Murderbot Is Ready for Its Close-Up (But Not Eye Contact)
Imaginary Worlds4 Kesä 2025

Murderbot Is Ready for Its Close-Up (But Not Eye Contact)

Murderbot is a killing machine in the far future that would rather spend its time binging an intergalactic soap opera. Shooting bad guys with lasers is much less stressful than making eye contact or engaging in 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 fun 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 for television -- from casting choices, to translating Murderbot’s anxious inner monologue into voice-over narration, 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

Jaksot(301)

Worldbuilding With Music

Worldbuilding With Music

In the first of a two part episode on imaginary worlds in music, I talk with members of Vertigo Drift, an indie band that created a cyberpunk concept album with an expanded universe of material provid...

21 Syys 201718min

Technobabble

Technobabble

This week, I team up with Helen Zaltzman of The Allusionist podcast to help me figure out why one set of poorly understood pseudo-scientific terms can sink a scene, while another set of pseudo-scienti...

7 Syys 201727min

Future Screens Are Mostly Blue

Future Screens Are Mostly Blue

This week, I'm playing one of my favorite episodes of the podcast 99% Invisible where host Roman Mars and producer Sam Greenspan look at control panels in science fiction -- the clunky, the elegant, a...

24 Elo 201724min

Scott Snyder

Scott Snyder

If the previous episode was all about villains, this one looks at the other side of that equation. In 2014 I interviewed the writer Scott Snyder whose run on Batman comics is considered one of the bes...

10 Elo 201728min

Evil Plans

Evil Plans

They've tried to take over the world. They've tried to take away our free will. They've gone after ancient artifacts with vaguely defined magical properties. But they almost always fail. The evil plan...

27 Heinä 201729min

The Book of Dune

The Book of Dune

Frank Herbert's 1965 novel Dune and its sequels tackled a lot of big themes. The books are about ecology. They're about journeys of self-realization through mind-altering substances. But religion is a...

12 Heinä 201729min

World War EVE

World War EVE

EVE Online is a massive multi-player online role playing game, which means it's a game where there are no rules -- just a galaxy where you build space ships, form alliances and go to war. The Icelandi...

29 Kesä 201729min

Imagining the Internet

Imagining the Internet

We were promised flying cars but we got Twitter instead. That's the common complaint against science fiction writers and the visions of the future they presented us in the 20th century. But many sci-f...

15 Kesä 201724min

Suosittua kategoriassa Yhteiskunta

olipa-kerran-otsikko
siita-on-vaikea-puhua
gogin-ja-janin-maailmanhistoria
i-dont-like-mondays
kolme-kaannekohtaa
poks
antin-palautepalvelu
kaksi-aitia
aikalisa
sita
yopuolen-tarinoita-2
rss-murhan-anatomia
mamma-mia
meidan-pitais-puhua
rss-ootsa-kuullut-tasta
loukussa
rss-nikotellen
rss-palmujen-varjoissa
ootsa-kuullut-tasta-2
rss-haudattu