The Left Page & Here Be Media

Hello everyone!!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 parts personal, religious, historical and, as always, political, we talk not only of an important film to us, but when Faith is allied with Liberation, and the fruits that can come of it.Enjoy!And please support our Patreon if you're interested and want access to early content and the bonus Reading Corners!! Big things are coming! https://www.patreon.com/leftpageIntro Music: Home, by Karl Casey @ White Bat AudioOutro Music: Leve Palestina, Spartacus

Hello everyone!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 and engagement with the world, alongside what are some ways their big franchises of Fallout and Elder Scrolls succeed and fail to create interesting political and social narratives.All while trying to understand what makes these games sometimes good, and sometimes fun, especially as we think of this idea of the "pulp" and how it helps to describe Bethesda and Fallout.Have fun!And please support our Patreon if you're interested and want access to early content and the bonus Reading Corners!! Big things are coming! https://www.patreon.com/leftpageIntro Music: Home, by Karl Casey @ White Bat AudioOutro Music: Leve Palestina, Spartacus

Hello everyone!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 you, listener, have other suggestions and recommendations, by all means, let us know!!Enjoy!Do check out our other episodes mentioned in this one, on Kim Stanley Robinson's "2312" and Marge Piercy's "Woman on the Edge of Time"!And please support our Patreon if you're interested and want access to early content and the bonus Reading Corners!! Big things are coming! https://www.patreon.com/leftpage Intro: "Ultralounge" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Outro: "Leve Palestina" Spartacus

Hello everyone!!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 fun!And please support our Patreon if you're interested and want access to early content and the bonus Reading Corners!! Big things are coming! https://www.patreon.com/leftpage Intro Music: Home, by Karl Casey @ White Bat AudioOutro Music: Leve Palestina, Spartacus

Hello everyone!!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 pure raw Hatred. Obviously, we have to talk about it, from the terrible representation and use of Brazil, to the awfulness and pointlessness of this game more broadly.Join us as we start a serious dive into "bad games" and how they can be objectively terrible, enjoy!Check out Something Rotten podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/something-rotten/id1523064458And please support our Patreon if you're interested and want access to early content and the bonus Reading Corners!! Big things are coming! https://www.patreon.com/leftpage Intro Music: Home, by Karl Casey @ White Bat AudioOutro Music: Tenha Fé, Os Originais do Samba

Hello everyone!!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 it. It is what Walter Benjamin calls politics rendered aesthetic, it is what fascism does. So join us with the limitations of these products and how they could have been so much more interesting, and think through some of that too!Have fun!Check out AGAB's episode on Cyberpunk as well!https://soundcloud.com/agabpod/37-cyberpunk-2077And please support our Patreon if you're interested and want access to early content and the bonus Reading Corners!! Big things are coming! https://www.patreon.com/leftpage Intro Music: Home, by Karl Casey @ White Bat AudioOutro Music: Leve Palestina, Spartacus

Hello everyone!!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". How Harry himself can be History amidst the Ruins strewn about that we can, in-game, interact with and ponder over, as we, maybe, act as a detective.It's a special game, with a special episode to boot! Enjoy!And check out these fantastic videos we mentioned:https://youtu.be/cdW7Cp0iV0A?si=iv15kCERH02Ciydihttps://youtu.be/lkNrfTUO1NM?si=vBMzRJSjzWW0x1ZRAnd check out Kyle's stuff and his podcast All Gamers Are Bastards!https://twitter.com/laborkylepatreon.com/agabpodAnd please support our Patreon if you're interested and want access to early content and the bonus Reading Corners!! Big things are coming! https://www.patreon.com/leftpage Intro Music: Home, by Karl Casey @ White Bat AudioOutro Music: Leve Palestina, Spartacus

Hello everyone!! 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 literature, problems and interesting aspects of the very first literary utopia and plenty more. Thank you so much for listening everyone and for being here for these 5 years, whether you're a new or old listener, thank you, from the bottom of our hearts!And to our Patrons, thank you for making this project all the more valued and significant! here's to 5 more years!! Enjoy!! And please support our Patreon if you're interested and want access to early content and the bonus Reading Corners!! Big things are coming! https://www.patreon.com/leftpage Intro: "Ultralounge" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Outro: "Leve Palestina" Spartacus

Hello everyone!!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, and one that explores an interesting combination of the serious and the silly to the benefit of the two, and to the game itself.Have fun!Please support our Patreon if you're interested and want access to early content and the bonus Reading Corners! https://www.patreon.com/leftpage Intro Music: Home, by Karl Casey @ White Bat AudioOutro Music: Leve Palestina, Spartacus