Imagined Life is a podcast produced by Wondery and hosted by Virginia Madsen and Robbie Daymond. The podcast presents biographies of famous people in an unusual format. The first episode premiered on November 4, 2018, and 48 episodes have been produced by the end of the third season. Imagined Life won the 2018 podcast award by online publication Quartz in the categories "Best podcast on the human condition" and "Best new podcast". The podcast will be developed into a TV documentary series by Universal Content Productions.
Format Each episode tells the life-story of one famous person. The subjects often include entertainers, political leaders, businessmen or sportsmen. An episode begins with a dramatic unresolved moment in the person's life, before going through the biography of the person in chronological order. The life events are presented in a dramatized way with reenactments of conversations.
The defining feature of "Imagined Life" is its second-person narration. Listeners are invited to imagine themselves being the famous person, although the person's identity is not revealed until the end. Identifying characteristics, such as gender, profession or country of origin, are intentionally omitted in the beginning and only gradually revealed among with other "clues" as the episode progresses. The creators describe this format as "second person biographical guessing game". Each episode ends with a reveal of the subject and recommended further reading.
The podcast also produces shorter episodes labeled as "Imagined Life Family" that cater to younger listeners, or for families to listen to together.
Episodes +#TitleDateSubjectRecommended reading1The OutsiderNovember 4, 20182The DaydreamerNovember 4, 2018None3The PerformerNovember 11, 2018None4The BrideNovember 18, 2018None5The WarriorNovember 25, 20186The TrailbrazerDecember 2, 2018None7The AdvocateDecember 9, 20188The ChameleonDecember 16, 20189The PerfectionistDecember 23, 2018None10The OfficerJanuary 13, 201911The Commoner January 27, 2019None12The WinnerFebruary 3, 2019None13The EverymanFebruary 17, 201914The AchieverFebruary 24, 2019None15The StudentMarch 10, 2019None16The Grown-UpMarch 17, 201917The MisfitMarch 31, 2019None18The Entertainer February 24, 2019None19The TravellerApril 14, 2019None20The Firecracker April 21, 201921The LoverSeptember 6, 201922The Ballerina September 13, 2019None23The CaptiveSeptember 20, 2019None24The PassengerSeptember 27, 2019None25The Troublemaker October 4, 201926The Reject October 11, 2019None27The Model October 18, 2019None28The Eccentric October 25, 201929The LoudmouthNovember 1, 201930The PatronNovember 8, 2019None31The SearcherNovember 15, 2019None32The WannabeNovember 22, 201933The HandlerNovember 29, 201934The HotheadDecember 6, 201935The PioneerDecember 13, 2019None36The WidowDecember 20, 2019None37The WorkhorseApril 3, 2020None38The SurvivorApril 10, 202039The IdealistApril 17, 202040The ExileApril 24, 202041The Wanderer May 1, 202042The FugitiveMay 8, 202043The CaretakerMay 22, 202044The Dreamer May 29, 2020None45The Orphan June 5, 2020None46The Secret Agent June 12, 202047The Striver June 19, 2020None48The SoloistJune 26, 2020
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