I think a really bad byproduct of social media is that it allows you to know who is a mark at an obliterating rate. Just a cavalcade of learning who can be sold to and how.

I don’t want to become the sort of person who reads all of Tolkien in 2026, but I will do it for Shelved by Genre

Let's make it official: SHELVED BY GENRE's next unit, spanning ALL of 2026, will be a delve into the depths of modern genre with J.R.R. Tolkien's THE HOBBIT, THE LORD OF THE RINGS, and THE SILMARILLION. If you don't have those, you can grab them through our Bookshop: bookshop.org/lists/shelve...

and in case anyone thinks i'm just teeing up to be the ultimate hater with this, i'll have you know i've got my copy of the monsters and the critics at hand. i have a lot to say about what i think tolkien wanted his works to be versus what other people want them to be! 𝙄 𝙇𝙄𝙆𝙀 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙎𝙄𝙇𝙈𝘼𝙍𝙄𝙇𝙇𝙄𝙊𝙉

Little preview of the world you can explore in 'AUTOMATON HEART'

Are you a TTRPG self-publisher going to Pax Unplugged? Meet other creators and have a common spot/time to say hi to friends at the Self Pub Meet Up hosted by TTRPGkids! Let me know if you'll be there, and I'm looking forward to seeing folks at the con! #PaxU #PaxUnplugged #selfpub #TTRPG

Our Moore unit continues with another huge episode on From Hell, which I think really deserves the deep and complex discussion we gave it. Also, we announce what we'll be covering ALL of next year!

Listen to this episode to learn what reading Charles Fort books at age 11 does to a child (makes them grow up to host podcasts)

One of the most political and contested works going right now. A year of us engaging with this complex, weird series of books and figuring out what it’s all about. Subscribe now to Shelved By Genre to come along!

Super excited that we're hiring a senior writer to join @wired.com's culture team! If you're obsessed with internet culture and like our vibe, apply! condenast.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/CondeC...

this mf mad we’re talking about the wrong type of weird old englishman

Year of the Ring, babyyyyy time to talk about these books that have deeply shaped all of fantasy fiction, and which a bunch of reactionary techboys actively and eagerly misunderstand

One of the most political and contested works going right now. A year of us engaging with this complex, weird series of books and figuring out what it’s all about. Subscribe now to Shelved By Genre to come along!

FROM HELL rules and we get into THICK conversation here.

Future? No Thanks! Is officially releasing on the same day as GTA VI (whatever that is) so this gives 6 more months to finish it!

trash-tier organization. the craven way they attempted to use the future class as a "30 under 30"-esque fig leaf to make it seem like they were socially engaged, while actively treating that class as if they were trophies rather than humans, is disgusting.

One of my favourites from the IGF this year. I was so gutted when the preview ended, immediately wishlisted it and bought the first game in the series. This game is so clever and witty.

hell yeah brother

Is there a good grants database or blog post for games-friendly grants?

brother are you a fendor or a choppits? I’m more of a broc

really happy to be here at KCAH today

why is it so fucking dark

I’m at Dreamhack Atlanta for the next few hours.

going pretty good so far

I teach a field natural history course that’s very analog—a hand-written field journal, hands-on skill sessions, hours in nature each week. This very much tracks. My evals for that class emphasize the class’s impacts on how they think, and their mental health.

A sneaky weekend drop of the new GAME STUDIES STUDY BUDDIES, in which we spend 3 hours talking about a book that is 80 pages long! It's worth it, though, as few texts have been as impactful on how we talk about our present moment as Mark Fisher's CAPITALIST REALISM: rangedtouch.com/2025/10/31/8...

The Zork pngtuber LP returns for part 2! We navigate the maze, and I navigate my feelings, as we continue to fill the trophy case: www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZKO...

Spent part of my Saturday afternoon writing a FOIA request to my town's police department regarding their use of Flock cameras. Their public records request portal only gives you 1000 characters to work with, but I made good use of those characters.

We did this partially because I have run into several conversations in the past couple years where Fisher is taken to be the answer to lots of questions I just don’t think he was trying to address, and this is partially me trying to work through that.

Our latest link round-up is live! Reviews, essays, some events and CFPs from around the web for lovers of speculative fiction and criticism: ancillaryreviewofbooks.org/2025/11/01/w...

The spookiest treat of all @ckunzelman.bsky.social

I went on No Cartridge. We had no topic to discuss and just went around the world talking about whatever we felt like.

I don’t really care about Halloween but I did like that Sailor Moon was smoking a cigarette at my bus stop this morning

Just finished this wonderful series. You should listen to it.

Sometimes it feels good to play with the good cards. Wonderful 7-1.

Save 50% on #NewBook Indigenomicon by Jodi Byrd @arsavium.bsky.social, which brings video game studies and Indigenous studies into conversation with Black studies, queer studies, and Indigenous feminist critique. buff.ly/FBknSYW

So, today I'm announcing a new book project... and doing a call for papers: crpgbook.wordpress.com/2025/10/31/t... It's an anthology of video game history outside the usual US perspective - an accessible & exciting panorama of different realities - and I'll pay 300 USD per article. Please share :)

come work with ME!

Come work with me!

 We've opened the search for a full time, tenure-track Assistant Professor in Game Arts at Pratt Institute. 

A good match would be an artist, game developer, or educator with an active creative practice in indie games, game studies and theory, playful coding, or art games.

I think one of the funniest things that has ever happened to me on a podcast is when I just could not connect the Pog issue of Swamp Thing to Pogo to save my life.

If you wanna get a question in for next month's JUST KING THINGS Patreon Q&A bonus episode, the submission deadline is TOMORROW at 10pm EDT! thequestionsewer at gmail dot com

I guess I should spent every October ruthlessly pitching articles about Stephen King across the internet to lean into my horrific expertise but...I don't! I forget!

Among other things, about Beckett's science-fictional play KRAPP'S LAST TAPE vajra.me/2025/10/30/t...

i'm reading this now and it slaps

I also speak with the creators of The Mortuary Assistant, Amnesia, Crow Country, Distraint, Sniper Killer and DreadXP about the state of modern horror games, and bring you the complete, 13-year-long story of Routine.

I just posted the final episode of 31 Murders to Midnight for paid subscribers of patreon.com/sfultra, covering the last seven films of the series. Topics discussed: technicality draculas, japanese horror intersecting with lovecraft, getting blindsided by Child's Play 2 and Dennis Cooper (sort of).

Excited to announce the @visualevidencelab.bsky.social at CU Boulder!!