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(300)

You Are Lone Wolf: A Father/Son Quest

You Are Lone Wolf: A Father/Son Quest

When Joe Dever died in 2016, he hadn’t written the last several books in his Lone Wolf series. The Lone Wolf books take place in a deeply rich fantasy universe, and they’re written as a combination of...

24 Apr 202434min

African Sci-Fi Looks to a Future Climate

African Sci-Fi Looks to a Future Climate

When the writer Nnedi Okorafor coined the term Africanfuturism, she wanted to distinguish sci-fi written about Africa from Afrofuturism, which is focuses on the experiences of Black people in the dias...

10 Apr 202439min

When All Is Said in Dune

When All Is Said in Dune

Back in 2018, I interviewed language creator David J. Peterson about how he invented Dothraki for Game of Thrones and other fictional languages in fantasy worlds. David and his wife Jessie just finish...

27 Mar 202447min

Mother-in-Law of Oz

Mother-in-Law of Oz

The Wizard of Oz is deeply ingrained into our culture. While many people can practically recite the 1939 movie, the original source material isn’t as well known. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank...

13 Mar 202436min

Bonus: Turtles and Toys Outtakes

Bonus: Turtles and Toys Outtakes

In the previous episode, I interviewed documentary filmmaker Isaac Elliot-Fisher about He-Man and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Isaac had so many great anecdotes about the history of those franchises ...

6 Mar 202423min

Class of '84: Turtles, Transformers and Toys Takeover TV

Class of '84: Turtles, Transformers and Toys Takeover TV

In the final episode of our mini-series Class of '84, we look at two iconic franchises that launched in 1984: Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. They came from opposite ends of the busines...

28 Feb 202440min

Class of '84: When Cyber Was Punk

Class of '84: When Cyber Was Punk

In the second episode of our mini-series on groundbreaking works from 1984, we jack into the system and upload our minds into Neuromancer. William Gibson’s novel became a seminal work of cyberpunk, wh...

14 Feb 202440min

Bonus: Rise of The Villains Outtakes

Bonus: Rise of The Villains Outtakes

When I interviewed special effects artist Shannon Shea about The Terminator and other villains of ’84, we also discussed his experiences working on Terminator 2. He tells me about the many life-sized ...

7 Feb 202422min

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