The Imaginaries Podcast

We are absolutely thrilled to bring you this (first!) episode with one of our absolute favorite writers: C.L. Polk! There's so much to talk about in the first two books of Polk's Kingston Cycle (we recorded before the third book in the trilogy, SOUKSTAR, was released) and her standalone THE MIDNIGHT BARGAIN that we barely scratch the surface in this episode, though we do have an excellent time talking about world-building and gender roles, among many other big conversations. We have future episodes planned, so stay tuned for more conversations with the enormously talented and extremely wonderful C.L. Polk. ------------- No ads, no bullshit, no hetero, and (almost) no social media. Visit https://www.imaginaries.net or drop us a line at imaginarypod@gmail.com with thoughts. You can listen to our episodes on - iTunes (https://apple.co/3aFR64l) - Spotify (https://spoti.fi/2tERDTD) - Stitcher (https://bit.ly/38ukyZc) and - SoundCloud (https://bit.ly/2TVno5i) Rating or reviewing our podcast wherever you find your favorite podcasts really helps spread the word AND keep improving our episodes as we go.

In this first episode of 2021, we share our favorite books, comics, shows, and more from 2020. Instead of running through them all as we've done in previous years, we highlight some of the best and most important trends of the year. We wanted to focus on all the good to come from the year -- and according to us, there was plenty of queer science fiction and fantasy to celebrate, like all the wonderful queer sff animated shows, increasing queer rep in sff miniseries, and excellent new books and series from our favorite debut authors of the past couple years. Take a listen for the best of 2020, and you can check out our full lists of recommendations, on our website at https://www.imaginaries.net/imaginary-awards. Stay tuned through 2021 as we bring you more delightful imaginaries! ------------- Like our content? Our website is https://www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line at imaginarypod@gmail.com while we are avoiding the frequent madness of most social media. You can listen to our episodes on - iTunes (https://apple.co/3aFR64l) - Spotify (https://spoti.fi/2tERDTD) - Stitcher (https://bit.ly/38ukyZc) and - SoundCloud (https://bit.ly/2TVno5i) - Wherever you found this one! We are working to put together a page on Bookshop.org with all of the books we can't stop talking about after nearly 5 years of podcasting(!!), so watch this space and shop local, indie, and proud. Rating or reviewing our podcast wherever you find your favorite podcasts really helps spread the word AND keep improving our episodes as we go. We never cut away to ads, or put our episodes behind a paywall. Ever. If you're itching to celebrate our queer take on science fiction and fantasy by spending $$, please honor the Black trans* women and other trailblazers who led the charge at Stonewall and after, elsewhere. Or you can put some bucks towards your state's bail fund, the official George Floyd Memorial Fund, or your local independent bookstore. Your $$ grows extra limbs and tentacles and improves lives through these organizations.

Welcome to the Michaelogical Network, a Star Trek: Discovery recap series with our brand new past/present/future Star Trek correspondent, Eleanor Tremeer. In this episode we recap the happenings in DISCOVERY's season 3's final story arc, which begins with episode 11 and concludes with the season finale in episode 13 (“That Hope is You [Part 2]”). We discuss one or two things that went well, all the broken hinges, and a couple of personal pet peeves. You can listen to all of our Disco recap episodes for this season on our podcast feed, here and wherever else you can stream our backlist. ------------- Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line at imaginarypod@gmail.com while we are avoiding the 2020 socials. You can listen to our episodes on - iTunes (https://apple.co/3aFR64l) - Spotify (https://spoti.fi/2tERDTD) - Stitcher (https://bit.ly/38ukyZc) and - SoundCloud (https://bit.ly/2TVno5i) If you like our cast, we'd love to hear from you by way of a rating or review on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts. You can also celebrate our queer take on science fiction and fantasy by honoring the Black trans women and other diverse peoples who led the charge at Stonewall and elsewhere. On theme, you can put some bucks towards your state's bail fund, and/or the official George Floyd Memorial Fund.

Welcome to the Michaelogical Network, a Star Trek: Discovery recap series with our Star Trek correspondent, Eleanor Tremeer. In this episode we recap the happenings in DISCOVERY's season 3's ninth and tenth episodes: “Terra Firma” (parts 1 & 2). It is in this episode that we bid a fond but problematic farewell to her most Imperial Majesty, Mother of the Fatherland, Overlord of Vulcan, Dominus of Qo'noS, Regina Andor. All Hail Philippa Georgiou Augustus Iaponius Centarius. Aaaaand ... see you in Section 31? Join Tony, Eleanor, and Kend as The Imaginaries sets out to unpack each episode of this season. ------------- Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line at imaginarypod@gmail.com while we are avoiding the 2020 socials. You can listen to our episodes on - iTunes (https://apple.co/3aFR64l) - Spotify (https://spoti.fi/2tERDTD) - Stitcher (https://bit.ly/38ukyZc) and - SoundCloud (https://bit.ly/2TVno5i) If you like our cast, we'd love to hear from you by way of a rating or review on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts. You can also celebrate our queer take on science fiction and fantasy by honoring the Black trans women and other diverse peoples who led the charge at Stonewall and elsewhere. On theme, you can put some bucks towards your state's bail fund, and/or the official George Floyd Memorial Fund.

Welcome to the Michaelogical Network, a Star Trek: Discovery recap series with our brand new past/present/future Star Trek correspondent, Eleanor Tremeer. In this episode we recap the happenings in DISCOVERY's season 3's eighth episode: “Sanctuary,” which bored Tony and Eleanor––if not to tears, then to ramen and texting through action scenes. The question is, in an episode that hit so precisely some of the character beats we've been craving throughout the season, did two of our three presenters find this episode so entirely “meh”? Join Tony, Eleanor, and Kend as The Imaginaries sets out to unpack each episode of this season. ------------- Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line at imaginarypod@gmail.com while we are avoiding the 2020 socials. You can listen to our episodes on - iTunes (https://apple.co/3aFR64l) - Spotify (https://spoti.fi/2tERDTD) - Stitcher (https://bit.ly/38ukyZc) and - SoundCloud (https://bit.ly/2TVno5i) If you like our cast, we'd love to hear from you by way of a rating or review on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts. You can also celebrate our queer take on science fiction and fantasy by honoring the Black trans women and other diverse peoples who led the charge at Stonewall and elsewhere. On theme, you can put some bucks towards your state's bail fund, and/or the official George Floyd Memorial Fund.

Welcome to the Michaelogical Network, a Star Trek: Discovery recap series with our past/present/future Star Trek correspondent, Eleanor Tremeer. In this episode we recap the happenings in DISCOVERY's season 3's seventh episode: “Unification III,“ which the show runners have made explicitly clear is a sequel, not to any previous episode of Discovery proper, but a sequel to The Next Generation's "Unification I" (SSN5.7) and "Unification II" (SSN5.8), in which Captain Picard of TNG fame (played by the immortal Patrick Stewart) is sent on a mission to extract Spock of the original series (played by Leonard Nimoy) from an unsanctioned and undercover mission to plant the seeds of reunification between the people of Romulus and Vulcan. Überfans of Star Trek lore will remember that once upon a time those two cultures had been one, but had split over deep political differences. (Vulcans take the logical "right-brained" stereotype to the extreme, while the Romulans embody the opposite and passionate "left-brained" approach.) So what happened to the work Nimoy's Spock had carried out? This episode dovetails both the three series AND several of Discovery's previous plot arcs, with Michael learning exactly what her brother, with whom the entirety of Disco's second season was concerned, got up to in the ~930 years between then and now. Join Tony, Eleanor, and Kend as The Imaginaries sets out to unpack each episode of this season. (And listen to our regular four-episode series with Eleanor, currently airing on the cast.) ------------- Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line at imaginarypod@gmail.com while we are avoiding the 2020 socials. You can listen to our episodes on - iTunes (https://apple.co/3aFR64l) - Spotify (https://spoti.fi/2tERDTD) - Stitcher (https://bit.ly/38ukyZc) and - SoundCloud (https://bit.ly/2TVno5i) If you like our cast, we'd love to hear from you by way of a rating or review on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts. You can also celebrate our queer take on science fiction and fantasy by honoring the Black trans women and other diverse peoples who led the charge at Stonewall and elsewhere. On theme, you can put some bucks towards your state's bail fund, and/or the official George Floyd Memorial Fund.

Welcome to the Michaelogical Network, a Star Trek: Discovery recap series with our past/present/future Star Trek correspondent, Eleanor Tremeer. In this episode we recap the happenings in DISCOVERY's season 3's sih-ih-ix-th episode: “Scavengers,“ in which Michael Burnham goes rogue with her not-quite-maternal gal pal Georgeou to save Book the smooch-smooch while Captain Killy and Saru are left holding the Discovery together ... as well as Grudge the cat's imaginary leash. What's left? We pray Discovery doesn't bury another gay by way of Philippa G.'s flashbacks, argue over whether cool-looking tech is even remotely important compared to tech that actually works, and imagine plot arcs for everyone from Captain Killy––ahem, *future* captain but current ensign Tilly––to poor Willa, who may indeed give us the semi-impotent villain (or future-version Wesley Crusher?) we've long dreamed of. Join Tony, Eleanor, and Kend as The Imaginaries sets out to unpack each episode of this season. (And listen to our regular four-episode series with Eleanor, currently airing weekly on the cast.) ------------- Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line at imaginarypod@gmail.com while we are avoiding the 2020 socials. You can listen to our episodes on - iTunes (https://apple.co/3aFR64l) - Spotify (https://spoti.fi/2tERDTD) - Stitcher (https://bit.ly/38ukyZc) and - SoundCloud (https://bit.ly/2TVno5i) If you like our cast, we'd love to hear from you by way of a rating or review on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts. You can also celebrate our queer take on science fiction and fantasy by honoring the Black trans women and other diverse peoples who led the charge at Stonewall and elsewhere. On theme, you can put some bucks towards your state's bail fund, and/or the official George Floyd Memorial Fund.

In this quadrilogy of very queer episodes, we tackle the past, present, and hopeful future of one of our favorite franchises. Our regular guest is Eleanor Tremeer, who has probably written stuff about sff you've already read, and has graciously agreed to join forces with us here. For the second episode, buckle up for some bunny trails into Netflix's “The Crown” (sexy Margaret Thatcher, WHAT) as well as pink banana squash and dancing [SPOILER: must be 18+ to access this spoiler]! Pink Banana Squash: https://homesteadlifestyle.com/how-to-grow-pink-banana-squash/ Sexy Thatcher: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/16/arts/television/the-crown-margaret-thatcher.html NSFW content NOT linked here, but its creator IS and you can totally read between the lines: https://fanlore.org/wiki/Kandy_Fong Eleanor on Twitter: @ExtraTremeerial Eleanor on io9: https://io9.gizmodo.com/author/eleanortremeer Eleanor on Babbel: https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/contributors/eleanor-tremeer ------------- Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line at imaginarypod@gmail.com. You can listen to our episodes on - iTunes (https://apple.co/3aFR64l) - Spotify (https://spoti.fi/2tERDTD) - Stitcher (https://bit.ly/38ukyZc) and - SoundCloud (https://bit.ly/2TVno5i) If you like our cast, we'd love to hear from you by way of a rating or review on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts. You can also celebrate our queer take on science fiction and fantasy by honoring the Black trans women and other diverse peoples who led the charge at Stonewall and elsewhere. On theme, you can put some bucks towards your state's bail fund, and/or the official George Floyd Memorial Fund.

Welcome to the Michaelogical Network, a Star Trek: Discovery recap series with our brand new past/present/future Star Trek correspondent, Eleanor Tremeer. In this episode we recap the happenings in DISCOVERY's season 3's fifth episode: “Die Trying,“ in which the crew of the Discovery … ahem … discover … the ultimate fate of the Federation they had all served and left some 930 years behind. What's left? Some grey lashes on Philippa G., poor technical know-how, and some unexpected ship cameos. (Among other things.) Join Tony, Eleanor, and Kend as The Imaginaries sets out to unpack each episode of this season. (And watch for our near-future regular episodes with Eleanor in the weeks to come.) ------------- Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line at imaginarypod@gmail.com while we are avoiding the 2020 socials. You can listen to our episodes on - iTunes (https://apple.co/3aFR64l) - Spotify (https://spoti.fi/2tERDTD) - Stitcher (https://bit.ly/38ukyZc) and - SoundCloud (https://bit.ly/2TVno5i) If you like our cast, we'd love to hear from you by way of a rating or review on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts. You can also celebrate our queer take on science fiction and fantasy by honoring the Black trans women and other diverse peoples who led the charge at Stonewall and elsewhere. On theme, you can put some bucks towards your state's bail fund, and/or the official George Floyd Memorial Fund.

In this quadrilogy of very queer episodes, we tackle the past, present, and hopeful future of one of our favorite franchises. Our regular guest is Eleanor Tremeer, who has probably written stuff about sff you've already read, and has graciously agreed to join forces with us here. For the first episode in this series, we talk the history of queer coding in Trek, as well as canon Trek's attempts at including queer characters and the trope of the depraved bisexual. We talk about Garak and Dax a lot, as you might guess. Eleanor on Twitter: @ExtraTremeerial Eleanor on io9: https://io9.gizmodo.com/author/eleanortremeer Eleanor on Babbel: https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/contributors/eleanor-tremeer ------------- Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line at imaginarypod@gmail.com. You can listen to our episodes on - iTunes (https://apple.co/3aFR64l) - Spotify (https://spoti.fi/2tERDTD) - Stitcher (https://bit.ly/38ukyZc) and - SoundCloud (https://bit.ly/2TVno5i) If you like our cast, we'd love to hear from you by way of a rating or review on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts. You can also celebrate our queer take on science fiction and fantasy by honoring the Black trans women and other diverse peoples who led the charge at Stonewall and elsewhere. On theme, you can put some bucks towards your state's bail fund, and/or the official George Floyd Memorial Fund.

Welcome to the Michaelogical Network, a Star Trek: Discovery recap series with our brand new past/present/future Star Trek correspondent, Eleanor Tremeer. In this episode we recap the happenings in DISCOVERY's season 3's fourth episode: “Forget Me Not“. Which. We. Loved. After all, this episode a) took us to Trill, Eleanor's all-time favorite Trek planet, b) gave characters like Hugh Culber and Keyla Detmer scenes worthy of their acting chops, and c) brought us the cutest queer romance known to humankind––that is, a romance between Adira and Gray and one adorable hand-sewn quilt. Truthfully, we keep waiting for the other shoe (season) to drop, but this third season of Star Trek: Discovery continues to build strength upon strength for those of us who first fell in love with the franchise––the Federation!––for its radical humanity and celebration of difference, whether that be racial or neurological or gender-bending queer delightfulness. We can only hope that after such a strong beginning Discovery will keep on delivering what it has shown us it can do in these first four episodes. Join Tony, Eleanor, and Kend as The Imaginaries sets out to unpack each episode of this season. (And watch for our near-future regular episodes with Eleanor in the weeks to come.) ------------- Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line at imaginarypod@gmail.com while we are avoiding the 2020 socials. You can listen to our episodes on - iTunes (https://apple.co/3aFR64l) - Spotify (https://spoti.fi/2tERDTD) - Stitcher (https://bit.ly/38ukyZc) and - SoundCloud (https://bit.ly/2TVno5i) If you like our cast, we'd love to hear from you by way of a rating or review on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts. You can also celebrate our queer take on science fiction and fantasy by honoring the Black trans women and other diverse peoples who led the charge at Stonewall and elsewhere. On theme, you can put some bucks towards your state's bail fund, and/or the official George Floyd Memorial Fund.

Welcome to the Michaelogical Network, a STAR TREK DISCOVERY recap series with our brand new past/present/future STAR TREK correspondent, Eleanor Tremeer. In this episode we recap DISCOVERY's season 3's third episode: “People of Earth”. We spent the previous two episodes asking: “What happened to the Federation?” and the third episode aims straight for the center of that tangle by taking us directly to Earth, where a microcosm of the larger political problem plays out between those left on the planet and the raiders who have been haunting their skies. Some beloved characters lean in to grapple with the many traumas they have experienced over previous seasons as they discover what happened to the world they left behind. Join Tony, Eleanor, and Kend as The Imaginaries sets out to unpack each episode of this season. (And watch for our near-future regular episodes with Eleanor in the weeks to come.) ------------- Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line at imaginarypod@gmail.com while we are avoiding the 2020 socials. You can listen to our episodes on - iTunes (https://apple.co/3aFR64l) - Spotify (https://spoti.fi/2tERDTD) - Stitcher (https://bit.ly/38ukyZc) and - SoundCloud (https://bit.ly/2TVno5i) GO VOTE.

Welcome to the Michaelogical Network, a STAR TREK DISCOVERY recap series with our brand new past/present/future STAR TREK correspondent, Eleanor Tremeer. In this episode we recap the happenings in DISCOVERY's season 3's second episode: "Far From Home". Many of our questions from the last recap have now been answered. (And some of our speculations were even correct! Michael Burnham really *has* had to wait a significant amount of time for her crew to arrive in her present, the future. This is also a fabulous season for everybody's hair styles.) That said, many more questions have been raised, and we can't wait for the showrunner to answer them. (Please, please, do the right thing by our bridge crew! And more Captain Killy and Commander Georgiou moments, please.) Join Tony, Eleanor, and Kend as The Imaginaries sets out to unpack each episode of this season. (And watch for our near-future regular episodes with Eleanor in the weeks to come.) ------------- Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line at imaginarypod@gmail.com while we are avoiding the 2020 socials. You can listen to our episodes on - iTunes (https://apple.co/3aFR64l) - Spotify (https://spoti.fi/2tERDTD) - Stitcher (https://bit.ly/38ukyZc) and - SoundCloud (https://bit.ly/2TVno5i) If you like our cast, we'd love to hear from you by way of a rating or review on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts. You can also celebrate our queer take on science fiction and fantasy by honoring the Black trans women and other diverse peoples who led the charge at Stonewall and elsewhere. On theme, you can put some bucks towards your state's bail fund, and/or the official George Floyd Memorial Fund.

Welcome to the Michaelogical Network, a STAR TREK DISCOVERY recap series with our brand new past/present/future STAR TREK correspondent, Eleanor Tremeer. In this episode we recap the happenings in DISCOVERY's season 3 opener: "That Hope Is You (Part 1)". Is this episode, which we liked very much indeed, a signal that DISCOVERY has at last found its feet and figured out what it should always have been about––the future? Are there real Trek Lore Specialists now behind the helm? What in blazes is this mysterious "Burn" that sexy hunk of a Book keeps going on about? Will there be more flirting with worms in future episodes? We can't wait to find out. Join Tony, Eleanor, and Kend as The Imaginaries sets out to unpack each episode of this season. (And watch for our near-future regular episodes with Eleanor in the weeks to come.) ------------- Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line at imaginarypod@gmail.com while we are avoiding the 2020 socials. You can listen to our episodes on - iTunes (https://apple.co/3aFR64l) - Spotify (https://spoti.fi/2tERDTD) - Stitcher (https://bit.ly/38ukyZc) and - SoundCloud (https://bit.ly/2TVno5i) If you like our cast, we'd love to hear from you by way of a rating or review on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts. You can also celebrate our queer take on science fiction and fantasy by honoring the Black trans women and other diverse peoples who led the charge at Stonewall and elsewhere. On theme, you can put some bucks towards your state's bail fund, and/or the official George Floyd Memorial Fund.

Join us as we dive happily into Phil Stamper's debut, THE GRAVITY OF US, with Phil himself! We talk about the importance of showing the joy in queer relationships, especially when the relationships themselves are taking place in a sea of complexity -- but are not themselves the only source of conflict. Of course, we also get to talk about the history, present, and possible of space missions and NASA, as well as how we talk about those things. Who has the authority to tell the stories of the very few who go to space? Who could *give* themselves the authority, when the history of the same has been so cishet, white, and male? Come along with us as we talk it out! You can find out the latest on all things Phil at www.philstamper.com or on Twitter under the handle @stampepk. ------------- Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line at imaginarypod@gmail.com while we are avoiding the tweets. You can listen to our episodes on - iTunes (https://apple.co/3aFR64l) - Spotify (https://spoti.fi/2tERDTD) - Stitcher (https://bit.ly/38ukyZc) and - SoundCloud (https://bit.ly/2TVno5i) If you like our cast, we'd love to hear from you by way of a rating or review on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts. You can also celebrate our queer take on science fiction and fantasy by honoring the Black trans women and other diverse peoples who led the charge at Stonewall and elsewhere. On theme, you can put some bucks towards your state's bail fund, and the official George Floyd Memorial Fund.

This episode is an excellent complement to Episode 128 with Tj Klune, in which we love all over the wonderful cover of his novel THE EXTRAORDINARIES. After we recorded that episode, we went searching for the person responsible, and found David Curtis, who ended up being responsible for plenty more amazing covers for our recent faves. In this fascinating episode, he walks us through the design process for the queer sff we know and love, from cover illustration to interior design to appearing on the shelves. We learned a lot and had a great time, so come along on this fun ride! To find out more about Dave's work, you can find his portfolio at http://david-curtis.com and his Insta presence under the handle @dcurtisstudio. Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line at imaginarypod@gmail.com while we are avoiding the tweets. You can listen to our episodes on - iTunes (https://apple.co/3aFR64l) - Spotify (https://spoti.fi/2tERDTD) - Stitcher (https://bit.ly/38ukyZc) and - SoundCloud (https://bit.ly/2TVno5i) as well as find our oldest episodes on YouTube once they have shuffled off these other earthly coils. We'd still love your reviews if you're willing and able, but please put your $$ toward ending police brutality and ending systemic racism. You can celebrate our queer take on science fiction and fantasy by honoring the Black trans women and other diverse peoples who led the charge at Stonewall and elsewhere. On theme, you can put some bucks towards the USPS, your state's bail fund, and the official George Floyd Memorial Fund.

Neither of us knew the "disaster twink" archetype going into this episode, but we're so glad we do now -- and if you don't either, or even if you do, then this conversation about TJ Klune's recent YA novel THE EXTRAORDINARIES is definitely for you. We chatted with TJ about queer YA in general, as well as the exciting things happening there, as well as about the nuanced delights that await in THE EXTRAORDINARIES, including an important discussion of friends and friend groups, the relationship protagonist (and disaster twink) Nick has with his dad, the importance of genre savviness and fan fiction, and more. It was a great time, so come along with us! Bonus: If you enjoy our chat about THE EXTRAORDINARIES' cover, stay tuned for Episode 129, in which we talk with David Curtis, the cover designer of this and many other recent books. We learned a lot about what goes into making a cover! For more information about TJ Klune's books and ongoing projects, visit him online at www.tjklunebooks.com! ------------- Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line at imaginarypod@gmail.com while we are avoiding the tweets. You can listen to our episodes on - iTunes (https://apple.co/3aFR64l) - Spotify (https://spoti.fi/2tERDTD) - Stitcher (https://bit.ly/38ukyZc) and - SoundCloud (https://bit.ly/2TVno5i) as well as find our oldest episodes on YouTube once they have shuffled off these other earthly coils. We'd still love your reviews if you're willing and able, but please put your $$ toward ending police brutality and ending systemic racism. You can celebrate our queer take on science fiction and fantasy by honoring the Black trans women and other diverse peoples who led the charge at Stonewall and elsewhere. On theme, you can put some bucks towards Unicorn Riot, your state's bail fund, and the official George Floyd Memorial Fund.

In this episode, we welcome back Caitlin Starling, whose appearance in Episode 101 let us delight over her terrifying and intimate THE LUMINOUS DEAD. This time we're all about her new novella, YELLOW JESSAMINE, and we get to talk about some our favorite topics (queer subtexts abound) and learn much more about what makes horror feel like, well, horror. Plus, we have an extended discussion about poison gardens, which are a thing you should absolutely know about. If you'd like to learn more about Caitlin's excellence, check out www.caitlinstarling.com or follow the adventures on Twitter at @see_starling. YELLOW JESSAMINE is available from Neon Hemlock Press at https://www.neonhemlock.com/books/yellow-jessamine, where you can also find out more information about the other 2020 novella quartet authors that we have talked to on this podcast in recent episodes! ------------- Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line at imaginarypod@gmail.com while we are avoiding the tweets. You can listen to our episodes on - iTunes (https://apple.co/3aFR64l) - Spotify (https://spoti.fi/2tERDTD) - Stitcher (https://bit.ly/38ukyZc) and - SoundCloud (https://bit.ly/2TVno5i) as well as find our oldest episodes on YouTube once they have shuffled off these other earthly coils. We'd still love your reviews if you're willing and able, but please put your $$ toward ending police brutality and ending systemic racism. You can celebrate our queer take on science fiction and fantasy by honoring the Black trans women and other diverse peoples who led the charge at Stonewall and elsewhere. On theme, you can put some bucks towards Unicorn Riot, your state's bail fund, and the official George Floyd Memorial Fund.

UPDATE: Introduction issues fixed! Thanks to everyone who let us know about the syncing issue. We will never trust Audacity again. (Just kidding. We love you, Audacity.) As you can probably tell from the range of this episode's title, we had a *great* conversation with Eboni around her upcoming novella, STONE AND STEEL. You better believe we also serve up a heaping helping of found families (one of our favorite main dishes!), and we're also extremely thankful for Eboni's nuanced take on queer community. STONE AND STEEL is definitely one of our favorite novellas of the year, and our conversation with Eboni is one of our favorites, too! To learn more about Eboni's work, go to www.ebonidunbar.com or look her up on Twitter at @sugoionna87 and on Instagram at ej_beezington. You can find STONE AND STEEL, as well as the other novellas in Neon Hemlock's 2020 quartet, at www.neonhemlock.com/books. ------------- Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line at imaginarypod@gmail.com while we are avoiding the tweets. You can listen to our episodes on - iTunes (https://apple.co/3aFR64l) - Spotify (https://spoti.fi/2tERDTD) - Stitcher (https://bit.ly/38ukyZc) and - SoundCloud (https://bit.ly/2TVno5i) as well as find our oldest episodes on YouTube once they have shuffled off these other earthly coils. We'd still love your reviews if you're willing and able, but please put your $$ toward ending police brutality and ending systemic racism. You can celebrate our queer take on science fiction and fantasy by honoring the Black trans women and other diverse peoples who led the charge at Stonewall and elsewhere. On theme, you can put some bucks towards Unicorn Riot, your state's bail fund, and the official George Floyd Memorial Fund.

This episode lets us delight over Leigh Harlan's recent novella Queens of Noise, out now from Neon Hemlock Press (and please listen to episode 124, in which we talk with dave ring, the publisher and managing editor). You'll probably already know that we love talking about found families, especially queer found family, which Leigh and their Queens give us in abundance. What we *didn't* know is that we certainly wanted our queer sff infused with punk rock, and Queens more than delivers. Queens of Noise particularly delighted us westerners because of its focal werecoyote pack, so when we say we loved this gem of a novella for many reasons, believe it! ------------- Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line at imaginarypod@gmail.com while we are avoiding the tweets. You can listen to our episodes on - iTunes (https://apple.co/3aFR64l) - Spotify (https://spoti.fi/2tERDTD) - Stitcher (https://bit.ly/38ukyZc) and - SoundCloud (https://bit.ly/2TVno5i) as well as find our oldest episodes on YouTube once they have shuffled off these other earthly coils. We'd still love your reviews if you're willing and able, but please put your $$ toward ending police brutality and ending systemic racism. You can celebrate our queer take on science fiction and fantasy by honoring the Black trans women and other diverse peoples who led the charge at Stonewall and elsewhere. On theme, you can put some bucks towards Unicorn Riot, your state's bail fund, and the official George Floyd Memorial Fund.

Our Guest this episode is dave ring, who answers about what it means to champion queer voices in SFF as an editor and publisher of a small press (Neon Hemlock Press, in dave's case). dave is also a fabulous writer and has a lot to say about creating queer community in writing generally and in SFF specifically. Plus, we absolutely want to know what happens between a call for book submissions and the publication of a book, and dave walks us through the magic. Oh, and we also talk about literary candles! ------------- Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line at imaginarypod@gmail.com while we are avoiding the tweets. You can listen to our episodes on - iTunes (https://apple.co/3aFR64l) - Spotify (https://spoti.fi/2tERDTD) - Stitcher (https://bit.ly/38ukyZc) and - SoundCloud (https://bit.ly/2TVno5i) as well as find our oldest episodes on YouTube once they have shuffled off these other earthly coils. We'd still love your reviews if you're willing and able, but please put your $$ toward ending police brutality and ending systemic racism. You can celebrate our queer take on science fiction and fantasy by honoring the Black trans women and other diverse peoples who led the charge at Stonewall and elsewhere. On theme, you can put some bucks towards Unicorn Riot, your state's bail fund, and the official George Floyd Memorial Fund.

Hang on tight for this rollicking episode with Rosaria Munda, author of FIREBORNE, which was one of our favorite YA novels of 2019 AND our sole pick for best debut of 2019! We had a grand time talking about the beautiful world Rosaria created, which is partially magic (hello, dragons), partially historical, partially Roman, but all fabulous. There's a lot of great discussion of family, ethics, war, empire, and much more -- and you can look forward to Rosaria's next book in this series, FLAMEFALL, due out in 2021. We can't wait! Episode trivia: Kend loves dragons, but Rosaria prefers fighter planes. Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line at imaginarypod@gmail.com while we are avoiding the tweets. You can listen to our episodes on - iTunes (https://apple.co/3aFR64l) - Spotify (https://spoti.fi/2tERDTD) - Stitcher (https://bit.ly/38ukyZc) and - SoundCloud (https://bit.ly/2TVno5i) as well as find our oldest episodes on YouTube once they have shuffled off these other earthly coils. We'd still love your reviews if you're willing and able, but please put your $$ toward ending police brutality and ending systemic racism. You can celebrate our queer take on science fiction and fantasy by honoring the Black trans women and other diverse peoples who led the charge at Stonewall and elsewhere. On theme, you can put some bucks towards Unicorn Riot, your state's bail fund, and the official George Floyd Memorial Fund.

This episode concludes our duology on magic, starting with the long history of its depiction in fantasy as influenced by the socio-religio-political norms of the era. We end with much yelling about She-Ra and pandemic-driven literature, so watch where you step. Er, listen. Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line at imaginarypod@gmail.com while we are avoiding the tweets. You can listen to our episodes on - iTunes (https://apple.co/3aFR64l) - Spotify (https://spoti.fi/2tERDTD) - Stitcher (https://bit.ly/38ukyZc) and - SoundCloud (https://bit.ly/2TVno5i) as well as find our oldest episodes on YouTube once they have shuffled off these other earthly coils. We'd still love your reviews if you're willing and able, but please put your $$ toward ending police brutality and ending systemic racism. You can celebrate our queer take on science fiction and fantasy by honoring the Black trans women and other diverse peoples who led the charge at Stonewall and elsewhere. On theme, you can put some bucks towards Unicorn Riot, your state's bail fund, and the official George Floyd Memorial Fund.

Thank you for your patience in waiting an extra bit for this particular episode. Wash your hands. Wear a mask. Black Lives Matter. Trans lives matter. Stay safe out there. This episode begins our duology on magic. Ready your wands and harness your dragons, my friends! Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line at imaginarypod@gmail.com while we are avoiding the tweets. You can listen to our episodes on - iTunes (https://apple.co/3aFR64l) - Spotify (https://spoti.fi/2tERDTD) - Stitcher (https://bit.ly/38ukyZc) and - SoundCloud (https://bit.ly/2TVno5i) as well as find our oldest episodes on YouTube once they have shuffled off these other earthly coils. We'd still love your reviews if you're willing and able, but please put your $$ toward ending police brutality and ending systemic racism. You can celebrate our queer take on science fiction and fantasy by honoring the Black trans women and other diverse peoples who led the charge at Stonewall and elsewhere. On theme, you can put some bucks towards Unicorn Riot, your state's bail fund, and the official George Floyd Memorial Fund.

Many welcomes and second breakfasts to the super smart and very Canadian Jeremy Reimer, brilliant human being and author of the book SILICON MINDS OF MARS, which as you might surmise is rather full of minds and mindful explorations of machine learning, identity, and the consequences of human-like artificial intelligences on politics and relationships. You can find many years of his thoughtful thoughts on ARS TECHNICA, and you can find out more about Jeremy at www.jeremyreimer.com. His newsletter lives at www.spaceandscifi.com, and he also dabbles in Twitter with the handle @JeremyReimer. Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line (maybe about that reading rut-busting trick?) at imaginarypod@gmail.com or find us on Twitter at @imaginary_pod. You can listen to our episodes on - iTunes (https://apple.co/3aFR64l) - Spotify (https://spoti.fi/2tERDTD) - Stitcher (https://bit.ly/38ukyZc) and - SoundCloud (https://bit.ly/2TVno5i) as well as find our oldest episodes on YouTube once they have shuffled off these other earthly coils. If you would like to help support our work, you can give us a rating or review on whatever platform you use to listen to your podcasts, and if you would like to offset the costs associated with our podcast, you can support us financially at www.ko-fi.com/imaginaries.

When we first heard the premise for Lina Rather's SISTERS OF THE VAST BLACK, we knew immediately that it was going to be fabulous. Then we actually got ahold of it, and not only was it fabulous, it was QUEER NUNS IN A SPACE WHALE and we were overwhelmed by the superlative degree of fabulosity. We are so, SO excited to bring you our recent conversation with Lina Rather herself, in her *first ever podcast appearance* ... which we find both incredibly flattering and the kind of responsibility that would make even Spider-Man sweat. (Don't mess this up, don't mess this up, we whisper to ourselves in the mirror.) We discuss the influence of childhoods embedded in religious traditions on both the writing and reading of SISTERS OF THE VAST BLACK, as well as other aspects of the nuance and beauty of this wonderful little novella. And not to be too much of a tease, but, there is also some BREAKING LINA RATHER NEWS in this episode, so if you want to know what's next for our spacefaring nuns, hang in until the end! To find out more about Lina Rather, visit www.linarather.com or look Lina up on Twitter under the handle @LinaRather. Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line (maybe about that reading rut-busting trick?) at imaginarypod@gmail.com or find us on Twitter at @imaginary_pod. You can listen to our episodes on - iTunes (https://apple.co/3aFR64l) - Spotify (https://spoti.fi/2tERDTD) - Stitcher (https://bit.ly/38ukyZc) and - SoundCloud (https://bit.ly/2TVno5i) as well as find our oldest episodes on YouTube once they have shuffled off these other earthly coils. If you would like to help support our work, you can give us a rating or review on whatever platform you use to listen to your podcasts, and if you would like to offset the costs associated with our podcast, you can support us financially at www.ko-fi.com/imaginaries.

Who better than a grumpy old man to take you on a tour of a fantastical land of epic scale ... without actually going there? Welcome to our much-looked-forward-to conversation with Alexandra Rowland, author of A CONSPIRACY OF TRUTHS and A CHOIR OF LIES (as well as several upcoming books!! WE ARE SO EXCITED!!!). Their fantastic debut rocked Tony's socks off and its sequel has only continued to declothe Tony's ankles with their excellent worldbuilding and phenomenally queer approach to this genre/mode/cat which we love. Bonus? Rowland is also a gifted podcaster, being both a host of "Be the Serpent" along with fellow authors Freya Marske and Jennifer Mace, as well as cohosting "Worldbuilding for Masochists" with fantasy authors Rowenna Miller and Marshall Ryan Maresc. If you'd like to find out more about Rowland, their fantastic (PUN!) books, and their work in podcasting, head to www.alexandrarowland.net and take a peek at the "About" page, where you'll find links to all the podcasts and all of the socials. Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line (maybe about that reading rut-busting trick?) at imaginarypod@gmail.com or find us on Twitter at @imaginary_pod. You can listen to our episodes on - iTunes (https://apple.co/3aFR64l) - Spotify (https://spoti.fi/2tERDTD) - Stitcher (https://bit.ly/38ukyZc) and - SoundCloud (https://bit.ly/2TVno5i) as well as find our oldest episodes on YouTube once they have shuffled off these other earthly coils. If you would like to help support our work, you can give us a rating or review on whatever platform you use to listen to your podcasts, and if you would like to offset the costs associated with our podcast, you can support us financially at www.ko-fi.com/imaginaries.

Have you ever wondered what it's like to be inside the brain of someone just a few days into a new medication and a workplace crisis? No? Well, welcome to this episode anyway! Join us for one very strange episode in which Kend is extremely wired but also recording in a haunted housesit, while Tony is a reasonable human being trying to keep things somewhat under control. Oh yeah, and we (mostly Kend) talk about the intersections of the action/adventure genre with science fiction and fantasy lenses, and a very queer readership. Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line (maybe about that reading rut-busting trick?) at imaginarypod@gmail.com or find us on Twitter at @imaginary_pod. You can listen to our episodes on - iTunes (https://apple.co/3aFR64l) - Spotify (https://spoti.fi/2tERDTD) - Stitcher (https://bit.ly/38ukyZc) and - SoundCloud (https://bit.ly/2TVno5i) as well as find our oldest episodes on YouTube once they have shuffled off these other earthly coils. If you would like to help support our work, you can give us a rating or review on whatever platform you use to listen to your podcasts, and if you would like to offset the costs associated with our podcast, you can support us financially at www.ko-fi.com/imaginaries.

The fascists went after Sarah Gailey, and Sarah Gailey brought their very best fightin' words in UPRIGHT WOMEN WANTED, the near-future dystopia novella about fascist-stomping queer librarians on horseback saving themselves and each other and possibly the world. Because patriarchy just sucks, man. And if Gailey and The Imaginaries have one rule, it's DON'T BE A DICK. If we have two rules, it's GET THEE TO A BOOKSTORE/LIBRARY/INDIEBOUND IMMEDIATELY because you're gonna need both this novella and Gailey's most recent release, the young adult novel WHEN WE WERE MAGIC. (They were always magic, to us. *sob*) A lot has happened in the last year. The world is scary scary scary, and not just because people don't understand how viruses work and keep clearing the supermarket shelves and hospital waiting rooms of toilet paper and alcohol wipes (but not gloves or hand soap for some reason?). A lot has happened in Sarah Gailey's life, to be precise, and we're here to hear all about it, and then … well, let you listen to us hear all about it. It's very much worth hearing all about! Listen as one of the most delightful human beings on the planet describes channeling all of the scary of the last year into new structures and new forms to reach readers even beyond alternate histories, science fictions, and fantasies. If you're interested in hearing our first episode with the Gails, you can find that back in Episode 85 (“Sarah Gailey on Fighting Fascism and Queering All the Genres) in May of 2019. If you'd like to learn more about Gailey's work and web presence, check out their website at www.SarahGailey.com, their Twitter and Insta at @GaileyFrey, and their substack newsletter at sarahgailey.substack.com. (It's fabulous.) Also? Check out the Death Quilt project at https://american-dirt.net/index.php/death-threat-quilt. Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line (maybe about that reading rut-busting trick?) at imaginarypod@gmail.com or find us on Twitter at @imaginary_pod. You can listen to our episodes on - iTunes (https://apple.co/3aFR64l) - Spotify (https://spoti.fi/2tERDTD) - Stitcher (https://bit.ly/38ukyZc) and - SoundCloud (https://bit.ly/2TVno5i) as well as find our oldest episodes on YouTube once they have shuffled off these other earthly coils. If you would like to help support our work, you can give us a rating or review on whatever platform you use to listen to your podcasts, and if you would like to offset the costs associated with our podcast, you can support us financially at www.ko-fi.com/imaginaries.

Alix E. Harrow took our brains AND the world by storm with her debut, THE TEN THOUSAND DOORS OF JANUARY. Is it portal fiction? Is it science fiction? Is it fantasy? Is it period fiction? Is it feminist fiction? Is it queer fiction? Is it a Nebula Award nominee? Is it ALL THE THINGS? Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, and YES. Harrow is the kind of person who can claim a font color because it is “the dusky rose of a Kentucky sunset” but also talk seriously about depression and waiting for an owl with an invitation to Hogwarts. She is so full of heart and soul and good words and the kind of generous-spirited human the world really needs more of right now. You can find THE TEN THOUSAND DOORS OF JANUARY wherever good books are sold (and you can find some of those lovely places and spaces at https://bookstorelink.com/9780316421973). You can also follow Harrow on the Twitter at @AlixEHarrow and find out more about her thoughts and work at https://writtenworld.substack.com. And of course, by listening to this episode! Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line (maybe about that reading rut-busting trick?) at imaginarypod@gmail.com or find us on Twitter at @imaginary_pod. You can listen to our episodes on - iTunes (https://apple.co/3aFR64l) - Spotify (https://spoti.fi/2tERDTD) - Stitcher (https://bit.ly/38ukyZc) and - SoundCloud (https://bit.ly/2TVno5i) as well as find our oldest episodes on YouTube once they have shuffled off these other earthly coils. If you would like to help support our work, you can give us a rating or review on whatever platform you use to listen to your podcasts, and if you would like to offset the costs associated with our podcast, you can support us financially at www.ko-fi.com/imaginaries.

Our apologies for the slightly late upload on this one! We blame internet connectivity issues, warped audio, and a cat who just. won't. leave. the. keyboard. alone. Come ye, come all, and welcome our fabulous guest Naomi Kritzer to the podcast! Kritzer is the author of the 2019 Nebula Award nominated young adult novel, CATFISHING ON CATNET, as well as the 2016 Nebula nominated and Hugo and Locus *winning* story CAT PICTURES PLEASE. We discuss everything from Kritzer's own cats to the parameters of artificial intelligence (catlike or otherwise) to the building blocks of personhood, and basically fall even more in love with this author's fantastic words. You can read CAT PICTURES PLEASE on the Clarkesworld website at http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kritzer_01_15, and you can find out more about Naomi Kritzer's work at www.naomikritzer.com or by following her on social media under the handle @naomikritzer. Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line (maybe about that reading rut-busting trick?) at imaginarypod@gmail.com or find us on Twitter at @imaginary_pod. You can listen to our episodes on - iTunes (https://apple.co/3aFR64l) - Spotify (https://spoti.fi/2tERDTD) - Stitcher (https://bit.ly/38ukyZc) and - SoundCloud (https://bit.ly/2TVno5i) as well as find our oldest episodes on YouTube once they have shuffled off these other earthly coils. If you would like to help support our work, you can give us a rating or review on whatever platform you use to listen to your podcasts, and if you would like to offset the costs associated with our podcast, you can support us financially at www.ko-fi.com/imaginaries.

After three weeks of crickets, we return with a real hot mess of a delightful episode in which we discuss our feelings and emotions (and ongoing mental health challenges) as we revisit two of our childhood favorites. As in, we deliberately sat down and reread these books for the podcast to see how our responses had or had not changed. We also announce a few of our AMAZING upcoming guests on the ‘cast, and solicit recommendations for ways to kick a reading rut. Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line (maybe about that reading rut-busting trick?) at imaginarypod@gmail.com or find us on Twitter at @imaginary_pod. You can listen to our episodes on - iTunes (https://apple.co/3aFR64l) - Spotify (https://spoti.fi/2tERDTD) - Stitcher (https://bit.ly/38ukyZc) and - SoundCloud (https://bit.ly/2TVno5i) as well as find our oldest episodes on YouTube once they have shuffled off these other earthly coils. If you would like to help support our work, you can give us a rating or review on whatever platform you use to listen to your podcasts, and if you would like to offset the costs associated with our podcast, you can support us financially at www.ko-fi.com/imaginaries.

AJ Hackwith came to our attention late in 2019 when she published LIBRARY OF THE UNWRITTEN, the first book in a series that takes us inside Hell's Library to meet its inimitable Librarian, Claire. Tasked with overseeing the Library's Unwritten Wing, where all of the books that have never quite come to be, Claire must go on a quest to recover one particularly pernicious manuscript––a quest that ultimately takes her not to the throes of a fiery judgment but instead on a romp through a few choice underworlds, including the living world. With its underpinnings of queerness and found family relationships, underworlds and life inside a library, LIBRARY OF THE UNWRITTEN more or less *screeched* “WHEELHOUSE”! as it pirouetted through the winter air to our waiting fingertips. We are so excited to speak to Hackwith on today's episode about the function of libraries both fantastical and factual, what it's like to transition from writing romance to (spite) writing fantasy, weird dragon sex, and making room for some of the underrepresented letters in the LGBTQIA+ alphabet in the fantasy genre. You can find out more about Hackwith's work, past-present-future, at www.amandahackwith.com. You can also follow her on Twitter and Instagram, both at @ajhackwith. The sequel to LIBRARY OF THE UNWRITTEN, ARCHIVE OF THE FORGOTTEN, comes out in October of 2020. Color us EXCITED. Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line at imaginarypod@gmail.com or find us on Twitter at @imaginary_pod. You can listen to our episodes on - iTunes (https://apple.co/3aFR64l) - Spotify (https://spoti.fi/2tERDTD) - Stitcher (https://bit.ly/38ukyZc) and - SoundCloud (https://bit.ly/2TVno5i) as well as find our oldest episodes on YouTube once they have shuffled off these other earthly coils. If you would like to help support our work, you can give us a rating or review on whatever platform you use to listen to your podcasts, and if you would like to offset the costs associated with our podcast, you can support us financially at www.ko-fi.com/imaginaries.

Becky Chambers took our hearts and cracked them wide open with her Wayfarers series, starting with THE LONG WAY TO A SMALL ANGRY PLANET. And in 2019, she released the novella of space exploration and discovery, TO BE TAUGHT IF FORTUNATE. We have a lot of feelings, some of which we are probably *too willing* to share on the 'cast as we talk with Becky about science, queering SFF, and why her books always have such deliciously long titles. Speaking with her was brain-meltingly awesome, and we are *so* excited to share this week's episode with you, our listeners! You will not find Becky Chambers on social media (have we mentioned that she is extremely smart yet?) but you can check in with her upcoming and ongoing work at www.otherscribbles.com. You can find her books wherever good books are sold. They are: - THE LONG WAY TO A SMALL ANGRY PLANET (Wayfarers #1) https://bit.ly/30PgcJD - A CLOSED AND COMMON ORBIT (Wayfarers #2) https://bit.ly/37of9m9 - RECORD OF A SPACEBORN FEW (Wayfarers #3)https://bit.ly/3aL2pbF - TO BE TAUGHT IF FORTUNATE (standalone novella) https://bit.ly/36q9RWb *All* of Becky's books are worth your time. Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line at imaginarypod@gmail.com or find us on Twitter at @imaginary_pod. You can listen to our episodes on - iTunes (https://apple.co/3aFR64l) - Spotify (https://spoti.fi/2tERDTD) - Stitcher (https://bit.ly/38ukyZc) and - SoundCloud (https://bit.ly/2TVno5i) as well as find our oldest episodes on YouTube once they have shuffled off these other earthly coils. If you would like to help support our work, you can give us a rating or review on whatever platform you use to listen to your podcasts, and if you would like to offset the costs associated with our podcast, you can support us financially at www.ko-fi.com/imaginaries.

Looking for the absolute BEST in science fiction and fantasy released in 2019? We've got you covered. Join us for our special annual award episode covering everything from best SFF novel of 2019 to best television show to best book cover art as determined by our *totally impartial* (and *totally humble*) dynamic duo! Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line at imaginarypod@gmail.com or find us on Twitter at @imaginary_pod. You can listen to our episodes on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and SoundCloud, as well as find all of our back episodes on YouTube once they have shuffled off these other earthly coils. If you would like to help support our work, you can give us a rating or review on whatever platform you use to listen to your podcasts, and if you would like to offset the costs associated with our podcast, you can support us financially at www.ko-fi.com/imaginaries.

We would not be ... US ... without you being you, and without those amazing authors who agree to chat with us on the 'cast about bookish things. Many thanks to our seventeen guests from 2019: - Christopher Cokinos (episode 76) - Suyi Davies Okungbowa (episode 78) - Scott Selisker (episode 80) - Deji Bryce Olukotun (episode 81) - Jett Stanton (episode 82) - Sarah Gailey (episode 85) - Kim Stanley Robinson (episode 87) - Mary Robinette Kowal (episode 91) - Jonathan Michael Erickson (episode 92) - Makiia Lucier (episode 93) - Kali Wallace (episode 96) - Steve Brusatte (episode 97) - Molly Gloss (episode 98) - Caitlin Starling (episode 101) - Seanan McGuire (episode 105) - Tristan Palmgren (episode 86, 106 & 107) - CSE Cooney (episode 108) This episode includes brief clips from each guest episode as well as notes about what's coming next from these authors and where to find out more about their books and other projects. We are so excited to speak with more wonderful authors in 2020! But first, stay tuned for next week's 2019 Imaginary Awards! WE. CANNOT. WAIT. Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line at imaginarypod@gmail.com or find us on Twitter at @imaginary_pod. You can listen to our episodes on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and SoundCloud, as well as find all of our back episodes on YouTube once they have shuffled off these other earthly coils. If you would like to help support our work, you can give us a rating or review on whatever platform you use to listen to your podcasts, and if you would like to offset the costs associated with our podcast, you can support us financially at www.ko-fi.com/imaginaries.

We are so unbelievably delighted to bring you this week's conversation with author CSE Cooney, whose novella DESDEMONA AND THE DEEP blew our minds this year and whose mind is a puzzle box of amazing anecdotes and compelling, nuanced thoughts on connecting with and commenting upon history. She breaks down the relationships between characters undergoing great transitions in their lives and the ways in which her stories provide pathways to understanding what it means to come out and come into our own. It's telling that we'd already spent half an hour falling in love with Cooney's ferociously good stories BEFORE we hit the "record" button. What other stories might someone like Cooney share with the world? We can't wait to find out. To find out more about DESDEMONA AND THE DEEP as well as Cooney's other projects, visit her website at www.csecooney.com. Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line at imaginarypod@gmail.com or find us on Twitter at @imaginary_pod. You can listen to our episodes on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and SoundCloud, as well as find all of our back episodes on YouTube once they have shuffled off these other earthly coils. If you would like to help support our work, you can give us a rating or review on whatever platform you use to listen to your podcasts, and if you would like to offset the costs associated with our podcast, you can support us financially at www.ko-fi.com/imaginaries.

This is a continuation of a conversation started in Episode 106! Please listen to that episode first; this one will make much more sense in context if you do. ***** We're so excited to get a second (now third) round with Tristan Palmgren! Author of The Unity series books, "Quietus" and "Terminus," Palmgren joined us this time on the podcast to (continue to) talk about first contact narratives. What are the ethics? What are the power echoes in these relationships? What does STAR TREK get right (and wrong) with its Prime Directive? You can find out more about Tristan at www.tristanpalmgren.com. Tristan can also be found on Twitter with the handle @TristanPalmgren. Their feed is packed full of cutting social commentary, writerly feelings, and relatable snark. You can buy both books in The Unity series ("Quietus" and "Terminus") wherever good books are sold, and on Amazon. "Quietus" : www.amazon.com/Quietus-Unity-Tri…en/dp/0857667432/ "Terminus" : www.amazon.com/Terminus-Unity-Tr…en/dp/0857667580/ The Black Death! The Great Mortality! All the capitalized socioeconomic challenges of Medieval Europe and the Mediterranean! Interplanar anthropologists! A very confused A.I.! Lots of politlcal meddling! These are delightfully weird and wonderful books that you won't want to miss. More projects from Tristan are forthcoming! ... they just can't talk about them yet. Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line at imaginarypod@gmail.com or find us on Twitter at @imaginary_pod. You can listen to our episodes (including Tristan's first episode with us, Episode 86, and the first episode in this two-part series, Episode 106) on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and SoundCloud, as well as find all of our back episodes on YouTube once they have shuffled off these other earthly coils. If you would like to help support our work, you can give us a rating or review on whatever platform you use to listen to your podcasts, and if you would like to offset the costs associated with our podcast, you can support us financially at www.ko-fi.com/imaginaries.

We're so excited to get a second round with Tristan Palmgren! Author of The Unity series books, "Quietus" and "Terminus," Palmgren joined us this time on the podcast to talk about first contact narratives. What are the ethics? What are the power echoes in these relationships? What does THE FIFTH ELEMENT have to tell us about first contact? You can find out more about Tristan at https://www.tristanpalmgren.com. Tristan can also be found on Twitter with the handle @TristanPalmgren. Their feed is packed full of cutting social commentary, writerly feelings, and relatable snark. You can buy both books in The Unity series ("Quietus" and "Terminus") wherever good books are sold, and on Amazon. "Quietus" : https://www.amazon.com/Quietus-Unity-Tristan-Palmgren/dp/0857667432/ "Terminus" : https://www.amazon.com/Terminus-Unity-Tristan-Palmgren/dp/0857667580/ The Black Death! The Great Mortality! All the capitalized socioeconomic challenges of Medieval Europe and the Mediterranean! Interplanar anthropologists! A very confused A.I.! Lots of politlcal meddling! These are delightfully weird and wonderful books that you won't want to miss. More projects from Tristan are forthcoming! ... they just can't talk about them yet. Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line at imaginarypod@gmail.com or find us on Twitter at @imaginary_pod. You can listen to our episodes (including Tristan's last episode with us, Episode 86) on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and SoundCloud, as well as find all of our back episodes on YouTube once they have shuffled off these other earthly coils. If you would like to help support our work, you can give us a rating or review on whatever platform you use to listen to your podcasts, and if you would like to offset the costs associated with our podcast, you can support us financially at www.ko-fi.com/imaginaries.

Why does the CDC known Seanan McGuire's name? What do fantasy dildos have to do with our podcast? And why do we all hate some dude named Jason now? Join us for a lively discussion with one of our all-time greatest writerly heroes, the inimitable Seanan Mcguire. Really, there are no words for just how much we love McGuire's work, and for how much fun we had speaking with her. You can find out more about Seanan McGuire's work (and her music!) on her website at http://www.seananmcguire.com (and https://www.miragrant.com), where you can also find links to Seanan's presences on social media. Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line at imaginarypod@gmail.com or find us on Twitter at @imaginary_pod. You can listen to our episodes on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and SoundCloud, as well as find all of our back episodes on YouTube once they have shuffled off these other earthly coils. If you would like to help support our work, you can give us a rating or review on whatever platform you use to listen to your podcasts, and if you would like to offset the costs associated with our podcast, you can support us financially at www.ko-fi.com/imaginaries.

What exactly *is* the Prime Directive and what does it reveal about the underpinnings (and overpinnings) of science fiction and fantasy? Most people think of it as a property specifically of the STAR TREK franchise, and they're not *wrong,* exactly, but the base concept shows up again and again, or is responded to time after time, in a number of different seminal texts, from Iain M. Banks' CULTURE to STARGATE SG-1 to ALIEN to David Brin's UPLIFT. We're here to dig into the deets, and talk our way through the various troubles and triumphs of this sociopolitical notion in the genres that we love. Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line at imaginarypod@gmail.com or find us on Twitter at @imaginary_pod. You can listen to our episodes on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and SoundCloud, as well as find all of our back episodes on YouTube once they have shuffled off these other earthly coils. If you would like to help support our work, you can give us a rating or review on whatever platform you use to listen to your podcasts, and if you would like to offset the costs associated with our podcast, you can support us financially at www.ko-fi.com/imaginaries.

What even *are* bugs and what do they do? We set out this pumpkin spice latte season to answer this question and many others, including: What the f@&*k, nature?! Why you gotta be this way?! (and) Where all do bugs crop up in science fiction and fantasy, and how are they used? (and) Do bugs AKA "not-spiders" perform different functions from spiders? Dig deep (or at least surface-layer deep) into the history of buggy goodness with us as you stock up on candy and prepare for the seige of small children ringing your doorbell! Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line at imaginarypod@gmail.com or find us on Twitter at @imaginary_pod. You can listen to our episodes on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and SoundCloud, as well as find all of our back episodes on YouTube once they have shuffled off these other earthly coils. If you would like to help support our work, you can give us a rating or review on whatever platform you use to listen to your podcasts, and if you would like to offset the costs associated with our podcast, you can support us financially at www.ko-fi.com/imaginaries.

Do you like road trips on water? Do you like a bit of piracy that might involve neither literal water nor literal pirates? Do you ever get a hankering for a classic Enya track in the midst of your science fiction or fantasy reading session? We're here this week to talk about oceans in science fiction and fantasy. Ocean planets, ocean metaphors, space-as-ocean, Trek ships as submarines, oceans as an early manifestation of an obstacle to overcome or a medium to traverse in journey narratives. Because an ... OCEAN ... of cold air moved into Montana the week of recording, this episode also features the tortured groans of Kend's radiator heater, for which we apologize. (Albeit, sans frostbite.) Fittingly, for this is an episode where we are ALL about the worst puns. Journey with us into Tony's existential crisis as we unpack some of our thoughts and expectations and feelings about oceans as a thing in this genre that we love! Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line at imaginarypod@gmail.com or find us on Twitter at @imaginary_pod. You can listen to our episodes on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and SoundCloud, as well as find all of our back episodes on YouTube once they have shuffled off these other earthly coils. If you would like to help support our work, you can give us a rating or review on whatever platform you use to listen to your podcasts, and if you would like to offset the costs associated with our podcast, you can support us financially at www.ko-fi.com/imaginaries.

There are many thing to fear about this world (and other worlds) right now, but luckily sentient fungus isn't LITERALLY chasing us through the cramped confines of flooded caves in which lives have already been lost many times before. At least, we sure HOPE not. What IS real and absolutely fantastic is Caitlin Starling's incredible debut work of science fiction horror, "The Luminous Dead." You might already have heard the buzz about this book, and we're here flailing our arms with love to confirm that it really is a smashing good read. A quick warning, though, for our listeners: This episode does contain a couple of spoilers, so we recommend you read the book before listening. On this week's podcast, we speak with Starling about horror, mapping her story (and the underland), the relationship between fear, agency, and intimacy, and the connections between all of these things and the bodies (including queer bodies) that experience them. If you're looking to find out more about Starling and "The Luminous Dead," you can check out her website at www.caitlinstarling.com, on Facebook under the handle CaitlinStarlingAuthor, on Twitter as @see_starling, and on Instagram as @authorcstarling. Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line at imaginarypod@gmail.com or find us on Twitter at @imaginary_pod. You can listen to our episodes on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and SoundCloud, as well as find all of our back episodes on YouTube once they have shuffled off these other earthly coils. If you would like to help support our work, you can give us a rating or review on whatever platform you use to listen to your podcasts, and if you would like to offset the costs associated with our podcast, you can support us financially at www.ko-fi.com/imaginaries.

Here's to 100 episodes with our imaginary listeners! In this episode, we celebrate having made it this far by screeching 100 of our favorite things into the abyss. ------------ Parasitic fungus and anemic vampires Wild spaceship battles while a villain conspires Diverse protagonists who are very queer These are a few of my favorite things When politics When climate deniers When I haunt the Earth I simply remember my favorite things And then I these things Unearth ------------ Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line at imaginarypod@gmail.com or find us on Twitter at @imaginary_pod. You can listen to our episodes on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and SoundCloud, as well as find all of our back episodes on YouTube once they have shuffled off these other earthly coils. If you would like to help support our work, you can give us a rating or review on whatever platform you use to listen to your podcasts, and if you would like to offset the costs associated with our podcast, you can support us financially at www.ko-fi.com/imaginaries.

DON'T: Don't do it, people. Don't be a dick! Unless your name is Richard or a Philip K. something or other. You probably can't help that one. DO: Make GBBO references WHENEVER POSSIBLE. Seriously, though, what's the 4-1-1 on gatekeeping? Is all gatekeeping inherently bad? How can it manifest in different situations? What is the tortured relationship between gatekeeping and the LGBTQIA+ community? AND HAVE YOU LISTENED TO JEANNETTE NG'S Joseph W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer* ACCEPTANCE SPEECH YET? Between us recording this episode and this episode going live, the World Science Fiction Society did a cool thing and renamed the award the Astounding Award for Best New Writer. Because yes, it's absolutely true, Joseph W. Campbell WAS A F%$KING FASCIST. Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line at imaginarypod@gmail.com or find us on Twitter at @imaginary_pod. You can listen to our episodes on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and SoundCloud, as well as find all of our back episodes on YouTube once they have shuffled off these other earthly coils. If you would like to help support our work, you can give us a rating or review on whatever platform you use to listen to your podcasts, and if you would like to offset the costs associated with our podcast, you can support us financially at www.ko-fi.com/imaginaries.

Author Molly Gloss is one of those authors who has helped create the foundations upon which the genres we love, from Western and place-based literature to science fiction, have been built. Her books, including the recent genre-bending short story collection UNFORESEEN, the fantastic longer works OUTSIDE THE GATES and WILD LIFE, science fiction novel DAZZLE OF DAY, as well as the Western novels THE JUMP-OFF CREEK, THE HEARTS OF HORSES, and FALLING FROM HORSES. Whether she's writing in one genre or three or more, Gloss's work interrogates humanity's relationship to wilderness in all its forms. Her work has shown up on lists of authors writing environmental science fiction and fantasy, authors to read after reading the works of Ursula K. Le Guin, and authors whose works have won ... well, gadzooks of awards. You can find out more about Molly Gloss, her work, and her social media presence by visiting www.mollygloss.com. Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line at imaginarypod@gmail.com or find us on Twitter at @imaginary_pod. You can listen to our episodes on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and SoundCloud, as well as find all of our back episodes on YouTube once they have shuffled off these other earthly coils. If you would like to help support our work, you can give us a rating or review on whatever platform you use to listen to your podcasts, and if you would like to offset the costs associated with our podcast, you can support us financially at www.ko-fi.com/imaginaries.

Last year, paleontologist Steve Brusatte changed all of our lives for the better with the publication of his popular science book, "The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World." First of all, we're always here for dinosaurs. But Brusatte brought something really unique to the conversation about dinosaurs: a wide-angle lens of words that captures not just the facts as we know them about the dinosaurs themselves, but a social history of the hunt for dinosaur fossils, the development of new methods of research and study in laboratories around the world, and the diversification of those involved in the research themselves. His book is a portrait of a community working to bring new revelations about this fascinating field of study to light, and we couldn't be more excited to have Brusatte on the 'cast to talk about that community, his book, and dinosaurs on the screen and page. You can find Brusatte's award-winning book, "The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs," wherever good books are found. You can read more of his words on the "Scientific American," NatGeoKids, and "Guardian" websites. And you can find out more about the author as well as his current and future work by following him on Twitter at @SteveBrusatte. Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line at imaginarypod@gmail.com or find us on Twitter at @imaginary_pod. You can listen to our episodes on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and SoundCloud, as well as find all of our back episodes on YouTube once they have shuffled off these other earthly coils. If you would like to help support our work, you can give us a rating or review on whatever platform you use to listen to your podcasts, and if you would like to offset the costs associated with our podcast, you can support us financially at www.ko-fi.com/imaginaries.

If you haven't yet read Kali Wallace's new book of science fiction and spacebound horror, "Salvation Day," you're missing out on one of our favorite things to break into (or out of) the genre this year. Full of creeptastic imagery and characters that make plausible decisions in tragic circumstances, "Salvation Day" unspools questions of humanity, responsibility, memory, legacy, and the potential for fundamental decency and self-sacrifice in a post-most-apocalypse society. Kali Wallace was kind enough to sit down with us to talk about reverse-engineering personal histories and responding to the world as-is, and envisioning this cool new space where the decisions that characters make under pressure require every bit as much thought as calculating the delta-v of their spacecraft engines. You can find out more about Kali Wallace online at www.kaliwallace.com as well as on Instagram @kaliphyte! Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line at imaginarypod@gmail.com or find us on Twitter at @imaginary_pod. You can listen to our episodes on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and SoundCloud, as well as find all of our back episodes on YouTube once they have shuffled off these other earthly coils. If you would like to help support our work, you can give us a rating or review on whatever platform you use to listen to your podcasts, and if you would like to offset the costs associated with our podcast, you can support us financially at www.ko-fi.com/imaginaries.

What do R2-D2, Pantalaimon, a weird robot koala thing, and Captain Marvel's Flerken friend Goose all have in common? They may (or may not) be new iterations of the age-old concept of a familiar. With a burgeoning awareness of the hazards and intersections of this topic with matters of cultural appropriation, we set out to answer a couple of fundamental questions: A) What exactly *is* a familiar, daemon, or animal companion if not a plot-useful pet? B) What can a familiar/daemon/animal companion DO for authors and readers of science fiction and fantasy that they can't necessarily do in other genres? 3) What do some of the more iconic as well as some of the more murky and borderline examples offer us in better understanding this genre/mode/cat we love so much? Watch our feed in the weeks to come as we start another round of exciting guest episodes——featuring authors and scientists and thinkers you'll be sure to fall in love with if you haven't already! Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line at imaginarypod@gmail.com or find us on Twitter at @imaginary_pod. You can listen to our episodes on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and SoundCloud, as well as find all of our back episodes on YouTube once they have shuffled off these other earthly coils. If you would like to help support our work, you can give us a rating or review on whatever platform you use to listen to your podcasts, and if you would like to offset the costs associated with our podcast, you can support us financially at www.ko-fi.com/imaginaries.

In our biggest episode yet, Tony and Kend discuss the role that very large objects, man-made and natural alike, play in science fiction and fantasy. Those giant Argonath statues warning paddleboarders off the river in "The Fellowship of the Ring"? BIG. Those space stations in "Star Trek"? BIGGER. That planet factory in "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"? BIGGEST. Dyson spheres? SLOW DOWN A SEC. It is a fact universally acknowledged that a science fiction or fantasy reader MUST be in want of something big. But why? To summon the sublime? To torment the small? To serve as a monument to male hubris, like "Ozymandius"? To represent a certain, ahem, reproductive bit of the body? We're here for all of it. Well, maybe not the phallic stuff so much. But the impact on readers and watchers and lovers of science fiction and fantasy? Here for it. Big things that aren't so tangible as ringworlds and space elevators and supergates? Here for it. Messy definitions that fail us when we most want them? Here for it. Like our content? Our website is www.imaginaries.net, and you can drop us a line at imaginarypod@gmail.com or find us on Twitter at @imaginary_pod. You can listen to our episodes on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and SoundCloud, as well as find all of our back episodes on YouTube once they have shuffled off these other earthly coils. If you would like to help support our work, you can give us a rating or review on whatever platform you use to listen to your podcasts, and if you would like to offset the costs associated with our podcast, you can support us financially at www.ko-fi.com/imaginaries.