Blueprints for Utopias

Blueprints for Utopias

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

Episoder(303)

Mystery Science Theater Reopens

Mystery Science Theater Reopens

Mystery Science Theater 3000 or MST3K is back once again. The show was first created by Joel Hodgson, then a stand-up comedian who was ambivalent about the career path laid out in clubs or maybe a sit...

26 Mai 202228min

Snow Crashing Into The Metaverse

Snow Crashing Into The Metaverse

For the last 30 years, the real world has been catching up to Neal Stephenson’s vision of the future in his 1992 novel Snow Crash, which influenced the creators of Google Earth, Second Life, Oculus Ri...

12 Mai 202230min

De-Aging Well

De-Aging Well

There’s an old saying that everyone wants to live long, but no one wants to get old. The same can be applied to our favorite sci-fi fantasy franchises. As familiar faces return to Star Wars, Star Trek...

28 Apr 202236min

Neurodivergent Futures

Neurodivergent Futures

One of the most common requests I've gotten over the years has been to do an episode about why so many autistic people are drawn towards science fiction, and these suggestions have come from listeners...

14 Apr 202229min

Nosferatu Live

Nosferatu Live

100 years ago this month, the vampire film Nosferatu was released in Germany. Not long after, it was hit with a lawsuit – which the filmmakers lost – and every copy of the film was to be destroyed. At...

31 Mar 202232min

A Nation Dreams of Itself

A Nation Dreams of Itself

The Russian invasion of Ukraine shocked the world, but this conflict was foreshadowed in Ukrainian and Russian speculative fiction. I talk with several fantasy writers in Ukraine about how they’ve use...

17 Mar 202230min

Asian Futures Without Asians

Asian Futures Without Asians

It’s a future we’re all very familiar with. The rainy streets are full of neon dragons, noodle shops, and other Asian iconography mixed up and decontextualized amid sci-fi flourishes, but something is...

3 Mar 202236min

Beforeigners

Beforeigners

In the sci-fi drama Beforeigners from HBO Nordic, Oslo is overrun with immigrants and refugees. But they haven’t come from other countries. They’re from the past. In fact, they’re from three specific ...

17 Feb 202236min

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