In this episode of "Fantasy for our Time," fantasy author Nicholas Kotar tackles the difficult task of addressing the war in Ukraine. As a creator of epic fantasy stories inspired by Russian fairy tales, and as someone with deep Russian roots, the complex narrative of the conflict has served to be a point of extreme internal tension.  How can we resolve such internal tensions in a society of isolation, with no communal mechanism for inner healing and catharsis? Kotar explains how the stories we love can inspire us to go on our own hero’s journey, pass through heaven & hell, and come out slaying dragons - internal and external.  Listen and see if you’re ready to take the hero’s journey and go back into your own community to be a source of communal catharsis!