# Imagined Life

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

| # | Title | Date | Subject | Recommended reading |
| 1 | The Outsider | November 4, 2018 | Elon Musk | Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future |
| 2 | The Daydreamer | November 4, 2018 | J.K. Rowling | None |
| 3 | The Performer | November 11, 2018 | Elton John | None |
| 4 | The Bride | November 18, 2018 | Princess Diana | None |
| 5 | The Warrior | November 25, 2018 | Muhammad Ali | Ali: A Life The Greatest - My Own Story |
| 6 | The Trailbrazer | December 2, 2018 | Lucille Ball | None |
| 7 | The Advocate | December 9, 2018 | Ellen DeGeneres | Podcast "Ellen on the go" |
| 8 | The Chameleon | December 16, 2018 | Jane Fonda | My Life So Far Jane Fonda: The Private Life of a Public Woman Jane Fonda in Five Acts Jane Fonda's Original Workout Series |
| 9 | The Perfectionist | December 23, 2018 | Dr. Seuss | None |
| 10 | The Officer | January 13, 2019 | Vladimir Putin | The New Tsar: The Rise and Reign of Vladimir Putin The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin |
| 11 | The Commoner | January 27, 2019 | George Orwell | None |
| 12 | The Winner | February 3, 2019 | Sarah Palin | None |
| 13 | The Everyman | February 17, 2019 | Jackie Chan | Never Grow Up I Am Jackie Chan: My Life in Action |
| 14 | The Achiever | February 24, 2019 | Sonia Sotomayor | None |
| 15 | The Student | March 10, 2019 | Martin Scorsese | None |
| 16 | The Grown-Up | March 17, 2019 | Drew Barrymore | Wlidflower Drew Barrymore: The Biography |
| 17 | The Misfit | March 31, 2019 | Whoopi Goldberg | None |
| 18 | The Entertainer | February 24, 2019 | Sammy Davis Jr. | None |
| 19 | The Traveller | April 14, 2019 | Maya Angelou | None |
| 20 | The Firecracker | April 21, 2019 | Reba McEntire | Reba: My Story Comfort from a Country Quilt |
| 21 | The Lover | September 6, 2019 | Frank Lloyd Wright | Death in a Prairie House: Frank Lloyd Wright and the Taliesin Murders |
| 22 | The Ballerina | September 13, 2019 | Audrey Hepburn | None |
| 23 | The Captive | September 20, 2019 | Howard Hughes | None |
| 24 | The Passenger | September 27, 2019 | Aretha Franklin | None |
| 25 | The Troublemaker | October 4, 2019 | Michael Moore | Here Comes Trouble: Stories from My Life |
| 26 | The Reject | October 11, 2019 | Stephen King | None |
| 27 | The Model | October 18, 2019 | George Takei | None |
| 28 | The Eccentric | October 25, 2019 | Harper Lee | Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee |
| 29 | The Loudmouth | November 1, 2019 | Margaret Cho | I'm the One That I Want |
| 30 | The Patron | November 8, 2019 | Pablo Escobar | None |
| 31 | The Searcher | November 15, 2019 | Joni Mitchell | None |
| 32 | The Wannabe | November 22, 2019 | Stan Lee | |
| 33 | The Handler | November 29, 2019 | Jim Henson | Jim Henson: The Biography Imagination Illustrated: The Jim Henson Journal |
| 34 | The Hothead | December 6, 2019 | Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson | The Rock Says... Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson: The Life, Lessons & Rules for Success |
| 35 | The Pioneer | December 13, 2019 | Betty Ford | None |
| 36 | The Widow | December 20, 2019 | Joan Rivers | None |
| 37 | The Workhorse | April 3, 2020 | John Wayne | None |
| 38 | The Survivor | April 10, 2020 | Dr. Ruth | All In a Lifetime Ask Dr. Ruth |
| 39 | The Idealist | April 17, 2020 | Edward Snowden | Permanent Record |
| 40 | The Exile | April 24, 2020 | Nina Simone | Princess Noire: The Tumultuous Reign of Nina Simone |
| 41 | The Wanderer | May 1, 2020 | Langston Hughes | The Big Sea |
| 42 | The Fugitive | May 8, 2020 | Marilyn Monroe | Marilyn in Manhattan: Her Year of Joy |
| 43 | The Caretaker | May 22, 2020 | Katharine Graham | "Personal History" by Katharine Graham |
| 44 | The Dreamer | May 29, 2020 | Walt Disney | None |
| 45 | The Orphan | June 5, 2020 | RuPaul | None |
| 46 | The Secret Agent | June 12, 2020 | Roald Dahl | Roald Dahl: A Biography |
| 47 | The Striver | June 19, 2020 | Martha Stewart | None |
| 48 | The Soloist | June 26, 2020 | George Michael | "Wham! George & Me" George: A Memory of George Michael |