The Worldbuilder's Tavern

The Worldbuilder's Tavern

At The Worldbuilder's Tavern podcast, we like to kick back with a drink and chat about the storytelling in science fiction and fantasy books, movies, and TV shows. Your hosts are three nerds—writer Emma Maione, editor Allison Alexander, and academic Christiana Jones—who love breaking down tropes, examining plot, and questioning the status quo. If you write novels or just enjoy discussions about worldbuilding, you're in the right place.

Episodes

June 25, 2025 40 mins

In this episode, we're talking about the writing and worldbuilding in the children's fantasy (with vikings) movie How to Train Your Dragon.

  • Proprietor's Pick: Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell (Disclosure: we are a Bookshop.org affiliate, so if you purchase through these links, we will earn a small commission AND you will support an indie bookstore!)
  • Intro and outro music: "The Tavern" by M...
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In this episode, we're talking about the writing and worldbuilding in the urban fantasy novel Jade City by Fonda Lee. (Disclosure: we are a Bookshop.org affiliate, so if you purchase through these links, we will earn a small commission AND you will support an indie bookstore!)

  • Proprietor's Pick: The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang
  • Intro and outro music: "The Tavern" by Michael Ghelfi
  • Visit the Tavern: ⁠⁠⁠⁠...
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May 28, 2025 48 mins

In this episode, we're talking about the writing and worldbuilding in the sci-fi alien invasion series Animorphs by K.A. Applegate.

  • Proprietor's Pick: Ice Wolves by Amie Kaufman (Disclosure: we are a Bookshop.org affiliate, so if you purchase through these links, we will earn a small commission AND you will support an indie bookstore!)
  • Intro and outro music: "The Tavern" by Michael Ghelfi
  • Visit the Taver...
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In this episode, we're talking about the writing and worldbuilding in the fantasy novel The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch.

  • Proprietor's Pick: Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett (Disclosure: we are a Bookshop.org affiliate, so if you purchase through these links, we will earn a small commission AND you will support an indie bookstore!)
  • Intro and outro music: "The Tavern" by Michael Ghelfi
  • Visit t...
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April 30, 2025 39 mins

In this episode, we're talking about the writing and worldbuilding in the gothic romance movie Crimson Peak.

  • Proprietor's Pick: The Dark Window by Rachel Gillig (Disclosure: we are a Bookshop.org affiliate, so if you purchase through these links, we will earn a small commission AND you will support an indie bookstore!)
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April 16, 2025 39 mins

In this episode, we're talking about the writing and worldbuilding in the sci-fi/LitRPG novel Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman. (Disclosure: we are a Bookshop.org affiliate, so if you purchase through these links, we will earn a small commission AND you will support an indie bookstore!)

  • Proprietor's Pick: The Wandering Inn by pirateaba
  • Intro and outro music: "The Tavern" by Michael Ghelfi
  • Visit the Tavern: ⁠...
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April 2, 2025 43 mins

In this episode, we're talking about the writing and worldbuilding in the science fiction TV show Fringe.

  • Proprietor's Pick: Recursion by Blake Crouch (Disclosure: we are a Bookshop.org affiliate, so if you purchase through these links, we will earn a small commission AND you will support an indie bookstore!)
  • Intro and outro music: "The Tavern" by Michael Ghelfi
  • Visit the Tavern: Website⁠ | ⁠Discord⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...
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March 19, 2025 45 mins

In this episode, we're talking about the writing and worldbuilding in the epic fantasy novel The Will of the Many by James Islington.

  • Proprietor's Pick: Red Sister by Mark Lawrence (Disclosure: we are a Bookshop.org affiliate, so if you purchase through these links, we will earn a small commission AND you will support an indie bookstore!)
  • Intro and outro music: "The Tavern" by Michael Ghelfi
  • Visit the Tavern...
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March 5, 2025 32 mins

In this episode, we're talking about humour, worldbuilding, genre, and the animated TV showFuturama.

  • Proprietor's Pick:I Got Abducted by Aliens and Now I'm Trapped in a Rom-Comby Kimberly Lemming (Disclosure: we are a Bookshop.org affiliate, so if you purchase through this link we will earn a small commission AND you will support an indie bookstore!)
  • Intro and outro music: "The Tavern" by Michael Ghelfi
  • Visit...
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February 19, 2025 46 mins

In this episode, we're talking about genre, the state of YA sci-fi in publishing, and the writing and worldbuilding in the young adult science fiction novel Skyward by Brandon Sanderson.

  • Proprietor's Pick: Red Rising by Pierce Brown (Disclosure: we are a bookshop.org affiliate, so if you purchase through these links we will earn a small commission AND you will support an indie book store!)
  • Intro and outro music: &qu...
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February 5, 2025 43 mins

In this episode, we're talking about the worldbuilding in the Dungeons & Dragons RPG comedy Fantasy High: Freshman Year, which is a Dimension 20 show produced by Dropout TV.

  • Proprietor's Pick: Highfire by Eoin Colfer (Disclosure: we are a Bookshop.org affiliate, so if you purchase through this link we will earn a small commission AND you will support an indie bookstore!)
  • Intro and outro music: "The Tavern&q...
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January 22, 2025 45 mins

In this episode, we're talking about the writing and worldbuilding in the fantasy novel Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher, and how the story feels like a fairy tale even though it is not a retelling.

  • Proprietor's Pick: All the Murmuring Bones by A.G. Slatter (Disclosure: we are a Bookshop.org affiliate, so if you purchase through these links we will earn a small commission AND you will support an indie bookstore!)
  • Intro and...
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January 8, 2025 45 mins

In this episode, we're talking about the horror movie A Quiet Place.

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December 25, 2024 34 mins

In this episode, we're talking about environmental sci-fi, ecological themes, children's literature, and the Disney movie Wall-E.

  • Proprietor's Pick: A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers (Disclosure: we are a Bookshop.org affiliate, so if you purchase through these links we will earn a small commission AND you will support an indie bookstore!)
  • Intro and outro music: "The Tavern" by Michael Ghelfi
  • Visit the Tavern: ⁠...
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In this episode, we're talking about cozy science fiction and The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers.

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In this episode, we're talking about how horror and romance can go together (and whether cozy horror is a thing) in Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell.

  • Proprietor's Pick: Voyage of the Damned by Frances White (Disclosure: we are a Bookshop.org affiliate, so if you purchase through these links we will earn a small commission AND you will support an indie bookstore!)
  • Intro and outro music: "The Tavern" by Michael...
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November 13, 2024 43 mins

In this episode, we're talking about deconstructing tropes, dark fairy tales, costs of magic, monsters, and more in the dark fantasy TV show The Witcher.

  • Proprietor's Pick: Foul Days by Genoveva Dimova (Disclosure: we are a Bookshop.org affiliate, so if you purchase through these links we will earn a small commission AND you will support an indie bookstore!)
  • Intro and outro music: "The Tavern" by Michael Ghelfi
  • Visit the ...
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October 30, 2024 45 mins

In this episode, we're talking about the novella All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells.

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October 16, 2024 39 mins

In this episode, we're talking about how science and magic intertwine in the Netflix show Arcane.

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This season, we're introducing a new type of bonus episodes for our patrons: worldbuilding workshops! In these episodes, the hosts pick an element of a world and build it together. You can use whatever we build for your own stories, or take the questions we ask and build your own.

These monthly bonus episodes are exclusive to our Patreon, but the first is free for everyone to listen to!

  • Intro and outro music: "The Tavern" b...
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