The Left Page

Hello everyone!! For this final February episode, we, talk about when Cyberpunk... goes awry, to put it mildly, it's time to see the issues of Cyberpunk 2077 and Cyberpunk Edgerunners! We dive into what happens when one tries to recreate just the aesthetics of a genre, and the effects of cutting out the politics. And so we turn to this hollowness at the heart of a "cyberpunk" that has left out all...

Hello everyone!! We continue well into February, as we bring in the incomparable Labor Kyle to talk about... one of the best games of all time. It's time to talk about Disco Elysium!! Join us as we dive into the real genesis and formation of revolutionary character that can happen in Harry DuBois, and then, with no less gravitas, about the intersection of this game with Walter Benjamin's "Thesis o...

Hello everyone!! Happy 5 year anniversary of the Left Page!! This is a huge achievement and one I still can't believe is here, and yet, it has been a wonderful journey so far, and we're not thinking about stopping anytime soon! To celebrate such a date, Leon and I spoke about a book foundational to my entire research, the 1516 book by Thomas More: Utopia. We delve into some of its history, the tra...

Hello everyone!! For our last January episode we dive into an excellent recent trilogy of games, Hitman: World of Assassination, and think about how good these games are, as they embrace strong silliness. Alongside advancing Frank's ideas and arguments for the silly, we look into the protagonist of Agent 47 and how his hypercompetence is both related to, and changed, by the silly aspects of the ga...

Hello everyone!! Kicking off 2024 for the Left Page we have a very special episode with dramaturgist and debut novelist Emma Hinds, as we talk about her, as of this episode's release, published book The Knowing! Via this gothic, queer, historical, and violent story, Emma joins us as we dive into some of the ways both the book, and ourselves, try to engage with Art: how to create it, understand it,...

Hello everyone!! To kick off 2024 we consider some of our different plans for the pods, our big ideas and the things we have in store! And, of course, we chat a bit about upcoming media we're interested in, some which interests us and some which uhhh concerns/frustrates us. It's a new year with a whole lot more to read, watch, play, and talk about! Have fun, and hapy new year! Please support our P...

Hello everyone!! To finally wrap up 2023, we stop for a moment and think back on both the things we saw/watched/played and even recorded this year, to review how it went. And overall, we're pretty happy with what we've done and are planning to do next year!! Thank you so much for a great year, especially, especially our Patrons, and here's to another fun and full of great conversations 2024! Thank...

Hello everyone! For our final 2023 Left Page episode, we are joined by Jay, of LibraryPunk and Tender Subject fame to talk about the "original dark academia text" Donna Tartt's The Secret History! It's a wonderful send off of 2023 as we dive into what "dark academia" is and can be, the bad writing of novels, the characterization of terrible characters, and how rich people are always terrible! Enjo...

Hello everyone! As we round out the year, we have some very fun shows to share, and here we are with one of our favourite games this year: Armored Core VI! Nevermind the From Software bias, we do find plenty to talk about in regards to the destructive nature of the mech-economy, how characterization functions in this wonderfully fun game, and how inescapable the capitalist realist mech-economy mig...

Hello everyone!! As we wrap up November we talk about a game we encourage you NOT to play! And yet, there's still  plenty interesting, and plenty important, to talk about regardless. So join us as we talk about another game in Bioware's roster, it's Dragon Age II! A somewhat timely discussion, given the many layoffs in Bioware and just how the politics in this game can be so quintessentially liber...

Hello everyone!! Because the Horrors are neverending, we have Leslie from Fangs for the Memorieeeeeees! To chat with us about Analogue Horror! In this more conceptually focused episode we go into what is Analogue Horror, the relationship of horror with form, media and technology. And to top it off, we go into one of the best things about this genre, the meeting place of nostalgia and horror, as we...

Hello everyone!! For this first episode of November we have a very special show on our hands! We are talking about Marge Piercy's 1976 Utopian novel, Woman on the Edge of Time! And to do that, we invited on Brazilian researcher, translator, professor, and friend, Dr. Elton Furlanetto of the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS)! Elton translated the first ever Brazilian edition of the no...

Hello everyone!! As a slightly late Halloween bonus episode we have a fantastic chat about Vampires! It's Netflix's Castlevania show! We talk about how we do or don't relate to vampires, our interest in them, and how it can be the people and their own independent actions with and against vampires that can ellicit the most of our   interest and sympathies. So join us as we explore the merits and fa...

Hello everyone!! As is tradition for Spooky Month, we have dragged our favourite co-ghosts to chat with us! And in this episode we ask the following question: what is scarier than forms? Very little, we find! As we are once again talking about Franz Kafka, and this time, we're talking about the Law and, of course, punishment. It is the very thrilling, and scary, novel of The Trial! By all means jo...

Hello everyone!! We kick off spooky month with an excellent collab, as Leon is joined by Jay and Kayte of Tender Subject and other pods, to talk about the 2016 horror film The Neon Demon . It is an excellent conversation about the question of "style over substance" and its related issue in terms of the industry, while also considering objects of desire placed in it. All while, of course, talking o...

Hello everyone!! We have been doing back to back HBM episodes lately, but it doesn't mean we've not been doing Left Page! Here's a very fun and special episode, especially for Frank, as we talk about the anthology "Dispatches from Anarres" a collection of texts that seek to connect (or vibe) with Ursula K. Le Guin's work!! We dive into some of the more interesting aspects of some stories, while st...

Hello everyone! Thus time we have another great collab to share! We teamed up eith LibraryPunk to dive into the whys and hows of copyright being terrivle, alongside its many evils and negative effects on the world and in culture. It's a very interesting, informative and fun conversation, where we both understand what copyright is, its reasons for being fundamentally flawed and why we don't really...

Hello everyone!! For our first episode this September we talk about one of our favourite games, and better yet, one of our favourite space games! Paradox Interactive's Stellaris! We have a great chat on how to engage wit Sci-fi and the approaches involved with a macro and micro lenses in this strategy game. We also chat about how to create a sense of history (or not) and how it really can be fun t...

Hello everyone!! This time there's something special, another great conceptual episode and back in with Jay! Of both Library Punk and Tender Subject fame!! It's a great dive into what we call or consider Queer Media and specifically its approach of sexuality. We interweave what Queerness can be, its different forms and representations. With the initial approach on Queer Men, we consider how media...

Hello everyone!! It's been one year since we started Here Be Media! What a journey it's been, and what a journey do we still have to go!! To celebrate, we grouped our individual Top #100 Games under pure subjective standards, and you all get to know some more about what makes us tick and what we really enjoy in videogames! (And how Frank likes a lot of weird obscure games you've probably never hea...

Hello everyone!! For this month's Left Page we're being ambitious! We talk about the first three books of The Expanse series, by James S. A. Corey! And let us tell you, this is one hell of a SF world! We dive into the materialist representation and replication of capitalism and oppression, even in space. We also engage in the cosmic aspects of space, the room occupied by the unknown, and the chanc...

Hello everyone!! For this month's Left Page show we are joined by Holly, from the great Pentiment episode! This time we talk about another Becky Chambers book: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet. We dive into the interesting "cozy" aspects, what that idea can even mean, and also the effects and consequences of connecting a small focused story with a larger, political one! All in all a great con...

Hello everyone!! n this episode we dive into a more conceptual discussion, as we use the games Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor & War to talk about something we've tangentially tackled for a while now, adaptation! As such we talk about the larger relationship between source material and adaptation, issues in fantasy and Tolkien's Middle Earth! It's a different, but very good and fun time! Have fun!...

Hello everyone! In this very special HBM episode we bring in some magnificent guests and friends, it's Jon and Ash from Horror Vanguard! As we talk about the fantastic From Software game: Elden Ring! We talk about discovering and coming up with lore, about the both serious and very silly aspects in the game, and how it's both so fun and so interesting! And we even cover the several endings and how...

Hello everyone!! To start off another month with great content, we're continuing our Bioware saga with their equivalent fantasy series: Dragon Age! We're taking our time with it by going first through DA: Origins, and we do find plenty to talk about already! We consider the storyline, its specific companion mechanics and, more importantly, the difficult ways of building up a fantasy world, includi...