Serious Fun

Recorded live at the 2026 Level Up event at Brown County Library in downtown Green Bay, this episode of Serious Fun sees Bryan dive deep into the wonderful and sometimes bizarre technology behind the massive multimedia empire of Pokémon! Learn how designers solved key communication problems using limited hardware, invented new ways of getting us out and engaged with the world, and how fans inspire...

In this episode of Serious Fun, Bryan braves the Thanksgiving weekend snow to talk about games at his local game shop! Learn about game design through the MDA model and how the emotional reactions we get from games can actually support our real-world lives and skill sets! Discover how games can be a source of empowerment and identity performance! Learn all about "blissful productivity" and why it...

What better way to celebrate Halloween than by talking about spiders? In this episode, Bryan sits down with UWGB Environmental Science and Policy graduate student Mack Gore to talk about all things arachnid. What are the common public misconceptions about spiders? Where does arachnophobia come from? What kind of spider would make the best roommate? All these and more are part of the tangled web wo...

In this, the final installment of three live shows from Brown County Library Pop Con, it's time to bring out the bad guys - or are they just misunderstood? Dr. Jaye Case, Dr. Justin Kavlie, and Dr. Clif Ganyard join Bryan to discuss what makes a truly great pop culture villain by discussing four of our favorite fiends. Whether it's an unstoppable force of nature or a dark reflection of the hero, w...

In this corner, live from the 2025 Brown County Library Pop Con, weighing in at 58 minutes and 22 seconds, it’s the first-ever Wrestler Wroundtable on Serious Fun! In this episode, Bryan sits down with Hybrid Wrestling Entertainment stars “Marvelous” Ethen Matthews, Josie “The Icebox” Valentine, Kujo “The Mad Dog of War”, and Sam Eli to talk about what it takes to be a pro wrestler, how that journ...

It's the first of three shows from the 2025 Brown County Library Pop Con! Bryan sits down with cartoonist and author Lucy Knisley (Woe: A Housecat's Story of Despair, Sugar Shack, Kid Gloves, Relish) to talk about her work and how she draws creativity from her own life and experiences. It's a wide-ranging conversation about everything from Archie comics to "wocks" to AI, served up alongside some g...

This week on Serious Fun, Bryan sits down with Hybrid Wrestling Entertainment champion Aaron Arsenal ahead of his big title defense in the main event of HWE Summer Series Round 1 at Badger State Brewing in Green Bay! Aaron tells us all about being an indie wrestler - the crazy schedule, the storytelling, the unusual training regimen, his favorite matches, and so much more! Give it a listen and don...

It's NFL Draft week and that means football is on the collective mind - so what better time to talk about the history of video game football and the role it's played in the popular presentation and consciousness of the sport? As part of the Brown County Library's Football Fan-O-Rama, Bryan does just that, covering decades of history, anecdotes, and game design in like 45 minutes. From the early da...

Independent pro wrestling is an experience that is part sports spectacle, part collaborative community theater, and wholly unique. This week on Serious Fun, Bryan sits down with TJ Bowles, long-time pro wrestling referee and General Manager of the Green Bay-based independent promotion Hybrid Wrestling Entertainment, to talk about what goes into a match from the moment fans enter the venue to the m...

A new(ish) era of Serious Fun kicks off with UWGB English professor Zack Kruse! Bryan and Zack talk about the work of the enigmatic and often misunderstood Steve Ditko, creator of characters like Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, and The Question, as well as Zack's must-read book "Mysterious Travelers: Steve Ditko and the Search for a New Liberal Identity". We'll discuss the complex ideological and phil...

It's the third and final episode of Serious Fun, live from the 2024 Brown County Library Pop Con! For the grand finale, Bryan sits down with Cofrin School of Business faculty Dr. Vallari Chandna and Anup Nair, as well as UWGB Communication professor Dr. Justin Kavlie, to talk through the greatest duos in pop culture! Why do we love these pairings? What makes a great duo? And which of the four twos...

Goodness gracious, another Serious Fun! This is the second live episode from the 2024 Brown County Library Pop Con, and this week Bryan sits down with cosplay and convention expert (and former student) Nicole Rastia to provide a seasoned guide to convention survival and etiquette! Ever wondered how to put a cosplay costume together? Curious about convention etiquette? How to stay hydrated? What yo...

In the first of a trio of shows recorded at the 2024 Brown County Library Pop ConTM, Bryan sits down with best-selling, six-time Eisner Award-winning cartoonist Raina Telgemeier! Raina is the author and artist behind beloved books like “Smile”, “Guts”, “Ghosts”, and “Sisters”. With nearly twenty million copies of her work in print, Raina is one of the most popular YA authors in the world. In this...

On this episode of Serious Fun, we tie on our headband and take it to the streets with Grant Patterson, Head Sensei of the WNFC Esports Dojo and CEO of WNFC LLC. Grant sits down with us to talk about fighting games and how his organization uses them to teach kids skills like confidence, decision-making, and determination that can help them elsewhere in life – and how they could help you, too! We a...

Video games! You love 'em! You know you do! But some games are more special to us than others. Some games inspired us, or challenged us. They made us see the medium and the world in a different way. Some even changed the entire industry. These are the GameChangers, and this week on Serious Fun Bryan sits down with Dr. Juli Case and Dr. Chris Williams of the UW - Green Bay English faculty to list a...

In our second live show from the Brown County Library Pop-Con, Bryan is joined by legendary author and master of kid-oriented horror R. L. Stine! In this wide-ranging interview in front of a massive live audience, we talk about writing horror for younger audiences, the impact Tales from the Crypt has on a young mind, tips and strategies for a prolific writing process, why comedy and horror are so...

Serious Fun returns with another slate of live episodes from the 2023 Brown County Library Pop-Con! This week, Bryan sits down with Patrick and Savannah O'Connor of power pop band The Shake Ups and discusses their unique blend of cartoon and musical influences in front a live audience! This "animated" conversation also covers copyright and licensing, songwriting and musical arrangement, remix cult...

What can professional wrestling and its largest figurehead tell us about our social and political moment? Turns out - a lot! Author Abraham Josephine Riesman returns to Serious Fun for an in-depth discussion about her new book "Ringmaster: Vince McMahon and the Unmaking of America". Riesman breaks down McMahon, his empire, his connections to politics and business, and how his contributions to pro...

In our final live Serious Fun from the 2022 Brown County Library Comic-Con, Bryan sits down with Zack Kruse (UW - Green Bay Sheboygan) and Miriam Brabham (UW - Green Bay Main Campus) to once and for all answer that question that gnaws at us literally and figuratively - who is the all time greatest, gnarliest, creepiest, most symbolically relevant monster of them all? Is it Dracula, lord of the vam...

It's a spooktacular celebration of the craft of drawing on a new Serious Fun! In this live episode from the 2022 Brown County Library Pop-Con, Green Bay artist Robb Mommaerts talks about his style, influences, and work on properties like Klawde the Evil Alien Warlord Cat. Robb also demonstrates how to draw and create original characters from scratch in this fascinating live drawing demonstration!...

Serious Fun returns with the first of three live episodes recorded in front of a live audience at the Brown County Library Pop Con on October 1, 2022! First, Bryan sits down with acclaimed, award-winning author Lori M. Lee to discuss her work on books like Pahua and the Soul Stealer, as well as representation in fantasy and science fiction, breaking into the industry, the responsibility that comes...

This week, Serious Fun brings you what you've been craving - academic lectures! Recorded on April 18th, 2022 as part of the Climate Change Teach-In at UWGB, Bryan talks about the movie "Don't Look Up" and the broader question of pop culture metaphors for scientific and social issues. How do metaphors work? Is Don't Look Up a successful one? Are there better ones? How should pop culture talk about...

If you were waiting for a new episode of Serious Fun, well...your wait is over. Also, maybe get some other things going on in your life? I mean, do what you will, just seems weird that you await this podcast with bated breath. That said, this is a real good episode! A great one, I daresay! The illustrious writer and author David L. Craddock joins us to talk about his latest tome, "Long Live Mortal...

It's another Serious Fun! This week, Bryan dons his brightly-colored spandex and joins forces with artist Joe Hunter and returning guest writer Lan Pitts to talk about their series "Beast Heart Strikers" and its exciting new announcement, as well as the sentai genre and how their cultural influences have shaped the work. We also talk about a lot of other stuff, like He-Man and pro wrestling. Also...

Once again, Serious Fun goes into the breach and picks apart the latest offering from the Marvel monoculture – SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS. This time, however, we have a very special guest – academic professional, martial arts and comic movie aficionado, and beloved spouse Pang Yang! Bryan and Pang talk about her experiences growing up in a media environment where she didn’t see hers...