnership. Catullus, C. V. (1983). The poems of Catullus (P. Whigham, Trans.). University of California Press. (Original work published ca. 54 BCE) Martin, G. R. R. (1996). A game of thrones. Bantam Books. Gick, M. L. & Holyoak, K. J. (1980). Analogical problem solving. Cognitive Psychology, 12(3), 306–355. https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0285(80)90013-4 Hintze, N., Bågander, T., & Linder, K. (2023). The walking dead universe roleplaying game: Core rules (F. L. Publishing, Ed.). ⁠Free League Publishing. Telltale Games. (2019). The walking dead: The telltale definitive series [Video game]. Skybound Games. Looney, A. (2010). Zombie Fluxx [Board game]. Looney Labs. Gebru, T. (2026, May 26). The AI end game: The ethics of AI with Timnit Gebru [Podcast episode]. Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast. MS NOW.

    Episode 34: Rome Wasn't Built in a Day with Kevin Ballestrini

  7. Jul 7

    Episode 33: Building An Unreality

    Episode References: Pascal, B. (2014). L'art de persuader [The art of persuasion]. FV Éditions. (Original work written ca. 1657–1658) Nichols, T. (2017). The death of expertise: The campaign against established knowledge and why it matters. Oxford University Press. Altemeyer, B. (2006). The Authoritarians. University of Manitoba. theauthoritarians.org Roberts, D. (Host). (2026, January 30). All about “reactionary centrism”: A conversation with Michael Hobbes [Audio podcast episode]. In Volts. https://www.volts.wtf/p/all-about-reactionary-centrism Koffron, N. (2024, December 20). The paradoxical limits of Murc’s law. Lawyers, Guns, & Money. lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com McLoughlin, K. L., Brady, W. J., Goolsbee, A., Kaiser, B., Klonick, K., & Crockett, M. J. (2024). Misinformation exploits outrage to spread online. Science, 386(6725), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adl2829 Science scorned. (2010). Nature, 467(7312), 133. https://doi.org/10.1038/467133a Paul, C. & Matthews, M. (2016). The Russian "firehose of falsehood" propaganda model: Why it might work and options to counter it. RAND Corporation. https://doi.org/10.7249/PE198 McLaughlin, T. (2018, July 6). How Facebook's rise fueled chaos and confusion in Myanmar. Wired. https://www.wired.com/story/how-facebooks-rise-fueled-chaos-and-confusion-in-myanmar/ Hayes, C. (2025). The sirens’ call: How attention became the world’s most endangered resource. Penguin Press. Danskin, I. [Innuendo Studios]. (2019, October 21). How to radicalize a normie [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P55t6eryY3g Asimov, I. (1980, January 21). A cult of ignorance [Opinion column]. Newsweek, 95(4), 19. Sagan, C. (1995). The demon-haunted world: Science as a candle in the dark. Ballantine Books. Locke, J. (1997). An essay concerning human understanding (P. H. Nidditch, Ed.). Penguin Books. (Original work published 1690) Herman, E. S. & Chomsky, N. (2002). Manufacturing consent: The political economy of the mass media. Pantheon Books. Bridle, J. (2017, November 6). Something is wrong on the internet. Medium. https://medium.com/@jamesbridle/something-is-wrong-on-the-internet-c39c471271d2 Watt, C. S. (2020, September 23). The QAnon orphans: people who have lost loved ones to conspiracy theories. ⁠The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/23/qanon-conspiracy-theories-loved-ones Thompson, C. (2020, September 22). QAnon is like a game—a most dangerous game. ⁠Wired. https://www.wired.com/story/qanon-most-dangerous-multiplatform-game/ The Atlantic. (2020–2021). Shadowland. https://www.theatlantic.com/shadowland/ Eggerton, J. (2008, May 8). PEJ: ‘The Daily Show’ borders on news show. Broadcasting & Cable. “Summary of Findings: Public Knowledge of Current Affairs Little Changed by News and Information Revolutions”. Pew Research Center. April 2007. Archived from the original on March 10, 2011. Fox, Dominion reach $787M settlement over election claims. (2023, April 18). AP News. https://apnews.com/article/fox-news-dominion-lawsuit-trial-trump-2020-0ac71f75acfacc52ea80b3e747fb0afe McDougal v. Fox News Network, LLC, 489 F. Supp. 3d 174 (S.D.N.Y. 2020)

    Episode 33: Building An Unreality

  8. Jun 30

    Episode 32: The United States of Worldbuilding

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    Episode 32: The United States of Worldbuilding
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About

The official companion podcast for The Worldbuilding Workshop: Teaching Critical Thinking and Empathy Through World Modeling, Simulation, and Play, hosted by co-authors Trent Hergenrader and Stephen Slota. The duo conducts a chapter-by-chapter breakdown of the book; outlines their thinking about each chapter's contents; describes ideas that were left on the cutting room floor; and explores how the worldbuilding framework can fit all kinds of teaching and learning environments.

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