The Left Page
A Podcast Where A Historian and a Social Scientist Explore Phenomenon in Media and Art Find more of our work and projects at https://linktr.ee/leftpagehbm
Episodes
Itinerary:
00:00:00 - 00:46:34 Intro+Anti-AI+Questionaire
00:46:34 - 01:29:00 Anti-Utopianism
01:29:00 - END The Left Page Book Club™
Join us next Lets Prattle where we will continue the book club with the Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe, where we will discuss chapter 1 to 13!
Frank's sources:
BLAIM, Artur. Anti-utopia. In: MARKS, Peter; WAGNER-LAWLOR, Jennifer A...
We talk about The Zone in fiction.
Inspired by our Patreon Series on Pacific Drive we expand our understanding of Zones by also bringing in:
-
The novel Roadside Picnic by the Strugatsky brothers
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The film Stalker by Andrei Tarkovsky
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The Metro series of books by Dmitry Glukhovsky and its games
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And a touch of the S. T. A. L. K. E. R. games.
There's a lot to the idea of Zones, so we establish...
We take a dive into Arthuriana, adaptation, and more, as we talk about The Green Knight wit our good friend Jay!
Considering how not only the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight connects with the Dev Patel film, but also exploring the themes involved and how they can be treated by a contemporary framing.
And, of course, as we talk about adapting things, we go beyond just this pair, briefly going into Scor...
itinerary:
00:00:00 - 00:34:30 - Intro
00:34:30 - 01:44:40 - Villains!
01:44:40 - END - Book Club (Cat VII - Cat VIII)
Given we're pretty close, we'll be going from the next chapter, Tyrion VII, all the way to the end!
We're back into Science Fiction, and with a great friend and comrade! As Breht from RevLeftRadio fame joins us to talk about the relationship of this genre and Empires.
Talking the roots of imperial representation, how we can critique them, and how a lot goes back into colonialism, fascist projects and more.
A wonderful dive into how this genre and this representation and structure connect, enjoy!
This time we go into how we think about Pathology in media and videogames, while still talking about gaming news and the Left Page Book Club, enjoy!
itinerary:
00:00:00-01:03:21 - Intro + Summer Games Fest + Minute AI rambling
01:03:21-01:55:05: - The Broader Pathology of Media
01:55:05-END - The Left Page Book Club
Our next set of chapters is from Catelyn VII to Catelyn VIII! (Another 16 chapt...
We continue our travails this time with disecting the discourses around power fantasies and an interesting track through one of videogames largest franchises.
Itinerary:
00:00:00 - 00:15:52 Intro (What are we up to)
00:15:52 - 01:03:28 Power Fantasies
01:03:28 - 01:40:00 AI in Music
01:40:00 - 02:16:50 AC
02:16:50 - END Book Club aGoT Jon II - Eddard V
Essay mentioned:
https://www.youtub...
We're talking about men this time.
Using different media like Star Wars, American Psycho, and Blade Runner 2049, we develop some theory on this idea of "media illiteracy", on masculinity and its toxicity.
Fundamentally considering what we mean when we talk about Patriarchy, how it exists and is historically defined, and what does it mean to consider and confront it today.
Enjoy!
A new kind of episode!
Lighter and more current, as we talk about what we've been playing, some things we've been thinking about, and the new Left Page Book Club!
Time stamps
00:00:00 - 00:40:40 Intro + What are we watching, reading, playing
00:40:40 - 01:27:45 AI In Video Games
01:27:45 - 02: 23:45 Left Page Book Club
The article we talked about:
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/new-research-shows-over-90-of-gamers-fi...
We deploy Critical Harvest Theory in this episode, when we ask:
What happens when we don't look critically at escapist fantasies? We then try to answer this question by looking at two video games: Stardew Valley (2015) and Citizen Sleeper (2022 & 2025)
Going into the ways of how these games create their realities and end up surviving in or attempting to sideline capitalism, which will surely go well, r...
Wolfenstein is a fascinating series of games, so let's talk about the recent Machine Games' iterations.
Asking the fundamental question of how to properly kill fascism and how this game is presenting it, or not.
Enjoy!
Check out Jon's stuff: Horror Vanguard & The Haunt Blog
Morris Rosenfeld's poem In The Factory from 1914
Intro song: Machine, Machine. Nits. 2019, Werf & V2 Records
Outro song: Nazi...
Hello everyone!!
Today we're starting off with our new kinds of episodes, as we discuss a more broad element... the discourse on the new Oddyssey film!
We've often talked about historical representation, mythology, and what "historical accuracy" can mean, but not as directly as of yet. So this time we went full into some of the terrible ways those are all used, distanced from any ...
Good lord! It's sure been a while, huh?
Celebrating 7 years of running this podcast, Frank and Leon go over some of the changes, some of the achievements, how they see the pod, how they think of it moving forwards, and a couple of interesting things to come!
Thank you all so so much for being here, for listening, and especially supporting the show, for as little or as long as you have! It means the world!
Here's to t...
To celebrate the centennial Left Page we go to the start, the originator of the modern novel: Don Quixote de la Mancha!
We go over the fantasies of Don Quixote, the way the two books deal with reality, fantasy, and primarily books and reading! All the while not forgetting the deep materiality involved in the depictions, and how there is still more than we think to it.
Come celebrate our 100th episode with one of the great...
Hello everyone!!
We continue with the First Law Standalone novels, now going into Heroes and Red Country!
We talk about how these characters continue to be engagin, how the materiality of war and conflict continues, and how change, propelled by capital, can be such a dangerous thing the world over, fantasy world it might be.
Enjoy!
If you can and are interested in early episodes and our bonus content, soon to b...
Hello everyone!!
We continue with Joe Abercrombie's First Law series, now talking about the 3 standalone novels: Best Served Cold, Heroes, and Red Country!
Because these books are great and there is a lot to talk about, we split these episodes in 2 parts, both already available for Patrons! First we talk about Abercrombie and the setup to these books, then Best Served Cold and how to write a phenomenal revenge story indee...
Hello everyone!!
We visit the sequel of our very first Here be Media episode, coming alongside a very special announcement in the first 10 minutes about the future of this podcast.
We set out to explore the pitfalls of exclusively centreing psychology in your familial narrative, that is therefore ot able to grapple with the existential conflict it seeks to portray.
Please enjoy!
If you can and are interested in early...
Hello everyone!!
We're wrapping up the year in serious fashion, diving once back into Imperialism everywhere, with the 2025 Superman, and bringing our superhero liasion along, André!
This was a film really well talked about for being positive, and progressive and... things which it isn't. It's still imperialist and still very much on the US' side when thinking about anything.
So come along as we look at this at first...
Hello everyone!!
We're finally tackling Tolkien! And so here we are, at the beggining... In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit.
We go into Tolkien's role in fantasy, how The Hobbit still holds up as both a monument of fantasy and still an excellent book, and the resonance that this work has to fantasy still.
Thus we close off 2025 on The Left Page, by beggining Tolkien, with more to come!
Enjoy!
If ...
Hello everyone!!
We're back talking about Brazilian Literature, with a long overdue request! It's "Golden Harvest" or "São Jorge dos Ilhéus", by Jorge Amado!
The horrors of capitalism are everywhere, and none less here, where the forces of empire and capital seek to make Brazilian cocoa production their own, with no regard for people and their lives.
So come along in this historically inspired novel to further deepen...
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