EPISODE 09: STRUCTURES AND SUBSTRUCTURES

What this episode covers

Episode 09: Structures and Substructures | 20 January 2026 Trent and Stephen break down Chapter 7 of The Worldbuilding Workshop, “Structures and Substructures,” including: Origins and function of the structures and substructures employed throughout the collaborative worldbuilding process; Choosing whether to quantify or qualitatively describe the presence or absence of each structure and substructure in a given world; Definitions for the four structures and fourteen substructures, including Governance, Economics, Social Relations, and Cultural Influences; The decision to add or subtract substructures in a given worldbuilding project; Negotiating the meaning of each structure and substructure based on its relative presence or absence in a world; Identifying and explaining a society's values through the lens of its most prevalent substructural categories; The (2023) film The Creator as an example of storytelling via "show, don't tell"; How individual people or characters perceive and react to a world's social forces (as dictated by its substructures); Star Trek as a roving "world" through which the audience can explore interactions between substructural categories; Structures and substructures as an investigatory framework rather than an objective characterization of reality; Sliding back-and-forth on a timeline to understand the world "before" and "after" structure-changing events; Understanding structures and substructures as human-made and human-enforced; The Expanse as a vehicle to deconstruct real-ish socioeconomic and sociopolitical forces; JK Rowling, George Lucas, and the risk of overcomplicating a world with unnecessary details nobody asked for; Examining The Lord of the Rings, The Witcher, and A Song of Ice and Fire to compare how historical social forces and constructs are understood through a modern lens; The evolution of civilization, globalization, and how ideas ripple across substructures; Avoiding simple thinking about complex problems; and Applying intersectional world modeling to understand privilege, critique antisocial perspectives, and directly address real-world political, economic, social, and cultural challenges. Episode References: Edwards, G. (Director). (2023). The creator [Film]. 20th Century Studios; Regency Enterprises. Bluth, D. (Director), Freudberg, J., & Geiss, T. (Writers). (1986). An American tail [Film]. Amblin Entertainment; Universal Pictures. Roddenberry, G. (Creator). (1966–1969). Star trek [TV series]. Desilu Productions; Paramount Television. Fergus, M. & Ostby, H. (Creators). (2015–2022). The expanse [TV Series]. Alcon Entertainment; Alcon Television Group; Hivemind; Amazon Studios. Tolkien, J. R. R. (1954). The fellowship of the ring. George Allen & Unwin. Sapkowski, A. (1990). Wiedźmin [The Witcher]. Reporter. Martin, G. R. R. (1996). A game of thrones. Bantam Books. Green, M. (Executive Producer). (2020). Lovecraft country [TV series]. Monkeypaw Productions; Bad Robot Productions; Warner Bros. Television.

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