April 2024 Newsletter

Sometimes I take a time out from my busy life as an anthropomorphic lizard who lives in an underground bunker in the quasi-future where I operate computers that somehow let you listen to podcasts and I think, wow, the time sure flies when you're a lizard with a job. And wouldn't you know it? Already the month of March has "marched" right along past us, ha ha ha, meaning that it's time for another newsletterly roundup of all the things Ranged Touch got up to in the past couple weeks.

This month brought us not one but two new episodes of MAGES & MURDERDADS where CMRN and Danni continued their playthrough of BALDUR'S GATE 3, venturing through the Underdark and initiating the game's second act, which promises to be rather divergent for old Balthazar and Ticklevarr. As always, if you love to hear about a D&D videogame but don't have time for the video part, this show has a free podcast feed you can use to take the sweet, sweet spoken words with you everywhere!.

Over on GAME STUDIES STUDY BUDDIES, meanwhile, Michael and CMRN talked through Jaroslav Svelch's PLAYER VS. MONSTER: THE MAKING AND BREAKING OF VIDEO GAME MONSTROSITY, and had a lot to say about it, the method it brings to bear, and the history of game development conventions we can uncover once we start thinking critically about monster design. Next month, they'll be discussing Lindsay Brandon Hunter's PLAYING REAL: MIMESIS, MEDIA, AND MISCHIEF, as noted on our Bookshop page.

JUST KING THINGS saw CMRN and Michael discuss Uncle Steve's expansive Vietnam Boomer epic, HEARTS IN ATLANTIS, and they found it to be a pretty apt summation of King's career and one of the pinnacles of his artistic vision. The same cannot be said for the 2001 film adaptation, which we covered on the Bonus Episode, but it's worth listening to in order to find out how NOT to adapt a story, and to decide for yourself whether Michael does a serviceable Anthony Hopkins impression. Later this month you can look forward to the discussion of King's how-to memoir ON WRITING, and the wildcard bonus ep on 1960's VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED.

Austin of course continued to join us for SHELVED BY GENRE, where we are STILL CONTINUING Ursula K. LeGuin's Earthsea stories. March saw us drop episodes on the 'conclusion' of the original trilogy THE FARTHEST SHORE, which was followed 20 years later by the 'final' book TEHANU, and then because Ursula still had more to say, the first half of the short story collection TALES FROM EARTHSEA. Somehow, in the midst of all this, we also released a bonus episode on Jim Henson's masterpiece THE DARK CRYSTAL. Next month, we'll close out Earthsea with the second half of TALES and the for-real final book, THE OTHER WIND–but don't worry, because after that there will still be more short stories to read. The capper bonus eps will cover the Earthsea Ghibli film and a big Q&A ep, so if you have questions for the crew remember to send them to QuestionedByGenre at Gmail dot com.

Big props as always to our producer Jordan Mallory, who forges for you SBG and assorted bonus eps throughout the month and who has been a superstar especially now that academic conference season has kicked in and we end up recording like frenetic madmen. Speaking of conferences, but not frenetic madmen, Michael would like to extend a special thanks to all the listeners who showed for the Ranged Touch meetup in Boston this past month, which coincided with the yearly conference for the Society for Cinema and Media Studies. While CMRN unfortunately had to duck out at the last minute, Michael had a great time seeing all of you in or outside of the conference setting and hear about the enjoyment y'all get from various Ranged Touch endeavors. There will probably be more meetups in other locales in the future, so if that sounds interesting to you, keep your ears perked!

But personally speaking I've never been to an academic conference!!! I am, as mentioned, an anthropomorphic lizard who lives in a bunker in the quasi-future and routes podcasts or something and now, it seems, writes newsletters, and I would not have it any other way. Please enjoy yourself as we together begin April, famously known as "the nice month."