PhD | Polygamer

Polygamer #99: Ludomusicologist Dr. Dana Plank

Posted on March 18, 2020 by Ken Gagne

Dr. Dana Plank is a ludomusicologist, devoted to the study of video game music and sound. She has researched how game audio is used to represent disability, sensuality, gender, and exoticism, and she has been interviewed for books, podcasts, and MAGFest panels about games including Final Fantasy VI, Super Mario Bros. 3, and Super Mario RPG. Her current studies include Celeste; That Dragon, Cancer; and Untitled Goose Game. She is also a co-organizer of the North American Conference On Video Game Music 2020, scheduled to be held online this April 4–5.

In this interview, Dr. Plank and I explore the origin of ludomusicology, and what it is that ludomusicologists do; the academic route that led her to study ludomusicology and 8/16-bit games in particular; how technological constraints breed creativity, and how the interactivity of modern soundtracks distinguish them from cinematic scores; how silence can be a powerful indicator that something has gone wrong; how to use video games as a music-teaching tool; how COVID-19 has affected NACVGM; and what books she recommends in this academic field of study.

Stream the audio edition of this interview below or from iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play Music, Mixcloud, Spoke, Overcast, acast, Pocket Casts, Castbox, TuneIn, RadioPublic, or the Internet Archive. Click past the jump for links to resources mentioned in this episode.

Continue reading →

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:21:13 — 38.0MB) | Embed

Polygamer #97: Dr. Carly Kocurek of Save Point & Games for Girls

Posted on January 22, 2020 by Ken Gagne

Dr. Carly Kocurek is an associate professor of digital humanities and media studies at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Her work in the analysis and preservation of games includes Save Point, a zine about the history of video games whose second issue is currently being crowdfunded on Kickstarter. She is also researching the “Games for Girls” movement of the 1990s, courtesy a grant from the National Science Foundation.

In this podcast interview, we discuss why a zine is a format uniquely suited to this topic; how Save Point is able to be published with such a modest budget; how to make academic subjects accessible to a lay audience; what the “Games for Girls” movement was, and how it’s evolved over the last 25 years; the research that the NSF grant enables her to conduct; and how listeners can support game preservation efforts.

Continue reading →

Podcast: Download (Duration: 50:58 — 24.2MB) | Embed

Polygamer #95: Dr. Jessica Hebert of the PDX Broadsides

Posted on November 13, 2019 by Ken Gagne

Dr. Jessica Hebert is a placentologist and nerdy musician with the PDX Broadsides, a Portland, Oregon-based pop-folk trio. Their recent, debut East Coast tour featured songs about Nathan Fillion, Settlers of Catan, and mental health. Jessica is now back home, where she continues her work studying the role of the placenta (the human body’s only temporary organ!) on gestational diabetes.

In this podcast interview, Jessica and I chat about the PDX Broadsides’ piratical origin, their creative songwriting process, why so many nerd musicians sing about Rosalind Franklin, and how to request vacation time from your day job to sing in a nerd band. We also dive into myths about the placenta, the value of communication in the sciences, and scientific role models.

Continue reading →

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:04:55 — 30.6MB) | Embed

Polygamer #93: Dr. Aurit Lazerus on playfulness

Posted on September 18, 2019 by Ken Gagne

Dr. Aurit Lazerus, PsyD, is gamer and board game geek with a private clinical practice in Providence, Rhode Island. She uses playfulness and creativity to help her patients feel more understood, connected, balanced, self-aware, and empowered.

In this podcast, we chat about the mental health benefits of video games; what playfulness can look like, and how to incorporate it into one’s daily life; how it feels when video games are used to procrastinate; and whether video games can be addictive. We also discuss the difficult subject of abusive relationships, how they work, and how to both offer and get help.

Content warnings: suicide and abusive relationships.

Continue reading →

Podcast: Download (Duration: 58:30 — 27.6MB) | Embed

Polygamer #64: Dr. Noah J. Springer on reddit & GamerGate

Posted on April 26, 2017 by Ken Gagne

Dr. Noah J. Springer recently published his Ph.D. dissertation about reddit, in which he analyzed the cultural practices, technological affordances, hybrid economics, and politics of reddit’s public sphere. During the course of Springer’s research, GamerGate erupted, bringing into existence the subreddits of Kotaku In Action and GamerGhazi, affording Springer the opportunity to witness the emergence and evolution of these publics and counterpublics.

In this episode of Polygamer, I speak with Dr. Springer about his original hope and belief that online communities such as reddit could spur positive political movements, as in the 2012 takedown of SOPA and PIPA; how he was able to hold a neutral, academic view of GamerGate, despite his personal reactions; what behaviors or practices distinguish the KIA and GamerGhazi subreddits, and how each may’ve exacerbated the other; how GamerGate was a bellwether for Brexit and Donald Trump; the roles of empathy and neoliberalism; why Springer left reddit; and where we can look for online communities today.

Continue reading →

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:13:16 — 34.4MB) | Embed