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A Podcast about the Art of the Possible. Hosted by Frank, a Brazilian Historian (@FrankGothic), and Leon, Dutch social scientist (@LaboringLeon). In which we look at Literature (The Left Page) and Media (Here Be Media) through a socio-historical & Utopian lens! Find more of our work and projects at https://linktr.ee/leftpagehbm Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Hello everyone!! The end of the year and the holidays approach rapidly, but not yet! Rejecting that, we remain in the lands of horror, as we talk about Brian Evenson's Good Night, Sleep Tight, with our friend Nate! We dive into some of the themes in this collection of short stories, their representation of childhood and anxieties of parenthood, sle…
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Hello everyone!! For this month's spooky HBM we go back to Interview with a Vampire! Season 2! And in good company too, with Jay, of LibraryPunk and Tender Subject fame! It's vampire talk again, as we go back into interviewing immortal beings and finding out just how interesting their drama really is. Is it? We wonder that as we dive into this cont…
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Hello everyone!! It's October and you know what that means! We drag the ghost, from their crypts (or ship) and have a good Halloween book chat! As Jon joined us for China Mieville's 2nd book of the Bas-Lag Trilogy: the Scar! It's a great time talking about the power and potential of class consciousness, the strange dynamics of cities, pirates, libe…
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Hello everyone!! For this chaotic month's HBM we're diving into one of Frank's favourite genres, right back into detective fiction! This time talking about the very weird and very interesting Paradise Killer! Join us as we discuss the complexities of building a world from scratch, of making a sociologically compelling story, and creating a decent a…
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Hello everyone!! We kick off September with a very interesting concept episode, as we talk about Tropes, and clichés and archetypes! A very good time as we consider not just the creation of art, especially literature, but also its very superficial and weak discourse that is mostly upheld by these building blocks of tropes. We also go over a general…
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Hello everyone!! This is a big one! We are finally talking about Baldur's Gate 3! In our longest Left Page and Here Be Media episode to date we dive into many of the complexities involving Dungeons & Dragons, tabletop RPGs, the fantasy problems of "races" and this incredibly interesting and fun game of wish-fulfillment, adventure, and more! We stil…
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Hello everyone!! It has been one year since, but we return to the responsible dystopia of The Expanse! Following books 4 to 6, Cibola Burn, Nemesis Games & Babylon's Ashes! This time we dive further into the possible horrors mankind can accomplish all on its own, the difficult nature of resistance and rebellion, the looming unknowns orders of magni…
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Comrades! Lend us your ears! As one of the best to ever pod it joins us to talk about his book! Are you tired of being alone in the dark clutches of Capital-C-Capitalism?! Then take our hand our downtrodden compatriot, and join us on a voyage of radical informational archeology, and imagination. "If you’ve been feeling isolated or afraid, take up t…
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Hello everyone!! As a special treat this July, we have another Here Be Media episode! It's an X-Men deep dive, even as we talk about the latest show, and we're joined by a good friend and academic, André Kanasiro! We talk about the many parallels that are usually established when one talks about the X-Men, the pervading liberalism of it all, and th…
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Hello everyone!! For our first episode of July we have a very special collab! We are joined by Cassidy and Charkie of the Bad Game Hall of Fame to talk about bad videogames! Havin been interested in the subject for a while, we bring in the experts to dive into and games, and their merits! What makes a videogame bad? Why are they still interesting? …
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Hello everyone!! For our Here Be Media episode of the month, we dive into some aspects of this horrible and conservative force we call: Canon! To start off this new Concept series we go into some media products and franchises, their issues as "IPs", fandom and their relationship to Canon, and finally, we talk about this terrible beast we see as the…
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Hello everyone!! For this month's Left Page we turn back to China Miéville, in a weird and fascinating book about detective stories, borders, and violence, it is The City and the City! In this episode we dive into the place of these cities, both fictionally and the real-world cultures they interact with and are a part of; we consider the detective …
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Hello everyone!! For this month's Left Page we talked about the very weird, very interesting, and very hybrid Gogmagog, by Jeff Noon and Steve Beard! And we are joined by friend and podcaster Eden, of Heavy Blog is Heavy, Death // Sentence and AnarchySF fame! It's a thorough conversation over the weirdness present in the book, the alegory with Engl…
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Hello everyone!! For our second HBM we'll dive into an animated sci-fi series that's weird, strange and very very interesting, we talk about Scavenger's Reign! And we won't do so alone, as we invited our great friend Nate along! Join us as we discuss the challenges of being marooned in an alien moon, the inherent horror of capitalism in space, and …
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Hello everyone!! For our first May episode we have a mega collab with Horror Vanguard, on Starship Troopers (1997), directed by Paul Verhoeven! As we interweave Heinlein's book with the film we ultimately dive into how fascism works and should be fought at every turn, in every way. Enjoy! Do check out Jon's book on Bloch and Utopia: https://www.ama…
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Hello everyone!! For our Left Page episode of the month we are talking about a very interesting book, and documentary series! It's John Berger's "Ways of Seeing", and to dive deep we are joined by our friend, podcaster and art historian, Nadjah of Imaginarium Podcast! We think about colonialism, the idea of "value" when atributed to art, the connec…
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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 "v…
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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 decid…
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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 Uto…
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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 a…
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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 d…
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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 a…
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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 intersec…
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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: …
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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 relat…
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Hello everyone!! Kicking off 2024 for the Left Page we have a very special episode with dramaturgist and debut novelist Emma Hinds, as we talk about her, as of this episode's release, published book The Knowing! Via this gothic, queer, historical, and violent story, Emma joins us as we dive into some of the ways both the book, and ourselves, try to…
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Hello everyone!! To kick off 2024 we consider some of our different plans for the pods, our big ideas and the things we have in store! And, of course, we chat a bit about upcoming media we're interested in, some which interests us and some which uhhh concerns/frustrates us. It's a new year with a whole lot more to read, watch, play, and talk about!…
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Hello everyone!! To finally wrap up 2023, we stop for a moment and think back on both the things we saw/watched/played and even recorded this year, to review how it went. And overall, we're pretty happy with what we've done and are planning to do next year!! Thank you so much for a great year, especially, especially our Patrons, and here's to anoth…
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Hello everyone! For our final 2023 Left Page episode, we are joined by Jay, of LibraryPunk and Tender Subject fame to talk about the "original dark academia text" Donna Tartt's The Secret History! It's a wonderful send off of 2023 as we dive into what "dark academia" is and can be, the bad writing of novels, the characterization of terrible charact…
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Hello everyone! As we round out the year, we have some very fun shows to share, and here we are with one of our favourite games this year: Armored Core VI! Nevermind the From Software bias, we do find plenty to talk about in regards to the destructive nature of the mech-economy, how characterization functions in this wonderfully fun game, and how i…
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Hello everyone!! As we wrap up November we talk about a game we encourage you NOT to play! And yet, there's still plenty interesting, and plenty important, to talk about regardless. So join us as we talk about another game in Bioware's roster, it's Dragon Age II! A somewhat timely discussion, given the many layoffs in Bioware and just how the polit…
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Hello everyone!! Because the Horrors are neverending, we have Leslie from Fangs for the Memorieeeeeees! To chat with us about Analogue Horror! In this more conceptually focused episode we go into what is Analogue Horror, the relationship of horror with form, media and technology. And to top it off, we go into one of the best things about this genre…
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Hello everyone!! For this first episode of November we have a very special show on our hands! We are talking about Marge Piercy's 1976 Utopian novel, Woman on the Edge of Time! And to do that, we invited on Brazilian researcher, translator, professor, and friend, Dr. Elton Furlanetto of the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS)! Elton tra…
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Hello everyone!! As a slightly late Halloween bonus episode we have a fantastic chat about Vampires! It's Netflix's Castlevania show! We talk about how we do or don't relate to vampires, our interest in them, and how it can be the people and their own independent actions with and against vampires that can ellicit the most of our interest and sympat…
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Hello everyone!! As is tradition for Spooky Month, we have dragged our favourite co-ghosts to chat with us! And in this episode we ask the following question: what is scarier than forms? Very little, we find! As we are once again talking about Franz Kafka, and this time, we're talking about the Law and, of course, punishment. It is the very thrilli…
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Hello everyone!! We kick off spooky month with an excellent collab, as Leon is joined by Jay and Kayte of Tender Subject and other pods, to talk about the 2016 horror film The Neon Demon. It is an excellent conversation about the question of "style over substance" and its related issue in terms of the industry, while also considering objects of des…
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Hello everyone!! We have been doing back to back HBM episodes lately, but it doesn't mean we've not been doing Left Page! Here's a very fun and special episode, especially for Frank, as we talk about the anthology "Dispatches from Anarres" a collection of texts that seek to connect (or vibe) with Ursula K. Le Guin's work!! We dive into some of the …
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Hello everyone! Thus time we have another great collab to share! We teamed up eith LibraryPunk to dive into the whys and hows of copyright being terrivle, alongside its many evils and negative effects on the world and in culture. It’s a very interesting, informative and fun conversation, where we both understand what copyright is, its reasons for b…
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Hello everyone!! For our first episode this September we talk about one of our favourite games, and better yet, one of our favourite space games! Paradox Interactive's Stellaris! We have a great chat on how to engage wit Sci-fi and the approaches involved with a macro and micro lenses in this strategy game. We also chat about how to create a sense …
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Hello everyone!! This time there's something special, another great conceptual episode and back in with Jay! Of both Library Punk and Tender Subject fame!! It's a great dive into what we call or consider Queer Media and specifically its approach of sexuality. We interweave what Queerness can be, its different forms and representations. With the ini…
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Hello everyone!! It's been one year since we started Here Be Media! What a journey it's been, and what a journey do we still have to go!! To celebrate, we grouped our individual Top #100 Games under pure subjective standards, and you all get to know some more about what makes us tick and what we really enjoy in videogames! (And how Frank likes a lo…
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Hello everyone!! For this month's Left Page we're being ambitious! We talk about the first three books of The Expanse series, by James S. A. Corey! And let us tell you, this is one hell of a SF world! We dive into the materialist representation and replication of capitalism and oppression, even in space. We also engage in the cosmic aspects of spac…
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Hello everyone!! For this month's Left Page show we are joined by Holly, from the great Pentiment episode! This time we talk about another Becky Chambers book: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet. We dive into the interesting "cozy" aspects, what that idea can even mean, and also the effects and consequences of connecting a small focused story wi…
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Hello everyone!! n this episode we dive into a more conceptual discussion, as we use the games Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor & War to talk about something we've tangentially tackled for a while now, adaptation! As such we talk about the larger relationship between source material and adaptation, issues in fantasy and Tolkien's Middle Earth! It's a…
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Hello everyone! In this very special HBM episode we bring in some magnificent guests and friends, it's Jon and Ash from Horror Vanguard! As we talk about the fantastic From Software game: Elden Ring! We talk about discovering and coming up with lore, about the both serious and very silly aspects in the game, and how it's both so fun and so interest…
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Hello everyone!! To start off another month with great content, we're continuing our Bioware saga with their equivalent fantasy series: Dragon Age! We're taking our time with it by going first through DA: Origins, and we do find plenty to talk about already! We consider the storyline, its specific companion mechanics and, more importantly, the diff…
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Hello everyone!! In this episode we did a very fun and large collab with Leslie and Kayte of the Fangs for the Memories Podcast! It's vampires time!! We dive into what makes vampires so appealing, how the supernatural can be a way to interpret the present and the dreams and hopes it offers and inspires! Really cool and fun chat, enjoy! Do check out…
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Hello everyone!! It is time for rage and anger. This episode Frank and Leon, joined by Justin from LibraryPunk, dive into the extremely popular Yuval Noah Harari, to talk about his second very popular book: "Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow" from 2015. We dig into this self-absorbed narrative and argument that, while trying to retell most or …
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Hello everyone!! Our last episode of May brings one of the best recent videogame releases, Obsidian Entertainment's Pentiment! Joined by Leon's friend Holly, we dive into the meaningfulness involved in how the game represents the Late Middle Ages and more! We talk about how peasants always were people, how the detective story is reinvented here, an…
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Hello everyone!! In this new HBM episode we are joined by a very special guest, as we dive into a very peculiar movie, Darren Aronofsky's 2014 film, Noah! Join us as we talk biblical narrative, Christian & Jewish narratives, and the odd thing that comes with adapting a story such as Noah's! It's a very fun one, and we hope you enjoy it as well! And…
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