Lately, it feels as though a lot of fantasy books come in two kinds: cozy, or extremely dark. During a scary time in the world, we seek either comforting sweetness, or violent catharsis. To find out more, we talked to Nghi Vo, whose recent books include The City in Glass and The Brides of High Hill. Plus we talk about how to include white characters in a story without centering whiteness.

Welcome to the final episode of Theoryish Season One! We've had a really wonderful time with you all and will be back January 2024. Until then, please continue to listen, share, like, and follow - see you soon!   Contact Us  You can get in touch with us via our email: theoryishpodcast@gmail.com  Socials  We are on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok at theoryish_pod and Facebook at theoryishpod  Music  Outro: Lori Beauty, Coma Studios  

Fabiola Larios is featured on this week's episode of Nicstalgia. We talk about Fabi’s Barbie exhibit at Yami-Ichi, subverting obsolescence and bringing new life to old and retro technology, AI-generated art on Fabi’s irreplaceable pink Disney Princess TV, the iconic 90s computer game Barbie Magic Hairstyler (y también Barbie Salón de Belleza). We deep dive into rituals, societal conditioning, misconceptions of Barbie, and the meaning adults (not children) assign to Barbie, and how she’s really a representation of our society, projected onto a 12” piece of plastic. We contrast not just the image, but the messaging behind Barbie vs. Bratz and agree that Barbie is an intellectual and a badass. We play a Dream Outfit and Dream Career game for AI-generated Fabi Barbie and tap into the imagination, play, levity, and joy that Barbie brought us as kids — and how we own that sentiment as adults. 💿 About our Guest Fabiola Larios is a Mexican Interdisciplinary artist that lives and works in Miami Beach, Florida. Her work explores the intersection of technology, identity, and representation in the digital age. Through machine learning, AI, net art, obsolescence programming, and e-waste, she seeks to challenge our understanding of the self and the impact of social media and the internet on our lives. 🛼 Connect with Our Guest Instagram 〰 Twitter 〰 Warpcast @fabiolaio 〰 Lens 🍒 Connect with Nic ⁠Instagram⁠ 〰 ⁠Twitter⁠ 〰 ⁠Substack⁠ 〰 ⁠TikTok⁠ 🦋 Special Thanks Doll Artwork by @hmdraws_ Theme Music by @egmusicnyc Intro Video by @valentinareyes9