Off Center

Scott Rettberg is joined by Jaroslav Švelch, an associate professor of media studies at Charles University in Prague. In this episode, they will discuss local game production in Czech Republic, gaming the iron curtain, and Jaroslav's book on monstrous antagonists in games.     References Croucher, Mel. 1984. Deus Ex Machina. Automata UK.  Namco. 1981. Galaga. Midway.  Spytihněv. 2023. HROT.  S...

Welcome back to another biweekly AI update with David Jhave Johnston and Scott Rettberg, that from this season on come out every other week between the usual Off Center episodes. In this AI update, Scott and Jhave discuss one of the venues for the More Than Meets AI exhibition at the Bergen International Film Festival. They talk about several projects that will be exhibited that show the future of...

In this episode, Kat Mustatea joins Scott for a chat about the crossroad of technology and performance. Kat Mustatea is a playwright and technologist, and her tech-native storytelling stretches theatre into the digital age. They talk about her journey and her projects Voidopolis BodyMouth, and Lizardly in depth on this episode on Off Center.   References Mustatea, Kat & Heidi Boisvert. 2021. L...

From this season on, the biweekly AI update with David Jhave Johnston and Scott Rettberg will come in the weeks between the usual Off Center episodes. In this first separate AI update, Scott and Jhave discuss art made in collaboration with AI for the upcoming More Than Meets AI exhibition, that will take place in Bergen, Norway this fall. References Johnston, D. J. 2018. ReRites . Anteism Books. h...

Scott Rettberg is back with another season of the podcast Off Center. In this first episode of season 3, Scott is joined by Will Luers, a digital artist, filmmaker and writer. Luers also teaches web development, digital cinema and multimodal publishing in the Creative Media & Digital Culture program at Washington State University Vancouver. In this episode, they will discuss AI filmmaking and...

In the final episode of this second season of Off Center, Scott Rettberg is joined by Rob Wittig, a digital writing pioneer. Rob is an experimental writer in digital media and helped invent the genre Netprov. Learn more about what Netprov is in this episode. In this episode you find a new AI update with David Jhave Johnston, starting from 22:16. References de Chervantes, Michael. 1615. Don Quixote...

Scott Rettberg has a conversation with Alessandro Ludovico about his new MIT Press book: Tactical Publishing: Using Senses, Software, and Archives in the Twenty-First Century, and about 30 years of tracking digital culture as publisher of Neural magazine. References Ludovico, Alessandro. 2012. Post-DigitalPrint: The Mutation of Publishing since 1894. Onomatopee. Ludovico, Alessandro. 2023. Tactica...

Scott Rettberg is back with another episode of the podcast ‘Off Center’. This time he is joined by Søren Pold, Associate professor of Digital Design at Aarhus University. They discuss digital literature, platformazation, and the COVID-19 pandemic. This episode also includes a new AI update with David Jhave Johnston. Together with Scott, he will bring you up to date about recent AI medical advances...

In a new episode of ‘Off Center’, Scott Rettberg and Gabriele de Seta come together for a discussion about Chinese surveillance compared to Western surveillance and Gabriele’s new research project on Algorithmic Folklore. Tune in now.  References de Seta, Gabriele. 2024. “An algorithmic folklore: Vernacular creativity in times of everyday automation” In Critical meme reader III: Breaking the meme....

In this new episode of the podcast Off Center, Scott Rettberg is joined by Mario Aquilina, Associate Professor of English at the University of Malta. They discuss the definition of essay, the effects of AI on essays and whether there is an AI essayistic. Listen now!  Sign up for ⁠⁠⁠⁠the CDN newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠ here. References Aquilina, Mario. 2021. The Essay at the Limits. Bloomsbury Publishing.   Cay...

In this episode of Off Center, Scott Rettberg is joined by Ben Grosser, a professor of New Media at the University of Illinois. Ben is a well-known software artist who critically approaches digital media and platforms in his work. Listen now!  Sign up for ⁠the CDN newsletter⁠ here. References Grosser, Benjamin. 2012. Facebook Demetricator. Web browser extension.  https://bengrosser.com/projects/fa...

This time on Off Center, Scott Rettberg is joined by Sarah Edmands Martin, a designer and researcher at the University of Notre Dame. Her research takes place at the intersection of visual communication design, critical fabulation, and media aesthetics. In this episode they discuss speculative design.  References Bierut, M. 2015.  How to use graphic design to sell things, explain things, make thin...

Welcome back to a new episode of Off Center. In this episode Scott Rettberg is joined by Kristine Jørgensen, professor of media studies and PI at the Center for Digital Narrative. They talk about male gaming culture, transgressive games, and understanding male gamers.  Sign up for ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠the CDN newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ here.  References Espen, Aarseth. 1997. Cybertext: Perspectives on Ergodic Literature. Jo...

Scott Rettberg and Patrick Jagoda, professor at the university of Chicago, and cofounder of the Game Changer Chicago Design Lab and the Transmedia Story Lab, talk about alternate reality games and transmedia storytelling in this episode of Off Center. They talk about games Patrick has been working on.  Sign up for ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠the CDN newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ here. References (in order of appearance) Spielberg, St...

A new episode of Off Center in which Scott and Mathias Klang, a lawyer and professor at Fordham University, talk about surveillance microcosms and how spying is shaping our lives.   In this episode, Scott and Jhave, a previous guest on Off Center, give the first 5-minute AI update. Sign up for ⁠⁠⁠the CDN newsletter⁠⁠⁠ here. References Rettberg, Jill Walker. 2024. Machine Vision: How Algorithms Are...

In this second episode of season two, Scott is joined by Jill Walker Rettberg, co-director of the Center for Digital Narrative to talk about her book on Machine Vision and how algorithms are changing the way we see the world.  Sign up for ⁠⁠the CDN newsletter⁠⁠ here. References Rettberg, Jill Walker. 2024. Machine Vision: How Algorithms Are Changing the Way We See the World . Cambridge, UK: Polity...

In this first episode of season two, Scott is joined by David Jhave Johnston, digital poet, videographer, and motion graphics artist. Together they talk about digital poetry, cyborg authorship, and the use of AI for content creation. Sign up for ⁠the CDN newsletter⁠ here. References Johnston, D. J. 2016. Aesthetic Animism: Digital Poetry’s Ontological Implications . The MIT Press. https://mitpress...

Welcome back to the final episode of the first season of the podcast ‘Off Center’. In this episode, Scott Rettberg is joined by video game designer Doris Rusch, professor at Uppsala University. They talk about Doris' journey in game design and the creation of existential games for the soul.   Sign up for ⁠the CDN newsletter⁠ here. We will be back in February 2024 with a new season.   Reference...

Scott Rettberg is back with a new episode of the podcast Off Center. This time he is joined by Roderick Coover to discuss filmmaking with the use of databases and combinatory cinema projects they collaborate on.   Sign up for ⁠the CDN newsletter⁠ here. References Coover, R. 1999. A Harvest in Burgundy. [first exhibited at Midway Studios Chicago]. Coover, R. 2010. Canyonlands: Edward Abbey and the...

In this episode, Scott Rettberg is joined by immersive storyteller Caitlin Fisher, director of York University's Immersive Storytelling Lab. They discuss topics such as augmented and virtual reality, electronic literature, future cinema, and emerging technology.  Sign up for ⁠the CDN newsletter⁠ here. References Eastgate Systems. 1987. Storyspace. http://www.eastgate.com/storyspace/ .  Fisher,...

In this episode, Scott Rettberg is joined by novelist and professor of Emerging Media and Digital Art at Southern Oregon University, Robert Arellano. They discuss the history of hypertext and Robert’s breakthrough hypertext novel. Sign up for ⁠the CDN newsletter⁠ here. References Amerika, Mark. 1997.  GRAMMATRON .  https://markamerika.com/artworks/grammatron-by-mark-amerika Arellano, Robert. 1996....

In this episode, Scott Rettberg is joined by Flourish Klink, one of the ‘Fansplaining’ podcast hosts to discuss the world of fandoms and the creation of fanfiction about books, movies, shows, and celebrities.   Sign up for ⁠the CDN newsletter⁠ here. References Brontë, Charlotte. 1847.  Jane Eyre . Smith, Elder & Co. Fielding, Henry. 1741.  An Apology for the Life of Mrs. Shamela Andrews.  A. D...

Scott Rettberg is this time joined by Center for Digital Narrative PI Nick Montfort. Together they dive into topics such as computational narrative systems, platform studies, and interactive fiction.  Sign up for ⁠the CDN newsletter⁠ here. References Chandler, Otis and Elizabeth K. Chandler, 2006. Goodreads. Social network site.  https://www.goodreads.com/ . Custodio, Alex. 2020.  Who Are You? Nin...

In this episode of ‘Off Center’ Scott Rettberg is joined by Lai-Tze Fan to discuss gendered AI voice assistance, editorial labour, and her online collaborative works.   Sign up for ⁠the CDN newsletter⁠ here. References America Online. 1996. “ICQ”.  https://icq.com/. Decameron Collective. 2022. “Decameron 2.0.”  https://www.decameroncollective.com/decameron2-0 Electronic Book Review. n. d. “Electro...

Scott Rettberg is back with a new episode of the podcast Off Center. This time he is joined by Drew Keller to discuss computational creativity and storytelling in media production.   Sign up for ⁠the CDN newsletter⁠ here. References Adobe Inc. 2023. Photoshop. macOS and Windows. Freedgood, Elaine. 2003. “Fine Fingers: Victorian Handmade Lace and Utopian Consumption.”  Victorian Studies  45 (4): 62...