On this week's "very special episode" of VoxPopcast, join Mav as he once again chaperones his university's yearly game jam, "#Games4SocialImpact" at the University of Pittsburgh. On this yearly episode Mav interviews students in the midst of the 3 day design marathon as they build games that explore social issues. This year's theme is "Public". Mav interviews several teams as they explain everything from what they hope to learn from this process, to how they pick their teams, to how they approach the design process, to the sheer madness that descends upon them as they work around the clock. And, it's all a lot of fun. So listen and then leave them encouraging comments below. Citations and Links: Learn more about #Games4SocialImpact Download and Play the games on Itch.io Thank...
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Call for Comments: Impossible Bodies and the Spectacle of Violence
From Mav: We often watch action movies and talk about how realistic or unrealistic the fights are. Everyone always says “oh, I love John Wick. The action is so realistic!” No it’s not! In real life, fights are really kind of boring. At least most people would probably think they are. In real life a bar…
Episode 9: Chutz-Pow! Superheroes of the Holocaust
Today we change focus and discuss something a little more serious than most of our topics. Mav is away on vacation this week, so Wayne is joined by Marcel Walker of the Holocaust Center in Pittsburgh, PA and Rochel Gasson of Duquesne University to discuss a very important and personal project that Wayne and Marcel…
Call For Comments: Sex, Gender and Fan Fiction
From Mav: I have a fascination with fan fiction. In particular, I have a fascination with the way fan fiction has a history that complexly entangled in issues of sex and gender. I wrote about the porn and fanfic connection a bit on my personal blog a couple years back, and I even had some…
Episode 8: Academia & Viral Social Justice
Earlier this month Duke University appeared in the news amid a minor controversy where a school administrator was offended by the rap music playing in a campus coffee shop and complained resulting in the employees (an African American woman and a Caucasian man) on duty getting fired. Later in the same month an African American…
Call for Comments: Biography, History, Memoir, and Chutz-POW
Wayne Here: This week we’re going to engage in a little shameless self-promotion, or at least I am. A few years ago I was asked to participate in a comic book project. The Pittsburgh Holocaust Center was looking for a new way to teach Holocaust studies. Rather than talk about the horror and tragedy they…
Episode 7: Comic Con Culture
Live from 3 Rivers Comicon! Comic book conventions began in 1960s as small specialized gatherings of science fiction fans clubs who met to trade magazines. Over the past several decades they have grown to become a staple of the the media landscape with their unique own culture: vendors, media releases, artist signings, cosplay contests, panels…
Call For Comments: The Long Con
Comic Book conventions began as small gatherings of fans in the days before comic book stores and the internet provided a community for those in the hobby. The earliest shows were mainly places to find back issues to buy and trade. Professional writers and artists began to be featured as guests and many people wore…
Call for Comments: Toxic Fandom
June 9, 2018
From Wayne: Last week actress Kelly Marie Tran, who played Rose Tico in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, deleted her Instagram account because of the constant abuse she was receiving from people who consider themselves “fans” of the Star War franchise. She was ridiculed for her race, her body, her performance, and basically took the…