February 2024 Newsletter

Hello again, denizens of the internet! Well, the denizens who read our Patreon newsletter, which is not even people who necessarily support us on Patreon because this is free for anyone to read? You might not even listen to our shows at all. Maybe this is the first time you've even heard anything about or seen anything from Ranged Touch. As a matter of fact, I probably know nothing about you, and you know nothing about me, and the space between minds is a yawning void that can never be truly bridged.

But enough of that! Last month saw the triumphant return of the RT flagship show, MAGES & MURDERDADS, about games in the Baldur's Gate lineage. True to form, CMRN and Danni have kicked off their playthrough of Baldur's Gate 3 and are two episodes deep as of this writing. Oops I mean three episodes deep (I started writing this the day before the third episode dropped). Anyway, there's all sorts of fun to be had listening to them talk about their experiences with the game, its early handling of worldbuilding, and which potential party members it's okay to consign to the void. And if video is not your thing, M&MD has a free podcast feed right here.

On the GAME STUDIES STUDY BUDDIES front, Michael and CMRN concluded the Winter of Children and said hello to the January of Something Else Entirely as they covered Amanda C. Cote's GAMING SEXISM: GENDER AND IDENTITY IN THE ERA OF CASUAL VIDEO GAMES. Working from an archive of interviews with women gamers, Cote discusses not only their relationships with the pastime as it is mediated by a marketing apparatus that basically thinks they don't exist, but their actual strategies for dealing with the sexism they face and how it has changed in the past decade of "casual gaming" and the rise of reactionary politics in gaming spaces. Next month, they'll be covering  READY PLAYER JUAN: LATINX MASCULINITIES AND STEREOTYPES IN VIDEO GAMES by Carlos Gabriel Kelly Gonzalez, which you can pick up through our Bookshop page.

Meanwhile for JUST KING THINGS, CMRN and Michael experienced two different forms of lackluster, first with 1999's published-as-a-book-for-some-reason teleplay of the TV miniseries Storm of the Century and second with the bonus episode on the miniseries itself. It goes without saying that ancient evil wizards are one of the coolest things to tell stories and/or make movies about, and yet, unfortunately, despite some good ideas and clever performances, this little slice of Maine just ain't got the glamor. Perhaps the state and its people will be redeemed by our next book, THE GIRL WHO LOVED TOM GORDON, or the bonus episode that accompanies it, on the 2006 TV movie adaptation of DESPERATION. [holds hand to earpiece] Oh, Desperation takes place in Nevada? Well, so much for that.

Last month also saw a totally new turn for SHELVED BY GENRE as Michael, CMRN, and Austin finally began Ursula K. LeGuin's Earthsea stories with a hefty episode covering the first half of the first book, A WIZARD OF EARTHSEA, and because of weirdness with our release schedule for shows relative to this newsletter, a February episode covering the second half that will be out by the time you read this, so I might as well mention it. Plus: we did a bonus episode on Ridley Scott's opulent and bonkers 1985 dark fantasy film LEGEND! Next up is the second book in the Earthsea series, THE TOMBS OF ATUAN, and a viewing of another 80s fantasy classic whose title begins with an L, LABYRINTH. As always, a big hand to our producer Jordan Mallory who edits the bonus episodes for SBG as well as JKT.

Finally, in some concluding news that echoes announcements on our GSSB ep, CMRN has acquired a tenure-track teaching position, aka "typically the reason you get a PhD." Let's give him a hand! [shouting, cheering] But wait, you say, how will this impact his ability to MAKE THE PODCAST MACHINE GO? Well, hopefully not at all, because on the other end of things, Michael lately stepped out of the maelstrom of academia to work on Ranged Touch fulltime [more shouting, cheering] which is something he is only able to do because ALL OF YOU [remembers this newsletter is public] PROBABLY MOST OF YOU [?] are already so generous in supporting us here on Patreon [shouting and cheering intensifies, because now it's you clapping for yourself, good work!! even if you're not currently supporting us you can clap too, I'll allow it]. That he can make this move at all is a testament to your magnanimity, and he is infinitely grateful that enough people enjoy RT's "thinking about things is fun" platform that he can now focus more fully on helping the network produce new and exciting stuff in the coming year. Ahead we see the emergence of a new type of Michael… a more fun-loving and free-spirited Michael… yes, it's Professional Podcaster Michael!

Apparently he shops at our t-shirt store. Let us never speak of him again.

For real, thank you so much, and talk to you again in March!