The Fantasy Forum

Podcast host, Jeanne Yoon, invites close friend and fellow fantasy fan, Hanna Lee, to discuss how escapism impacts society. This episode explores Daniel Baker's article “Why We Need Dragons: The Progressive Potential of Fantasy” and its claim that individuals need fantasy. This idea is connected with The Vampire Diaries television series and the strong influence it has brought upon many viewers. In their discussion, they recall characters and events of core fantasy elements and examine what makes the relatively dated show still a prominent topic of discussion among young fans today.

Podcast host, Adela Sheng, speaks with her friend, Shannon Kim from Auburn University, about an enduring creature of Asian cultural fantasy: the Nine-Tailed Fox. In this episode, they utilize this fantastical creature to explore fantasy's role in society and its lasting cultural impact. They discuss the many different traits the Nine-Tailed Fox takes on across various cultures and time periods, as well as its portrayal in modern fantasy media.

Looking for nerdy tales of fantastical adventure with strong family values? Then check out this week's episode of The Fantasy Forum. Special host, Connor McCary, welcomes Chad Valentine, a father-of-four and lifelong Dungeons and Dragons enthusiast to The Fantasy Forum to talk about Fantasy's role in building relationships. In this episode, they discuss how Dungeons and Dragons became a regular family tradition and what about it brought them together. They also discuss the interesting lessons from the family Dungeons and Dragons campaign that carried over into everyday life.

Sometimes fantasy is purely imagination, but other times it reflects reality and elements of society. Through the increasingly progressive era that we live in today, relevant topics such as equality and feminism are embodied in many fantasy works. In this podcast, host Palak Sharma and guest Lynne Park discuss how feminism is present in the fantasy TV show Miraculous, and delve into how ‘real' these characteristics are, as well as how having a prominent female protagonist alters the message of the show as a whole.

This episode's host, Ryan Thomas Lynch, chats with Sergio Ruiz, his good friend and fraternity brother who is a huge Marvel fan, about how the hit Disney+ show Loki is able to put its characters in very relatable situations despite narrative of the show being about the literal “God of Mischief” who gets arrested by an omnipotent time traveling bureaucracy (oops, spoiler warning). We talk about what we think the show did right, what it didn't have to do, and what it did wrong in using fantasy elements to create the lifelike scenarios for its characters. Then they try to extrapolate that idea further into how fantasy should be used by others to make their stories more enjoyable and more relatable – without being too confusing or rules heavy ‐ handed allegories.

Have you ever been confused what the difference between science fiction and fantasy is? Podcast host, Garrett Anderson, and guests, Nico Leopold and Charlie Morris, explore the relationship between science fiction and fantasy. In this episode, they discuss the critically acclaimed 1988 Japanese film AKIRA and how it draws from both science fiction and fantasy, allowing it to inhabit the limbo genre science fantasy. Through their conversation, listeners can not only get a better understanding of the movie, but also a better understanding of the genres of science fiction and fantasy.

Join your host, Varun Godbole, as he talks to two seasoned video game players, Aditya Munagapati and Varun Vangala, about fantasy in video games and what exactly makes it so appealing and popular. Specifically, we look into the game/franchise Mario Kart, which combines a popular, realistic sport with fantastical elements. We explore how these fantastical elements change how people perceive racing games. We also look at the universe of Mario and how much influence that has on the user's enjoyment of the game. Between the two, we consider how Mario Kart has touched so many people over the years.

Podcast host, Ella Witz, explores the lines drawn between the classification of fantasy and mythology with Dr. Burmester. In this episode, they discuss the stakes at play in distinguishing between mythology and fantasy through exploring the Percy Jackson series, written by Rick Riordan. Through their conversation, they discuss the different aspects that separate the two genres, such as author belief and purpose, while also determining if fantasy can ever be purely original.

Podcast hosts, Amogh Totada and Christian Haynes, dive into the relationship between anthropomorphism and fantasy. They use The Chronicles of Narnia as an example to discuss this relationship. With the help of their guest, Sophia Haynes, a journalism major at the University of Georgia, the three investigate how authors use anthropomorphism as an essential tool to develop the setting and characters of their fictional worlds. By the end of the podcast, Amogh and Christian provide fresh perspective of anthropomorphism's relationship with fantasy.

Georgia Tech students, Yoon Ji Cho and Willa Zheng, interview fellow student, Crystal Dai, to examine how the genre of fantasy has adapted to fit new forms of online media such as video games. They discuss fantastical elements in the video game League of Legends and how it employs elements important to the fantasy genre to make the user experience more immersive and enjoyable. They also explore the role of multimedia content in expanding the horizons of fantasy as a genre.

Abdulaziz Memesh speak swith his roommate and fellow Georgia Tech student, Mohammed Kousa, about the benefits of fantasy and its effect on the people who consume it. Throughout their discussion of this topic, they reference some of the scenes in the movie Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire as well as other stories to make points about the kinds of thoughts that are motivated by fantasy.

Why is it so common for people to criticize escapism within fantasy if it brings us much tranquility and joy? In this episode, host, Anahi Canales Dominguez, discusses with a peer, Adela Sheng, the impact of escapism on our mindset, and why fantasy critics view it detrimentally. Their conversation focuses on escapism to the Spirit Realm, a magical world in the popular Studio Ghibli film Spirited Away, to attempt to form a consensus on escapism's impact. Within their interview, they compare reality and escapism as the film expresses them, and how the difference between the two is strengthened by "hustle culture," their influence on mental health as well as our contrasting emotional judgment towards both.

Join your Dungeon Master, Jordan Moss with special guest and veteran DnD player, Adeline Boswell as they discuss monsters, spells, maps, and stories of Dungeons and Dragons, and its broader implications of how fantasy works best. From character creation to campaign writing to the role of a dice, DnD brings an expectation of absolute freedom to every new player. But today we shatter those expectations. Listen to how we overcome our frustrations with rules and better appreciate why fantasy both benefits from and requires rules and limitations.

Podcast organizer, Dr. Jill Fennell, speaks with a peer Georgia Tech Marion L. Brittain Postdoctoral Fellow, Dr. Eric Lewis, about verisimilitude's place in fantasy by discussing the television series A Discovery of Witches. In this episode they discuss our connection to fantasy in terms of the desire for it and its tenuous relationship with verisimilitude. Through their conversation, they discuss much of the first season (2018) of “Disco Witches” to talk about how our enjoyment of fantasy can be related to some “real-seeming” elements within the larger fantastic narrative.