Left Porch Left Porch

About
Dr. Jamie Woodock from Open University UK, author of Marx at the Arcade joins me in a discussion about Marxism and video games. Is there a Marxist analysis of video games? How is it possible to conduct one? Does a game need to reference clear, typical Marxist terms for it to be worth of a Marxist analysis? There are even more questions uncovered in this episode, so listen closely.

References
Jamie Woodcock - Marx At The Arcade

Games of Empire - Global Capitalism and Video Games

Spawn Point Podcast (I accidentally called it Spawn On Me, which is another podcast that you should check out):

Every Game Makes a Statement by Radu Stochita (me, heey):

Game Developers must avoid the "wage-slave" attitude - by Alex St. John

How Bioware's Anthem Went Wrong

What is happening with video game sales during coronavirus

Gaming sales almost up to $180bn

Microsoft buys Fallout creator for $7.5bn (I am sorry, I have claimed it to be $10bn. It was a mistake)

Music
All music belongs to Ketsa and you can find them here:



Find out more at https://left-porch.pinecast.co

Southpaw
Southpaw is a left-wing analysis of sports newsletter published weekly by Calder and Ian. Their analysis is very rich and often features interviews with renowned sports journalists, analyses of the labour disputes in the sports world. Additionally, they want to change the face of sports reporting and take it out of its apolitical bastion and bring it in relationship to society.

Social Media
Substack: https://southpaw.substack.com

Calder's Twitter: https://twitter.com/calder_mchugh

Ian's Twitter: https://twitter.com/iward29

My Twitter (heheh): https://twitter.com/stochita_radu

Music
Desert Ghost Town (ID 1179) by Lobo Loco is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Jessy Travel Gambler (ID 1143) https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lobo_Loco/Adventure/Desert_Ghost_Town_ID_1179

Find out more at https://left-porch.pinecast.co

Athena for All
Athena is a new alliance of people who believe that control over our lives, our communities, and our democracy should be in our hands.

Everyone should be able to enjoy the benefits of digital technologies and online commerce without having to sacrifice our rights and liberties, health and planet, or hopes and dreams.

But billionaire corporations like Amazon rig the rules so only they can prosper. They threaten our ability to earn a good living and live a good life.

We are joining together to stop Amazon’s growing, powerful grip over our society and economy. We’re going to write new rules so that our economy puts people first, our public officials ensure that no corporation is above the law or too big to govern — and that our democracy, finally, represents all of us.

Articles
International Coalition of activists launches protest against Amazonhttps://www.theverge.com/2020/11/27/21722421/make-amazon-pay-protest-campaign-black-friday

I tried to block Amazon from my life. It was impossible.
https://gizmodo.com/i-tried-to-block-amazon-from-my-life-it-was-impossible-1830565336

Athena on Social Media
https://athenaforall.org

https://www.instagram.com/athenaforall/

https://twitter.com/athenaforall

Music
Desert Ghost Town (ID 1179) by Lobo Loco is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Jessy Travel Gambler (ID 1143) https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lobo_Loco/Adventure/Desert_Ghost_Town_ID_1179

Find out more at https://left-porch.pinecast.co

Recently-elect State Representative from Maine, Grayson Lookner, joins us in discussing organising in his home-state and the prospects of pushing for more progressive reforms. Maine is a very atypical state, rooted in a strong sense of identity with which people might not be familiar at first.

Listen ot Micah and Livia talking to Grayson to find out more about what it is like doing politics in Maine, and how one can use the existent status for progressive action.

Read more about the 2020 race in Maine
https://www.pressherald.com/2020/11/04/collins-maintaining-lead-over-gideon-in-senate-race/

https://bangordailynews.com/2020/11/04/bdn-videos/sara-gideon-talks-about-her-loss-in-the-maine-senate-race/

Interact with Grayson
https://lookner.mainecandidate.com

https://twitter.com/LooknerFurther

Music by
Desert Ghost Town (ID 1179) by Lobo Loco is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Jessy Travel Gambler (ID 1143)
https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lobo_Loco/Adventure/Desert_Ghost_Town_ID_1179

Find out more at https://left-porch.pinecast.co

Declan Peace is the vice-secretary of IWGB Game Workers (known in the past as GWU UK), a trade union focused in the gaming-industry. Together we are addressing what is like working in the field, what are the possibilities for collective action, as well as video games we like.

Thank you, Declan! It was such a big pleasure.

Readings:


Jamie Woodcock. Marx at the Arcade. https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1319-marx-at-the-arcade
https://twitter.com/jasonschreier/status/1316384649577402368
Austin Kelmore. The Game Industry is Toxic. https://www.austinkelmore.com/blog/the-games-industry-is-toxic/
Ea-Spouse. EA: The Human Story https://ea-spouse.livejournal.com/274.html
Jason Schreier. How Bioware Anthem Went Wrong. https://kotaku.com/how-biowares-anthem-went-wrong-1833731964

Recommended Games:


Doom Eternal
Fall Guys
Elder Scrolls
Fall Out: New Vegas
GTA 5
Night in The Woods

Music by:

Desert Ghost Town (ID 1179) by Lobo Loco is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Jessy Travel Gambler (ID 1143)by Lobo Loco is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Find out more at https://left-porch.pinecast.co

Thank you, Livia and Nathan, for being on this podcast.

Due to technical difficulties this came later than we intended to upload it. Still very relevant when thinking about the elections and what they mean in the current context.

Find out more at https://left-porch.pinecast.co