Tomorrow night we go live at 7pm MDT (Denver) on Ask an Anthropologist About Worldbuilding with Dr. Yasmine Musharbash, an Anthropologist and Expert on Monsters across cultures. So if you have a question about what makes a really effective monster, or you just want to get into that spooky season vibe, join us for the conversation. You can put your question here in the comments, or in the livestream.
Anthropology
Ask an Anthropologist: The Worldbuilding of Death, Border Zones and Healing
Tomorrow night at 7pm MDT (Denver) I go live with the anthropologist and thanatologist Dr. Jesús Cuauhtémoc Villa. He’s coming on to field your questions about death, forensics, border zones, and even the traditional healing art of Curanderismo. So if you want to listen to a discussion or ask questions about spaces of transformation for your fictional world or characters, then bring your questions to the livestream, or leave them in the comments.
Guest Spot on the Anthropuzzled Podcast
Earlier this year I went on the AnthroPuzzled podcast to talk about my work and my approach to using anthropology in all the things that I do. It was a great conversation and we talked about all kinds of things including:
– Building fictional worlds with anthropology and how to approach worldbuilding as a tool for learning in a classroom
– Storytelling rooted in anthropology and why it’s so important to understand cultural differences if you’re going to write
– Careers in anthropology and how it can be used in just about any field
– What it’s like to live as an anthropologist and what being in the field looks like
You can listen to the full episode in several ways.
A New Episode of Anthropology in 10 or Less is Live!
My brand new episode of Anthropology in 10 or Less on Structural Violence just dropped.
As the late great Anthropologist and Medical Doctor, Paul Farmer once wrote, “The concept of structural violence is intended to inform the study of the social machinery of oppression.”
Check out the video and don’t forget to like and comment if you enjoy it, or feel free to ask questions!
Ask An Anthropologist About Textiles, Clothing, and Ecology Live Tomorrow Night!
Tomorrow night I go live with Anthropologist Sara Temme, also known as the Textile Anthropologist. With many years of experience as a seamstress and a focus on clothing and ecology in culture, Sara wants to answer your worldbuilding questions about creating clothing for all kinds of environments. If you’re a costume designer or just want to think about apparel for your fictional worlds, this episode is for you!
Live tomorrow night at 7pm MDT out of Denver. You can add questions live or put them here in the chat! s
You can watch the replay at the same link.
My Guest Spot on the Fantasy Writers’ Toolshed Podcast
Hey all,
I recently went on the UK based podcast, the Fantasy Writers’ Toolshed to talk about worldbuilding. It was a great converastion where we talked a lot about why anthropology is useful for worldbuilding.
Our conversation included:
- Comparing what’s necessary (what all cultures have to do to make sure their people thrive) vs. what’s possible (what can cultures do to accomplish their needs)
- Why Gods should not be a default for religion
- How different marriage patterns aren’t really about love, but are often an economic and political strategy
- Why revolutions often risk recreating the very structure they were fighting against
It was a fun conversation and I hope it’s useful to all of you out there working on your fictional worlds! You can listen on YouTube or find it on most of your favorite places to listen to podcasts.
Anthropology Through Science Fiction Has Landed!
After a number of technical delays and the need to reshoot some segments of the show because of a dying camera, my very first episode of Anthropology Through Science Fiction has launched!
This episode is a basic introduction to both Anthropology and Science Fiction and includes a discussion of the 2016 film Arrival and Ursula K LeGuin’s novel, The Dispossessed.
If you watch, don’t forget to like and comment as this absolutely helps my content up in the algorithm and makes it possible for more episodes in the long term. And if you hate it, comment anyway because I do listen to sincere critique.
Now that I’ve worked out some of the kinks, I’m wrapping up the script for episode 2, which will focus on Artificial Intelligence. It will feature a discussion of Asimov’s Three Laws, AI Chatbots, Gramsci, the book Simulacra and Simulation, The Matrix, The Cyborg Manifesto, and the film Ex-Machina.
I’m also wrapping up an episode of Anthropology in 10 or Less on Structural Violence and will post when that goes live soon too.
It’s a busy month here at Loridian’s Laboratory with 3 more episodes of Ask an Anthropologist (one tonight with Astrophysicist Dakotah Tyler), and two more episodes of Resistance Reads. Plus, I was a guest star on two podcasts recently and both episodes launch this month. So there will be lots of updates this month.
I hope you’re all find ways to stay cool in the heat!
Anthropology Through Science Fiction Episode 1 Is Filmed!
That’s a wrap. After months of planning and more rewrites than I’d like to admit, I finished filming the very first episode of Anthropology Through Science Fiction this week.
Episode 1 covers Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Dispossessed, the film Arrival, and asks a question at the heart of both anthropology and science fiction: what are you willing to pay for your civilization? It’s looking like a 30 to 35 minute episode, a much deeper dive than Anthropology in 10 or Less.
Episode 2 is already in scripting and will cover Asimov’s Three Laws, AI chatbots, the philosophy behind the Matrix (Simulacra and Simulation), and the film Ex Machina.
Paid subscribers on Rigel’s Lab (Substack) already have the full Episode 1 script. Going forward, all ATSF and Anthropology in 10 or Less scripts will be shared with paid subscribers before the videos launch.
If you want access to the full script and other perks you can sign up and support the show here https://loridianslaboratory.substack.com/
Ask an Anthropologist About Worldbuilding: Hearth and Home ft. Stant Litore
This week I sat down with Stant Litore, author of Write Worlds Your Readers Won’t Forget, The Zombie Bible, Ansible: A Thousand Faces, and the inspiration behind the Emmy-nominated Love Death and Robots episode Running with the Tyrannosaur, for a conversation about the anthropology of hearth, home, and belonging in worldbuilding.
Stant opens with his Bones to Pick about what speculative fiction consistently gets wrong about domestic life and culture, and from there we go deep. We talk about why every home in fiction answers two fundamental questions: what does it shelter, and what does it shelter from? We explore solastalgia, the grief not for a home you left but for a home that no longer exists, how ancient Roman domestic space reveals class, power, and vulnerability, and what Keith Basso’s Wisdom Sits in Places means for writers who want their worlds to feel truly inhabited.
We also get into why character wounds and the loss of home are the engine of the best plot choices, and Stant closes with one of the most practical worldbuilding frameworks I have heard articulated in a single conversation.
You can watch the full episode below.
If you found this useful, subscribe to the Loridian’s Laboratory Substack for more conversations at the intersection of anthropology, worldbuilding, and speculative fiction. And if you are building fictional worlds of your own, check out Build Better Worlds, the worldbuilding textbook I co-authored with Kyra Wellstrom.
And, if you have questions about forensics, bodies, and biology, Kyra will be joining me this coming Thursday, March 26th at 7pm for another Livestream Q&A Session. You can put your questions in the chat in advance, or ask them live at this link.
Ask an Anthropologist: How Much Worldbuilding Do You Really Need?
Next Edition of Ask An Anthropologist About Worldbuilding Live Q&A – February 3rd 2026
Submit your questions before the stream in the comments section by clicking here
What’s the right amount of worldbuilding for your story? Maps, architecture, magic, religion, language, myth? The answer… it depends.
In this clip from our last episode of the Ask an Anthropologist About Worldbuilding livestream, I break down how to decide what’s essential for your story, whether you’re writing a 6,000-word short or the first book in a multi-volume epic.
Loridian's Laboratory 