Imaginary Worlds

Ends of Evangelion

One of the most popular anime series just became widely available when Netflix started streaming Neon Genesis Evangelion. The show ran only one year in Japan but more than 20 years later, it’s still creating ripple effects across global pop culture. Evangelion is also infamous for having several different endings -- and a fandom that has a contentious relationship with the series creator Hideaki Anno. Former Crunchyroll editor Nate Ming, Anime Feminist editor Vrai Kaiser, Aaron Clark of Eva Monkey, Washington Post reporter Gene Park, and TV writer Heather Anne Campbell discuss how Evangelion tackled important issues like anxiety, depression, masculinity and sexuality while finding time for kids to get inside giant robots and fight giant aliens.

Imaginary Worlds is a bi-weekly podcast about science fiction and other fantasy genres. Host Eric Molinsky talks with novelists, screenwriters, comic book artists, filmmakers, and game designers about their craft of creating fictional worlds. The show also looks at the fan experience, exploring what makes us suspend our disbelief, and what happens when that spell is broken. Fantasy worlds may be set in distant planets or parallel dimensions, but they are crafted here on Earth and on some level relate to our daily lives. Employing his years of experience in public radio, Eric brings a sophisticated, thoughtfully produced voice to the far-out and fantastical.To access the full archive of Imaginary Worlds episodes, go to www.stitcher.com/premium and use the promo code Imaginary.