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We're continuing our mini-series on iconic American toys and games. This week: how Silly Putty, Twister, and Monopoly blurred the line between the worlds of adults and kids. Plus, I travel back to middle school to relive my role in a children's theater production of an original Monopoly musical.

In honor of the semiquincentennial, we're doing a series of mini stories across two episodes that explore American toys and games which took on a life of their own. This week, we look at how the Radio Flyer wagon, the teddy bear and Cabbage Patch dolls became vehicles for children’s imaginations.

We're having a flash summer sale up to 27% off in the IW merch store! The sale runs Friday to Monday. imaginaryworlds.dashery.com

I'm teaching my host whispering class again this Friday at 12:30pm EDT. There are still a few spots left!

Ancient folklore characters populate contemporary anime and manga from Spirited Away to Dan Da Dan. We look at why these supernatural beings have captured people’s imaginations, and how they made the transition from premodern Japan to shows that kids watch on their devices today.

If you're baffled by the box office success of Backrooms -- check out my 2022 episode about analog horror, liminal spaces and creepypastas.

In the 1980s, Charles R. Saunders published a series of novels that featured Black characters in a mythical version of precolonial Africa. It was a new subgenre of sword and sorcery that he called sword and soul. This week, we look at the satisfaction and heartbreak of being ahead of your time.

This week, we take a trip through pop culture to see how the archetype of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde keeps repeating with variations from Bruce Banner and The Hulk to Norman Bates and Mother to The Nutty Professor and Buddy Love.

The weird thing for me about the Daredevil: Born Again season finale was seeing my local library in Brooklyn, where there's a farmer's market on Saturdays, double as a courthouse and a scene of bloody mayhem. Also, the front doors are apparently a portal to the courthouse on Chambers St in Manhattan

So true!

My newest audio drama obsession is the podcast Sherlock & Co, which turns Holmes and Watson into true crime podcasters. I talk with the creators of the show, Joel Emery and Adam Jarrell, about why a fake audio documentary is the perfect format to update Arthur Conan Doyle's stories.

Pop the champagne! My colleague Stephanie and I celebrate the 300th episode by looking back on how this journey has shaped us -- complete with 1980s sitcom-style flashbacks.

This week, I talked with James Ortiz – the puppeteer of Rocky in Project Hail Mary. We discuss how he built his team of puppeteers or "Rocketeers," and why it was so challenging to control a five-legged puppet while doing improv with Ryan Gosling.

Congrats to Tamara Deverell! I'm very proud to have had an Oscar winner on my podcast!!

In honor of the 60th Anniversary of Star Trek and Women’s History Month, we look at the voyages of D.C. Fontana – the trailblazing screenwriter who helped Star Trek go where television had never gone before.

Unless you have a low Wisdom modifier

DC superheroes have been reinvented in a dark parallel universe, and the fans can't get enough of it. I talked with editors Chris Conroy and Katie Kubert, and writer Kelly Thompson about why the Absolute Universe has resonated so strongly with fans and how it has thematic parallels with our world.

This week, we look at the character of Annie in the Oscar-nominated film Sinners. I talk with Professors Kinitra Brooks and Yvonne Chireau (who was a consultant on the film) about how Sinners turned the horror trope of the conjure woman into a heroine and love interest.

💯 😪

This week, I talk with Abby Howard and Tony Howard-Arias, the creators of one of my favorite indie games, Scarlet Hollow. We discuss how animating Abby’s drawings allowed them to design a game where the players have seemingly endless choices and romance options in a spooky Southern Gothic town.

@simsigga.bsky.social Hey Junie! We'd love to interview you for our podcast Imaginary Worlds. My asst. producer Stephanie sent you an email. Please let us know if you're interested!

This week, we kick off a mini-series on video games. @darbymcdevitt.bsky.social is an expert on losing yourself in virtual worlds. We discuss his career as a narrative director and writer on the Assassin’s Creed games, and his new novel about VR called The Halter.

Finally! It does screw up the very specific Force Awakens timeline they've committed to -- which is admirable -- but they also were trying way too hard to make Kylo Ren happen.

Last night, Stranger Things purified itself in the waters of Lake Minnetonka 💜

It’s time for my annual audio drama! This year, I interview supernatural folklore characters that are synonymous with the holiday season outside America, but they’ve been overshadowed by the cultural juggernaut of Santa Claus

Bigfoot sighting! Mothman seen! Cryptids are popping up everywhere – not just in the wilderness but at festivals across the country. I talk with Native Alaskan podcaster James Dommek Jr and author J.W. Ocker about why some people see cryptids as a vital part of their culture.

This week, a trio of conversations that track the history of animation in my lifetime, and my life in animation. Act I: Acid Tab Cartoons. Act II: Looking Like SpongeBob. Act III: Saving Nimona. These stories come from Between Imaginary Worlds, which is available to listeners who pledge on Patreon.

It takes a village to make a monster. This week, I talk with Tamara Deverell, the production designer on the new Frankenstein film directed by Guillermo del Toro. We discuss where she looked for inspiration, and how she reimagined the iconic lab where The Creature comes to life.

This week, we look at the origins of two of the most famous horror novels -- Frankenstein and Dracula -- and talk with scholars about what might have inspired Mary Shelley and Bram Stoker.

This week, we explore the groundbreaking score that Louis and Bebe Barron created for the 1956 sci-fi film Forbidden Planet. It changed the sound of science fiction music, but not everyone was ready to accept the future of film scoring.

One of my favorite podcasts, Imaginary Worlds by @emolinsky.bsky.social, interviewed the creators of one of the best books I've read recently, Lucas Wars. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/i...

Viola! The French graphic novel Les Guerres de Lucas is out now in English with a new title, Lucas Wars. I talked with artist Renaud Roche and writer Laurent Hopman about how they depicted the making of Star Wars, and why it was such an uphill battle for Lucas himself.

I'm thrilled that Imaginary Worlds is a finalist for a Signal Award for Best Arts & Culture podcast! I'm also eligible for a Listener's Choice Award. You can vote right here! Feel free to forward too!

not to make this all about my own interests, but we NEED more people to discover audio dramas not only do they rule, but they're probably one of the few entertainment mediums left that aren't mostly controlled by massive companies vulnerable to corruption/pressure the most successful ADs are indie

This week, we hear an episode from the podcast Cautionary Tales about a young filmmaker, a difficult actor, and even more difficult mechanical shark that could’ve turned into a disaster. Instead, it produced a cinematic masterpiece.

This eloquently sums up why I've been so depressed about the state of podcasting now. For a long time it felt like there was this endless hunger for thoughtfully produced narrative shows. Now it feels like a capricious whiplash where everyone is like, "Okay, we're done. Bring on the celebs!"

With summer winding down, we take a trip to Coney Island – over a century ago – and explore the bombastic and bizarre theme park Dreamland.

This week, I talk with video game composers at Hans Zimmer’s company Bleeding Fingers, and indie composer Winifred Phillips about the challenge of writing music for a visual medium that is constantly changing.

In honor of the new Fantastic Four movie coming out and the way it’s paying homage to the original comics from the 1960s, this week I revised my 2018 episode about Jack Kirby and how much of himself he put into characters that eventually became pop culture icons.

Thanks to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, we already know the meaning of life. (Spoiler: it’s 42.) This week, we ponder the meaning of Douglas Adams.

I will be teaching my class, How to Sound like Yourself on the Mic, on July 10th at 7pm EDT. It's great for people who are starting a podcast, or more experienced podcasters who would like to learn some tips and hone their skills!

I'm doing my 10th annual call out for story ideas across social media -- although it's my first on Bluesky. Let me know what you'd like to see on Imaginary Worlds in the future. It helps to be specific with your suggestions. As I often joke, I don't want to sound like Imaginary Wikipedia. Thanks!

What if you could upload your mind to the Internet? I talk with Pantheon showrunner Craig Silverstein and Ken Liu, author of the short stories the TV show is based on, about how they crafted an existential thriller with stakes that feel both personal and global.

FYI I changed the title and link for this week's episode, but the content is still the same. I heard feedback that people thought the preview title looked like I had posted a negative review, and I really didn't want to give that impression.

This week, I talk with author Martha Wells and the Weitz brothers, who adapted her Murderbot books into a new Apple TV+ show starring Alexander Skarsgård. We cover casting choices, balancing comedy with sci-fi, and who could appear in future installments of Murderbot’s favorite soap opera.

There's usually not much crossover between politics and science fiction but for the record, a robot is not the same thing as a clone. Other than that, no notes.

Looking for Memorial Day sales? Everything in the Imaginary Worlds merch store is up to 27% off this weekend! imaginaryworlds.dashery.com

This week, we shine a light on the 1960s gothic soap opera Dark Shadows, and look at how it sparked a debate among horror fans as to whether vampires should be depicted as pure predators or tragic, misunderstood outcasts.

This week, I confront my fears and look at why the subgenre of body horror freaks me out, and how it can be liberating for some people to watch.