Episode 117: The Great Photorealism Debate

This week, Alex, Kyle, and Charles discuss photorealism in video games, whether and when it has its place, and whatever is going on with Nvidia's DLSS 5 as AI slop takes over all of our art.

This week, Alex, Kate, and Matt discuss conventions, how their locations have made them more and more inaccessible, unaffordable, and worse, and why more conventions need to be held in more geographically diverse locations (especially the South).

This week, Alex talks to the team at Wizards of the Coast behind Magic: The Gathering's new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Universes Beyond Set: Eric Engelhard – Senior Game Designer and Set Design Lead, Stephanie Chung – Art Director, and Crystal Frazier – Senior Narrative Game Designer and Worldbuilding Lead. They take a deep dive into the set, from how the art style was decided on, how the set borrows from 40 years of TMNT history, and the mechanics behind the new set.

This week, Alex and Kate talk about how to be good people and neighbors in an age of constant horrors, war, and disappearings. They draw from the examples of Mr. Rogers, Ms. Rachel, the people of Minneapolis, and our own staff to try and find hope and action in dark times.

This week, Alex, Kate, Sarah, and Allyson talk about the Netflix documentary series, Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model. They discuss the docuseries, the toxicity inherent in America's Next Top Model, and how watching it impacted them, including eating disorders, on-screen representation, and much more.

This week, Alex and Kate talk about the rise of performative consumerism as a form of moralization and how it manifests from Tumblr to Bad Bunny's halftime show. Plus a reminder about some of the politics of some of the most misunderstood musicians. We aren't just the things we consume; go be a community!

This week, Alex, Jason, and Kyle discuss the Muppets, their legacy and impact, what iterations of the Muppets have worked and why, and of course, how they'd like to see the Muppets used in the future.

This week, Alex and Jason talk about the classic depiction≠endorsement argument. They talk about how a lack of media literacy leads to the misconception and when depicting unsavory things is meant to make you think versus when it's unintentionally depicting.

This week, Alex, Kate, and Jason draft their favorite things from different corners of pop culture from 2025. The categories are TV/Film, Books/Comics, Music, Video Games, and Favorite Moments. The picks range from well-known hits to a trifecta of country/folk musicians.

To close out 2025, Alex leads Kate, Matt, and Jason in some trivia about the year in pop culture, diving into conversations about manners at the movie theater, sub-contracting in video games, the number of teeth on a Labubu, and more.