What If…?

Where we re-imagine some aspect of popular stories by asking, “What If…?”

Episode 150 – Remember When…

Sometimes we look back at the stories that shaped us, at the memories of characters and fictional worlds that left their impression upon us. We can remember with fondness what we learned and experienced. Sometimes the memories are bittersweet, with the taste of loss mixed in. In this, our final episode of Derailed Trains of…

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Episode 147 – Take Two Stories and See Me in the Morning

It’s nearly Christmas. Among other things, this means it’s time to rest from the chaos of Christmas preparations; it’s time to spend some with the people you love most; it’s time to ponder peace on earth and goodwill toward man. It’s time to reevaluate the year that’s past and look forward to the year to…

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Episode 143 – The Moral is Simple

All stories teach a lesson of some sort. Some lessons are very obvious and simple: Tell the truth. Kindness is best. True beauty comes from within. But what makes these morals resonate in a story? Why do they come off as maudlin and sappy in some stories and profound and deep in others? Hosts Timothy…

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Episode 138 – There Better Be a Wedding at the End

The Rom-Com. It’s boy meets girl. Or girl meets boy. Or hard-working single woman meets arrogant British chap. Or womanizing marine veterinarian falls for an art teacher with amnesia. Or…you get the idea. The romantic comedy is a genre with its own beats and its own fans. What makes rom-coms appealing? How have they changed…

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Episode 134 – Playing With Death

Hosts Timothy Deal and Nick Hayden tackle light use of dark subjects in stories, Halloween puns, and fictional ghosts.

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Episode 130 – Beyond the Chess Board

Perhaps you’ve sat down for a seventeen-hour session of Monopoly. You roll dice, you take cards, you pay fake money, and you build houses. But you can also imagine yourself as a budding real estate tycoon, trying to avoid jail, consolidating your own personal Potterville in which to squeeze every last penny out of your…

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Episode 127 – You, Like, Know What I Mean, Right?

This episode might be about stories that are too ambiguous and thereby confusing. On the other hand, this episode might be about stories that are just ambiguous enough and thereby powerful. Perhaps hosts Timothy Deal and Nick Hayden can find a definitive

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Episode 121 – Destiny, Free Will, and the Multiverse

What if…you decided to defy fate. Could you succeed? And what would it mean if you did? What if…whenever you made a choice, a new universe spun off? What does that mean for your alternate selves? What if…you listened to hosts Timothy Deal and Nick H

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Episode 117 – Bulk Up Your Creativity Today!

Creativity is valued in many areas of life. Whether you’re writing a book, starting a business, or writing a script about a cheese shop, being able to think outside the box and come up with new solutions is a vital skill. But how do you get better at the

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Episode 109 – Answering the Call of the Wild

Has urban life made people soft? Does living off the grid make you one with Nature? Does eking out an existence on a deserted island improve your moral character? Following up last episode’s discussion on nature, Tim and Nick examine how characters are ch

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