Thumper image from the book 'Making Videogames: the Art of Creating Digital Worlds.' (amazon.com/Making-Videoga…)

~ New Episode ~

Caste Oppression and the Buraku Liberation Movement w/ Buraku Stories

Topics: The history of anti-Burakumin oppression, the Buraku liberation struggle, the Japanese state's attempt to co-opt it, far right reactions, & more!

Ep here 👇
buzzsprout.com/1738110/127211…

1) Something (very stupid) you’re going to see over the next weeks are people arguing that screenwriters are being unreasonable. “Times have changed”. No. Times WERE changed. By SOMEBODY. By PEOPLE, making CHOICES.

I'm not sure if fear of contagion will lead to government bailout of SVB, but we really should be talking about Federal Reserve Banking to end this sort of risk and eliminate much of the waste in out bloated financial system cepr.net/the-answer-to-…

Minnesota State Sen. John Jasinski (R) argues against legalizing marijuana because it will result in early retirement for drug-sniffing dogs: 'The police dog discussion ... that's a big issue.'

was really proud and honoured to get to make this short about the welsh pacifist hedd wyn earlier this year. today, it's worth remembering all those who have lost their lives in direct contravention of their own beliefs and interests

Morning riff:

The way young people are saying NO to gender binaries is a miraculous advance for human freedom and dignity. 1/x

Today, the ABK Worker's Alliance announces the initiation of its strike. We encourage our peers in the Game Industry to stand with us in creating lasting change. For those who wish to join in solidarity, please consider donating to our Strike Fund.
bit.ly/31INLl8

Half a million S Korean workers will go on a general strike tomorrow.

Read all about it here: truthout.org/articles/half-…

THE WAIT IS OVER! Song in the Smoke is out NOW on PlayStation VR, @Oculus Quest, and Oculus Rift. We are so proud to have brought this world to life for all of you to experience. Go buy it!

Our 1st playtest on Steam is now live! The demo is available until Oct. 15th (KST)
store.steampowered.com/app/1334500/RP…

For The Baffler I wrote about war and games, orcs and humans, Activision and Blizzard, and the military industrial entertainment complex:

thebaffler.com/latest/war-gam…

This paper shows why creative industries can have such bad conditions: think crunch time in video games or terrible internships in publishing & fashion. The public is OK with exploitation when they think workers are passionate & “love their job” since they should be happy to work

(1/3)📣It’s time to get experimental!📣 We’re accepting submissions for EGW until May 28th. We’ve expanded the submission criteria this year & encourage you to submit all your weird and wonderful ideas! Check out the full Call for Submissions here: bit.ly/2RjNlfW

If you make games in Seoul (or anywhere, I guess!) and want to share works-in-progress with other devs, join our monthly meetup. Tonight, 8pm KST on Discord: discord.gg/S8Fqdrv

With the exception of Brazil, which has a right-wing extremist president who was allied with Trump, it's pretty much the high-income countries against the vast majority of the world-- where lives would be saved if this were allowed.

My latest: US Military Exposed 600,000 to Toxins in Japan and Micronesia — and Hid It truthout.org/articles/us-mi…

Most under-appreciated news analysis this wk:

WV— the POOREST state in the nation—has had the BEST vaccine rollout bc it has NOT used corporate giants.

It's used small pharmacies & health depts w COMMUNITY TIES.

The answer isn't startup austerity.

It's mutual aid—ANARCHY!

I was invited to write the canonizing piece on Captain Beefheart - 'Trout Mask Replica,' for the Library of Congress National Recording Registry. loc.gov/static/program…