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Fireside Chats, Episode 47: Blake Harris and the Politics of Entertainment (Patreon)

Published:
2018-07-25 16:01:00
Edited:
2019-01-08 23:54:41
Imported:
2022-01

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Content

Blake Harris is a world-renown writer best known for Console Wars, the written authority on the Nintendo-SEGA drama of the early-to-mid '90s. You may have also seen Blake and his work on ESPN, IGN, MSNBC, BBC, CBS, NPR, and other acronym-obsessed news outlets. But for this episode of Fireside Chats, Blake came through SoCal to talk about, well, whatever! Our conversation veers in and out of games, entertainment, and the politics engulfing just about everything these days. I'm a pessimist. Blake's an optimist. Together, we find consensus on just what's going on all around us. Put on your thinking caps, and join us.

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Comments

Matthew Perry

Oh my god I love this man , i had so much fun reading his book console wars and can not wait to listen :-)

Marcus Brown

Can't wait to listen!

Matthew Perry

My top three authors in gaming history 1 . Blake Harris 2 . David kushner 3 . Tom bissel

Will Caldwell

Haven't read the book yet, will have to check it out now

Anonymous

I really loved this conversation. One of my favorite things about Fireside Chats are the tangents. I loved hearing you two discuss politics in such an open, passionate, and still respectful way. Keep up the awesome work!

Toren R. (KESA)

Love this conversation! I remember when game writers and media readers felt aligned when the perceived threat to video games were people like Jack Thompson. I also remember this weird, culty idolization of writers on sites like Polygon who made readers like myself feel hated. I'm an MMA fighting, Black male, who was largely left-leaning, but because I took issue with articles likening t-bagging someone in halo to "sexual assault" (by that 'logic' getting killed in a round of slayer would be murder...so chill) or having my account suspended when I commented that a writer "toughen up a bit" when describing his T E M P O R A R Y P T S D from playing a VR shooter. I never disclosed my race on any of those sites and to them I might as well have been an Alt-right Nazi lover. the irony, is for all the people of color these writers say that they want in the witcher, there are close to NONE on their staff. it's all just lip service and instead of quietly addressing the disconnect between most people who play games and the politics of most members of games media, they do everything they can to invalidate those of dissenting opinions. we're deplorable, or alt right and now "bots" I've super given up on media besides the few personalities, like yours CM, who I choose to back. I've just always wondered why the game devs and publishers seem to bend over backwards so willingly to appease this small, constantly whiny, faction of games media. Like, why should Bioware have a trans-friendly dialogue option for every character if they dont want to? CM, do you have any insights as to what the media seems to have over the publishers and devs that makes them fall into line so easily?

Owen

Been reading Console Wars this last week. Excellent writing. Look forward to listening. - I also need some other recommendations on non-fiction related to video games history if you got any of those Colin. Keep it up my dude.

LastStandMedia
>>14112395

Yeah, Toren: Power. As long as these sites have eyeballs reading them and the reach that comes along with that, developers and publishers won't push back too hard, or it could injure their games. Remember: Waypoint wouldn't even cover, review, or positively talk about Kingdom Come. The thing is, their power is dwindling daily, and it's truly a sight to see. Countless people who work at publishers and developers have and continue to talk massive amounts of shit about many of these websites, particularly Polygon, Waypoint, Kotaku, etc., but they won't yet do it publicly, for the most part. That'll change one day. Thank you for your support.

LastStandMedia
>>14112916

I think we may talk a bit on this show about other books worth reading, but happy to make other recommendations. Let me know.

Daniel Schiffer

Colin what was that book you mentioned about the supermarket?

Ian (616Entertainment)

I really, really enjoyed this episode. Blake is such a smart guy, I could listen to you guys go back and forth for hours. I really enjoy podcasts where there’s more to the conversation than “yes, you’re right.” I love when either you or the guest hits the brakes and brings a different point of view, a point of view that highlights the other end of the topic. Fireside Chats delivers that damn near every week, and I’m hearing a ton of it on SS with Chris as well. Also, man, I wish the book writing process wasn’t such a pain in the ass. I remember you talking about writing a book years ago and you never went into detail, which I understand. I’m glad Blake pressed you on it and finally lifted that veil! Great episode, Colin.

Jason Stafford

Such a great podcast! I was very impressed with the depth of the conversation between you two. Thanks for doing this, and thank you Blake for coming on the show! Sidenote: If people are interested in video game history in a PBS style, you can really fall down a rabbit hole watching Norman Caruso's "The Gaming Historian" on youtube. He would be a guest I'd love to hear on Fireside Chats.

Tyler

Good episode. I am a strong conservative and I do enjoy playing games but the industry definitely doesn’t care for someone like me. Which, I mean, is fine but some representation would be cool here and there, other than “you evil racist bigot!” lol. Keep up the great work. Enjoyed the civility between you two during the political discussion.

Anton Kaye

What a fantastic episode. Every time I suggest your show to a family member or friend, I try to think of a good starting episode to try to get them to know you or understand what kind of show you do. I was recommending the Naval Officer episode, but it may be this one now. Great job!

John Quinn

Interesting how you basically called the escapist situation in this podcast. Really cool you got Blake on! I’m a huge fan of Console Wars so this was a great listen.

strawhatninja

Great episode. I wish all the gaming journalists were as open as you guys are.

Andrew

Man, this was great! I love it when you have these types of conversations... Really makes me excited for Jeff Cannata's next appearance on your podcast.

James Galos

As always I am finally catching up on the content and it was another home run. Really hit home when you hit on games media and why I have completely disconnected from games media. Luckily I still have this page to keep me up to date on some of the games coming out.

Felipe Delfin

Fantastic episode. I’ve always enjoyed a conversation that can organically weave through several topics. Great listen.

Daniel Navarro

What a great episode. I know I’m late to the party but you are so right about how bad games journalism is right now. Being a person of color I have no problem admitting that I don’t even notice when a game like the Witcher doesn’t have people of color, more importantly I don’t care. You know what I do notice and get upset about, is when it is put in just to check a box to show representation and the character or characters are basically stereotypes. That I find more offensive.

Korey Burns

Not sure how this one slipped by me originally, but great episode! Your point about a white person giving up their job for a minority is spot on. I'll be the first to say that, growing up, it was tough to find cool characters that looked like me. But there's so many examples of white people getting angry "on my behalf". The Witcher 3 controversy made no sense and the Kingdom Come: Deliverance stuff was just comical. People like to just shout, without actually doing anything about it.

LastStandMedia
>>14543807

Yeah, that is definitely more offensive. Tell your stories how you want to tell them. Everything else is noise.

LastStandMedia
>>18128492

Yeah, people are taken aback by that sometimes, but it's true. If you're such a moral crusader and believe so much in the cause, then why not step back, resign, and let someone else take the reins?