Anthropology

Guest Spot on the Anthropuzzled Podcast

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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.

On YouTube

On Spotify

On Apple

On Amazon

A New Episode of Anthropology in 10 or Less is Live!

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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!

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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

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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!

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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!

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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

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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?

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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.

Want help with your worldbuilding? Join us on February 3rd and I’ll field your questions. Can’t make it that day? Put your questions in the comments and I’ll do my best to address them. Click here for the next livestream episode (or watch the replay if you’re seeing this after February 3rd)

Live Tonight: How Anthropology Makes Your Worldbuilding Feel Real

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Tonight at 7pm (Denver, CO Time), I’ll be livestreaming and fielding questions about how to use Anthropology to build fictional worlds.

If you’re a writer or creative struggling with worldbuilding or, if something in your fictional world doesn’t quite fit, this is the place to bring all your questions. You can join live and ask questions in real time, or if you can’t make it, drop a question the comments ahead of time, and I’ll do my best to address them during the livestream.

Watch live here: As an Anthropologist about Worldbuilding

Some possible avenues of discussion include:

• Building believable cultures and societies
• Using anthropology in fantasy and science fiction
• Worldbuilding through dialogue and character interaction
• Power, resistance, and social systems in fiction
• Avoiding shallow or stereotypical cultures
• Making fictional societies feel real without exposition dumps

This livestream is about all of you. Quite of few of you have followed my work over the years, and I wanted to do something to give back. And, if people find this useful, I’d love to do a recurring thing.

Hope to see you tonight!

Michael

I’m Teaching at the Creative Colorado Writer’s Retreat (And Other Updates)

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It’s been a minute, so I have a few pieces of news and they kind of involve most areas of my creative work, as well as a book chapter I wrote in an Anthropology book.

First up is that for the second year in a row, I will be teaching a session at the Creative Colorado Writer’s Retreat run by the incredible small press, Twenty Bellows. I have to say, I think this year has some of the most talented teachers of both poetry and prose in their line up. You can find out more about it here.

For my part, I’ll be teaching a session titled: Worldbuilding Without Info Dumping: How to Master Reader Immersion in Your Writing. My session will be on Saturday September 20th starting at 2:40 Pm.

The goal of the workshop will be to explore worldbuilding without exposition and instead looking how to build through dialogue and action so that your reader connects more deeply to your characters in the middle of the flow of the story.

But wait! There’s more!

At 11am on the second day of the writer retreat, we’re having a book fair. The book fair runs 11 am to 1 pm. I’ll have a table there if you want me to sign your books or pick up a copy of one of my 7 books. Again, there are many very talented authors at the book fair and It’s gonna be a ton of fun!

In other news, Resistances Reads Episode 8 goes live Monday September 15th at 7pm over on YouTube. And if you haven’t seen yet, we’re now on all the major podcast services. Episode 8 will cover the book, Black Empire by George S. Schuyler originally serialized in the 1930s, and is an early example of Afrofuturism. Literatura Obscura will air it’s 3rd episode this week as we discuss the book Ishamel by Daniel Quinn. It’s a novel about a telepathic gorilla who teaches a man the secrets to saving the world.

In terms of book updates, I have something to admit… I’ve been working on a secret project and it’s been distracting me from other things. But, I’m not quite ready to discuss that 8th and decidedly stand alone novel just yet. I am also working at building some of the lore right now for Shades & Shapes in the Dark universe. For those of you who read the first book that came out last may, you might suspect that it’s not really just a horror novel, but also edging into something more. In Through and Endless Darkness Dreaming (Book 2) Clarissa will discover that there’s more creatures out there, than just her own tormenter, Demon and that the world of magic is so much bigger than she realizes.

I am, also, slowly spending time in the world of The Chronicles of the Great Migration. I promise, I am still working on The Children of AEIS, and the final two other books of the series. They will get done.

One final announcement. This one is in the world of Anthropology. I recently published a chapter in the book, Exploring Digital Ethnography: From Principles to Practice. My chapter is titled: Worldbuilding as Pedagogy: Teaching Anthropology and Diversity in Contentious Classrooms. Now this is an academic volume, so while it’s not cheap, you absolutely can purchase it here. There are some great chapters in this book covering a variety of digital and interactive approaches to anthropology.

But if you just want to read my chapter… well… if you contact me, we might be able to find a way…

Until Next Time.