Media Mothership

Continuing our reflecting on covering PAX AUS 2026 for Media Mothership, recording interviews and capturing stories across the gaming community. Featuring an interview with cosplayer/voice actor/marine biologist Courtney Ede ( www.courtneyede.com ). This episode was recorded live at Edge Radio 99.3FM studios in Hobart Tasmania, and first aired on 29 Oct 2026 . More information: Media Mothership: h...

Reflecting on covering PAX AUS 2026 for Media Mothership, recording interviews and capturing stories across the gaming community. Featuring composer Jay from Vroom Room, UTAS lecturer Ian Lewis, the Dunnings Miku cosplayers, Soup Weather designer Brie Healy, and Baden Stone from Alien Frenzy. Links https://store.steampowered.com/app/5206520/Vroom_Room/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/4430190/So...

What happens when an AI actress suddenly starts speaking Cantonese? Can we trust AI when we don't know exactly what it is doing? And who is responsible when an AI agent crosses a line? This week we explore AI, gaming, online communities, creative control and the strange things players do with game menus, before finishing with the six tabletop winners from the PAX Aus 2026 Indie Showcase. This epis...

PAX, Star Wars, and the strange relationship between creativity and constraint. We look at George Lucas's defence of changing the original trilogy, then go back to A New Hope to explore how limited budgets, practical effects and unconventional ideas helped shape one of cinema's most influential films. We then look at the winners of PAX Aus 2026 Indie Showcase. This episode was recorded live at Edg...

Media, meaning and the struggle over who gets to define what things are. This week, we look at Steam, Transformers, AI, apocalypse stories, Darth Vader, Doctor Doom and digital game ownership through the ideas of Stuart Hall. More episode information here:  https://mediamothership.au/episode-164/ This episode was recorded live at Edge Radio 99.3FM studios in Hobart Tasmania, and first aired o...

This week on Media Mothership: Star Trek turns 60, Starship Troopers and political satire, South Park gets a new name, videogame music beyond the games, and the surprising return of CDs and physical media. More info on this episode here: https://mediamothership.au/episode-163/ This episode was recorded live at Edge Radio 99.3FM studios in Hobart Tasmania, and first aired on 10 Sept 2026. More info...

From GTA 6 and Netflix to Silent Hill’s 1990s technological horror, a controversial Robin Hood comparison and a viral Chinese cow cartoon becoming a blockbuster, we explore how games, movies, memes and audiences are increasingly shaping one another. Episode details here: https://mediamothership.au/episode-162/ This episode was recorded live at Edge Radio 99.3FM studios in Hobart Tasmania, an...

A look at how Grand Theft Auto has grown beyond being a controversial videogame into a major cultural space. From Shakespeare performed inside GTA Online and governments studying its players, to GTA 6 becoming a global media event, we explore what GTA tells us about games, culture, technology and the way we increasingly inhabit virtual worlds. Show notes: https://mediamothership.au/episode-161/ &n...

This week on Media Mothership, we look at Steam's winner-takes-most economy, books being bought as AI training material, Australia's bizarre Halloween: The Game classification decision, and the unlikely resurrection of Coyote vs. Acme . Then we head into a Star Wars commentary track and ask who really gets to shape the media we consume. Show notes here: https://mediamothership.au/episode-160/ &nbs...

Why do players quicksave 1,400 times? Why are people returning to Assassin's Creed Odyssey because of a movie? And why are AI scammers becoming better at earning our trust than humans? We unpack the latest stories from gaming, film and digital culture to explore what they reveal about the changing relationship between people, technology and media. Joined by special guest Brian. This episode was re...

From Hollywood's renewed embrace of the theatrical experience to the ongoing battles over intellectual property, digital ownership, and physical media, we explore how creators, corporations, and audiences are shaping the next era of film and gaming. Episode 138 was recorded live at Edge Radio 99.3FM studios in Hobart Tasmania, and first aired on 31 July 2026.  More information: Media Mothersh...

AI is changing how we create, discover and preserve culture. We explore AI companions, synthetic media, digital ownership, game preservation, and why physical media is making a comeback. This episode was recorded live at Edge Radio 99.3FM studios in Hobart Tasmania, and first aired on 23 July 2026. More information: Media Mothership:  https://mediamothership.au/ Edge Radio page: https://www.e...

Who actually creates culture. Is it authors? Fans? AI? Governments? Or sometimes complete accidents? Whether it's Star Wars fan fiction becoming a Hollywood film, governments subsidising AI translation, or gamers discovering their favourite Batman moment was actually a bug, today's stories all circle around one question: where does meaning actually come from? This episode was recorded live at Edge...

Digital spaces are no longer separate from society. Games, fandoms, memes, wikis, and AI systems have become places where governments govern, citizens socialise, stories are told, and institutions make decisions. For more information on this episode visit Media Mothership Media Mothership: https://mediamothership.au/  Edge Radio page: https://www.edgeradio.org.au/shows/media-mothership/ ...

Bots now outnumber humans online, AI is changing how we write, and major corporations continue to expand their grip on beloved cultural properties. This episode was recorded live at Edge Radio 99.3FM studios in Hobart Tasmania, and first aired on 18 June 2026. More information: Media Mothership: https://mediamothership.au/  Edge Radio page: https://www.edgeradio.org.au/shows/media-mothership/...

We discuss the surprise success of Backrooms and what it means when a YouTube creator and a creepypasta can outperform major Hollywood franchises. We also examine Studio Ghibli's controversial restrictions on photography at Ghibli Park, and look at a recent experiment where AI models were placed in charge of a simulated society—with dramatically different results. Episode 153 was recorded li...

Exploring some of the internet's most interesting recent stories: the pope quoting Gandalf while warning about AI, Red Dead Redemption 2's rise through the all-time sales charts, prediction markets turning into spoiler machines, and whether modern media increasingly requires homework to fully participate. Episode 152 was recorded live at Edge Radio 99.3FM studios in Hobart Tasmania, and first aire...

AI disruption, disappearing videogames, Doom’s cultural canonisation, Cybertrucks as cinematic villains, Gundam’s expanding empire, and the strange blurring of reality and simulation. This episode was recorded live at Edge Radio 99.3FM studios in Hobart Tasmania, and first aired on 21 May 2026. More information: Media Mothership Edge Radio Video episodes Support the show: https://www.m...

We reflect on last week’s LitRPG roundtable and the audience discussion it sparked, before exploring a collection of news stories about how modern media is changing. From Robert Kirkman discussing manga’s influence on comics, to games built around Steam backlog anxiety, to AAA creators drawing inspiration from fanfiction and stylised design, we examine how internet culture, audience be...

A roundtable discussion with LitRPG authors Shirtaloon, RinoZ, Haylock, Hannibal Forge, and Tevagah on the rise of progression fantasy, Royal Road, independent publishing, audience-building, and how internet-native storytelling is reshaping modern fiction. This episode was recorded live at Edge Radio 99.3FM studios in Hobart Tasmania, and first aired on 7 May 2026. Listen live to “Media Moth...

A pop culture round-up on games, AI, and adaptation, all asking the same question: how does media make the unreal feel real? Plus a deep dive into Superman (1978) and how it helped invent the modern blockbuster. For more info on Media Mothership go to https://mediamothership.au/ and https://www.edgeradio.org.au/. Support the show: https://www.mediamothership.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for pri...

From expanding cinematic universes to hostile fan cultures and AI-generated storytelling, this episode examines who actually shapes meaning in contemporary media. We trace the tension between corporate control, audience participation, and algorithmic systems, and ask whether storytelling is becoming more open, or more tightly managed. For more info on Media Mothership go to https://mediamothership...

Superman gets a global “anniversary,” gamers are being recruited into real-world systems, and video games keep chasing a version of realism that doesn’t quite exist. This week, Media Mothership drifts through fandom rituals, game design oddities, and the strange ways fictional worlds start to feel real. Explore the craft behind Battlefield’s sound design, why pausing a game...

From research on “cognitive surrender” in AI use to failures with AI-written criticism, the discussion considers whether thinking itself is being outsourced. A jump-scare warning app raises questions about pre-empting emotional experience, while Stephen King’s comparison of Donald Trump to The Dead Zone highlights how fiction frames political reality. For more info on Media Mothe...

April Fools in gaming, Nintendo’s expanding media world, and why Democracy Manifest remains an enduring viral moment. This episode was recorded live at Edge Radio 99.3FM studios in Hobart Tasmania, and first aired on 2nd April 2026. For more info on Media Mothership go to https://mediamothership.au/ and https://www.edgeradio.org.au/ . Links: Thousands of Chinese social media users change pro...