this is, hands down, the best video I've seen on men's influencer content and it's not close either

This was a special conversation for me for many reasons. Was fab talking to @simonparkin.bsky.social of course. But also, talking about my childhood, my family, how game discovery was woven in to my very first job, and how these 5 games mean the world to me. If you like my stuff, do share widely.

This NYT interview with Cameron Crowe is a great listen. At one point the interviewer shares several of his theories as to why Crowe's more recent work might be weaker than his earlier films. Ballsy! podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...

For today’s Observer magazine I interviewed Brett Goldstein at the house he’s renovating in Fulham, about the secret tape that made him Roy Kent, his new film’s rejection of algorithmic love, and why, after 5 years in the froth of success, he’s ready to put down roots: observer.co.uk/culture/inte...

For today’s Observer magazine I interviewed Brett Goldstein at the house he’s renovating in Fulham, about the secret tape that made him Roy Kent, his new film’s rejection of algorithmic love, and why, after 5 years in the froth of success, he’s ready to put down roots: observer.co.uk/culture/inte...

How do you balance a career in games PR with punk stardom? In our latest episode, @lizzietrouble.bsky.social , lead vocalist and guitarist of indie Teens in Trouble, discusses her dual life and, reveals her surprising link to Street Fighter 4. 🎧 Listen now: bit.ly/4m0JOvj

Comedians x Video Games = The Audience Versus, a new live show that pits the audience against a team of comedians in a series of match-ups using silly rules. Debuts at The Pleasance on 29th September, featuring Sarah Keyworth, @pierrenovellie.bsky.social and hosted by @thenewsatglenn.bsky.social.

How did viral indie hit Blue Prince make it from concept to reality? In this week's episode, the game's creator, Tonda Ros, reveals the "golden goose" that made it all happen and shares the five games he'd put on his perfect console. Listen now: buff.ly/0KlvTFO

I spoke with Tonda Ros, creator of this year’s indie hit, Blue Prince, about how, as a child, an unexpected bequeathment - not unlike the one that powers his game - provided him a near endless supply of NES games.

What happens when a ghostwriter wants to become famous? On the biographer who, for six figure sums, writes the stories of the unnotable: observer.co.uk/news/profile...

This week on #bbcinsidescience: solar panels in space, @simonparkin.bsky.social and @valmcdermid.bsky.social talk about Simon’s book, The Forbidden Gardens of Leningrad, shortlisted for the @royalsociety.org Trivedi Book Prize. @adamhartscience.bsky.social talks hunting for conservation.

I saw Lightning Bolt play at ATP years ago, an experience that was both intimate and feverish. A joy to have Brian on the show, discussing his band, working on Guitar Hero, and his indie game projects Thumper and Thrasher, which are just as exhilarating as his live music:

In 'The Forbidden Garden of Leningrad', Simon Parkin draws on previously unseen sources to tell the remarkable story of the botanists working at the world's first seed bank during the siege of Leningrad in 1941 and the moral dilemmas they faced: #SciBooks royalsociety.org/medals-and-p...

The Forbidden Garden of Leningrad is out today in UK paperback. The book tells the true story of the botanists who worked at world’s first seed bank during the siege of Leningrad. It’s a finalist in the Orwell Prize and the 2025 Royal Society Prize. Pick up a copy wherever you get your books.

The Forbidden Garden of Leningrad is out today in UK paperback. The book tells the true story of the botanists who worked at world’s first seed bank during the siege of Leningrad. It’s a finalist in the Orwell Prize and the 2025 Royal Society Prize. Pick up a copy wherever you get your books.

Ralph is one of the sharpest critics working in games, and his journey to running one of Australia’s largest and most impactful channels is fascinating.

I hugely enjoyed chatting to Simon about the video games that defined my life, and the place of gaming in public history 👇

'There are no depictions of violence here – but as you puzzle together the pieces, you witness a slow collapse of innocence, replayed in dreamlike fragments, some tender, others unbearable.' On Luto, a game about abuse, grief and hope: observer.co.uk/news/science...

Tune into our latest episode to find out what Nathan Brown, former @edgemagazine.bsky.social editor, consultant, and creator of the @hitpoints.bsky.social newsletter, picked for his perfect console. Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/0vhq...

My book, 'The Forbidden Garden of Leningrad' is available for pre-order in paperback, currently with 25% at Waterstones using the code' SUMMER25. Please pick up a copy here: www.waterstones.com/book/the-for...

This whole podcast was very very fun to record. We went through my top 5 games through my life starting with Melee and this very silly story. (And if my brother is reading this, I love you!!)

I spoke to @katmabu.bsky.social, journalist, influencer and, now, candidate for Congress, about her path into politics, why she thinks we should all see politics as a job rather than a lifestyle, and the time her brother ruined Christmas after she beat him at Smash Bros: bit.ly/4kUqFuy

I am extremely excited to announce something I’ve been working on for a year: Button Boys, a weekly gaming podcast. Sarah Keyworth, Pierre Novellie and I chat games; what’s coming out, what we’re playing, which games should be on your radar. AND, you can listen to episode 1 right now (link in bio)!

Guest announcement!🚨 Next week, journalist, satirist, and digital powerhouse @katmabu.bsky.social will join us. Whether producing viral videos at Media Matters for America or running for Congress in Illinois, Kat always brings her fierce advocacy and sharp wit. Tune in next Tuesday: bit.ly/43RMgx9

Has anyone ever loved Donkey King as deeply as Ed?

In "Death Stranding 2," players take control of an unlikely hero: a courier who trips over rocks, experiences sunburn, and faces his own possible obsolescence, Simon Parkin writes.

Cabel, the son of two Portland artists, built one of the most interesting software companies anywhere—publishing Firewatch and Untitled Goose Game, making t-shirts for Katamari Damacy, and developing the kookiest handheld console ever devised. A joyous chat:

Cabel, the son of two Portland artists, built one of the most interesting software companies anywhere—publishing Firewatch and Untitled Goose Game, making t-shirts for Katamari Damacy, and developing the kookiest handheld console ever devised. A joyous chat:

On Hideo Kojima’s strange, anxious, grief-stricken science fiction game, which contemplates how our digital interactions are no substitute for the stuff of physical existence — and risk hollowing out both ourselves, and our communities: www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...

On Hideo Kojima’s strange, anxious, grief-stricken science fiction game, which contemplates how our digital interactions are no substitute for the stuff of physical existence — and risk hollowing out both ourselves, and our communities: www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...

Why do we write? In this joint piece, 12 Orwell Prize finalists tackle Orwell's famous question. Thank you @literaryhub.bsky.social! Find out more: lithub.com/making-sense... @anneapplebaum.bsky.social @simonparkin.bsky.social @jomcmillan.bsky.social @ofmooseandmen.bsky.social #OrwellPrize

Ray Chase, the former voice of Coke Zero, who plays Noctis in Final Fantasy 15, has a dating game out today in which you can date more than a hundred anthropomorphic objects from your home (?!). Listen to his story here:

Robbie Singh feared it was a prank when, in 2018, a friend texted to say Epic Games was closing Paragon, the game on which he'd built a career as a streamer. Singh refused to let it die. With no experience, he founded @omedastudios.bsky.social and built @playp.red with Epic's blessing:

The APWOT Trilogy Reprint campaign is NOW LIVE ON KICKSTARTER! 📚 Help us bring back these 3 timeless publications that are as creative and playful as the people and games featured within them: ⭐️ kck.st/4kjrqhj ⭐️ Sound on! 🔉

One week till THE NIMBUS launches! Pre-orders are available here: robertpbaird.com. Tickets for the launch (at Powerhouse in Industry City in Brooklyn) are available here: powerhouse-books.ticketleap.com/book-launch-.... Info about the rest of my book tour is here: robertpbaird.com/events. 💙📚

On the day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Elena Lobova was in her flat in Kyiv city centre, preparing to host an online global game jam. When she realised the noises she could hear outside were explosions, she faced a tough choice: flee the city, or stay and run the event:

The Forbidden Garden by @simonparkin.bsky.social should be required 2025 reading. It’s a story of what happens when the government attacks science and the people that sacrificed their life to protect it for all of us. @barackobama.bsky.social you’d like it. www.bookpage.com/reviews/forb...

Excited to be chairing the “in conversation” with Mishal Husain (Broken Threads) and @simonparkin.bsky.social (The Forbidden Garden of Leningrad) 7pm 19/6/25 at @foylesforbooks.bsky.social Charing X. Two/eight brilliant @orwellprize.bsky.social finalists. Tickets 👇🏽 www.foyles.co.uk/events/orwel...

This week's guest is @bfod, philosopher, former bassist of Cut Copy, and the creator of the indie hits QWOP, GIRP, and Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy. In this clip, Bennett recalls the strange moment he saw his game featured in the U.S. version of The Office:

On June 19 I’ll be in conversation with Mishal Husain at @foylesforbooks.bsky.social. We’ll be discussing our books, ‘Broken Threads’ and ‘The Forbidden Garden of Leningrad’, which are both finalists in the 2025 @orwellprize.bsky.social Tickets available here: www.foyles.co.uk/events/orwel...

For @myperfectconsole.bsky.social I spoke to Tomm Hulett, a game designer and director who became the target of a harassment campaign initiated by some fans of the Silent Hill series. His wife, who worked on Konami’s support desk at the time, found herself fielding threats against her husband.

For @myperfectconsole.bsky.social I spoke to Tomm Hulett, a game designer and director who became the target of a harassment campaign initiated by some fans of the Silent Hill series. His wife, who worked on Konami’s support desk at the time, found herself fielding threats against her husband.

Would you like to hear your console featured on a listener edition of @myperfectconsole.bsky.social, and earn the chance to win a copy of Tune and Fairweather's Blood Echoes book, all about Bloodborne? More details here: www.patreon.com/posts/send-i...

the latest episode of @simonparkin.bsky.social's My Perfect Console was a delight on my afternoon walk today i think i really appreciate getting out of the games media bubble and hearing what catches someone's attention or what they remember about specific games open.spotify.com/episode/796R...

Edge 411 is out today, featuring Death Stranding 2: On The Beach. For our 16-page cover story, Simon Parkin visits Kojima Productions to play the studio’s most ambitious game to date and discuss its creation with Hideo Kojima, who explains why it is more Aliens than Alien.

The Forbidden Garden of Leningrad is a finalist in the 2025 Orwell Prize. Delighted to be nominated alongside such a wonderful clutch of books. Thank you to my editors at @sceptrebooks.bsky.social and @scribnerbooks.bsky.social: www.orwellfoundation.com/political-wr...

The Forbidden Garden of Leningrad is a finalist in the 2025 Orwell Prize. Delighted to be nominated alongside such a wonderful clutch of books. Thank you to my editors at @sceptrebooks.bsky.social and @scribnerbooks.bsky.social: www.orwellfoundation.com/political-wr...

I spoke to @grentperez.bsky.social, the Filipino-Australian singer-songwriter who became a YouTube star at 13, whose debut single, Cherry Wine, topped Spotify's Viral 50 chart around the world, and who, every weekend, races a digital version of his Toyota JXZ100 Mk II in @acassettocorsa.bsky.social:

I spoke to @alexkealy.bsky.social, comedian and co-host of the joyous Gig Pigs Podcast, about the gig that turned him on to live music, his love of video game versions of boardgames, and the time he and his friends recreated their boarding school's science lab in Counterstrike:

17)A book: @simonparkin.bsky.social ‘s The Forbidden Garden: The Botanists of Besieged Leningrad and Their Impossible Choice. Some of you know that the siege of Leningrad is one of my biggest obsessions along with Lysenkoism and purges. This is a great English language book on both.