Origin Story

In this episode of Study Hall, returning guest Joe Ostrander (of The Joeys fame) helps unpack the Killers of the Flower Moon. Does Scorsese still have the juice? When is the best time to pee during t…

Jacob Geller is a YouTube video-essayist whose work grapples with video games, history, politics, empathy, and more. Recently his criticism has engaged with the politics of climate change and art in …

Christine Lai grew up in Canada and lived in England for six years during graduate studies. She holds a PhD in English Literature from University College London. Landscapes was shortlisted for the in…

Jamel Brinkley is the author of a new short story collection called Witness and previously published the short story collection  A Lucky Man which was a finalist for the National Book Award, the Stor…

In this episode of Study Hall, returning guest Joe Ostrander (of The Joeys fame) helps unpack the Spiderverse. Can two lit majors finally make peace with the canon? Will Miles Morales be forced into …

Hannah Nicklin is the creative director at Die Gute Fabrik, an award-winning game studio based in Denmark. Their latest game, Salt Sea Chronicles, was recently announced to release later this year. H…

Victor LaValle is the author of a short story collection, five novels, and is also the creator and writer of two comic books. 

His novel, The Changeling, will soon be airing on Apple TV+ starring LaKe…

Josh Sawyer is a studio design director for Obsidian Entertainment. He has worked as the director on Pentiment, Pillars of Eternity 1 and 2, and Fallout: New Vegas. His most recent title, Pentiment, …

Austin Walker is the IP Director at the game studio Possibility Space. He has an extensive background in gaming journalism and criticism. He holds a Masters in Aesthetics and Politics from CalArts an…

In this episode of Study Hall, Ben and Phil talk about Resident Evil. Specifically, the new release of Resident Evil 4 Remake, how it holds up compared to the original and how Ben is getting a little…

We're back to shoot the shit about what we're reading, playing, and watching. Why The Black Count by Tom Reiss rules and a long discussion of The End of the English Major. Come listen.

Hosted by Phil…

Natalie Watson is a producer at Half Mermaid Productions where she worked on Immortality. Previously she was a games critic for Vice’s games outlet Waypoint. She also co-owns the successful Star Wars…

Xalavier Nelson Jr. is a writer and narrative designer who also founded the game studio Strange Scaffold. He is most well known for titles such as Hypnospace Outlaw, Can Androids Pray, An Airport For…

It's a new year and Phil has a new job and a new lease on life. We give a general life update and see whether the new job offers any new insights into game dev. Plus a look back on some of our fave t…

Come one, come all to an episode where we introduce and announce the Joey awards. Named after special guest Joe Ostrander, who represents the entire voting body of the Joeys, we discuss his picks for…

"Study Hall," a series of short conversations between Ben, Phil, and people they admire about a particular work or what's fueling their creative lives right now.

Expect informal conversations with ne…

Sam Barlow is the writer and director of Immortality, Telling Lies, and Her Story and the founder of the Half Mermaid production company. His most recent games are interactive fiction experiences tha…

Graham Parkes is the Writer and Creative Director of Before Your Eyes, a game about the fleeting nature of life that garnered attention because of its eye-tracking technology and the integration of b…

In the second episode of Study Hall, we're diving into the Xenoblade series with writer Autumn Wright. Autumn has written extensively about the Xenoblade games, including with their coverage of Xenob…

Episode Description

Gareth Damien Martin (They/Them) is an award-winning writer, designer and artist. Their first game, In Other Waters won the Jury Prix at IndieCade Europe.

Most recently, they’ve rel…