Backstory

Game designer, writer, and researcher Jonaya Kemper leads us down the winding path of larp ethnography and emancipatory bleed. Jonaya's Website, The Battle of Primrose Park: Playing for Emancipatory Bleed in Fortune & Felicity, Announcement: Jonaya to Keynote at Living Games 2018!

Larp educator Jeeyon Shim on survival skills, planning scenes, and the secret life of trees. Jeeyon's Website, Jeeyon on Twitter, Trackers Bay

Join award-winning game designer Jackson Tegu on a meandering chat through envelopes, CDs, and posters on telephone poles. Jackson's website, Jackson on Patreon, Jackson on Twitter,

Archaeologist and professional GM Daniel Kwan talks holiday games, Dramatic Managers, and building social skills through role-play. Daniel's Website, Curiosity in Focus, Level Up Gaming, Dundas West Games

Bait Byout co-founder Fatima Abdul Karim on the birth of larp in the Arab world. Bait Byout, Bait Byout on Facebook, Book: The Birth of Larp in the Arab World

Award-winning RPG designer Aleksandra Sontowska on sex, horror, and unsettling self-knowledge in games. Aleksandra's Blog Aleksandra on G+ The Beast

It's an episode of unabashed sincerity with artist and coach Tania Carriere of Advivum Journeys.

Writer, designer, and noted gastropod enthusiast Darcy Ross talks evolution, community, and shining a spotlight on the things you love.

Game designer and publisher Epidiah Ravachol talks playstorming, the games you love to teach, and the unheralded joy of double-entry bookkeeping. Dig 1000 Holes Epidiah on Twitter Worlds Without Master Dread Sagas of Sundry Project Alpha RPG Solitaire Challenge Across the Table Podcast 3:16 Carnage Amongst the Stars Swords Without Master Vegan Blueberry Muffins The Beast Urban Jungle and the Usagi Yojinbo RPG

Designer Jenn Martin on witches at work, manic pixie dreamgirling, and larp impostor syndrome. Jenn Martin on twitter Jank Cast Fall of Magic Definition: Manic Pixie Dream Girl #Feminism: A Nano-Game Anthology Limbo, in Larps From The Factory Let's be Dinosaurs Glass Ceiling The Sword, the Crown, and the Unspeakable Power Crone-spiration Board Night Forest Inheritance Minnesota Long Con Big Bad Con Metatopia Peggy Klinplatz on Sex and Aging

Larpwright Alex Rowland on designing opportunities for care, queering boffer, and the time for subtlety. Alex Rowland on twitter Nordic Larp article New World Magischola Event Horizon The "Black Box" Technique Games on Demand Here is my Power Button Old Friends Hlasko Monsterhearts A Place to Fuck Each Other Out of Dodge Contrapposto Golden Cobra Challenge Privilege, Power, and Dungeons & Dragons

Game designer and Assistant Professor at Carnegie Mellon University Jessica Hammer explores how we can take a more precise approach to transformative play through research and iteration. Jessica's website Jessica Hammer on Google Scholar Scott Nicholson on "Playification" Mary Flanagan's Tiltfactor Game Lab Treehouse Dreams Erika Chenoweth's research on civil resistance

Video artist and freeform designer Banana Chan talks haunted dolls, designing for anxiety, and new models for publishing larp. (Also! See you at Gen Con, nerds!) Game and a Curry Banana Chan on YouTube Wandering Tribe Games (the creators of Yeah! Diamonds): The Impostors Golden Cobra Honorable Mention "The Other Place" Kat Fajardo VidCon Mo Mo O'Brien The Itras By Menagerie Before and After Silence

Designer and long-time small-time con organizer Jay Treat joins us to talk cards, larps, and the careful calibration of tone. Treat Games Merchants of Araby Strange Gravity Damned Love Psychic Detective Agency

Sociologist and podcast co-host Todd Nichols joins us to talk making stuff, putting it out there, and encouraging other folks to do the same.

Writer, designer, and #Feminism co-editor Misha Bushyager joins us to talk worldbuilding, YouTube, and blending the personal and historical in game design. Also: Alex learns what a Steak-umm is. Misha on G+ Misha on Twitter War Birds #Feminism Earthdawn Shadowrun Rolemaster The Duvet Trick Apocalypse World 14 Days The Watch Epyllion Fastaval Chill Lovecraftesque Masks Chain World Female Re-Enactors of Distinction

In this episode: exciting announcements, horror and disco, tango and cooking, and award-winning game designer and author Graham Walmsley's realizations about Lovecraftian gaming had while watching Iron Fist! Big Bad Con Fairweather Manor College of Wizardry Play Unsafe We Are Roommates Now Will That Be All? Not Gay: Sex Between Straight White Men "Impro" by Keith Johnstone Cthulhu Apocalypse A Taste for Murder Disco World Just a Little Lovin' Just a Little Lovin' USA Turn the Beat Around: The Rise and Fall of Disco Love Saves the Day: A History Of American Dance Music Culture, 1970–1979 Cthulhu Dark on Facebook Graham on G+ Graham on Twitter

Stealth designer and prolific hacker Kim Lam joins Alex to talk playing by post, making games that aren't products, and origami. We also discuss Kim's upcoming larp about the legacy of the Cambodian genocide, so please listen with care. The 200 word RPG challenge The Sundered Land: A Doomed Pilgrim in the Ruins of the Future Atop a Lonely Tower Cleanse By Claw and Talon Skinchangers Misspent Youth S21 - The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine Kim on G+

Researcher and larpwright Brodie Atwater brings a lively perspective on larp accessibility, marginalization in gaming communities, and the importance of staying hydrated. Social Mechanics: A Study on Inhibition and Intersectionality in Larp We Need to Talk: A Literature Review of Debrief The "Ok" Check-in System Psychodrama Bread and Puppet Theatre The Icarus Project In Residency Her Here is My Power Button

Stick it to the man! Game designer Robert Bohl talks Misspent Youth, Demi-Humans, and Bitch Goddesses. A little SALT with your usual Backstory sweetness. Misspent Youth Game Chef The Forge Burning Wheel Tabletop with Wil Wheaton Rob on G+ Sebastian Baker on Patreon Apocalypse World Le Tigre - Get off the Internet