Imaginary Worlds

By Eric Molinsky | Daylight Media

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Category: Arts

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Rate for this podcast

Subscribers: 3469
Reviews: 23
Episodes: 313


 Apr 21, 2026

Reed
 Mar 29, 2024

2bepainted
 Feb 24, 2023
I don't have the words to review this. Incredible. So glad to have found this.


 Jan 2, 2023

chimyo
 May 19, 2022


 Apr 9, 2022


 Jan 30, 2022


 Aug 15, 2020
My favourite podacast, I get so excited to see that there's a new episode. I have recommended this to so many of my friends.


 Jul 11, 2020


 Feb 4, 2020


 Dec 22, 2019


 Dec 8, 2019


 Dec 7, 2019


 Jul 11, 2019


 Mar 20, 2019


 Mar 6, 2019

itsryanbarnett
 Feb 21, 2019
Been a listener for years.


 Jan 5, 2019

CitizenMac
 Dec 12, 2018

Salem_ok
 Nov 29, 2018
Awesome podcast, interviews and insight on sci-fi and fantasy world are deep. I have dug in myself into many rabbit holes based on this podcast.

A Podcast Republic user
 Aug 16, 2018

Description

Imaginary Worlds sounds like what would happen if NPR went to Comic-Con and decided that’s all they ever wanted to cover. The host Eric Molinsky spent over a decade working in public radio, and he uses those skills to create sound-rich storytelling, pop culture analysis and cultural commentary about speculative fiction and immersive worldbuilding. Eric interviews sci-fi fantasy writers, creature makeup designers, comic book artists, video game and tabletop game designers, historians and anyone who works in the field of make-believe about the creative process. He also delves into fandoms, asking why we suspend our disbelief, and what happens if the spell is broken. Fantasy 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. Imaginary Worlds is a Gold Winner for Best Arts & Culture podcast in the Signal Awards, and received an Ambie Award nomination for Best Indie Podcast. Episodes of Imaginary Worlds have been featured on the podcasts 99% Invisible, Twenty Thousand Hertz, Decoder Ring, Cautionary Tales, Science Friday, and The Allusionist.

Episode Date
Is Money Ruining Fanfiction?
Jul 29, 2026
Choose Your Own Odyssey
Jul 15, 2026
The U.S. of Play - Part 2: Silly Putty, Twister and Monopoly
Jul 01, 2026
The U.S. of Play - Part 1: Wagons, Bears and Dolls
Jun 17, 2026
How Folklore Spirited Anime Away
Jun 03, 2026
The Father of Sword and Soul
May 20, 2026
Many Faces of Jekyll and Hyde in Pop Culture
May 06, 2026
Holmes and Watson: True Crime Podcasters
Apr 22, 2026
Celebrating 300 Imaginary Worlds
Apr 08, 2026
Puppeteering Project Hail Mary
Mar 25, 2026
How D.C. Fontana Helped Star Trek Live Long and Prosper
Mar 11, 2026
Absolute Reimagining of DC Comics
Feb 25, 2026
Sinners Gives Hoodoo Its Due
Feb 11, 2026
Scarlet Hollow Draws a Picture of Indie Video Game Success
Jan 28, 2026
The Creative Process of Rewriting History with Assassin’s Creed
Jan 14, 2026
Say No to Santa World Tour: An Audio Drama
Dec 17, 2025
Searching for Cryptids in Folklore America
Dec 03, 2025
This Animated Life: A History of Cartoons in Three Acts
Nov 19, 2025
Worldbuilding Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein
Nov 05, 2025
The Real History of Dracula and Frankenstein
Oct 22, 2025
How Forbidden Planet Refined the Music of Sci-Fi
Oct 08, 2025
The Battle to Make Star Wars Becomes a Graphic Novel
Sep 24, 2025
Lifting the Curtain on Theatrical Effects
Sep 10, 2025
The Shark That Ate Hollywood
Aug 27, 2025
Dreaming of Coney Island's Dreamland
Aug 13, 2025
From 8-Bit to Orchestras: Video Game Music Evolves
Jul 30, 2025
How Jack Kirby Made His Mark on Marvel
Jul 16, 2025
The Hitchhiker's Guide to Douglas Adams
Jul 02, 2025
Imagining the Digital Afterlife
Jun 18, 2025
Murderbot Is Ready for Its Close-Up (But Not Eye Contact)
Jun 04, 2025
The Bright Legacy of Dark Shadows
May 21, 2025
Body Horror Gets Under My Skin
May 07, 2025
Bonus: Syd Mead Full Gallery Tour
Apr 30, 2025
The Optimist Behind Blade Runner's Dystopia
Apr 23, 2025
Inventing Utopias and Fighting Dystopias with Architecture
Apr 09, 2025
Mary Blair: Painting Disney’s Colorful History
Mar 26, 2025
Bonus: Superstar Stuntwoman of Silent Cinema
Mar 19, 2025
Milicent Patrick: Forgotten Creator of a Monster Icon
Mar 12, 2025
Pokémon and The Art of Dubbing Anime
Feb 26, 2025
Filk Fusion: Where Sci-Fi Meets Folk Music
Feb 12, 2025
An Immersive World Under Wall St.
Jan 29, 2025
Rewriting the Script on Audio Fiction
Jan 15, 2025
The Muppets Before The Muppets
Jan 01, 2025
Bond, Bond, and James Bond: An Audio Drama
Dec 18, 2024
Making Up The Penguin
Dec 04, 2024
There's No Place Like Oz
Nov 20, 2024
Why Marvel is Betting Their Future on Doctor Doom
Nov 06, 2024
Who Gets to Survive: The Final Girls of Horror
Oct 23, 2024
Did Sci-Fi Get Aliens Right?
Oct 09, 2024
Introducing Between Imaginary Worlds
Oct 02, 2024
Escaping Prison with Role-Playing Games
Sep 25, 2024
10th Anniversary Special Part 2
Sep 11, 2024
10th Anniversary Special Part 1
Aug 28, 2024
Unlocking the Door Between Escape Rooms and Immersive Theater
Aug 14, 2024
The Craft of Narrating Audio Books From Other Worlds
Jul 31, 2024
Fantasy and Fascism Part II: When Democracy Fails
Jul 17, 2024
The Team Behind Hans Zimmer
Jul 03, 2024
Swept Away by Romantasy
Jun 19, 2024
When Fantasy Gets Banned
Jun 05, 2024
The George Lucas Talk Show
May 22, 2024
How Nintendo Leveled Up
May 08, 2024
You Are Lone Wolf: A Father/Son Role-Playing Quest
Apr 24, 2024
African Sci-Fi Looks to a Future Climate
Apr 10, 2024
When All Is Said in Dune
Mar 27, 2024
Mother-in-Law of Oz
Mar 13, 2024
Bonus: Turtles and Toys Outtakes
Mar 06, 2024
Class of '84: Turtles, Transformers and Toys Takeover TV
Feb 28, 2024
Class of '84: When Cyber Was Punk
Feb 14, 2024
Bonus: Rise of The Villains Outtakes
Feb 07, 2024
Class of '84: Rise of The Villains
Jan 31, 2024
Making Blue Eye Samurai
Jan 17, 2024
The Tragedy That Inspired Ursula K. le Guin’s Fantasy
Jan 03, 2024
@ChristmasCarol: A Holiday Tale
Dec 20, 2023
Doctor Who's Power of Regeneration
Dec 06, 2023
How One Piece Became King of the Backstories
Nov 22, 2023
Bonus: Norse Myths Outtakes
Nov 16, 2023
Seeing Ourselves in Norse Myths
Nov 08, 2023
The Craft of Creating Hindu Fantasy Worlds
Oct 25, 2023
Haunted Housing Market
Oct 11, 2023
Grounding Fictional Universes with Real Sounds
Sep 27, 2023
Red Dwarf: The Sci-Fi Sitcom with Nine Lives
Sep 13, 2023
Our Listeners’ Favorite Unsung Sci-Fi Fantasy Gems
Aug 30, 2023
Ghosted by TV Shows, Seeking Closure
Aug 17, 2023
Extreme Makeover: Fairy Godmother Edition
Aug 02, 2023
Are Sci-Fi Spaceships Flights of Fancy? We Ask Scientists.
Jul 19, 2023
Sci-Fi Prepared Us For The Wrong AI
Jul 06, 2023
Warhammer - The Heavy Metal of Board Games
Jun 21, 2023
Why The Gothic Keeps Gaslighting Us
Jun 07, 2023
Haunted By Pepper's Ghost
May 24, 2023
Miss Piggy’s Designer on Making The Muppets
May 10, 2023
Miyazaki Imagines an Environment
Apr 26, 2023
The Four Sides of Terry Pratchett in His Discworld
Apr 13, 2023
The Noblewoman Who Invented Sci-Fi Before Mary Shelley
Mar 30, 2023
100 Years of Weird Tales
Mar 16, 2023
Can an Immersive World Become Too Immersive?
Mar 02, 2023
Ukrainian Science Fiction Goes to War
Feb 16, 2023
Losing The Human Touch in The Visual Arts
Feb 02, 2023
Nghi Vo’s Devilish Worldbuilding
Jan 19, 2023
The Sci-Fi Fantasy Tourist Economy
Jan 04, 2023
How Octavia Butler Wrote Her Own Story in Speculative Fiction
Dec 22, 2022
Monsters in The Static: Why Analog Horror Scares Gen Z
Dec 08, 2022
True Crime Fairy Tale
Nov 24, 2022
Indigenous Futurisms Try to Right Past Wrongs
Nov 10, 2022
Composing Music in the Key of SFF
Oct 27, 2022
VTubers Reinvent Themselves with Avatars
Oct 13, 2022
When Death Joins the Cast of Characters
Sep 28, 2022
Speculative Fiction Rewrites the Narrative on Colonialism
Sep 14, 2022
Were The Jedi Bad Mentors?
Sep 01, 2022
Dynamic Duos and the Need for Mentorship
Aug 18, 2022
Why Kids on Bikes is a Perfect Storytelling Genre
Aug 04, 2022
Charting Strange New Worlds
Jul 21, 2022
It Ain’t Over Till the Robot Sings
Jul 07, 2022
The Art of Piracy
Jun 22, 2022
200 Imaginary Worlds
Jun 09, 2022
Mystery Science Theater Reopens
May 26, 2022
The Cyberpunk Novel That Influenced Silicon Valley (Too Much)
May 12, 2022
Which Heroes Are Aging Well or De-Aging Poorly?
Apr 28, 2022
The Neurodivergent Fans on Why Sci-Fi Matters to Them
Apr 14, 2022
Nosferatu: Live in Concert
Mar 31, 2022
How Sci-Fi Predicted the Russia-Ukraine War
Mar 17, 2022
Asian Futures Without Asians
Mar 03, 2022
Time Travel Migrants
Feb 17, 2022
Headcanon Fodder: Fandom Rewrites the Narrative
Feb 03, 2022
Politics of the Funnies: Li’l Abner Turns Right
Jan 20, 2022
Politics of the Funnies: Pogo Turns Left
Jan 06, 2022
Pop Culture Splits into Multiverses
Dec 23, 2021
Have Yourself a Scary Little Krampus
Dec 09, 2021
Building Fine Art One LEGO Brick at a Time
Nov 25, 2021
Re-Rolling the Design of Role-Playing Games
Nov 11, 2021
Did A French Theater Invent Modern Horror?
Oct 28, 2021
The Ecology of Dune
Oct 14, 2021
Why '70s Office Decor Holds the MCU Together
Sep 30, 2021
The Video Game Industry Adapts to Blind Players
Sep 16, 2021
The Hidden Queerness of Sailor Moon and Disney Villains
Sep 02, 2021
Samurai to Star Wars: The Legend of Musashi
Aug 19, 2021
Giving Imaginary Advice
Aug 05, 2021
The Married Couple Who Hooked Up Harley Quinn with Poison Ivy
Jul 22, 2021
Thankless Jobs: Journalists in Comic Book Stories
Jul 08, 2021
The Matrix Might Be Real
Jun 24, 2021
Fandom Confessions: Our Listeners’ Guilty Pleasures
Jun 10, 2021
Why Disco Elysium Broke Gamers and They Loved It
May 27, 2021
The Weir Science of Project Hail Mary and The Martian
May 13, 2021
The Zen of Sci-Fi
Apr 29, 2021
The Cozy Worldbuilding of Becky Chambers
Apr 15, 2021
The Jazz Genius From Outer Space
Apr 01, 2021
Second Life Goes On
Mar 18, 2021
Tron: Welcome to the Machine
Mar 04, 2021
Folklore Is No Fairy Tale
Feb 18, 2021
Reinventing The Spooky Sound of Classic Sci-Fi
Feb 04, 2021
Betty Boop and the Hays Code
Jan 20, 2021
Why Camelot Never Was and Always Shall Be
Jan 07, 2021
The Retro Makeup of Doctor Who’s Aliens
Dec 24, 2020
Monsters of 2020
Dec 10, 2020
Fan Films Put Fandom in The Captain’s Chair
Nov 26, 2020
Speculative Fiction Lost and Found in Translation
Nov 12, 2020
Adulting with Cowboy Bebop
Oct 29, 2020
Law & Order Superheroes
Oct 15, 2020
What Sci-Fi Fantasy Can Tell Us About Fascism
Oct 01, 2020
Ahsoka Tano: A New Hope for Star Wars Fans
Sep 17, 2020
Mission to Zyxx
Sep 03, 2020
Doug Jones: Guillermo del Toro’s Go-To Creature Actor
Aug 20, 2020
A Harry Potter Fan’s Reckoning
Aug 06, 2020
How Writers of Color Are Inverting Lovecraft
Jul 23, 2020
Once and Future Comic Con
Jul 09, 2020
Creativity of Creature Makeup Design
Jun 25, 2020
Larping in Place
Jun 11, 2020
Are Time Travel Stories Unhealthy Fantasies?
May 28, 2020
The Curse of The Horror Movie Curse
May 14, 2020
Childhood Toys That Still Comfort Our Listeners
Apr 30, 2020
Solarpunk the Future
Apr 16, 2020
The Video Game That Predicted a Real Pandemic
Apr 02, 2020
Are Retcons Gaslighting Fandoms?
Mar 19, 2020
The Challenge of Imagining Heavenly Places
Mar 05, 2020
Wild West to Watchmen: History Gets Whitewashed
Feb 20, 2020
2001: A Filmmaking Odyssey
Feb 06, 2020
The Forgotten Artist Behind the Most Famous Tarot Cards
Jan 23, 2020
Why The Borg Keeps Assimilating Star Trek Shows
Jan 09, 2020
In Defense of The Star Wars Holiday Special
Dec 25, 2019
Can Villains Be Good?
Dec 12, 2019
My So Called Evil Plan
Nov 27, 2019
For All Mankind Blasts Off
Nov 14, 2019
The Origin of Alien Abduction Narratives
Oct 30, 2019
The Art of Talking to the Dead
Oct 16, 2019
Monster or Anti-Hero? Godzilla’s Creators Disagreed
Oct 02, 2019
Evangelion: The Anime That Won’t End
Sep 18, 2019
What We Lost From Hand-Drawn Animation
Sep 04, 2019
The Booj
Aug 21, 2019
Superheroes in the Ring
Aug 07, 2019
Dirk Maggs on Creating Immersive Audio Dramas
Jul 25, 2019
The Undertaker Wrestles with The Supernatural
Jul 11, 2019
Movie Props vs. Forgeries: A Collector’s Dilemma
Jun 26, 2019
Cosplay Meets Burlesque in Nerdlesque
Jun 12, 2019
Sidekicks: Harley Quinn Escapes Toxicity
May 29, 2019
Sidekicks: Tonto, Kato and Heroism Denied
May 15, 2019
Sidekicks: Why Watson is Elemental
May 01, 2019
Rod Serling's Key of Imagination
Apr 17, 2019
The Hero's Journey Endgame
Apr 03, 2019
Slaughterhouse at Fifty
Mar 20, 2019
Tales of Margaret Brundage
Mar 07, 2019
The Man Behind Conan’s Sword
Feb 21, 2019
The Power of the Makeover Mage
Feb 07, 2019
Designing Morality in Role-Playing Video Games
Jan 24, 2019
Flipping the Narrative on Greek Myths
Jan 10, 2019
A Visit by Three Ghosts
Dec 24, 2018
Board Games Go Indie
Dec 13, 2018
How I Won the Larp
Nov 29, 2018
Movie Poster Artists Uncap Their Creativity
Nov 15, 2018
Can Faith and Science-Fiction Co-Exist?
Nov 01, 2018
Don't Mess with the Fairies
Oct 18, 2018
Audio Storytelling and Movies For The Mind
Oct 04, 2018
The Dark Side of Golden Age Radio Dramas
Sep 19, 2018
Fantastical Feasts and The Writers Who Cooked Them Up
Sep 05, 2018
Meet My D&D Group
Aug 23, 2018
Creating a Haven for Fanfiction
Aug 09, 2018
Do You Speak Klingon? Inventing Culture Through Language
Jul 26, 2018
Fictional Deaths My Listeners are Not Over
Jul 12, 2018
Fahrenheit 451 Still Burns
Jun 27, 2018
Behind the Design of Magic: The Gathering
Jun 14, 2018
The First Three Lives of Catherine Webb
May 31, 2018
The Westworld Experience
May 17, 2018
Jack Kirby's Marvels
May 03, 2018
Can Living in Space Ever Feel Like Home?
Apr 19, 2018
Visions of Philip K. Dick
Apr 05, 2018
Digital People Try to Leave the Uncanny Valley
Mar 22, 2018
Remembering Ursula K. Le Guin
Mar 08, 2018
Why Doctor Who’s Daleks Still Scare Kids
Feb 22, 2018
Who Would Travel in Doctor Who’s TARDIS?
Feb 08, 2018
Doctor Who? The Question That Keeps Regenerating
Jan 25, 2018
Brain Chemistry: An Audio Drama
Jan 11, 2018
The Last Jedi Splits Star Wars Fandom
Dec 28, 2017
Politics of The Expanse
Dec 14, 2017
Robot Collar Jobs
Nov 30, 2017
On The Front Lines of Military Science Fiction
Nov 16, 2017
Fanfiction (Don't Judge)
Nov 02, 2017
Why The Haunted Mansion Ride Was Almost Doomed
Oct 19, 2017
Rappers with Arm Cannons
Oct 05, 2017
Creative Process Behind a Cyberpunk Concept Album
Sep 21, 2017
Why Sci-Fi Needs Believable Technobabble
Sep 07, 2017
The Craft of Designing Sci-Fi Control Panels
Aug 24, 2017
Scott Snyder’s Comic Book Therapy
Aug 10, 2017
What Makes a Good Evil Plan?
Jul 27, 2017
The Islamic Worldbuilding in Dune
Jul 12, 2017
Video Game Veterans of World War EVE
Jun 29, 2017
How Science Fiction Imagined the Internet
Jun 15, 2017
Do The Voice: An Audio Drama
Jun 01, 2017
The Real Twin Peaks
May 17, 2017
Designing Bojack's World
May 03, 2017
Healing Through Horror
Apr 20, 2017
Imagining a Flooded New York as a New Venice
Apr 06, 2017
Creative Freedom of Sci-Fi Behind The Iron Curtain
Mar 23, 2017
The Spirit of Will Eisner Lives On in Comics
Mar 09, 2017
28 Days of Black Cosplay
Feb 22, 2017
Growing Up Avatar-American
Feb 08, 2017
Winning the Larp
Jan 26, 2017
Atari vs The Imagination Gap
Jan 12, 2017
Workin' on the Death Star
Dec 15, 2016
Designing Fascism for The Man in The High Castle
Dec 01, 2016
Harry Potter Fans and Dumbledore’s Army
Nov 17, 2016
Harry Potter and The Trauma at Hogwarts
Nov 03, 2016
Harry Potter Fans and The Sorting Hat Dilemma
Oct 19, 2016
Worldbuilding with Magical Thinking
Oct 06, 2016
Mapping Out Fictional Universes
Sep 22, 2016
The Hobbits and The Hippies
Sep 07, 2016
Puppet Feelings and Felt Storytelling
Aug 24, 2016
Finding My Voice
Aug 10, 2016
The Legacy of Sci-Fi Trailblazer Octavia Butler
Jul 27, 2016
Ghost in The Shell and The Culture of Anime
Jul 14, 2016
The Heartbreaking Joy of the Video Game Undertale
Jun 29, 2016
How a Climate Crisis Inspired Frankenstein
Jun 15, 2016
Then She Fell: A Rabbit Hole of Immersive Theater
Jun 02, 2016
The Robot Uprising
May 19, 2016
Future Humans May Not Be Entirely Human
May 05, 2016
Economics of Thrones and Starships
Apr 21, 2016
A Fan’s Quest to Become Godzilla
Apr 07, 2016
When Cthulhu Calls: A Lovecraftian Audio Drama
Mar 24, 2016
The D&D Chart That Explains Pop Culture
Mar 10, 2016
Imagining Wonder Woman
Feb 25, 2016
Hidden Genius in the Background of Looney Tunes
Feb 11, 2016
Is Dracula Really From Nebraska?
Jan 28, 2016
Worldbuilding Inside a Snow Globe
Jan 14, 2016
The Expanded Universe of Star Wars Collapses
Dec 31, 2015
Star Wars Lawyer Defends Han Shot First
Dec 16, 2015
A Gold Bikini Divides Star Wars Fandom
Dec 02, 2015
Would You Be The Rebels or The Empire in Star Wars?
Nov 18, 2015
Pop Culture on the Eve of Star Wars
Nov 04, 2015
Great Scott! It's The Future!
Oct 21, 2015
Why The Alien Invasion Narrative is Problematic
Oct 20, 2015
The Truth Is Out There
Oct 07, 2015
Discovering D&D in Adulthood
Sep 23, 2015
Heroines Hit a Glass Ceiling of Character Development
Jul 29, 2015
Why Do Superhero Costumes Look So Good Now?
Jul 15, 2015
Doppelgängers Double Narrative Possibilities
Jul 01, 2015
Time Travelers of Renwick St.
Jun 03, 2015
The Greatest Cartoon Almost Made
Jun 03, 2015
Why Ron Moore Killed Captain Kirk
May 20, 2015
True Vampires of New Haven: An Audio Drama
May 06, 2015
CyberCity: A Military Strategist’s Real Fantasy World
Apr 22, 2015
What Game of Thrones Teaches Us About Politics
Apr 08, 2015
My Zombie Phobia Goes Into Analysis
Mar 25, 2015
The Mysterious James Tiptree of Speculative Fiction
Mar 11, 2015
Utopias: The First Science Fiction?
Feb 25, 2015
Scott Snyder on Writing Batman Comics
Feb 11, 2015
Deprogramming The Sexy Robot Trope
Jan 29, 2015
The Golem and The Jinni Blend Jewish and Muslim Folklore
Jan 14, 2015
Reinventing Buffy in Comics
Dec 31, 2014
Action Figures for The Kidult Generation
Dec 17, 2014
In Defense of Captain Hook
Dec 04, 2014
Saving The Girl in Comic Book Films
Nov 19, 2014
Devilish Fantasies of The Salem Witch Trials
Nov 05, 2014
Rivalry of The Two Wizards of Oz
Oct 22, 2014
How Sacred Is The Canon of Fictional Universes?
Oct 08, 2014
Puppets vs. Digital Creatures
Sep 24, 2014
The Power of Origin Stories
Sep 10, 2014