The Left Page & Here Be Media

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As a special treat for Pesach, we dive into the incredible animated film The Prince of Egypt!

Approaching Faith and Liberation, we consider not just the question of religious & historical narratives and their complex relations, but also of their representation in media. Further still, we talk about violence and how to comprehend "violence" in the name of Liberation.

In a conversation that is equal part...

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Our first episode of April is a different one, if something we've been meaning to do for a while, more than talking about a game, it's a studio, so join us as we talk about Bethesda and their games!

Jumping off from our mention of Bethesda games and their connection to mods last month, and Leon's previous writing on Skyrim, we decided to dive properly into their games and their "style". We talk of narrative an...

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To round out this month's episodes, we dive back into sci-fi, and more utopian fiction! With a recommendation from listener, and patron, Nate: Monica Byrne's The Actual Star!

It's a complex discusson on Utopian writing, its challenges, and how sometimes things don't quite work out as we'd like. So join us in this conversation on Utopia and Religion, historical and sociological approaches, and more!

And if y...

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As we're rounding out March, we offer a different kind of conceptual HBM episode! We take a look at videogame mods, what they are, what they can be, and what's so damn interesting about them!

Join us as we talk about the difficulties involved in modding, the relationship to game companies, and how mods, at their best, can express an immense passion and creativity, in an anarchic and decentralised way.

Have...

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As a logical continuation of Leon's writings on Rockstar and GTA, we both revisited a game (not a franchise, mind you), which enrages and frustrates us both Max Payne 3.

In a game where you relentlessly shoot poor brown and black people and play the "American Hero" cop, we dive into what this game does with this setup and what it doesn't believe in. For as Leon put it before, there is little it believes but p...

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For this final February episode, we, talk about when Cyberpunk... goes awry, to put it mildly, it's time to see the issues of Cyberpunk 2077 and Cyberpunk Edgerunners!

We dive into what happens when one tries to recreate just the aesthetics of a genre, and the effects of cutting out the politics. And so we turn to this hollowness at the heart of a "cyberpunk" that has left out all that was remotely punk about...

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We continue well into February, as we bring in the incomparable Labor Kyle to talk about... one of the best games of all time. It's time to talk about Disco Elysium!!

Join us as we dive into the real genesis and formation of revolutionary character that can happen in Harry DuBois, and then, with no less gravitas, about the intersection of this game with Walter Benjamin's "Thesis on the Concept of History". Ho...

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Happy 5 year anniversary of the Left Page!! This is a huge achievement and one I still can't believe is here, and yet, it has been a wonderful journey so far, and we're not thinking about stopping anytime soon!

To celebrate such a date, Leon and I spoke about a book foundational to my entire research, the 1516 book by Thomas More: Utopia. We delve into some of its history, the tradition of utopian literatur...

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For our last January episode we dive into an excellent recent trilogy of games, Hitman: World of Assassination, and think about how good these games are, as they embrace strong silliness.

Alongside advancing Frank's ideas and arguments for the silly, we look into the protagonist of Agent 47 and how his hypercompetence is both related to, and changed, by the silly aspects of the game. It's both a very fun show...

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Kicking off 2024 for the Left Page we have a very special episode with dramaturgist and debut novelist Emma Hinds, as we talk about her, as of this episode's release, published book The Knowing!

Via this gothic, queer, historical, and violent story, Emma joins us as we dive into some of the ways both the book, and ourselves, try to engage with Art: how to create it, understand it, and critique it. Further s...

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To kick off 2024 we consider some of our different plans for the pods, our big ideas and the things we have in store!

And, of course, we chat a bit about upcoming media we're interested in, some which interests us and some which uhhh concerns/frustrates us. It's a new year with a whole lot more to read, watch, play, and talk about!

Have fun, and hapy new year!

Please support our Patreon if you'r...

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To finally wrap up 2023, we stop for a moment and think back on both the things we saw/watched/played and even recorded this year, to review how it went.

And overall, we're pretty happy with what we've done and are planning to do next year!!

Thank you so much for a great year, especially, especially our Patrons, and here's to another fun and full of great conversations 2024!

Thank you and see you soon!

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For our final 2023 Left Page episode, we are joined by Jay, of LibraryPunk and Tender Subject fame to talk about the "original dark academia text" Donna Tartt's The Secret History!

It's a wonderful send off of 2023 as we dive into what "dark academia" is and can be, the bad writing of novels, the characterization of terrible characters, and how rich people are always terrible!

Enjoy!

Jay's Good Dark ...

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As we round out the year, we have some very fun shows to share, and here we are with one of our favourite games this year: Armored Core VI!

Nevermind the From Software bias, we do find plenty to talk about in regards to the destructive nature of the mech-economy, how characterization functions in this wonderfully fun game, and how inescapable the capitalist realist mech-economy might really be. Dark and fun th...

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As we wrap up November we talk about a game we encourage you NOT to play! And yet, there's still  plenty interesting, and plenty important, to talk about regardless. So join us as we talk about another game in Bioware's roster, it's Dragon Age II!

A somewhat timely discussion, given the many layoffs in Bioware and just how the politics in this game can be so quintessentially liberal, and awful. All in al...

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Because the Horrors are neverending, we have Leslie from Fangs for the Memorieeeeeees! To chat with us about Analogue Horror!

In this more conceptually focused episode we go into what is Analogue Horror, the relationship of horror with form, media and technology. And to top it off, we go into one of the best things about this genre, the meeting place of nostalgia and horror, as we consider that nostalgia may ...

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For this first episode of November we have a very special show on our hands! We are talking about Marge Piercy's 1976 Utopian novel, Woman on the Edge of Time!

And to do that, we invited on Brazilian researcher, translator, professor, and friend, Dr. Elton Furlanetto of the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS)! Elton translated the first ever Brazilian edition of the novel, released earlier this ye...

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As a slightly late Halloween bonus episode we have a fantastic chat about Vampires! It's Netflix's Castlevania show!

We talk about how we do or don't relate to vampires, our interest in them, and how it can be the people and their own independent actions with and against vampires that can ellicit the most of our   interest and sympathies. So join us as we explore the merits and faults of our favouri...

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As is tradition for Spooky Month, we have dragged our favourite co-ghosts to chat with us! And in this episode we ask the following question: what is scarier than forms?

Very little, we find! As we are once again talking about Franz Kafka, and this time, we're talking about the Law and, of course, punishment. It is the very thrilling, and scary, novel of The Trial! By all means join us four as we dive into al...