Imagining the Digital Afterlife

Imaginary Worlds

Eric Molinsky

Arts, Science Fiction, Fiction, Society & Culture

4.8 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 18 June 2025

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The animated TV series Pantheon (streaming on Netflix) asks what if you could upload your mind to the Internet? Would still be human? Would we create a virtual paradise where everyone got to live forever? Or would we find new and more sophisticated ways to destroy each other? I talk with Pantheon showrunner Craig Silverstein and Ken Liu, the author of The Hidden Girl and Other Stories, which the TV show is based on. We discuss how they adapted a series of loosely interconnected stories into a tightly plotted two-season arc, and all the ways in which society would change if uploading our minds becomes a viable technology. Featuring readings by actress Eunice Wong. This week’s episode is sponsored by The Perfect Jean, ButcherBox and Hims. Our listeners get 15% off your first order plus free shipping, free returns and free exchanges at theperfectjean.nyc with promo code IMAGINARY15 at checkout. ButcherBox is offering our listeners $20 off their first box and free protein for a year. Go to ButcherBox.com/imaginary to get this limited time offer. Start your free online visit today at Hims.com/IMAGINARY Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to Imaginary Worlds, a show about how we create them and why we suspend our disbelief.
0:06.6	I'm Eric Milinski.
0:08.7	My favorite works of science fiction often change one thing about reality, with the help of technology that's just out of reach.
0:17.3	Then they keep asking the question, if that's true, what else is true?
0:23.0	The show Pantheon fits that description perfectly.
0:26.3	It's a sci-fi thriller. It's also animated, and the style of animation is influenced by anime.
0:32.9	And it has a famous cast of voice actors, like Paul Dayno, Rosemary DeWitt, and Daniel
0:39.3	Day Kim.
0:40.3	The premise of the show is that new technology allows people to upload their minds to computers.
0:47.3	The process of uploading a mind destroys the brain, so you can't be in the physical world
0:53.3	and have a double of yourself in the cloud.
0:55.9	You're either a living human being or a digital being. The title of the show, Pantheon,
1:02.2	refers to the way that digital people can have the power of gods. They can live forever online,
1:09.0	and they can affect everything that we rely on.
1:12.9	In this scene, an uploaded character named Lori addresses the human race.
1:18.6	We are not ghosts. We are not aliens. We are not machines. We are not gods. We are you. We are you if you could burn a building to the ground all by yourself without setting foot in it.
1:34.3	We are you if you could command a missile to fire halfway around the world at a target of your choosing.
1:42.3	But these uploaded people are also fragile.
1:45.8	Glitches in the software can turn them into corrupted files, which can no longer function.
1:52.7	Pantheon first aired on AMC in 2022, but it didn't air on Basic Cable.
1:58.0	It aired on their premium subscription service AMC Plus.
2:03.1	Craig Silverstein created the show.
	...

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