Moiya is joined by Em Meurer to imagine a world with elaborate funeral rituals. Together they create adorable creatures that roll around on bioluminescent moss and communicate emotions through smells. HOSTED by Dr. Moiya McTier (@GoAstroMo), astrophysicist and folklorist GUEST Em Meurer is a graphic designer, book reviewer, and death communicator. Find her socials, book reviews, and Good Grief on her website emmeurer.com MIDBREAK Discover new podcasts with specific episodes at kradl.ioListen...

Moiya is joined by fellow nerds Connie Gibbs and Delia Gallegos to discuss the worldbuilding in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings! There is so much to unpack, from the creation of the world, origin of its magic, Tolkien's inspirations, and the little matter of having a FLAT WORLD! HOSTED by Dr. Moiya McTier (@GoAstroMo), astrophysicist and folklorist GUESTS Connie Gibbs is a nerd, writer, and social media manager for Scholastic. Find her on twitter at @Constar24.Delia Gallegos is a writer,...

Moiya is joined by chemist Kiara Whittle to imagine a peaceful world where a special stone lets people communicate telepathically. This is one of the most earth-like worlds we've built on the show. HOSTED by Dr. Moiya McTier (@GoAstroMo), astrophysicist and folklorist GUEST Kiara Whittle is a chemist and science communicator who is actively pursuing her masters in public health while working as a scientist making and testing products for a medical company. Follow her on instagram...

Moiya is joined by cannabis researcher Dr. Brandie Cross and together they imagine a "weird and psychedelic" world full of mind-swapping trees and dragons who like to get high. HOSTED by Dr. Moiya McTier (@GoAstroMo), astrophysicist and folklorist GUEST Dr. Brandie Cross is a biologist and cannabis researcher who founded The Pot Lab, a research and development collaborative focused on the beneficial uses of the cannabis plant. SPONSORS Get a FREE .gay domain for a whole year at...

Moiya is joined by microbiologist Maren Hunsberger to talk about the world from Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern series! They discuss the world's long timescale, the blurred line between sci-fi and fantasy, the importance of strong female leads, and how to write about bathing in your fiction. HOSTED by Dr. Moiya McTier (@GoAstroMo), astrophysicist and folklorist GUEST Maren Hunsberger is a microbiologist, actor, podcaster, and science communicator. Find her and her work at...

Moiya is joined by astrochemist Ashley Walker and together they imagine life on Saturn's moon Titan! Titan's thick atmosphere, ice caps, and methane lakes inspire them to imagine two related species who value family and HATE Martians. HOSTED by Dr. Moiya McTier (@GoAstroMo), astrophysicist and folklorist GUEST Ashley Walker is an astrochemist getting her PhD at Howard University studying gas giant atmospheres. You can follow her on twitter at @that_astro_chic. MIDBREAK Join the Multicrew...

Moiya invites game master Eric Silver to talk about the original world he built for Join the Party's third campaign. Three words: plant bug pirates! Eric shares his favorite details of the world and lots of great advice for anyone building a world for TTRPGs. HOSTED by Dr. Moiya McTier (@GoAstroMo), astrophysicist and folklorist GUEST Eric Silver is head of creative at Multitude Productions and the game master for their actual play podcast Join The Party. Follow him on socials at...

Moiya is joined by fantasy writer John Bierce who wanted to imagine a world where two drastically different species meet. What they create involves volcanoes, sneaky gossip, complicated social dynamics, and everyone's favorite kind of multipurpose hole: a cloaca! HOSTED by Dr. Moiya McTier (@GoAstroMo), astrophysicist and folklorist GUEST John Bierce is a fantasy novelist and history buff who loves to imagine science-inspired worlds. Follow him on twitter at @john_bierce and look for...

Moiya is joined by biological anthropologist to imagine a world full of genetic diversity. Along the way they discuss the nature of wind and what it even means to be a biological entity. HOSTED by Dr. Moiya McTier (@GoAstroMo), astrophysicist and folklorist GUEST Dr. Tina Lasisi is a biological anthropologist studying hair and skin pigmentation. You can follow her on socials at @TinaLasisi or at her website tinalasisi.com. MIDBREAK Listen to SPIRITS wherever you podcast or at...

Moiya is joined by Princess Weekes to discuss the worldbuilding in Tamora Pierce's Tortall universe. They talk about bisexual icons, long histories in fiction, and the (in)appropriateness of age differences in romantic relationships. HOSTED by Dr. Moiya McTier (@GoAstroMo), astrophysicist and folklorist GUEST Princess Weekes is a writer, podcaster, and literature lover who hosts the podcasts It's Lit for PBS and Geeked for Netflix. Follow her on twitter at @WeekesPrincess or on youtube at...

Moiya is joined by climate advocate Hannah Feuer to build a world that doesn't rely on fossil fuels. With that goal in mind, they imagined a world where beautiful connections to distant beings foster worldwide empathy. HOSTED by Dr. Moiya McTier (@GoAstroMo), astrophysicist and folklorist GUEST Hannah Feuer just earned her masters degree in Environment, Politics, and Society from University College London. She is passionate about climate activism and wrote her masters thesis on how...

There's a second Avatar movie coming out, so I invited super-fan Jasper Cartwright to refresh me on the rules of this hit world. We talk about gravity's effects on biology, the wonders of Unobtanium, and the importance of consistency in worldbuilding. HOSTED by Dr. Moiya McTier (@GoAstroMo), astrophysicist and folklorist GUEST Jasper William Cartwright is a TTRPG game master, producer, creative consultant, and 1/3 of the 3 Black Halflings Podcast. Find him on twitter at @JW_Cartwright or on...

Monster Expert Dr. Emily Zarka joins Moiya to talk about the origins of monster myths! Together, they conjure up some spooky monsters to inhabit three previously built Exolore worlds. HOSTED by Dr. Moiya McTier (@GoAstroMo), astrophysicist and folklorist GUEST Dr. Emily Zarka is a professor, writer, host, and monster expert. Find her on twitter at @ZarkaEmily or on her website emilyelizabethzarka.com. Be sure to check out Monstrum and Fate & Fabled on PBS's Storied youtube...

Moiya is joined by Emma Puranen to imagine life on a world being flung away from its home galaxy. Together they create a species of social but selfish airbags who insist on living in the moment. HOSTED by Dr. Moiya McTier (@GoAstroMo), astrophysicist and folklorist GUEST Emma Johanna Puranen is an astronomer, historian, writer, and PhD student at the University of Saint Andrews. Check out her list of fictional exoplanets and follow her work on her website emmajohannapuranen.wordpress.com or...

Moiya and guest Evan imagine a world fit for a eusocial species. They talk about toxic atmospheres, bat wing anatomy, harmonic resonances, collective consciousness, and of course, crystal turds! HOSTED by Dr. Moiya McTier (@GoAstroMo), astrophysicist and folklorist GUEST Evan J. Peterson is a writer and writing instructor. Find them on twitter at @EvanJPeterson or on their website evanjpeterson.com. Check out their upcoming class called Witches Are People Too to learn how to write...

Artist Beth Zaiken joins Moiya to talk about paleoart. Together, they answer questions like: How do artists work with museums to create gorgeous and educational exhibits about the ancient natural world? How has our understanding of the paleo world changed in the last few decades? And how does an artist decide what to include in the scene? HOSTED by Dr. Moiya McTier (@GoAstroMo), astrophysicist and folklorist GUEST Beth Zaiken is an artist who designs exhibits for museums. You can learn...

In this episode, Nick Perron, host of the Tabletopped podcast, joins Moiya to imagine a world banded with "time rate zones." They explore gravitational time dilation, x-ray protection, tops vs. bottoms, black hole myths, and mob mentality. HOSTED by Dr. Moiya McTier (@GoAstroMo), astrophysicist and folklorist GUEST Nick Perron is an actor, writer, and host of the Tabletopped podcast. You can find him on twitter at @TheNickPerron. MIDBREAK - Get 10% off your order at inkedgaming.com with the...

Please enjoy this disruption to the normal Exolore feed! Exolore is a member of Multitude, an independent podcast collective. Together, all of the Multitude hosts make a friendly debate show called Head, Heart, Gut. This episode is a little taste of that show. Welcome to Head Heart Gut, where the Multitude hosts argue about the best things using our head, our heart and our gut. This is a supercut of the first three Best AnimalHeroes episodes, featuring Julia Schifini, Eric Schneider, and...

It's hard to build a world without thinking about politics. Who has power, what can they do with it, and what happens when political ties turn sour? Dr. Andrea Jones-Rooy is here to answer all of my questions about what makes a government. HOSTED by Dr. Moiya McTier (@GoAstroMo), astrophysicist and folklorist GUEST Dr. Andrea Jones-Rooy is a political scientist, data scientist, professor, circus performer, and comedian. Phew! You can follow Andrea on twitter at @jonesrooy, online at...

What if Earth was ruled by amphibians instead of gross hairy mammals like us? Roxy Valdez joins me in this week's episode to explain how they answered that very question with the Amphiterra Project. It's a ribbiting good time! HOSTED by Dr. Moiya McTier (@GoAstroMo), astrophysicist and folklorist GUEST Roxy Valdez is an illustrator and designer who created the amazing Amphiterra Project. You can follow them on twitter at @bighugefrog and view their other artwork at...

A sociologist, a biologist, and an astrophysicist walk into a zoom room and discuss what it would be like if everyone had three parents. Here's a hint: it gets complicated real fast. We discuss speculative science, the difficulty of large collaborations, mating types, and ~bedroom activity~ HOSTED by Dr. Moiya McTier (@GoAstroMo), astrophysicist and folklorist GUESTS Dr. Tamara van der Does is a computational sociologist who studies how environment shapes beliefs and identity. You can learn...

Are you working on a novel and getting a little stuck? Well this episode is all about a software program that can help you through the process, created by fantasy novel writer who knows where all the roadblocks are. Katja Kaine joins me to share her writing tips and describe how she came to build The Novel Factory. HOSTED by Dr. Moiya McTier (@GoAstroMo), astrophysicist and folklorist GUEST Katja Kaine is a fantasy writer and creator of the Novel Factory, a software that guides authors...

Buffy the Vampire Slayer absolutely changed my life, and I know it impacted countless others as well. Sally Tamarkin joins me to talk about what we love and.... don't love about the worldbuilding in this beloved franchise. HOSTED by Dr. Moiya McTier (@GoAstroMo), astrophysicist and folklorist GUEST Sally Tamarkin is a writer, podcaster, and sensitivity reader who has lots of thoughts on Buffy. Check out her website sally.gay or follow her on twitter at @sallyt. MIDBREAK - Join the Multicrew...

Mauricio Garcia tells me all about how perfumes and scents are made. We talk about surprising scent origins, sustainable perfumery, how perfumes match body chemistry, and the ways that smells connect us to other worlds. HOSTED by Dr. Moiya McTier (@GoAstroMo), astrophysicist and folklorist GUEST Mauricio Garcia is a perfumer and aromatherapist. You can follow his amazing work and check out his delicious perfumes at herbcraftperfumery.com and sustainableperfumery.org. MIDBREAK - Listen to...

A herpetologist and a conservationist join me to imagine life on a rainforest world. We decide it's run by a race of flying fish lizards who love community and pay for things with a toxic fruit. HOSTED by Dr. Moiya McTier (@GoAstroMo), astrophysicist and folklorist GUEST Chelsea Connor is a herpetologist, birder, artist, and science communicator who shares a love of lizards with #DidYouAnole. You can follow Chelsea on twitter at @ChelseaHerps.Camila Delgado-Montes is an ecologist who studies...