Latest episode
6. Gaming Authority - Thiago Falcão on exploitation and far-right politics in the games industry
52:15The worldwide gaming market is estimated at $347 billion. That's a hefty chunk of change, power and influence which lies in the hands of an exceptionally few game makers primarily in the global north. How does the culture of an industry like gaming leak into the broader political sphere? Episode 6 of "The Exploits of Play" features guest Thiago Falcão who is an Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Digital Media at the Federal University of Paraíba. He is the current president of the Brazilian chapter of the Digital Games Research Association - Digra, which he helped found in 2022. He researches the relationships between entertainment, video games, and neoliberal capitalism, with a broad focus on issues related to work, politics, and financialization dynamics in these media.For full transcript and show notes please visit weirdeconomies.com.Credits:Founder and organizer of Weird Economies: Bahar NoorizadehHost: Max HaivenProducer: Halle FrostSound editor: Faye HarveySponsor: Canada Council for the Arts
More episodes
View all episodes
5. The Cheating Other- Gargi Bhattacharyya on how racial capitalism scams us twice
01:03:00Race and capitalism have always shaped one another, but what do we make of their relationship in an age when both systems increasingly toy with our lives in apocalyptic ways? How has the rhetoric of the cheat become part of a vicious racist reactionary politics, and what's the role of humor and fun in the struggle for a better world? Episode 5 stars guest Gargi Bhattacharyya who writes on issues of systemic injustice, racial capitalism, social reproduction, climate crisis and collective survival. She is the author of The Futures of Racial Capitalism (2024), Rethinking Racial Capitalism (2018) and Dangerous Brown Men (2008).For full transcript and show notes please visit weirdeconomies.com.Credits:Founder and organizer of Weird Economies: Bahar NoorizadehHost: Max HaivenProducer: Halle FrostSound editor: Faye HarveySponsor: Canada Council for the Arts
4. Frontiers of Play- Mary Flanagan on games, colonialism, and the playful imagination
53:24From the historic archives of 15th-century Italy to the contemporary landscape of the commercial gaming industry, this episode explores the intricate interplay of power dynamics within the realm of play with our guest Mary Flanagan. Dr. Flanagan is an artist, author, educator, and designer who pioneered the field of game research with her ideas on critical play. In this interview we dive into Dr. Flanagan's research, her books and what it takes to design and market a game today.For full transcript and show notes please visit weirdeconomies.com.Credits:Founder and organizer of Weird Economies: Bahar NoorizadehHost: Max HaivenProducer: Halle FrostSound editor: Faye HarveySponsor: Canada Council for the Arts
3. All Against All- Tom Boland on our modern gladiators and the real world hunger games
57:12Episode 3 of "The Exploits of Play" with guest Dr. Tom Boland explores how the game changes the player and how this fits into western literature's beloved 'character arc' as well as the new age obsession with personal transformation. Tom Boland is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sociology and Criminology at the University College Cork. His main research interests are in critique, culture, unemployment and welfare though recently Dr. Boland has been interested in the proliferance of dystopian games media such as The Hunger Games and “Squid Game”.For full transcript and show notes please visit weirdeconomies.com.Credits:Founder and organizer of Weird Economies: Bahar NoorizadehHost: Max HaivenProducer: Halle FrostSound editor: Faye HarveySponsor: Canada Council for the Arts
2. The Game at War with the World- S.M. Amadae on the powers behind the prisoners' dilemma
01:21:31Held close to the hearts of many of today's major decision makers, fundamentally believed by most politicians and business leaders as well as the gospel truth by many of the people designing software in Silicon Valley– the influence of game theory is difficult to underestimate. Because it masks itself in the language of reason, rationality and zero sum mathematical decision making, it's very difficult to challenge those people who hold this theory as truth about human nature. In this episode we interview Dr. S.M. Amadae whose work over the last decades has set out to deconstruct game theory by offering us a really incredible intellectual history of this concept and design new frameworks for moving us forward.For full transcript and show notes please visit weirdeconomies.com.Credits:Founder and organizer of Weird Economies: Bahar NoorizadehHost: Max HaivenProducer: Halle FrostSound editor: Faye HarveySponsor: Canada Council for the Arts
1. Conspiracy Plays - Hugh Davies on the temptations of alternate reality
01:16:11Episode 1 of "The Exploits of Play" is an interview with Dr. Hugh Davies who is an artist, curator, and researcher. Working across digital media, academic scholarship, and creative practice, he explores the social, cultural, and political dimensions of art and technology. He’s written two books on game culture and ethnographies of play and is currently a research fellow with a focus on Chinese Platform Studies at RMIT in Melbourne."The Exploits of Play" is a 10-episode, interview-driven podcast hosted by Max Haiven and produced by Halle Frost for Weird Economies. We examine what play may have lured us into participating in these games we know we cannot win and where on the fringes play is a tool of resistance changing the game itself.For full transcript and show notes please visit weirdeconomies.com.Credits:Founder and organizer of Weird Economies: Bahar NoorizadehHost: Max HaivenProducer: Halle FrostSound editor: Faye HarveySponsor: Canada Council for the Arts