Episode 324 - On the Layoff Bull

We welcome the ever-curious Dia Lacina back on the show to discuss the wonderful bite-size detective game Makato Wakaido: Case Files and the twist is: Dia never played the game! A curious catalogue of cacaphony and camaraderie as we talk deduction, the concept of play, and the nature of a linear story versus an AI twist-slop. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us, won't you, as Liv and I transport ourselves back to 2006 to a simpler, more psychosexually violent time as we cover the very beautiful, very weird, and very poor-decision-heavy Silent Hill! Why go to a sleep doctor when you can go to Temu Centralia! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Liv and I return on our now regularly scheduled posting day at 10 PM on Wednesday! We're catching up after the short little break of a month or so and seeing what life had in store for both of us in games, movies, books, and more, so it's a cozy catchup for all involved too. If you want to follow along, next week we'll be watching the original Silent Hill movie which appears to be free on Pluto TV, so please join us! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We welcome the ebuillient and erudite Samantha Mackenzie Greer, videogame writing veteran and comic artist extraordinaire at the wonderful iteatsplanets.com . We talk gaming, comics, sci-fi, trailer work, the future, and more and more. Just a blast from start to finish -- a wild ride I genuinely had a blast with. Enjoy! And go read the comic and support on patreon! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Liv and I return to discuss Ursula LeGuin's masterful Lathe of Heaven and the remarkable DoubleFine product Psychonauts. Two texts that appear to have not too much in common really come through as shining pieces that play off each other in this one, a real wonderful and transformative discussion. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Solo episode today! I do an emergency pod of sorts on the state of the industry! The logic of capitalism and AI is complicated and I give some scholarly perspective on it, as such. Support your local games makers! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Liv and I meet up to discuss upcoming games in the shadow of various Next Fests and talk about what we're excited about, what leaves us cold, and what we need some more info on before we make a firm stand. It's the exciting stuff! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Liv and I team up to talk about the newest target in our quest to play indie games, The Killing Stone! A baroque, complex, and, yes, messy deck builder-cum-Elizabethan revenge tragedy. Quintessentially an early access game, but something that is a lovely peek into something that could grow into something new and special -- check it out here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Writer extraordinare Kevin Fox, Jr. joins us to talk about football, Dark Souls, writing, the nature of journalism under late capital, and the uses of social media. A rollicking, old fashioned, incisive chat with a good friend and great interlocutor. Check it out now!!! Some useful links: Articles by Kevin mentioned https://pcvulpes.wordpress.com/2026/05/11/endless-discursive-cycles-social- media-videogames-bluesky-mixtape-mass-effect-uncharted/ https://peoplesworld.org/article/mortal-kombat-ii-review-a-soulless-and-uneven-sequel/ Articles by other people mentioned https://noescapevg.com/review-mixtape/ https://ckunzelman.com/2026/05/10/on-mixtape-2026/ https://www.negrophonic.com/pdfs/Fredric%20Jameson%20-%20Realism%20and%20Utopia%20in%20The%20Wire.pdf https://autumn-wright.com/just-blog-it/ https://unwinnable.com/2026/02/11/a-dialogue-with-austin-walker/ https://bloomedwings.com/2026/05/11/letters-between-against-all-odds-and-differences-friends/ https://www.avclub.com/commodity-fetishism-is-law-in-nba-2k26 https://www.avclub.com/wwe-2k26-wrestling-games-monopoly Other websites mentioned https://peoplesworld.org/ https://www.moviejawn.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Graham and I make a rare appearance not on the Patreon to announce the return of our inimitable Homicide podcast, this one being a special review of the episode "Thrill of the Kill" which features alumni from Burn Notice and is considered maybe the worst episode of the show's run! Maybe! Thrill at the blue screen effects, stay for the "surprise" ending! Homicide! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices