Since 2018, I have worked with Cameron Kunzelman as part of the Ranged Touch network of podcasts, supported generously by our listeners via Patreon, as we undertake bespoke deep dives into a variety of topics from a critical but accessible perspective informed by our training in academia and work as educators.
GSSB discusses an eclectic selection of volumes relating to the academic field of game studies, contextualizing them within their various time periods, disciplines, genres, and modes, with the aim of making these ideas accessible to people who want to know more about game studies and the forms it takes.
This "critical play" show covers the history of the mainline games in the Fallout franchise, thinking extensively about the ways games, gaming technology, and franchise conventions have shifted over the past two decades.
In Just King Things, we read the books of author Stephen King in publication order, discussing the development of his style and craft as well as contextualizing his work within the broader developments of his life and career, especially his affects on the publishing industry, genre literature, and American popular culture. We are currently scheduled to finish sometime in 2027, providing he stops publishing at least one book a year (he probably will not).
This was a special project of mine, which concluded in 2023. It covers the entirety of the webcomic Homestuck (2009-2016), a unique and partially fan-driven text of the 2010s internet. Using extensive archival reading of fan discussions and my own memories of participating in the comic's fandom, I reconstruct for Cameron and our listeners Homestuck's rise to prominence, attending especially to the dialogue between the readers and its creator, as well as discussions carried out among the readers themselves, carried out in forums, on Tumblr, and other weird and wild places on the internet. Along the way, we consider the unique media properties of Homestuck as a multimedia hypertext and highlight the strategies of fan engagement it relied upon have since suffused popular culture at large. This show is the basis for a forthcoming monograph.
In this show, we are joined by our friend Austin Walker as we together read various works of genre literature, ranging from fantasy to horror to romance and everything in between.