Author

Video games studies book – “The Toxic Meritocracy of Video Games” (University of Minnesota Press, 2018) – Chris Paul interview

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Christopher Paul teaches at the Seattle University where he focuses on applying tools rooted in rhetorical analysis to elements of new media, especially video games.  We discussed his latest book on meritocracy in video games.

0:45 – Chris talks about how he got into studying digital media and video games.

3:26 – Chris talks about the subject matter of the book – video games and meritocracy. He talks about Michael Young and his novel “The Rise of the Meritocracy.”

6:11 – The book delves deep into specific games and how they relate to meritocracy.

8:31 – Chris compares indie games and triple A games.

12:30 – Chris talks about diversity in video gaming.

16:28 – Chris talks more about how people are affected by succes in games.

17:44 – Chris talks about how he did his research.

21:33 – Chris talks about games that are breaking the meritocracy mold.

28:04 – Chris talks about the effects of what video games are teaching people.

37:46 – On twitter he’s @real_chris_paul.

Links of interest

https://www.seattleu.edu/artsci/departments/communication/faculty-and-staff/christopher-paul-phd.html

https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/the-toxic-meritocracy-of-video-games

For more of “The Art and Design of Sci-Fi and Fantasy, Mystery and Horror” please follow me on Facebook at crisalvarezwlc, on youtube at Cris Alvarez and on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi

Guests: Chris Paul

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: science fiction, fantasy, art, artist, jesuits, Journey, “Papers, Please”, game jam, twitch, skyrim, gone home, mercy, overwatch, fortnite

Supernatural fiction studies book – “A Feeling of Wrongness” (Penn State University Press, 2018) – Joe Packer interview

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Joe Packer is a communications academic and became interested in how pessimism is expressed in popular culture. He co-wrote a book on the subject and we discussed it.

0:56 – Joe talks about how he got into writing about pessimism in popular culture. He references Lovecraft.

2:14 – Joe talks about the book and philosophical pessimism. The book focuses on the idea that things would be better if humans didn’t even exist.

6:31 – Joe talks about why they incorporated True Detective, Rick and Morty, and Final Fantasy VII into the book’s ideas.

12:37 – Joe talked about other works they considered including such as drone metal.

16:08 – Joe talks about their backgrounds in communications studies.

17:09 – Joe talks about the short story “I have No Mouth and I Must Scream” and how it affected him.

22:53 – Joe talks about post-apocalyptic films.

27:38 – Joe talks about the philosophies of BioShock.

28:52 – Joe is on academia.edu and Google Scholar.

Links of interest

A Feeling of Wrongness https://www.psupress.org/books/titles/978-0-271-08235-6.html

For more of “The Art and Design of Sci-Fi and Fantasy, Mystery and Horror” please follow me on Facebook at crisalvarezwlc, on youtube at Cris Alvarez and on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi

Guests: Joe Packer

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: science fiction, fantasy, art, artist, Rick and Morty, True Detective, Lovecraft, Final Fantasy VII, Inside Out, drone metal, Get Out, BioShock, video games

Horror movie history book – “The Howling: Studies in the Horror Film” (Centipede Press, 2018) – Lee Gambin interview

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Lee Gambin has been writing about movies and especially horror movies for the last 15 years. We spoke about his latest book on the famous werewolf horror movie “The Howling.”

0:49 – Lee talks about how he got into studying and writing on “The Howling.” He really loved seeing a movie about a community of werewolves. He tried finding writings on the Howling and coulnd’t find any so was inspired to write on it.

5:11 – Lee talks about his writing career progressed.

7:45 – Lee goes into details on what the book is like.

11:05 – Lee discusses an interesting discovery made about “The Howling.”

24:30 – Lee talks about Bob Burns and his direction.

29:20 – Lee talks about some costume issues that the cast dealt with.

38:34 – Lee writes for Fangoria and Diabolique.

Links of interest

http://www.centipedepress.com/studieshorror/howling.html

For more of “The Art and Design of Sci-Fi and Fantasy, Mystery and Horror” please follow me on Facebook at crisalvarezwlc, on youtube at Cris Alvarez and on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi

Guests: Lee Gambin

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: author, werewolf, werewolves, monster movies, 80s movies, movie history