Imaginary Worlds: Daily Summaries Delivered

How Folklore Spirited Anime Away

Anime and manga are a global phenomenon, and their popularity continues to grow. Many of these stories are populated by supernatural beings called yōkai. Even though yōkai can be portrayed as ghosts, demons, or monsters, they're rarely purely good or evil. We trace the history of yōkai from ancient folklore to Studio Ghibli films and shows like Dan Da Dan. I talk with scholars Kaitlyn Ugoretz, Deborah Shamoon, and Michael Dylan Foster about why these supernatural beings have captured people's imaginations, how they became central to modern pop culture, and the role they play in Japan even in times of national emergency. Deborah’s book, “Text and Image: Making Meaning in Manga and Comics” is available in the Fall. Kaitlyn’s YouTube channel is Eat Pray Anime. Michael Dylan Foster wrote several books on yōkai To support the show, you can donate on Patreon where you get access to the ad-free version and our companion show Between Imaginary Worlds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Father of Sword and Soul

Charles R. Saunders loved Tarzan as a kid, but he was also repulsed by the racism in those books since Charles was Black. So he created a counter narrative about a warrior named Imaro who lived in a fictionalized version of precolonial Africa. Charles had invented a new subgenre of sword and sorcery that he called sword and soul. His books were groundbreaking in the 1980s, but he was also way ahead of his time. I talk with Milton Davis, Sheree Renée Thomas and Troy Wiggins about a movement among Black fantasy writers today to reclaim Charles and his work. I also talk with journalist Jon Tattrie, who wrote a biography about Charles called To Leave a Warrior Behind. This episode is sponsored by IngramSpark. Get 15% off your first order of 15 more books at IngramSpark using the code IMAGINARY15. This offer expires at the end of the year. To support the show, you can donate on Patreon where you get access to the ad-free version and our companion show Between Imaginary Worlds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Many Faces of Jekyll and Hyde

Pop culture has been full of Jekylls and Hydes: Bruce Banner and The Hulk, Norman Bates and Mother, Walter White and Heisenberg, The Nutty Professor and Buddy Love. They all echo the archetype that Robert Lous Stevenson established 140 years ago in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I explore at how these variations reflect different ideas about duality, depending on how “bad” the Hydes are and what the Jekylls choose to do about their alter egos. Lewis University professor Jamil Mustafa draws parallels between the original 1886 novel and modern stories like Twin Peaks, Fight Club, and Black Swan. Plus, I talk with Yannie ten Broeke, who teaches psychology at Touro University, about why the Jekyll and Hyde archetype reflects how little we understand our own minds. This episode is sponsored by There Is No Antimemetics Division, the national bestselling science-fiction horror novel by qntm. Get your copy now wherever books and audiobooks are sold. To support the show, you can donate on Patreon where you get access to the ad-free version and our companion show Between Imaginary Worlds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Holmes and Watson: True Crime Podcasters

John Watson is a former army doctor who became a true crime podcaster when he met a consulting detective named Sherlock Holmes. You can hear about the cases they’ve solved in the podcast Sherlock & Co. Sound familiar? Holmes and Watson may have been enshrined in pop culture for over 130 years. But their adventures feel fresh and relevant in the audio drama Sherlock & Co – which masquerades as a true crime podcast. I talked with the creators of the show, Joel Emery and Adam Jarrell, who set out to adapt and modernize the entire Sherlock Holmes canon written by Arthur Conan Doyle, except not in its original chronological order. We discuss the challenge of reimagining these characters in the 21st century (and not being the first to do so), and why the bromance between Holmes and Watson plays into timeless questions around masculinity and how guys express their emotions. This episode is sponsored by IngramSpark. Get 15% off your first order of 15 more books at IngramSpark using the code IMAGINARY15. To support the show, you can donate on Patreon where you get access to the ad-free version and our companion show Between Imaginary Worlds. You can also buy Imaginary Worlds merchandise at our online store. My most recent Between imaginary Worlds episode, I interviewed the creator of the larp Acheron IV. You can sign up here to play the larp in Philadelphia over Memorial Day weekend. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Celebrating 300 Imaginary Worlds

Imaginary Worlds has reached another milestone – 300 episodes! We already celebrated the 200th episode and the 10th anniversary of the show, but in those episodes, we mostly kept the spotlight off ourselves. This time around, my assistant producer Stephanie Billman and I reflect on how the podcast has impacted us. I often joke that the show feels like a train that I’m riding, and I’m laying down tracks as I go. Sometimes those tracks stretch far in the distance, but other times I can see the end of the line and wonder if this train is going to Wile E. Coyote off a cliff. But we have managed to make it this far thanks to a lot of imagination, willpower and chemistry. This episode is sponsored by Mizzen + Main and Audible. Our listeners get 20% off their first purchase at mizzenandmain.com using the promo code IMAGINARY20. Listen to the audiobook of Project Hail Mary at Audible.com/hailmary. To support the show, you can donate on Patreon where you get access to the ad-free version and our companion show Between Imaginary Worlds. You can also buy Imaginary Worlds merchandise at our online store. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Puppeteering Project Hail Mary

How D.C. Fontana Helped Star Trek Live Long and Prosper

Absolute Reimagining of DC Comics