One of our favourite returning guests, Louise Blain (last on the pod in October 2021), discusses her current role as Creative Lead at Blumhouse Games. Their first published game, Fear the Spotlight, is out on October 22nd. It's short but sweet! But next week probably won't be... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

About the Speaker Francis Su is the Benediktsson-Karwa Professor of Mathematics at Harvey Mudd College and a former president of the Mathematical Association of America. In 2013, he received the Haimo Award, a nationwide teaching prize for college math faculty, and in 2018 he won the Halmos-Ford writing award. His research in geometric combinatoric…

Matthew is zagging on the new Atlus RPG, is surprised at how much he's enjoying Silent Hill 2, and is at odds with Samuel on the merits of the newest Zelda game, Echoes of Wisdom. You'll laugh when you get to our predictions of the critical response to Metaphor... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

After working in public service for 20 years Patricia Torres Ray ran for office in 2006 and became the first Latina elected to the Minnesota Senate. She has held multiple leadership roles in the Senate, including Majority Whip, Chair of the Parks and Trails Legacy Committee, Chair of the New Immigration Policy Commission, Chair of the Education Pol…

Returning guest Dave Scarborough (who?) joins us for our next three-person draft, focused on the PlayStation 4. Vote for the winner in our pinned tweet. This week's music is from the Persona 5: Royal soundtrack by Shoji Meguro. Thank you to Matthew 'Mr Basil Pesto' Castle for the edits. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

Academic Freedom and Necessity of Discomfort: The Trouble with Cancel Culture and Content Warnings was presented by Deborah Appleman. She drew much of the discussion from her most recent book Literature and the New Culture Wars. Deborah Appleman is the Hollis L. Caswell Professor of Educational Studies at Carleton College. Professor Appleman taught…

A true mix of stuff this week, right up until the final minutes: UFO 50, Astro Bot (this time with spoiler chat), Tactical Breach Wizards, Peglin, Marvel Vs Capcom: Fighting Collection and Sumerian Six. Enjoy! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The draft is back, this time with unofficial third host and PC gaming expert Jeremy Peel! Listen to 30 competitive picks from an amazing decade for PC gaming, then vote on the winner in our pinned Twitter poll @BackPagePod. This week's music is from the VVVVVV soundtrack by Magnus Pålsson. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information…

Dean Phillips, U.S. Representative for Minnesota’s Third Congressional District, delivered the address for Carleton's Opening Convocation on Monday, September 16 starting at 3 p.m. in Skinner Chapel. Phillips was raised in Edina, Minnesota, attended Brown University, and earned his MBA from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Business. …

So many good games to discuss this week! Astro Bot, Space Marine 2, Star Wars: Outlaws and the new Famicom Detective Club game. An array of treats, right up until the last few minutes of the episode... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cassette Beasts dev Jay Baylis returns to discuss how Japanese games have been perceived and discussed in the West since the 360 era. This week's music is from the Persona 3 soundtrack by Shoji Meguro. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this oddly lengthy grab bag of an episode, Matthew talks about the first few hours of Star Wars Outlaws (about 25 mins in), Samuel explains what he ate at Gamescom 2024, and both of us answer questions from the listeners. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With Andy Kelly's book on Alien: Isolation out this month, we grilled him on the game and his hottest Alien movie takes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is Astro Bot out yet? No? What about Star Wars: Outlaws and Space Marine 2? Not right now? Still? Fine. Then here's what we've spent our respective summers playing: an array of indie/double-A games ranging from disappointing to good. These include Anger Foot, Nobody Wants To Die, Another Code: Recollection, Thank Goodness You're Here and Arranger: …

Here's the final part of our Nintendo top 50 list. Find the full list to read at your leisure on Patreon.com/backpagepod! This week's music is once again the Wii Shop Channel theme by Kazumi Totaka. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Godfather Part II of podcasts is here! In this episode, we fire through every major Nintendo series and compile a longlist of games to populate our top 50 first-party list. Tune in next week for the third and final part – The Godfather Part III of podcasts, perhaps, where we'll arrange the top 50 on air. Does this mean that Sofia Coppola is War…

Part one of our three-part effort to create a Nintendo top 50 list is here! This episode explores the process of making list features when you're working on a magazine or website, and the compromises and decisions that lead to the final result. Then, in the second half of the episode, we revisit the top 100 first-party Nintendo games from the final…

From great Metroidvanias to an impromptu Cheese Draft, it's time for another mailbag episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our guest this week is wrestler, video personality, consultant and all-round good guy Simon Miller! Simon discusses his days running NRevolution magazine alone, working on X360 Magazine with Samuel, creating The Miller Report at VideoGamer and watching THQ burn from the inside in the early 2010s. It's quite a career! This week's music is from The L…

Whoever wins, you lose! Vote for the winner in the Back Page Announcements channel. This week's music is from the Bayonetta soundtrack by Norihiko Hibino, Takahiro Izutani, Masami Ueda, Hiroshi Yamaguchi, Rei Kondoh, Takayasu Sodeoka, Erina Niwa, Yoshitaka Suzuki and Naoto Tanaka. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

Here's what we've been playing lately, featuring Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, Still Wakes The Deep, Mullet Madjack, a little on Crow Country, and a bit on Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The worst format in podcasting is back! For the first time since 2021, Samuel runs his pre-owned purchases past Judge Castle. This week's music is from The World Ends With You soundtrack by Takeharu Ishimoto. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With a hangover from 90 June livestreams, Matthew and Samuel each deliver their 10 favourites from the hype season. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Matthew gets a well-deserved week off! Samuel's former colleague, Retro Gamer editor Darran Jones, steps into the draft dojo to celebrate Sony's first gaming handheld device. You get about 30 minutes of Darran talking about his career, then an hour of background preamble on the PSP, followed by 90 minutes of draft. Apologies in advance for the leng…

US games media royalty James Mielke (EGM, 1Up, GMR) is our guest this week. Hear about James' journey from comic book artist during Marvel's bankruptcy to becoming a key editor on a host of important media outlets throughout the '00s. Bonus: this episode contains another excellent Hideo Kojima interview anecdote. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/priv…

The Carleton community gathered in Skinner Chapel on Friday, May 24 at 3 p.m. for Honors Convocation, a celebration of Carleton students’ academic excellence and the culmination of the 2023–24 academic year. Honors Convo is the final event in the convocation program. Honors Convo also features the Bubble Brigade at the beginning and end of the prog…

We each try and guess five mystery games based on snippets from their reviews in '00s games magazines. Feel free to play along! After that, enjoy our considered answers to a whole heap of questions, from the Nintendo Switch 2 to the ideal game based on Thunderbirds. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

Two Giant Men, 20 categories, dubious rules! Time for another draft episode, this time on the subject of video game soundtracks. Vote for the winner in the announcements channel of the Discord. Most of the music used in the episode is credited in real-time, but the track in the break is an orchestral Phoenix Wright arrangement by Noriyuki Iwadare. …

Jill Conklin, director and strategic officer of the international nonprofit Food for Soul, delivered the Carleton convocation address titled, “Feeding the Future” on Friday, May 10 from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m. in Skinner Chapel. Food for Soul was founded by Massimo Bottura and Lara Gilmore to cultivate a more just and sustainable food system by saving …

Here's what we've been playing lately: Stellar Blade, Animal Well, Octopath Traveler 2, Dark Forces Remaster and Pepper Grinder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pipo Nguyen-duy ’83, professor of studio art and photography at Oberlin College, delivered the Carleton convocation address titled, “A Dust of Life,” on Friday, May 3 from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m. in Skinner Chapel. Nguyen-duy was born in Hue, Vietnam. Growing up within thirty kilometers of the demilitarized zone near the 18th parallel, he describes hea…

Matthew speaks to one of his favourite authors, Stuart Turton. Hear about his exhausting creative process (seriously, you won't believe it), and what it takes to write a novel – including his latest, The Last Murder at the End of the World. Then, in part two, hear more about Stu's love of video games, which runs incredibly deep. Samuel is away for …

Teaching artist Brian Sostek ’90 delivered the Carleton convocation address on Friday, April 26 from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m. in Skinner Chapel. His address, “Fear, Failure, and Catastrophe: How To Talk with Strangers,” pulled from his experience as a writer, choreographer, director, performer, and teacher who brings the best practices of his performing…

This week's guest is IGN Managing Editor Rachel Weber, who probably has the most varied and fascinating career in games media of anyone who's appeared on the podcast so far. Hear about her transatlantic journey from OPM during the PS3 launch days to GamesIndustry.biz, Rolling Stone's Glixel channel and GamesRadar, before she landed at IGN. This wee…

Foreign policy expert Fiona Hill delivered the Carleton convocation address on Friday, April 19 from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m. in Skinner Chapel. Her address, “Navigating a World in Turmoil,” pulled from her years of experience, extensive research, and multiple publications on issues related to Russia, the Caucasus, Central Asia, regional conflicts, ener…

27 listeners' game purchases go on trial before the morally dubious Judge Castle. Can the defendants' even more compromised lawyer, Samuel Roberts, get them off (not in that way)? The worst format in British podcasting returns. This week's music is 'PIMP' by Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band, as well as the Games Court theme by listener Adam Saucier. Hoste…

Two top 10 lists of the best games of 2003, and loads of bullshit about Matthew's mini-fridge and Samuel's week of work experience in the fire brigade. The games chat starts at 1 hour and 27 minutes if you'd just like the lists without the nonsense. This week's music is from The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker soundtrack by Kenta Nagata, Hajime Wakai, …

Françoise Baylis CM, ONS, PhD, FRSC, FCAHS, FISC delivered the Carleton convocation address on Friday, April 5 from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m. in Skinner Chapel. Her address, “Altered Inheritance: The Era of Designer Babies,” discussed the ethics surrounding human genome editing and delved into her work on the subject. Baylis is distinguished research pro…

What we've been playing lately, featuring Dragon's Dogma 2, Rise of the Ronin and Helldivers 2, as well as some old Command and Conquer nonsense and listener questions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Inspirational speaker Steve Hanson delivered the first convocation address of spring term on Friday, March 29 from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m. in Skinner Chapel. His address, “Your Time is Now,” is a reminder that everyone has the power to affect positive change and make a difference. Centered around the concept that time is both an asset and a commodity, …

Former PC Gamer Senior Reporter Steven Messner is our guest this week! Hear about his epic reports of goings on in EVE Online and other MMOs – and that time the bastard Samuel Roberts betrayed him. This week's music is from the Harvest Moon 64 soundtrack by Tsuyoshi Tanaka. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

We needed a sudden week off! Enjoy this 2022 episode on the best 7/10 games, the result of our amazing Patreon support. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Matthew played 70 hours of FF7 Rebirth, while Samuel played a measly 14 hours. How's it going so far? Expect mostly spoiler-free chat in this episode – we explain how we approached spoilers right at the start to put your mind at ease. This week's music is from the FF7 Rebirth soundtrack by Mitsuto Suzuki and Masashi Hamauzu. Hosted on Acast. See ac…

This week's guest is former Edge editor Alex Wiltshire. Hear about his era of the magazine, as well as his time working at Hello Games and Mojang. This week's music is from the New Super Mario Bros soundtrack by Asuka Hayazaki, Hajime Wakai and Koji Kondo. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

Matthew has finally become a big FF7 head, ploughing through Remake in January and now being 50 hours deep into Rebirth. Hear his (spoiler-free) thoughts on the newer game in this episode. Plus! Samuel plays Balatro and the Tomb Raider remaster, while Matthew also squeezes some Helldivers 2 into this episode. This week's music is from the FF7 Rebir…

Jaylen Smith, the youngest African American mayor in U.S. history, delivered the final winter term convocation at Carleton's Skinner Chapel on Friday, February 23. Smith was elected as mayor of Earle, Arkansas in December 2022 at just 18 years old, making him one of a select few teenagers to take office in U.S. history, and the youngest African Ame…

Actress and author Gin Hammond ’93 delivered convocation at Carleton's Skinner Chapel on Friday, February 16. Hammond’s address, “Returning the Bones,” covered her award-winning play turned novel by the same name. In its theatrical format, Returning the Bones is a one-woman show, with the protagonist inspired by the extraordinary life of Hammond’s …

Time for our first draft episode of 2024! It's the turn of the PlayStation, one of the most important consoles in history. Listen to the episode, then vote on who picked the best 10 games in the pinned tweet @BackPagePod on Twitter. This week's music is from the R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 soundtrack by Kohta Takahashi, Hiroshi Okubo and Asuka Sakai, pl…

After some dense episodes, allow us this brief respite to answer a slew of listener questions. Who should play Link in the Zelda movie? Which song would we sing for Hideo Kojima during karaoke? What happened to the mythical 'boys across the river'? Learn all this, and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.…

Dudley Edmondson—nature photographer, filmmaker, author, and advocate for nature—delivered the convocation address, “My Career Working with the Natural World,” at Carleton's Skinner Chapel on Friday, February 9. His talk detailed his unique personal experiences sharing and living in nature. Edmondson has spent more than three decades as a photograp…