In honor of the release of Wicked, we’re hitching a ride on a tornado to hear three different stories about... more

All Hail Doom! The supreme ruler of Latveria has successfully defeated The Fantastic Four and The Avengers. Marvel Studios is... more

Horror movies are best known for their monsters and villains – but there’s another half to the equation. The Final... more

For a long time, imagining what alien life could look like was mostly the job of science fiction creators. But... more

I'm excited to announce that we're starting a new Patreon-only ad-free show called Between Imaginary Worlds, which is a more... more

Role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder aren’t just played in game shops or living rooms. They’re also very... more

In the second part of our retrospective on how Imaginary Worlds has covered sci-fi and fantasy since September 2014, we... more

When I began my podcast in September 2014, I was mostly sticking with topics that I was familiar with like... more

I used to think escape rooms were gimmicky activities where everyone scrambled to solve puzzles while I stood around feeling... more

The field of audiobooks has exploded since the introduction of mp3 players, and it continues to expand. But it takes... more

In the years since my 2020 episode Fantasy and Fascism, I knew that I had to make a follow-up episode.... more

Who really composed the scores of Dune, Interstellar, Blade Runner 2049, The Dark Knight, Man of Steel, Pirates of the... more

The hottest trend in fantasy novels – in fact the hottest trend in publishing overall – is fantasy romance or... more

Book banning is hitting libraries across America, and many of the titles being banned or challenged are fantasy books or... more

Did you know that in retirement, George Lucas decided to host a live talk show with his sidekick Watto? That’s... more

Over the past 40 years, Shigeru Miyamoto has been inventing the modern video game one pixel at a time. From... more

When Joe Dever died in 2016, he hadn’t written the last several books in his Lone Wolf series. The Lone... more

When the writer Nnedi Okorafor coined the term Africanfuturism, she wanted to distinguish sci-fi written about Africa from Afrofuturism, which... more

Back in 2018, I interviewed language creator David J. Peterson about how he invented Dothraki for Game of Thrones and... more

The Wizard of Oz is deeply ingrained into our culture. While many people can practically recite the 1939 movie, the... more

In the previous episode, I interviewed documentary filmmaker Isaac Elliot-Fisher about He-Man and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Isaac had so... more

In the final episode of our mini-series Class of '84, we look at two iconic franchises that launched in 1984:... more

In the second episode of our mini-series on groundbreaking works from 1984, we jack into the system and upload our... more

When I interviewed special effects artist Shannon Shea about The Terminator and other villains of ’84, we also discussed his... more

This year marks the 40th anniversary of a lot of landmarks in pop culture, especially sci-fi and fantasy. So many... more

I was blown away by the Netflix animated series Blue Eye Samurai. I’m not alone, it has 100% rating on... more

In the 1960s, Ursula K. le Guin represented a changing of the guard in science fiction literature. She was part... more

This week's episode is an original audio drama. In previous episodes, I’ve interviewed Captain Hook, vampires, colonists on the moon,... more

In honor of Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary, I’ve rewritten my 2018 episode about Doctor Who with updates on how the... more

One Piece is one of the biggest franchises in the world. The manga and anime have broken records in sales... more

My guests from the previous episode, Carolyne Larrington and Ada Palmer, had so many interesting things to say about Norse... more

Thor and Loki have become pop culture icons thanks to Marvel. But the influence of Norse mythology on contemporary fantasy... more

Kritika H. Rao, Shveta Thakrar, Roshani Chokshi, and Ram V are helping to create a new genre. They use elements... more

We all know the scenario. A nice young family moves into a new house. It’s haunted by an evil spirit.... more

John Roesch is a legend in the field of foley sound effects. He mastered the art of creating bespoke sound... more

35 years ago, Doug Naylor co-created a sitcom called Red Dwarf about the last human left alive in the far... more

The writers’ and actors’ strikes have disrupted the pipeline of new shows and movies. We’re going to run out of... more

We’ve all had this experience. We get hooked on a show. We fall in love with the characters. We can’t... more

Who wouldn’t want a fairy godmother to solve our problems with the flick of a magic wand? We know that’s... more

These ships feel like old friends – The Enterprise, the Millennium Falcon, Battlestar Galactica, Serenity, The Rosinante. But would any... more

Science fiction has primed us for this moment when artificial intelligence starts to take on a life of its own.... more

As the Warhammer franchise reaches its 40th anniversary, the company Games Workshop’s stated goal of “total global domination” is going... more

Our culture is going through a Gothic Revival -- partly thanks to the influence of Tim Burton. Gothic literature may... more

A play by Charles Dickens. The Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland. A hologram of a famous dead pop singer. They’re... more

When Jim Henson hired Bonnie Erickson to design Muppets in the early 1970s, Bonnie had no idea this experimental project... more

This summer, Hayao Miyazaki will be releasing his final animated film before retiring. Environmental stewardship has been a consistent theme... more

Discworld might be the most popular fantasy series you’ve never heard of. The late Terry Pratchett wrote 41 novels in... more

Margaret Cavendish was a pioneer of modern science fiction – except she didn’t intend to write science fiction. In the... more

When the March 1923 issue of Weird Tales hit newsstands, many people didn’t know what to make of this new... more

The town of Ong's Hat in New Jersey may have been the site of a top secret experiment that brought... more

As we near the one year anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, I check in with the Ukrainian writers... more

I’ve been following parallel media stories about visual artists in two different fields. Each story is about artists who create... more

Nghi Vo's novels Siren Queen and The Chosen and the Beautiful have gotten widespread critical acclaim, which was a pleasant... more

When a fantasy or sci-fi story is set in a real location, what happens when fans go to that place... more

This year marks the 75th anniversary of Octavia Butler’s birth. There have been commemorations nationwide, and I wanted to join... more

In the subgenre of analog horror, there’s something sinister or supernatural lurking in the horizontal lines and vertical holds in... more

Was the tale of Hansel and Gretel inspired by a real crime in German history? It would make for a... more

From TV and film to novels and video games, the artistic movement of Indigenous Futurisms has been gaining momentum and... more

Jeff Russo has composed music for sci-fi fantasy shows like Star Trek Discovery and Picard, The Umbrella Academy, Altered Carbon,... more

There is a booming culture of VTubers – people who create content online, but their fans rarely see their real... more

One of the most common tropes in fantasy genres is personifying Death – turning this abstract and often terrifying concept... more

The stories we tell about the past can determine the way we understand the present. But what happens when we... more

In part 2 of our mini-series on mentorships, we travel to a galaxy far, far away. Amy Richau (co-author of... more

In the first of a two-part episode on mentors in fantasy genres, we look at the roles of superheroes and... more

When the artist Cliff Chiang co-created the comic book series Paper Girls, about four suburban kids in the ‘80s who... more

It’s not often that I’m watching a TV show and I think, “I should ask the writers about that.” Luckily,... more

I’ve long been fascinated by automatons – wind up mechanical beings that create the illusion of life. People have been... more

Our Flag Means Death is a hilarious anachronistic pirate comedy on HBO Max. But the backstory of its main characters... more

When I began this podcast in September 2014, I couldn’t imagine myself someday celebrating 200 episodes of Imaginary Worlds. It... more

Mystery Science Theater 3000 or MST3K is back once again. The show was first created by Joel Hodgson, then a... more

For the last 30 years, the real world has been catching up to Neal Stephenson’s vision of the future in... more

There’s an old saying that everyone wants to live long, but no one wants to get old. The same can... more

One of the most common requests I've gotten over the years has been to do an episode about why so... more

100 years ago this month, the vampire film Nosferatu was released in Germany. Not long after, it was hit with... more

The Russian invasion of Ukraine shocked the world, but this conflict was foreshadowed in Ukrainian and Russian speculative fiction. I... more

It’s a future we’re all very familiar with. The rainy streets are full of neon dragons, noodle shops, and other... more

In the sci-fi drama Beforeigners from HBO Nordic, Oslo is overrun with immigrants and refugees. But they haven’t come from... more

Have you ever watched a movie or show, gotten sucked into a mystery and come up with your own idea... more

Once upon a time, the funnies or the comics pages dominated newspapers – back when newspapers were the main source... more

Once upon a time, the funnies or the comics pages dominated newspapers – back when newspapers were the main source... more

Marvel and DC are jumping into the multiverse with multiple movies and shows crossing over into parallels worlds with different... more

The imagery of Christmas in most Western countries is of pure wholesomeness with Santa Claus or St. Nicholas, presents, candy,... more

Nathan Sawaya is one of the best-known LEGO Master Builders – people who can recreate just about anything out of... more

The world of tabletop role-playing games is much broader than Dungeons & Dragons, and there’s been a boom of DIY... more

Many elements of modern horror movies and TV shows came from an unlikely source, a theater in Paris called The... more

Frank Herbert’s Dune has been hailed as a pioneer of environmental science fiction, where the Fremen on the planet of... more

Kasra Farahani has done concept art on a lot of big sci-fi fantasy films, and this year he took on... more

Video games are an inherently visual medium that traditionally haven’t been very accessible to blind people. But there are plenty... more

Queer representation in children’s cartoons has never been better, but the road to get here has been fraught. I talk... more

An entire subgenre of samurai films, shows, manga, anime and games can be traced back to one person – a... more

If you’ve ever searched for my podcast, you probably came across a show with a similar title: Imaginary Advice. I... more

Every year, I like to play a full-length version of an interview from a previous episode where a lot of... more

In superhero stories, the public is usually there to be saved by the heroes or killed by the villains. But... more

Is it possible that we are living in an imaginary world? That is the premise of many science fiction stories,... more

Sci-fi and fantasy genres have come a long way from their pulp fiction and Saturday matinee origins to become respectable... more

Disco Elysium has been called one of the best role-playing video games of all time. It's won a slew of... more

When Andy Weir wrote “The Martian,” he self-published the chapters to his website -- never expecting the story to become... more

Illusions that mask the true nature of reality. Meditating to gain control over your mind and body. Sending your consciousness... more

Becky Chambers’ latest novel, “The Galaxy and The Ground Within,” is the final book in her Wayfarer series, which is... more

Sun Ra claimed to be an extraterrestrial being from Saturn who could teleport you to other planets with his music.... more