The Left Page

Hello everyone!! We're finally talking about one of the big ones for our special Halloween collab with Horror Vanguard, it's Berserk! Focusing on the Golden Age Arc, we talk about how this manga so effectively depicts despair and hope, how it can have ultraviolence and still have one emotional gutpunch after another. And, of course, about fighting fascism in all its forms. Enjoy! And check out Hor...

Hello everyone!! We're back talking about vampires and abuse, but with a twist! It's far more elaborate and engaging this time, as we discuss the indie game El Paso: Elsewhere! How do we deal with the holes of violence? With the abyss of abuse that seems to swallow and destroy us whole? In this Max Payne-inspired game (1 and 2, not 3, not at all) we find several ways to not destroy ourselves in su...

Hello everyone!! We're talking about another classic today, but for sci-fi, it's the 1995 anime film of Ghost in the Shell! Time to talk about one of the most iconic cyberpunk objects there are, and for good reason. Quite a lot to go over when thinking of bodily relations and representation, identity, the urban landscape and, of course, a whole heap of gender. And it's great! It's a phenomenal fil...

Hello everyone!! We finalize another series! James S. A. Corey's The Expanse! Returning for the last three novels, Persepolis Rising , Tiamat's Wrath , and Leviathan Falls. Discussing how these books represent fascism and cannot conceive of any other kind of enemy, we also reexamine the series as a whole. Pointing out its merits in materialism and political relationships... up to the point where i...

Hello everyone!! We're talking about one of 2025's biggest and best releases so far, and with our good friend André! It's Clair Obscur: Expedition 33! It's French, but we have to talk about it. Both how it creates a mechanically elaborate and successful game, and how it manages to incur in unfortunate psychological reductions and an... unfortunate bump into imperialism and colonialism. We have ple...

Hello everyone!! Joined by good friend Jon, of Horror Vanguard, as we talk about one of the books of all time, Moby Dick, or The Whale, by Herman Melville! Come along as we discover why this book is everything, how it fits into the larger body of American Literature, and how the threats and consequences of individualism are ever-present. Oh, and of course: how this is a phenomenally gay book indee...

Hello everyone!! Time for us to talk about one of the bigger and better releases of the year, and a kind of horror movie, no less, it's Sinners! Come along as we go into how the film represents music and culture, how it frames the ideas of religion and "sinning", and, obviously, the institutional practices of racism, colonialism and oppression. There's a LOT to talk about, and we certainly do! Enj...

Hello everyone!! Time to wrap up the Witcher Saga proper!! As we go over this series in things we hadn't yet covered last time! We dive into the sense of History and Myth established, some other relationships and the fellowship functions themselves, and some of our general thoughts on the Witcher and the Saga! We mark it here for the books, we are (probably) finished! Enjoy!! If you can and are in...

Hello everyone!! We are back with some more Star Wars, and of the best kind, with the second season of Andor! There's been a lot of talk on Andor lately, and having done an episode for the first season, we were not going to let it pass us by. So join us, as we dive into what makes this such a compelling show (amidst flaws, as we talk about them too), critiquing a great deal of liberal hypocrisies,...

We found something else. Frank talks about the videogame SEASON: A Letter to the Future. It has problems when it talks about History. It's worth talking about. Thank you. For more, keep an eye out on: https://www.patreon.com/leftpage Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello everyone!! The time has come!! Now that both of us have read the Witcher Saga books, it's time to finally return to this universe and talk about them! However, it being a rather involved story and universe, alongside comprising 5 books, we decided to make two episodes but discussing the whole Saga. In this first part we dive into some of the relationships of Ciri, Geralt and Yennefer, how th...

Hello everyone. The time has come to face our enemy once more. Yuval Noah Harari wrote another book, so we dive into how it is, indeed, a torment of pain and horror. We try to fathom how Harari misunderstands History, historical practice, information, institutions, religion, power, science fiction, AI etc etc. There is very little accurate in this book, and yet, it seems to be rather successful in...

Hello everyone!! We have a special episode with a great guest! In order to talk about the magnificent show The Wire (2002-2008) we bring along Oli Mould, professor of Human Geography at Royal Holloway, University of London! In this episode we dive into this destructive institution that is the police, alongside a few others. All while understanding how the show interweaves its characters, environme...

Welcome one and all to the Left Page & Here Be Media Podcast! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello everyone!! The time has come. We finish our first long-term game series! Dragon Age has come to an end as we understand it. Let's talk about The Veilguard , with good friend Holly! It is a sad time, as we go over some of the many failings of The Veilguard , its faults in production, writing, execution... And yet, all boiling down to a rather generic game (and failing even at that), that is q...

Hello everyone!! For our late Left Page this month, we dive into an odd choice, but a fruitful one! Emperor Marcus Aurelius' Meditations, from 161 A.D.! In what we find to be one of the original inspirations for self-help books, we... certainly suffer through this one! Talking about how an Emperor can isolate himself from his society and keep himself above it, becoming "a perfect and invincible so...

Hello everyone!! It's been a little while, but we're back with another Concept episode! This time trying to thing about what makes an RPG! In this new series we intend to understand a few of the several messy questions that surround this genre, including trying to define what is an RPG. In this first episode we tackle that initial question, with Leon putting forth a framework that might be the mos...

We found something. Leon brings up crucial ways to talk about History, and doing so responsibly. Video Referenced: https://youtu.be/AnySV4SZdqg Thank you. For more, keep an eye out on: https://www.patreon.com/leftpage Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello everyone!! In another collab with our good friend Jay, we finally decided to talk about Opera, in particular, Don Giovani!! Come along with us as we dissect this odd portrayal of the "Don Juan" image, his terrible deeds and punishment, and continually this articulation of sound, story and music that opera can create. While never forgetting several matters of class within opera, the notions o...

Hello everyone!! Kicking off March, we're talking about religion, and the Catholic Church! With the Oscar-winning Conclave! As we finally dive deeper into how we engage with spirituality, organised religion, and the dreadful dynamics of power of the Catholic Church, we find an interesting film! Even if it does get beholden by its own liberal politics. A more personal episode than usual, perhaps, b...

Hello everyone!! As our episode celebration of 6 years of The Left Page we go back to the 19th century with our very first Jules Verne: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea! For this very fun episode we not only reminisce a bit about the show and we feel about it after all this time, but also think over these elements that were at the dawn of science fiction as we know it! Elaborate scientific explanation...

Hello everyone! As we make our way through February we bring yet another collab with our friend André, and on another very liberal piece of media, the League of Legends based show: Arcane! There was potential (some) to this show, as we elaborate on it, and yet, a rushed production, a terrible political perspective, and more, turn this into yet another, although worse, liberal and alienating show -...

Hello everyone!! We start February in style, with Emma's return as she's got a new book out! The excellent The Quick and the Dead! Alchemy, romance, power, religion, and more! As such we talk a bit about how these elements constitute historical representation, how to depict them and queerness in the Elizabethan era, and dive into matters of religion, State power, and belief! Check it out and read...

Hello everyone!! Kicking off 2025 with the Left Page we bring a very special series of books, the First Law trilogy, by Joe Abercrombie! A series dear to Leon and, now to the pod itself. We dive into how these books actually achieve goals of engaging the psychological, the social and the political, while also making compelling literature, imagine that! As such, we explore the building of this worl...

Hello everyone!! For our first HBM of 2025 we offer something quite strange, at first glance something all about military propaganda and nothing quite our podcast range, Ace Combat 7! But, as we are joined by our friend Sid of, among other things, The Bad Game Hall of Fame, we dive deeper! And yeah... there's a lot of propaganda, but still, attempts at telling a story and even being anti-war, but...