BROADCASTS.com

The Hungry Forest - a 100 word story\n\n\n\nThe forest whispered to Anna. She crawled dipper into the closet. The forest creatures were coming for her, and she knew they were going to skin her alive, then tear her apart limb from limb. She was terrified, but she was also prepared. She clutched the little device the strange man from the forest gave her and activated it. The closet started to spin around her, becoming a blur, then it disappeared altogether. She was no longer there. The forest creatures would have to feed on some other poor soul today. She thanked the spirit of human ingenuity for teleports.\n\n\n\n-----\n\n\n\nHi there and thanks for stopping by. I\u2019m Guy, and you\u2019re listening to my surreal sketchbook of reality.\n\n\n\n-----\n\n\n\nEpisode 16, The Closet Started to Spin\n\n\n\nImagination can be real magic, or it may be the biggest of lies. This episode Is a semi-philosophical look at imagination. I\u2019m not a professional philosopher by any means and my approach can be quite absurd, illogical and not at all that serious, so - you've been warned. Do not take this podcast too seriously. If you tend to take things too seriously, this might not be the podcast for you. Seriously. I mean it. Find another podcast to listen to.\n\n\n\nYou\u2019re still here? Good. Let\u2019s talk about imagination. Imagination is often used to tell a story. To imagine the story, you would often begin with a question, and that question would often begin with \u201cWhat if...\u201d There are \u201cWhat if...\u201d questions that are close to our everyday reality like \u201cWhat if I didn\u2019t have to go to work?\u201d or \u201cWhat if that next-door neighbor was a foreign spy?\u201d. Those would produce stories that can happen in real life and in fact, those imaginary stories might even be similar to events that actually happened. There are also \u201cwhat if\u201d questions that create completely separate realities like \u201cWhat if walking trees and hobbits really existed?\u201d or \u201cWhat if there was a substance called aether that could be used to control elements, and those, in turn, could be used for magic?\u201d. Those \u201cwhat if\u2026\u201d questions would produce stories that would require us to suspend our disbelief if we want to enjoy them since they would be very different from what we experience in our everyday reality.\n\n\n\nScience and technology also rely on imagination for progress. We wouldn\u2019t have the modern world if we didn\u2019t have questions such as \u201cWhat if two people on the other sides of the world could instantly talk to each other?\u201d or \u201cWhat if we could put the phone, the television and the radio into our computer?\u201d. Other imaginative questions are going to shape our future, questions such as \u201cWhat if your car could drive all by itself?\u201d and \u201cWhat if we could create objects that can be controlled and shaped by computers?\u201d. Another very imaginative question is \u201cWhat if I take a break right now?\u201d. I\u2019ll be right back.\n\n\n\n-----\n\n\n\nThe Egg - a 100 word story\n\n\n\n\u201cBut... can you do it?\u201d I asked, eyeing him suspiciously \u201ccan you make it hatch?\u201d. I never liked those federal types. I always suspect them of being oblivious to the consequences. \u201cNothing to it,\u201d said the man in the black overcoat. I checked my watch. It was nearly time now. \u201cJust let me inspect it one last time,\u201d I said. \u201cSure, Just don't break it\u201d he answered. The Pterospondylus egg lay before me. I examined it gently, then they took it away. As I watched the egg in the incubator, I envisioned a future where flying dinosaurs grace our skies.\n\n\n\n-----\n\n\n\nWelcome back. Imagination is used to create fictional stories. You can find those stories on books, in radio plays, in the theater and on video games among other things. Some of those stories are very elaborate and create whole new worlds for us to enjoy. The lore of those worlds can go back to prehistory, inventing anything from mythology to geography. Entering those worlds, you can leave your everyday life for a while, forgetting your everyday troubles. That is the magic of imagination.\n\n\n\nSome people can get lost in imagination a