Befriend The Reaper
Imaginary Worlds28 Sep 2022

Befriend The Reaper

One of the most common tropes in fantasy genres is personifying Death – turning this abstract and often terrifying concept into a character that people can interact with. Sometimes Death is portrayed as a Grim Reaper, but Death doesn’t have to be grim. Death can be compassionate, and even funny. And more often in recent years, Death has been depicted as someone with deeply ambivalent feelings about their job. I talk with listeners about their favorite portrayals of Death from Discworld to Sandman to Dead Like Me, and why imagining Death as a character changed the way they felt about death and grief. Our ad partner is Multitude. If you’re interested in advertising on Imaginary Worlds, you can contact them here. List of media mentioned in this episode: The Sandman comics and Netflix series Dead Like Me Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett Death With Interruptions by Jose Saramago On A Pale Horse by Piers Anthony The Book Thief by Markus Zusak Critical Role podcast The Seventh Seal Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey Monty Python and The Meaning of Life Personification of Death academic study from 2019 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

Populært innen Samfunn

rss-spartsklubben
aftenpodden
giver-og-gjengen-vg
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
konspirasjonspodden
aftenpodden-usa
rss-nesten-hele-uka-med-lepperod
popradet
rss-henlagt-andy-larsgaard
grenselos
wolfgang-wee-uncut
min-barneoppdragelse
synnve-og-vanessa
fladseth
rss-dannet-uten-piano
alt-fortalt
rss-dette-ma-aldri-skje-igjen
frokostshowet-pa-p5
198-land-med-einar-trnquist
rss-frekvens-med-anine-olsen