Dancing Stickman

The year is 2175. Despite the wars, trials, and upheavals of the early 21st century, humanity has managed to not only survive, but thrive. This unlikely outcome is largely attributed to a dedicated group of dreamers who chose to think in future tense. Rather than succumbing to the despair and hopelessness of their circumstances, they coalesced around sharing their visions of a better world for the...

How do I actually bridge the gap between "starving artist" and "sustainable creator"? In this update episode of Worldsbuilder, I’m pulling back the curtain on the business of creativity to share the core philosophies driving my production company. For the first time, I’m defining my "artist-first" approach to creative execution. I discuss how collaborative art and audience participation are the fo...

How do we move beyond the canon of traditional gaming to create spaces where every player feels empowered to participate and create? Prolific game designer Quinn Murphy of Thoughtcrime Games, shares his philosophy, "Imagination is for Everyone," exploring how tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) are the ultimate form of entertainment by turning consumers into active collaborators. In this episode,...

I talk with Sam Bempong - multi-hyphenate film producer, creative entrepreneur, and community organizer - about what it takes to build the infrastructure for narrative film in your city. As a co-founder of #MakeItBay, she's been at the forefront of strengthening the narrative film industry in Oakland, Berkeley, and across the East Bay. Topics include: Topics include: independent film production, c...

This episode is a reflection on the way art is used to manipulate reality, for good or ill. Trigger warning that this episode discusses the Epstein files, and the revelations the recent release have unveiled about celebrity culture, patriarchy, and social conditioning. The discussion moves from the societal to the personal, tracking the way that larger forces create conditions that permeate both o...

face-eating leopards OR FAFO Original poem by Sara Brink (2024) The spiritual community exhorts us at this time to stay grounded in our bodies, so I offer this prayer/curse/warning as a reminder of exactly what our bodies can feel. May we protect the vulnerable. May the next tent pole find purchase ten inches deeper.   Trigger warning: gore

Welcome to Dancing Stickman!  This isn’t a typical podcast feed. I’m Sara Brink, creative director, and here’s how it works: each season is a complete, standalone narrative or experiment, and you can jump in anywhere. Between story seasons, I publish Worldsbuilder, interviews about the business of creativity — how artists make a living, sustain their work, and stay creative. Where to Start Story:...

Ash, Annette, Andy, and I reunite to chat about the end of Oops, All Witches. We talk witches, gods, and monsters, using fiction to represent ideal real-world solutions, and what comes next for Aelia.   Oops, All Witches was a Dancing Stickman production. Ashlyn Sparrow as Nia Annette Lee as Ofelia Andy Mack as Emmett Sara Brink as the Dungeon Master This episode was produced, edited, and sound de...

In the wake of Renee Good's execution by the state, I have some things to say about American politics, art and fascism, and the expansion of our imaginations. Let's dream up a better world, and then let's build it.

You may know her as Nia from Oops, All Witches , but game designer and scholar Ashlyn Sparrow sat down with me today to talk about transmedia games, the future of the game industry, and how games can function as everything from educational tools to political praxis. From ARGs to emerging media, Ash offers a sharp, accessible look at how games reflect real life, how interactive storytelling is evol...

No better way to learn from one's mistakes than to publish them publicly on the internet, right? This is a breakdown of Broken Sky, a transmedia alternate reality game that I ran over July 2025. Join me for lessons learned from the experience.   See the archive of Broken Sky here .

How do we make a living making art? Kenna Alexander from Coyote & Crow Games joins me to talk about how they bootstrapped a game company after their surprise $1 million Kickstarter campaign demonstrated the demand for indigenous representation in tabletop gaming. Hear about their triumphs and their pitfalls when building a for-profit company with a built-in ethical system. Note: this episode w...

Four Souls are drawn to the yawning Void at the center of their existences.  Sarah Purcell as Minerva Annette Moran Lee as Ofelia Sara Brink and Jacob Wolf Lefton as the Game Masters This episode was supplemental material for players of the Broken Sky ARG. It contains a clue designed to move players from Act 2 to Act 3. Casual listeners: These co-GM'ed scenes ran both Wickedness and D&D simult...

*SPOILERS* for the Oops, All Witches finale, publishing 12/31/25. The strands of the Web draw a Wild Spirit and a Great Spirit to a captive trapped by the remnant of a vanquished god at its center. Maricarmen Guitérrez Castro as Circe Ashlyn Sparrow as Nia Sara Brink and Jacob Wolf Lefton as the Game Masters This episode was supplemental material for players of the Broken Sky ARG. It contains a cl...

Three witches of the Heart converge in the depths of the unconscious between worlds.  Ariella Weigl as Charley Oleander Mack as Emmett Sara Brink and Jacob Wolf Lefton as the Game Masters This episode was supplemental material for players of the Broken Sky ARG. It contains a clue designed to move players from Act 2 to Act 3. Casual listeners: These co-GM'ed scenes ran both Wickedness and D&D s...

The sky is breaking. Something is watching. Jacob Wolf Lefton as Twin 2 Sara Brink as the Dungeon Master This episode is one of two inciting incidents of Broken Sky, a transmedia alternate reality game set alongside Oops, All Witches . These episodes introduce the story world and the characters' journeys. Casual listeners: Enjoy the story as a standalone scene. Puzzle fans: Players could solve int...

The sky is breaking. Something is calling. Sara Brink as Twin 1 Jacob Wolf Lefton as The Narrator This episode is one of two inciting incidents of Broken Sky, a transmedia alternate reality game set alongside Oops, All Witches . These episodes introduce the story world and the characters' journeys. Casual listeners: Enjoy the story as a standalone scene. Puzzle fans: Players could solve interactiv...

Every ending is a new beginning. Though the chapter closes with witches lost, the next is determined by their choices. Corruption, chaos, change, and a new order. We conclude the tale with women at the center. This episode concludes Oops, All Witches. Thanks for joining us! Content warning: This series contains potentially upsetting themes, including mind control, harm to children and animals, and...

When bonds are broken, to whom falls the responsibility of repair? The Weaver makes, yes, but unmakes also. Is she the Void? Is she the Web? Is she You? The witches bear the burden of balance. Content warning: This series contains potentially upsetting themes, including mind control, harm to children and animals, and death. Oops, All Witches is a Dancing Stickman production. Ashlyn Sparrow as Nia...

Here at the center of the Web, reality converges, splits, converges again. The witches level up to their final form, an amalgamation made whole, a spirit made flesh. What story will they weave when they must weave it together?  Content warning: This series contains potentially upsetting themes, including mind control, harm to children and animals, and death. Oops, All Witches is a Dancing Stickman...

Nia keeps a promise. The wheel turns, the ships continue to their destinations, and we reconvene at the center of the web. Here where all points meet, we converge in a tomb of Order. Content warning: This series contains potentially upsetting themes, including mind control, harm to children and animals, and death. Oops, All Witches is a Dancing Stickman production. Ashlyn Sparrow as Nia Annette Le...

Separated and alone. Emmett learns the depths of the Church's depravity. Ofelia confronts corruption and puts the pieces together. Everything converges at the tip of the spear. Content warning: This series contains potentially upsetting themes, including mind control, harm to children and animals, and death. Oops, All Witches is a Dancing Stickman production. Ashlyn Sparrow as Nia Annette Lee as O...

What a wicked web we weave. Corruption bears a lasting mark. The witches must dive deep to uncover the rot at the core of the Order's plans, but when Chaos reigns, the best laid plans go oft astray. This episode concludes Arc 3 of Oops, All Witches. "Grey Eyes" was written by Sara Brink. Instrumentation and performance by The Forgetmenauts . Content warning: This series contains potentially upsett...

Reconnaissance, infiltration, interrogation. The question remains: what is going on? The Witches circle the outside of the vortex at the center of Hadari, but the pull of corruption draws them in. Content warning: This series contains potentially upsetting themes, including mind control, harm to children and animals, and death. Oops, All Witches is a Dancing Stickman production. Ashlyn Sparrow as...

Do we sail towards chaos or are we chased there? The storm rages, waves crash, sending ships spinning towards the center. Beware. The visions that appear to us - eldritch, many-limbed, squamous - may not be what they seem. Content warning: This series contains potentially upsetting themes, including mind control, harm to children and animals, and death. Oops, All Witches is a Dancing Stickman prod...