Imaginary Worlds

I’ve covered digital and practical effects in film and TV, but creating special effects for live theater is a whole other challenge. J&M Special Effects has been up to the task for 40 years. Their crew has worked on shows from Hadestown to Harry Potter and The Cursed Child to Disney musicals like Frozen and Aladdin. I get a behind-the-scenes tour of their Brooklyn warehouse, where failure is part of the process in figuring out how to make the magic work. I talk with partner and designer Jeremy Chernick, along with pyrotechnician Bohdan Bushnell, about how theatrical effects have evolved with new technology -- and why they can sometimes be too good at their jobs in making the impossible seem possible. This episode is sponsored by Remi and ShipStation. Start your 60-day free trial at ShipStation.com and use the code IMAGINARY. Try Remi risk-free at shopremi.com/IMAGINARY and use the code IMAGINARY to get up to 50% off your nightguard at checkout Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I didn't want the summer to end without joining in on the 50th anniversary celebrations of Jaws. I spent summers on Cape Cod as a kid, where I often heard that Jaws was filmed nearby on Martha's Vineyard. In fact, I recently went back and visited an exhibit on the 50th anniversary of Jaws at the Martha Vineyard Museum. So this week, I'm playing one of my favorite reflections on the 50th anniversary of Jaws -- an episode from the podcast Cautionary Tales. The host Tim Harford dives deep into the famously chaotic filming of Jaws, and he explores whether we can learn any lessons from the ordeal that young Steven Spielberg went through. This week’s episode is sponsored by Hims and The Perfect Jean. For simple, online access to personalized and affordable care for hair loss and more, visit Hims.com/IMAGINARY GET 15% off your first order plus Free Shipping, Free Returns and Free Exchanges at theperfectjean.nyc when you use code IMAGINARY15 at checkout. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Coney Island still has the classic amusements you’d expect today like roller coasters, water slides, and carnival games. But over a century ago, it looked more like a proto–Disney World, with multiple theme parks, colossal buildings, and wildly imaginative rides. The most extravagant park along the boardwalk was Dreamland. At Dreamland, you could take a trip to Hell, experience the end of the world, ride through fake Venetian canals, or visit a city built to scale for little people. I talk with historian and novelist Kevin Baker about why Dreamland remains so intriguing and deeply problematic. We also hear voice actor Lofty Fulton read a passage from Kevin’s novel “Dreamland.” Plus, I talk with visual artist Zoe Beloff. She was fascinated that Sigmund Freud visited Dreamland in 1909. So she invented an alternative history where Freud’s disciples in Brooklyn tried to rebuild the park with overtly Freudian rides and exhibits. This week’s episode is sponsored by Hims, ShipStation and ButcherBox. For your free online visit, Hims.com/IMAGINARY Go to shipstation.com and use code IMAGINARY to sign up for your FREE trial. ButcherBox is offering our listeners $20 off their first box and free protein for a year. Go to ButcherBox.com/imaginary to get this limited time offer and free shipping. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Creating a musical score for interactive video games is like trying to hit a moving target. Luckily, Hans Zimmer’s studio Bleeding Fingers has developed some clever strategies. I talk with their CEO Russell Emanuel and musicians Thom Lukas and Giovanni Rios about how they create innovative scores for games like Arknights, and why they thrive under creative limitations. Grammy-winning video game composer Winifred Phillips discusses how she builds adaptive scores that shift and respond to unpredictable gameplay. And video game historian and RPI professor William Gibbons explains why the technological limitations of ‘80s and ‘90s games actually fueled composers’ creativity. This week’s episode is sponsored by The Perfect Jean. Our listeners get 15% off your first order plus Free Shipping, Free Returns and Free Exchanges when you use code IMAGINARY15 at checkout. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The production design of the film Fantastic Four: First Steps is an homage to the early ‘60s comics created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. While Kirby is best known for his bold, fist-popping drawing style, he was also a great storyteller who redefined what comic books could be. He was appreciated by hardcore fans at the time, but he never got the same media attention as Stan Lee and wasn't compensated for the fortunes his characters made. I talk with Kirby experts Charles Hatfield, Mark Evanier, Randolph Hoppe, and Arlen Schumer about where we can see Jack Kirby's influence on comics like The Fantastic Four, Thor, The Hulk, Captain America and Black Panther. And I explore Kirby's childhood at the Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side, where every day was “clobberin’ time,”and he first learned how to use a garbage can lid as a shield. This week’s episode is sponsored by ButcherBox, Hims and ShipStation. ButcherBox is offering our listeners $20 off their first box and free protein for a year. Go to ButcherBox.com/imaginary to get this limited time offer and free shipping always. Start your free online visit today at Hims.com/IMAGINARY Go to shipstation.com and use the code IMAGINARY to sign up for a free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When Arvind Ethan David was a student, he decided to adapt the Douglas Adams novel Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency into a play. Arvind didn’t imagine that Adams would show up to see the play (which he did), nor that Arvind would grow up to become a caretaker of Adams’ legacy. Arvind just released an audiobook called Douglas Adams: The Ends of The Earth, produced by Pushkin Industries. It features unheard archival audio of Douglas Adams and interviews with friends and colleagues of the late author who ponder what Adams was trying to tell us, and whether the great humorist always meant what he said. I talk with Arvind about the origin of the audiobook, and we hear an excerpt on why Adams publicly rejected the label of being a science fiction author -- even though he had created a sci-fi cultural phenomenon with The Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The animated TV series Pantheon (streaming on Netflix) asks what if you could upload your mind to the Internet? Would still be human? Would we create a virtual paradise where everyone got to live forever? Or would we find new and more sophisticated ways to destroy each other? I talk with Pantheon showrunner Craig Silverstein and Ken Liu, the author of The Hidden Girl and Other Stories, which the TV show is based on. We discuss how they adapted a series of loosely interconnected stories into a tightly plotted two-season arc, and all the ways in which society would change if uploading our minds becomes a viable technology. Featuring readings by actress Eunice Wong. This week’s episode is sponsored by The Perfect Jean, ButcherBox and Hims. Our listeners get 15% off your first order plus free shipping, free returns and free exchanges at theperfectjean.nyc with promo code IMAGINARY15 at checkout. ButcherBox is offering our listeners $20 off their first box and free protein for a year. Go to ButcherBox.com/imaginary to get this limited time offer. Start your free online visit today at Hims.com/IMAGINARY Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Murderbot is a killing machine in the far future that would rather spend its time binging an intergalactic soap opera -- and shooting bad guys with lasers is much less stressful than making eye contact or small talk with humans. Murderbot is also the main character of Martha Wells’ best-selling series of books, The Murderbot Diaries. The books have been adapted into a new show on Apple TV+ starring Alexander Skarsgård. I talk with Martha Wells, and the showrunners Chris and Paul Weitz, about the challenges of adapting the books to television, from casting choices to finding the right balance of comedy, action, and sci-fi. This week’s episode is sponsored by ShipStation. Go to shipstation.com and use the code IMAGINARY to sign up for a free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Next year marks the 60th anniversary of Dark Shadows. The gothic soap opera wasn’t originally intended to include a vampire, but when creator Dan Curtis introduced the character of Barnabas Collins in a last-ditch effort to avoid cancellation, he inadvertently launched a cultural phenomenon. As portrayed by actor Jonathan Frid, the character of Barnabas sparked a never-ending debate among horror fans as to whether vampires should be depicted as pure predators or tragic, misunderstood outcasts. I talk with Danielle Gelehrter (host of the podcast Terror at Collinwood) and authors Mark Dawidziak and Jeff Thompson about why the show had a meteoric rise and fall, what the series reflected about the 1960s, and whether Dark Shadows can have eternal life as a form of IP. This week’s episode is sponsored by Hims and Remi Get your free online visit at hims.com/IMAGINARY. Go to shopremi.com/IMAGINARY and use the code IMAGINARY to save up to 50%. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We all have that one thing we just can’t watch. For me, it’s body horror -- the kind of horror where grotesque and disturbing things happen to someone’s body, like in The Thing, The Fly, or The Substance. There is a long history of body horror as a form of social commentary and special effects showmanship. I respect the artform, but I can’t stomach the art. So I decided to figure out why. I talk with Chioke l’Anson (horror fan and voice of NPR underwriting), author David Huckvale (“Terrors of The Flesh: The Philosophy of Body Horror in Film”) and author Xavier Aldana Reyes (“Contemporary Body Horror”) about how this subgenre taps into fundamental aspects of being human that we often try to put out of our minds. Plus, I speak with listener Lillie Andrick about why some transgender fans, like her, feel a special connection to body horror. This week’s episode is sponsored by ShipStation. Go to shipstation.com and use the code IMAGINARY to sign up for a free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Last week, we heard about a new exhibit in New York called Syd Mead: Future Pastime. The exhibit closes on May 21st, and I know most listeners won't be able to see it in person. So in this bonus episode, you can hear the entire tour I got from Elon Solo and William Corman, who organized the exhibit. You can also see some of the images on the Imaginary Worlds Instagram and Facebook pages. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The late Syd Mead was a visual futurist who was hired to imagine the worlds of Blade Runner, Tron, Aliens, Elysium and other sci-fi films. His work in Hollywood has been lauded for decades, but there’s a new exhibit in New York that shows a different side of the artist. Syd Mead: Future Pastime is a collection of his personal and commercial paintings, which are all works of science fiction. Despite his connection to the dystopian world of Blade Runner, Mead’s personal vision of the future was unwaveringly optimistic. I talk with Mead’s husband and business partner Roger Servick, and the curators of the exhibit, Elon Solo and William Corman, about Mead’s predictions for the future of technology, sexuality and spirituality. (Image courtesy of Syd Mead Inc.) This week’s episode is sponsored by ShipStation and Hims Go to shipstation.com and use the code IMAGINARY to sign up for a free trial. Get your free online visit at hims.com/IMAGINARY. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The golden age of sci-fi was filled with utopian visions the future. These days, when sci-fi creators project ahead several decades, the world is looking a lot more dystopian. But there is a group of artists who believe that a better tomorrow is possible if we can imagine it first. Architects are finding that science fiction can be a great way to understand how their buildings will adapt to a rapidly changing world. I talk with architect and Texas Tech professor Jes Deaver about why she thinks sci-fi can inspire her students to not only think outside the literal box, but to have more empathy. Liam Young explains why he created a program at SCI-Arc to train architects who want to work in fictional or virtual worlds. And author Thomas R. Weaver discusses how he enrolled a city planner to build a pitch deck for a colony spaceship, and why floating cities may not be the best solution to climate change. This episode is sponsored by The Perfect Jean, Audible and Hims. Go to theperfectjean.nyc and get 15% off your first order when you use the code IMAGINARY15 at checkout. Go to audible.com/sunrise and listen to the audiobook of Listen to Sunrise on the Reaping. Start your free online visit today at Hims.com/IMAGINARY Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In honor of Women’s History Month we’re producing a two-part series about two artists who were visionaries and trailblazers. In part 2, we look at the career of Mary Blair. She changed the way Walt Disney wanted to make animation and brought modernist sophistication to his style. But not everyone at the studio was on board with Walt’s dream to “get Mary in the picture.” I talk with animation historians John Canemaker and Mindy Johnson about the influence of Mary Blair, and how we’ve experienced her work more than we’ve actually seen it. And I talk with author Gabrielle Stecher about the more complicated aspects of Blair’s legacy. Mindy Johnson’s book is Ink & Paint: The Women of Walt Disney Animation. John Canemaker’s book is Magic Color Flair: The World of Mary Blair. Gabrielle Stecher’s article is “Examining The Legacy of Mary Blair.” This episode is sponsored by Audible and Remi. Go to audible.com/sunrise and listen to the highly anticipated new audiobook in the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins Go to shopremi.com/imaginary and use the code IMAGINARY to save up to 50% your first mouthguard. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the previous episode, I talked with author Mallory O'Meara about Milicent Patrick, but there wasn't room to include this bonus material about Mallory's new book, Daughter of Daring. It tells the amazing story of Helen Gibson, the first superstar professional stuntwoman in Hollywood. She was like a combination of Annie Oakley and Michelle Yeoh at a time when silent movie stars were trying to outdo each other in their death-defying stunts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In honor of Women’s History Month, we’re producing a two-part series about two visionary and trailblazing artists: Mary Blair and Milicent Patrick. They went to the same art school. They each began working at Disney during the Depression. They were both singled out for their talents but left in 1941. From there, they went on to have wildly different careers, but each had a lasting impact on pop culture. In part one, I talk with authors and historians Mindy Johnson and Mallory O’Meara about Milicent Patrick. She started as a special effects animator on Fantasia before designing the Gill-man from Creature from the Black Lagoon. Plus, I talk with makeup and effects artist Steve Wang about why the Gill-man is a horror icon. Mallory O’Meara’s book is The Lady From The Black Lagoon, and Mindy Johnson’s book is Ink & Paint: The Women of Walt Disney Animation. This episode is sponsored by Hims. Start your free online visit today at Hims.com/IMAGINARY Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week’s episode comes from our Patreon podcast Between Imaginary Worlds. It’s a more casual chat show that appears between ad-free episodes of Imaginary Worlds for listeners who support the show on Patreon. I wanted to play this episode for you because it gives a good sense of the types of conversations we’re having on Between Imaginary Worlds. I talk with the anime voice actress Veronica Taylor about her career dubbing characters in shows like Pokémon, Dragon Ball Z, Sailor Moon, One Piece and Yu-Gi-Oh. We also discuss the differences between working with anime and working with American cartoons, like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Here is the link to support the show on Patreon. This episode is sponsored by ShipStation. Go to shipstation.com and use the code IMAGINARY to sign up for your free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the 1950s, an article about the popularity of folk music among science fiction fans had a typo where “folk” was written as “filk.” From then on, filk music became a staple at grassroots sci-fi conventions. Filkers would either write parody lyrics to existing folk songs, or they’d invent entirely new speculative worlds in 3-4 minute songs. Filk has evolved beyond just being folk. It's gone electric and embraced other genres of music. But sci-fi fantasy fandom has changed a lot as well. Does filk still have a place in a more corporate fantasy world? Can it survive the competition from Nerdcore or social media? Can it transition from the boomer generation that started it? I talk with folklorists Sally and Barry Childs-Helton of the group Wild Mercy, Rand and Erin Bellavia of the group Via Bella, and Eric and Jen Distad of the group The Faithful Sidekicks about the past, present and future of filk. This week’s episode is brought to you by Hims and Remi Start your free online visit today at Hims.com/IMAGINARY Get up to 50% off your custom-fit mouth guard at https://shopremi.com/IMAGINARY Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The writer Jon Ronson and the creators of the immersive theatrical experience Sleep No More have teamed up to make a vast new immersive show that unfolds beneath a Wall St. skyscraper. Life And Trust tells the story of J.G. Conwell, a bank president on the eve of the 1929 crash who makes a Faustian bargain to return to his youth. We accompany him back to New York’s seedy and turbulent past of The Gilded Age. The experience of spending hours in the world of Life And Trust is almost indescribable since most of the story unfolds through dream-like sets and choreography. It’s also an open world theatrical experience, so audiences never see the same exact show, even on the same night. I talk with Chief Storyteller for Emursive Productions Ilana Gilovch, Executive Producer of Life and Trust Carolyn Boyd, and Jon Ronson about how Life And Trust came together, and why this is the perfect moment to explore the devil’s bargain of a bank. This week's episode is sponsored by Hims. Start your free online visit today at Hims.com/IMAGINARY Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lauren Shippen is one of my favorite creators of audio dramas. In 2015, she burst on the scene with The Bright Sessions, which was about young people with supernatural abilities who are in therapy. The show was so successful, she used it to create an audio drama network called Atypical Artists, which produces her work and other indie creators. As a writer, Lauren combines a steady stream of revelations and plot twists with an ability to write deeply human characters that keeps me bingeing. And she’s given herself great roles to play as an actress. I talk with Lauren about her creative process, and her newest shows, the post-apocalyptic road trip Breaker Whiskey, and New Year’s Day, which is about two rival magicians who are immortal. This week’s episode is sponsored by Remi and Hims. Get up to 50% off your custom-fit mouth guard at https://www.shopremi.com/IMAGINARY Start your free online visit today at Hims.com/IMAGINARY Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices