(Full transcript at FollowFridayPodcast.com)

"Imagine if NPR went to Comic-Con and decided that's all they ever wanted to cover." That's how Eric Molinsky describes his podcast Imaginary Worlds, which takes science fiction, fantasy, and other "genre" entertainment seriously — and explores the depths that have attracted fans for decades.

"When it gets couched within Marvel or Star Trek or Star Wars, people that aren't into that stuff just laugh and think, 'Oh, it's a bunch of nerds arguing,'" Molinsky says. "It's like, 'No, they're talking about gender, race, representation, capitalism in there. They're arguing over the same things you're arguing over. It's just within a fantasy world.'"

On today's episode of Follow Friday, Molinsky explains why he follows Postmodern Jukebox, a group of cover musicians who filter modern songs through vintage genres; Your Pal James, a dormant art project that parodies action figure photography; Sébastien de Oliveira, who expertly colorizes historical photos; and Terrible Maps, an aggressively unhelpful geographical resource.

You can get bonus episodes of Follow Friday every week — including a bonus follow from Eric, coming early next week — when you back Follow Friday on Patreon, starting at just $1 a month.

And, if you're in the US and you're pledging $5 or more as of October 31, you will get a handwritten thank-you note and a sheet of Follow Friday stickers, which are not available anywhere else! Visit patreon.com/followfriday to get started.

Follow us:

- Follow Eric Molinsky on Twitter @emolinsky and Imaginary Worlds on Instagram @imaginary_worlds_podcast

- Follow us @followfridaypod on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok and find clips from the show on our YouTube channel

- Follow Eric Johnson on Twitter @heyheyesj

Theme song written by Eric Johnson, and performed by Yona Marie. Show art by Dodi Hermawan.

Thank you to our amazing patrons: Jon, Justin, Amy, Yoichi, Shinri, and Elizabeth