Episode 129: We Need Middle-earth, Not Westeros

This week, Alex, Kate, and special guest Andrea Shearon talk about Dolly Parton, the South, country music, and how she represented the true essence of it all through her music, her philanthropy, and her morals.

This week, Alex, Kate, and Joseph talk about getting into hobbies, especially Magic: The Gathering. They talk about startup costs, the importance of making spaces open to new people, and the value of taking and giving feedback.

This week, Alex, Kate, and Joseph Bradford of MMORPG.com and beyond discuss why modern fantasy is quite bad. They talk about the vast difference betwen Tolkein and Martin, why classic fantasy is less "black and white" than it's accused of even though it's actually good that it is, and the hopefulness that's too lacking in modern fantasy.

This week, Alex and Kate discuss the rise in anti-intellectualism and willful ignorance. They discuss how the internet has destroyed people's abilities to argue, the total loss of literacy, and especially how this has shown up in the public response to Emily Wilson's review of Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey. Plus a bunch of MTG talk!

This week Alex highlights a handful of articles from Butwhytho.net, covering everything from Magic the Gathering to marching bands to free-to-play RPG Soulframe.[EXCLUSIVE] The Women Behind Secret Lair’s Latest Philanthropic Drop Talk The Importance Of MentorshipDear EA Sports, The Next College Football Should Honor The History Of The Saturday Sound‘Soulframe’ Just May Be The Game We Need Right Now – Even In Pre-Alpha

This week, Alex, Charles, and Swara talk about what happens when genres reach maturity, what's become of superhero movies, and what they would do to fix the genre's problems if they were in charge.

The Nakba, or "catastrophe" in Arabic, describing the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Palestine by Israel since 1948, is not widely learned. Rasheed Abueideh, a Palestinian game designer based in the West Bank, aims to change that with his new game in development, Dreams on a Pillow. Here is our interview with Abueideh, in which he explains why he decided to pursue making the game, what he hopes players will get out of it, and how people can support it.

We sat down with Lead Vision Designer Mark Rosewater to discuss the design behind Magic: The Gathering's latest Universe's Beyond set, Marvel Super Heroes. From color choices to theme to navigating canon, Mark has insight on it all.

As one of Obsidian's most successful titles, Grounded 2's most recent Beat the Heat update keeps pushing the little game that could into a model for multiplayer play in 2026. During Summer Game Fest Play Days, we spoke with Chris Parker, the Game Director on Grounded 2, about introducing new fixtures like buggies and the King Dozer, and how the studio has looked to build its franchise with player feedback at the center while evolving consistently.

Elder Scrolls Online (ESO) introduced a new seasonal model this year, and with seasons, the Bethesda-published MMORPG is rolling out the most substantial sequential updates the game has released since launch.During Summer Game Fest Play Days, we spoke with ZeniMax Online Studios' developers Nick Giacomini (Game Director) and Jason Barnes (Associate Design Director) about everything we'll see this year.