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.
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38:44
The Bright Legacy of Dark Shadows
Next year marks the 60th anniversary of Dark Shadows. The gothic soap opera wasn’t originally intended to include a vampire, but when creator Dan Curtis introduced the character of Barnabas Collins in a last-ditch effort to avoid cancellation, he inadvertently launched a cultural phenomenon. As portrayed by actor Jonathan Frid, the character of Barnabas sparked a never-ending debate among horror fans as to whether vampires should be depicted as pure predators or tragic, misunderstood outcasts. I talk with Danielle Gelehrter (host of the podcast Terror at Collinwood) and authors Mark Dawidziak and Jeff Thompson about why the show had a meteoric rise and fall, what the series reflected about the 1960s, and whether Dark Shadows can have eternal life as a form of IP.
This week’s episode is sponsored by Hims and Remi
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40:45
Body Horror Gets Under My Skin
We all have that one thing we just can’t watch. For me, it’s body horror -- the kind of horror where grotesque and disturbing things happen to someone’s body, like in The Thing, The Fly, or The Substance. There is a long history of body horror as a form of social commentary and special effects showmanship. I respect the artform, but I can’t stomach the art. So I decided to figure out why. I talk with Chioke l’Anson (horror fan and voice of NPR underwriting), author David Huckvale (“Terrors of The Flesh: The Philosophy of Body Horror in Film”) and author Xavier Aldana Reyes (“Contemporary Body Horror”) about how this subgenre taps into fundamental aspects of being human that we often try to put out of our minds. Plus, I speak with listener Lillie Andrick about why some transgender fans, like her, feel a special connection to body horror.
This week’s episode is sponsored by ShipStation. Go to
shipstation.com and use the code IMAGINARY to sign up for a free trial.
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38:25
Bonus: Syd Mead Full Gallery Tour
Last week, we heard about a new exhibit in New York called Syd Mead: Future Pastime. The exhibit closes on May 21st, and I know most listeners won't be able to see it in person. So in this bonus episode, you can hear the entire tour I got from Elon Solo and William Corman, who organized the exhibit. You can also see some of the images on the Imaginary Worlds Instagram and Facebook pages.
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51:06
The Optimist Behind Blade Runner's Dystopia
The late Syd Mead was a visual futurist who was hired to imagine the worlds of Blade Runner, Tron, Aliens, Elysium and other sci-fi films. His work in Hollywood has been lauded for decades, but there’s a new exhibit in New York that shows a different side of the artist. Syd Mead: Future Pastime is a collection of his personal and commercial paintings, which are all works of science fiction. Despite his connection to the dystopian world of Blade Runner, Mead’s personal vision of the future was unwaveringly optimistic. I talk with Mead’s husband and business partner Roger Servick, and the curators of the exhibit, Elon Solo and William Corman, about Mead’s predictions for the future of technology, sexuality and spirituality. (Image courtesy of Syd Mead Inc.)
This week’s episode is sponsored by ShipStation and Hims
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Imaginary Worlds sounds like what would happen if NPR went to ComicCon and decided that’s all they ever wanted to cover. Host Eric Molinsky spent over a decade working as a public radio reporter and producer, and he uses those skills to create thoughtful, sound-rich episodes about science fiction, fantasy, and other genres of speculative fiction. Every other week, he talks with comic book artists, game designers, novelists, screenwriters, filmmakers, and fans about how they craft their worlds, why we suspend our disbelief, and what happens if the spell is broken. Imaginary worlds may be set on distant planets or parallel dimensions, but they are crafted here on Earth, and they’re always about us and our lived experiences.
UK