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Fantastical Feasts
What is the role of food in worldbuilding? Characters usually have to eat to stay alive -- but food is also culture, and if you're creating a fantasy…
7 years, 5 months ago
D&D Revisited
Stubborn Lippi a.k.a. Stubbs is a halfling, a bard, and a sorcerer. He's also the character I've been playing since I produced my 2015 episode "Rolli…
7 years, 6 months ago
Fanfiction (Special Edition)
Last year, I interviewed Francesca Coppa for my episode Fanfiction (Don't Judge.) She's the author of the book "The Fanfiction Reader," and one of th…
7 years, 6 months ago
Do You Speak Conlang?
Sci-fi fantasy worlds often use constructed languages (or conlangs for short) as a worldbuilding tool that can make us believe the characters come fr…
7 years, 7 months ago
Imaginary Deaths
Have you ever mourned the loss of a fictional character? It can be tough to get over, and difficult to convince people not caught up in that fictiona…
7 years, 7 months ago
Fahrenheit 451 Still Burns
The writer Neil Gaiman first became entranced with Fahrenheit 451 as a kid, but he says the novel is the kind of masterpiece that seems like a differ…
7 years, 7 months ago
Gathering the Magic
At its core, Magic: The Gathering is a card game and your goal is to knock your opponent down to zero points. But Magic: The Gathering also has a dee…
7 years, 8 months ago
The First Three Lives of Catherine Webb
You may know her as Claire North, author of the best-selling novel "The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August." You might also know her as Kate Griffin…
7 years, 8 months ago
The Westworld Experience
To promote season 2 of Westworld, HBO recreated the fictional Wild West town from the TV show just outside Austin at the SXSW festival, and they hire…
7 years, 9 months ago
Jack Kirby's Marvels
Avengers: Infinity War brought together characters from across the Marvel universe, but many of them already shared a common bond -- their creator Ja…
7 years, 9 months ago