Bjorn Alva

Apr 10, 2024 | imaginaryworldspodcast.org | Eric Molinsky |Dan Bodan |Bjorn Alva |Kevin MacLeod |Kevin Macleod

When the writer Nnedi Okorafor coined the term Africanfuturism, she wanted to distinguish sci-fi written about Africa from Afrofuturism, which is focuses on the experiences of Black people in the diaspora. Africanfuturism mixes the traditional with the futuristic in a way that resembles modern life in Africa, and many of these stories grapple with climate change. Although the writer Chinelo Onwualu says cli-fi isn’t a subgenre for African writers.

Nov 8, 2023 | imaginaryworldspodcast.org | Eric Molinsky |Phantom Fauna |Bjorn Alva

Thor and Loki have become pop culture icons thanks to Marvel. But the influence of Norse mythology on contemporary fantasy runs through Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings and so much more. University of Chicago professor and author Ada Palmer explains how people misunderstood Norse mythology for centuries, and why it’s so hard to capture the mindset of the Vikings in pop culture.